THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Novembkk 4 .. 
\)k 
They have been mannpied exactly as detailed in this work, and by which 
they have previously given great satisfaction. They were allowed to get 
rather dry, were pruned back as usual, broke fresh shoots moderately 
strong; were fresh potted, and stood still; and now several of the best of 
them arc gone, the main stem decaying just before the skeleton of the 
top branched ofl'. Now, will any of the learned say what this is owing 
to ? We sometimes think offe, the mass of flowers they produced, the 
length of time they bloomed, See. ; but then some of their neighbours 
underwent all these conditions exactly, and yet seem right enough. 
When we look on the beautiful skeletons of these defunct plants, and 
think what they might have been next season, when clothed with flowers 
and foliage, we cannot help wishing that a plant doctor, of universal 
curing abilities, had seen and prescribed for them. The plants were 
more than three years old. 
Climbing Plants fob Greenhouse (J. R.). —We are almost 
afraid to enter into detail about Passion Flowers, M/mdemlla sunyeolens, 
Tacsonia pinnntistipnla, Tccoma jasrninoides, Sec., as considerable 
attention has lately been bestowed upon them. The pruning of most of 
them was also given. In respect to your inquiries on that subject, as the 
plants have not yet reached the top of the house, you may shorten tlie 
ends a little now of all, and prune in any side-shoots of the Passion 
Flowers. The Glyvine will bloom on ripe young wood,^ and also on 
spurs, just like a currant. Tropceohims, of most kinds, will die down in 
winter; at least, if the house is not warm they will not succeed. T. Lob.. 
bianum will do well in a temperature of 50°, and bloom all the winter. 
As to pots, you must proportion the size according to the space you wish 
the plants to occupy—say from twelve to eighteen inches in diameter. 
Do not shift them now, however, if these plants are in small pots; wait 
until the end of March. See what Mr. Fish says to-day. 
Desirable Hardy Shrubs (Ibid), —We could serve you better if 
you told U3 your purpose. The following are useful:— Deciduous^ 
l^sculus carnea and pavia; Azalea, Ghent varieties, &c.; Amelanchier 
florida; Andromeda buxifolia, speciosa requires heat; Chimonanthes 
fragrans ; Calycauthus floridus ; Cotoneaster of kinds ; Cratiegus hetero- 
phylla, pyrifolia, coccinca ; Deutzia scabra ; Daphne mezereon Gaul- 
theria shallon; Hibiscus syriacus variegatus; Indigofera yiolacea; 
Halesia tetraptcra ; Philadelphus grandiflorus ; Pyrus spectabilis ; Kibes 
sanguincum speciosum; Spirea grandiflora Lindleyanea; Symphori- 
carpus racemosus ; Syringa .Tosikaia. Everfp’eens .—Adesmia viscosa; 
Kerberis aquifolium,* Darwinii, Sec.; Benthamia fragifera; Buplcurum 
fruticosuiu; Cotoneaster rotundifolia; Daphne cneorum ; Helianthemum 
of kinds; Kalmia angustifolia, Sec. ; Ligustrum lucidum sempervirens; 
Yucca filamentosa superba, &c.; Vaccinium flore coccinca; Vibur¬ 
num tinus, hirtiim, &c., with llhododendrons, common and hybrid; 
I\Iagnolias, if the station is warm and sheltered, and for beautiful ever¬ 
green ellect, have such Jvmipers, Cupressus, and Arbor Vittes, as Mr. 
Appleby has, and will recommend. 
One-thousand-and-one Questions (John). —Put them one at a 
time, and we will answer them, although, if you refer to the indexes of 
past volumes, you M-ill find all the information you seek. To reply to the 
whole at once would till a column. 
CiDER-MAKiNG. — Somevsetensis will be much obliged by an account 
of the method of making Cider in Gloucestershire or Herefordshire. 
Will some of our readers favour us with a reply ? 
Celery Blight (A Subscriber). —The blight, or parasitical fungus, 
which covers both the upper and under sides of the leaves of your Celery 
plants, is probably one of the numerous species of either JEcidium or 
Uredo. Dust the leaves with a mixture of (juick-lime and sulphur—two 
])art8 of the first to one part of the latter—and oblige us with a statement 
of the result. 
Name of Orchid (T. F. G,). —This, which we did not recognise 
from so small a piece, we find is Tillandsia stricta, a beautiful species 
from the West Indies and Brazil. You will find an account of it in our 
sixth volume, page 386. 
Fowls for Egg-produce (W. E. J.), —If you wish for fowls that 
seldom or never desire to sit, so that you may avoid the trouble of chicken 
rearing, keep the Spanish. They lay larger eggs than the Shanghae, but 
the latter lay quite as many in the course of the year, and will lay 
throughout the winter, if carefully managed. By Shanghae we mean 
what are erroneously, though usually, called Cochin-Chinas. 
White Shanghae Fowls (N. J .).— They are sometimes pure white, 
but usually with a considerable admixture of grey feathers in their 
plumage. We have seen specimens of them larger than of any other 
colour. They arc feathered on the legs. Fashion is too like a butterfly ! 
for us to say where she is likely to settle. If any one near Leeds, or 
York, has any of the White Shangaes to sell, they will oblige by writing j 
to Mr. John Noble, Boston Spa, York. j 
Peat (Y. Z ,).— You may apply it with advantage to your Hydrangeas, I 
the flowers of which it may render blue ; but to none of your other 
plants or crops will it be of any benefit. It is invaluable to all American 
plants, and we should think some florist will gladly give you manure in 
exchange for it. 
Regulation of Time. — E.rpertns and the Rer. F. H. S. have kindly 
pointed out, tliat in our weekly Calendar for October the clock is erro¬ 
neously put as “ Ae/ore the sun,” instead of ^‘behind,"** 
Camellia Buds Falling (Emma). —The fact of your Camellias 
being in the dry air of your sitting-room is quite sutficient to account for 
this catastrophe. If the soil is wet, and the air dry, or the reverse, buds 
are always liable to be shed, on account of the disproportionate action of 
the leaves and roots. 
CovENT Garden (TV. H. H .).— When H, spoke of Cabbages and 
as at so much “per dozen,” he used the market phrase, 
which is there understood as “per dozen bunches,^* The Potato you 
mention. Martinis Seedling, is a good Potato, but smaller and later than 
we like to recommend. 
Ducks not Laying (A, S.).— They do not usually lay except in the 
spring. 
Double-glazed Lights (A, J, F,)» —As you did not have the inner 
glass lapped, and consequently the moisture gets in between the glasses, 
and condenses so as to cause a serious drip, we recommend you to have 
the joinings of the inner panes closed, by painting them, by means of a 
very small brush, with liquid putty. We say “a very small brush,” 
because the paint should not exteud over the glass so as to obstruct 
the light. 
Sloping Bank (Co. Cork). — Unless you have this faced w'ith a mix¬ 
ture of coal tar and dry powdered lime, so as to have a face impervious 
to ascending damp and weeds, you must fail in training fruit trees upon j 
it. If you have such a fadng, then upon it must be a wooden trellis, on | 
w’hich to train the trees. 
Vine Border (A. B. Y .).—When you made this four feet deep, you ■ 
made it full two feet too deep. If you had referred to what has been 
repeatedly said in these pages upon the subject, you would not have thus 
dangerously erred. The turf and sand, with some bricklayers’ rubbish, 
w’ould have been best without any stable manure. We cannot tell you 
how far to cut back your Vines without knowing how strong they are, 
and whether you purpose to cultivate on the spur or single-rod system. 
Dark Rose (S, S. S.). —Hither Elegans or General Changarnier will 
suit your purpose. Icy will grow very well on the north side of your 
house. It entirely covers a similar frontage in a house we see daily. 
Plant the Irish Icy. Keep the roots moist in spring and summer, by 
covering them with mulch, as the soil is so shallow. 
Choice of Shanghae Fowls (Brixton ).—As we arc convinced there 
is no such variety as the Cochin-China, we shall always in future, except 
inadvertently, speak of them as Shanghae. Of Mr. Sturgeon’s breed 
there can be no doubt, of the other we know nothing. Never mind, 
however, how excellent the original stock may have been, for they may 
be spoiled by bad intermixtures and bad keep. Never buy the cock and 
hens from the same yard. This breeding-in will of a certainty give you 
chickens inferior to their parents. 
Bee Flowers (Bromley). —Write to J, H. Payne, Esq., Bury St* 
Edmunds. Your other queries next week. 
Lovell Shanghae Fowls (Iota). —No other description of these 
can be given than that they are smaller-framed birds, and altogether 
more delicate-looking than the usual large Shanghaes. They are feathered¬ 
legged, and ought to be butf-colourcd. 
Kitchen Garden (A Constant Sub8m'iber).~^Yon will see what Mr. 
Robson says in his notes to-day, and in some future numbers. If he 
does not touch upon any subject on which you require information, write 
to us again. 
Weekly Calendar (Cymro). —The first column states, from various 
works on Natural History, the occurrences usual at the time in animal 
or vegetable nature. The two instances you quote refer to the arrival of 
the Wood-pigeon, and to the Gull leaving the seashore for inland feeding 
ground. 
Shanghae Fowls (Ovum), —February is the earlist month in which 
to commence placing their eggs under a sitting hen; and it is of little 
use to continue doing so after the beginning of June. Fggs have 
travelled more than 300 miles, without injury, but their safety depends 
on the packing. 
Ferns Fogging or Damping-off (M. D.). —To prevent this, give 
less water and more air; and sprinkle about a quarter-of-an-inch in 
depth of silver sand, over the top of the soil. 
Feeding Cochin-Chinas. — J. II. P. says—“ I wish to bear my tes¬ 
timony in corroboration both of ‘B. P. B’s’ statement, in last week’s 
number of The Cottage Gardener, and that of ‘ Q-in-a-Corner.’ I 
can say with the former, that my young fowls have always been exceed¬ 
ingly fat, many of the cocks now weighing nine pounds each; and, as 
regards their productiveness, it is extraordinary, for one of my Marcli 
pullets has already laid upwards of fifty eggs. Neither can 1 discover 
that they are such enormous eaters as has been represented. IMy number 
is two or three above fifty, consisting of five old fowls, and the remainder 
chickens, chiefly hatched in March and early in April; their consumption 
now is one bushel of barley and one bushel ot middlings, per week, 
which I purchase for five shillings, making their cost sevenpence over a 
penny per week each. I should also say, that they arc always kept con¬ 
fined to a space of 180 square yards, green food from the garden is 
thrown to them occasionally, and their porridge is mixed with water in 
which meat has been cooked.” 
Celsia Cretica. —A clergyman at Cloyne, in Ireland, says—“Many 
thanks for your information relative to the Celsia Cretica; it agrees with 
what my friend says, who is a most enthusiastic botanist, and is at 
present collecting the different species of fungi about this, and has found 
some beautiful ones. Shall I ask him to send you sometimes a paper on 
the botany of this part of Ireland, if you thought it would be useful for 
The Cottage Gardener? [Yes, if popularly written.] The ('clsia 
Cretica is common in difierent fields about this, growing in great luxu¬ 
riance. 1 always fancied it was a Verbascura. I see an inquiry in last 
number what Melidores are ?— Mnladores must be meant. They are a 
species of Persian Ranunculus, and make a very handsome bed of mixed | 
colours. I send you some seed, in case you may not know them. If you j 
sow them now in a pot, in greenhouse or hotbed, they may be sufficiently 
advanced to plant out and blossom in spring. I do not think they are 
much known, even by seedsmen. I enclose you a flower of one remaining 
in liloom; it is, however, an ugly one, and rather single ; some are beau¬ 
tiful. They hybridise so freely among themselves, you can judge the 
character of the flower by that.” 
Names op Plants (Rev* R. M. Evans). — Your Salvia is 5. Grn- 
hamii. (Quidem). —Yours is Cennothus azureus. (A. M. L.), —Yours 
is Leonotis leonurus, by some called Phlomis leonurus* 
London: Printed by Harry Wooldridge, Winchester High-street, 
in the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and Published by William 
Somerville Orr, at the Office, No* 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish of 
Christ Church, City of London.—November 4tb, 1862. 
