November 11. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
11 .*} 
ill my lee gavcleu two year;^ ago, when suddenly, in .Tuly, T 
missed my Mends; they were not at work;—on watching tor 
I a tew moments, a field mouse came out of the hole, and 
; returned; on examination, every heo was killed, and the 
comhs destroyed. But this is not the worst, for these viv- 
min also catch one-half of the queens in the winter, while 
I they are dorm.ant in the earth, and eat them. The forests 
of England would he well-stocked with wild hoes hut for the 
mice. They say that stoats and weasels aro also enemies of 
j the wild hee ; it may he. so, hut I never caught them at their 
nests; and there is one thing quite certain, that tho tw'o 
last-named creatures kill immense numhers of mice. It is 
most difiicult to kill these mice in the fields; for they are far 
too numerous and too extensively dispersed to he caught 
with trails. I think the weasel and tlie stoat are the hee’s 
hest friends in tho woods, and the mis near villages. The 
last, and almost w'orst, enemy of the wild hee is tlio school- 
hoy ! who is constantly, ami hnsheen from time immemorial, 
fond of killing them for the sake of their honey-hag, and as 
often for pure mischief, and when this is done, in April or 
May, a whole nest is ilestroyed. 
1 think I am entitled to give my readers these words of 
instruction when 1 tell them my ac(iuaintance with the 
“ Uuiiihle Dores” is ai Ji/ly years’ standing. I commenced 
cateliing them myself when a child; the first nest I took, 
and hrought home, was in IT'.W ! the la.il in 1S48 ! 
T hope my readers are not tired of those matter-of-fact de¬ 
tails of my earliest friends the wild hees. While acknowledg¬ 
ing that 1 have spent many happy leisure hours in studying 
their history and economy, I trust those of my readers who 
are not naturalists will not think the pursuit trilling or un¬ 
satisfactory, as many do, who are no lovers of these things. 
I'or myself T may truly say, that, to this day, I feel thankful 
that the first fifteen years of my life were spent in the 
country, and in these pursuits. The old adage, “ Cod made 
t he country, and man made the town,” is to me a true saying , 
for the agency of a Groat First Cause is much more .apparent 
in every ohject around u.s in the country than in the town;—■ 
even in tho history of these little insects, how wonderful their 
preservation during tho winter, their frail bodies being, five 
! months in the year, in tho cold, wet earth, and other holes 
j and corners ! (I once found one in a small fissure of wooden 
I fence; it was dormant until tho beginning of February, 
1 when it recovered, and flew aw.ay). They rise from their 
long slumbers, refreshed by their rest, as soon as tho sun 
begins to warm tlio earth. 
Tlie study of the wild bee li.as this advantage over 
the hive bee, that young people can follow it without 
duiif/er; they aro not vindictive, and. if pi’operly handled, do 
not sting, even when defending their young; it can also be 
1 followed without cost, except that of time; and who is there 
I that has not a leisure hour each day in tho summer ? I, 
! therefore, strongly recommend this study to my young friends 
I in the country as an intellectual amusement. Natural 
history has, of late years, become more./i(s7(./(on(/;/e, and this 
is no mean part of it; besides, it is accessible to neai'ly all 
; who reside in rural districts; and in the hope it may become 
i so, 1 take, leave of my readers, only adding, that in all the 
i species of wild bees, nn.arly an uniform system prevails as 
to tiie order in the neat: all useless and disabled bees are 
; turned out. Their pr.actioe is, “He that does not work, 
neither shall he eat.” Many bees are hatched with defects 
in their win.gs, and even without wings, from some disease; 
these are all turned out to perisli. Tlie discrimination of 
the hive bee in this respect is .astonishing. 1 have often 
placed a bee, which had defects, on tho alighting-bo,ard, the 
guards instantly came up to tho intruder, and having held a 
sold of consultation for two or three seconds, they imme¬ 
diately begin to expel it. But mark the dislinelion; in 
showery, cold weather, hive bees aro often knocked down 
and benumbed near the hive, and remain in a state of torjior, 
from which, if not I’ocovei-ed, they will die of o.xhaustion. 
1 have a thousand times placed Ihesr bees on the board near 
the entrance, tho guards rush out as before, but, on exami¬ 
nation, altiiough the bee is unable to walk, they do every¬ 
thing to assi.it the benumbed insect. By some imniistakeable 
instinct, they directly discover that he has no bodily defecls ! 
and admit it into the hive after it has recovered by the heat 
at the entrance ! 
In conclusion, wa may certainly consider bees as among 
tho wonders of the natural world. “ Wo know in part,” yet 
how little does each one of us know, not probably a thou¬ 
sandth part of the great volume of tlie stores of natural 
history ! 'The whole suh.ject leaves us lost in contemplation 
at the stupendous nature of that Being who is the. jirojector 
of them all! 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Oeciiard House { J . S ., Newcastle - nn - Tyne ).— Yours is a bolt! set- 
out for au orchard house; hut why leave tlie ends and front open ? We 
would close it all hut about a yard of superficies at the angle at each 
end. \Vc would also board the front, leaving a space open in the centre 
of each light, half-a-yard long by she indies wide ; and these might have 
flaps, with a wooden button, to close in bad weather. Have you no 
escape for heat at the apex? Your fruit arrangement is not flrst-rate. 
('licrries and plums may stand the shade of the hack wail, but not 
peaches. We would do thus;—No. I, Fondante d’Automne; 2, Marie 
i liouise ; 3, Beurre Diel; 4, Winter Neilis ; 5, Beurre d’Aremberg; 6, 
Basse (-olmar; 7» Hoyal George Peach ; 8, Bellegarde Peach; p, Klriige 
Nectarine; 10 and 11, Moorpark Apricots; 12, Shipley’s Apricot. On 
back, insidf*., six trees, thus—I Precose de Tours Plum, 1 Greengage. 
1 Uoyal Hative Plum, I Early Duke Cherry, 1 Late Duke Cherry. 1 KIton 
[ Ghcrry. Outside^ at back, IMorellos and Currants alternating. The 
, wood must be trained thinly over the roof, at nearly a foot from the 
I glass. The back trellis should have double distance in the wood. Such • 
j is our opinion. We are glad to see these things progressing. Pray ' 
consult our articles on “ Stations,” before planting—to lie fouml in i 
back numbers. i 
Pruning Budded Roses {Belle ).—October and November is the 
best time to cut back wild shoots that were, or were not, liuddcd the - 
previous summer—then to be cut within six inches of the inserted bud. | 
“The best time for cutting them again,” meaning these six-inch stumps, ia 
1 the beginning of next July. The reason for leaving the stumps is to 
fasten the young shoots to them which would otherwise snap off with 
the first gale. It is of no great consequence whether you disbud tho 
stumps or not, but you must stop all slioots from eyes of the wilding, 
’ above and below the inserted buds, at the first or second joint, the next 
season after budding. November or February is the best time to manure, 
them, but manure never comes amiss to them. Cow-dung, so decayed 
I that it will cut like soft putty, ami mixed with one-third chopped fresh 
turf from a good pasture, is the best manure for them. 
! UNiauE Geranium {S. S .).— February and March are the best 
, months for striking this geranium in heat. In July it strikes freely, full 
: in the sun, or behind a wall; we prefer the sunny side, and a little 
shading at first. “ In a small way,” a one-light l) 0 x facing the south, 
and having six inches or a foot of light sandy compost, is the safest wuy 
to get July cuttings of this and several of the dwarf and delicate sorts. 
; This could he shaded for awhile till the cuttings could stand the sun. 
' The objection to a north aspect is, that if the autumn happens to lie 
cold and wet, cuttings will not strike so well. 
WiiAT IS Poor Soil? (.S. S.).— All kinds of light, sandy, and gravelly 
' soil, with little or no dead vegetable or organic remains in them; but 
; “ soapy clay ” may he very poor soil indeed, although not in the sense 
we use it fur flowers. Sand will make (my soil poor enough for flowers, 
and leaf-mould will make any soil rich enough for them, if suflicieut 
quantities arc used. The quantities can only be known by inspection. 
I Campanula carpaticas {S. S .).— They never flower in May at all, 
. but from June to September. The Roses Microjikylla and Maria Leonide 
arc not pegged on the principle we object to ; they are climbers, and all 
\ climbing roses may be on the face of the earth, just as well as 
j on the face of a wall, and pegs will then do for nails. Many thanks for 
I the news that these two Roses make beds that flower from Rlay to Octo- 
; l)er in Hants. 
! Fast-growing Trees (A Subscriber, Bromley). — On your light 
I gravelly soil the White Poplar, and the Turin or Lombardy Poplar, arc 
I the best to get up {[uickly to hiile the “ugly cottages.” For covering 
wire-work round windows facing the north, no jilant is so good as the i 
('otoneaster microphylhiy but being a slow grower at first few peo])le i 
' use it. Others object to ; and then the next best are the evergreen 
climbing Roses, such as MyriantheSy Princess MariUy and Felieite 
perpetiudle. ] 
Bulbs (5. S. S.). —Many thanks for the remainder of the list; we ' 
, shall go thrciugh the whole of them this winter. 
Datura {Shyli^ck ).—A Datura that is only a foot high by the middle 
i of October will not do to be left out this winter, nor next winter either ; 
; and it is of no use to dry it and try to save it that way, as it is too young 
for that experiment. Therefore, as you have no greenhouse, nor pit, nor 
any space in the house, you have only two events to choose from. Either 
get a friend to keep it for you in his greenhouse, or let the first smart 
, frost destroy it. and buy a better, or, at least, an older plant, next May. 
I Flower-garden Plan (IK. P. //.).—We recognised your plan the 
‘ moment we opened tlie letter. Were it not for the excrescence caused by 
I 8—8, .and by 9—9, this plan would be quite faultless in design. There 
■ never was a plan more easy to plant and manage than this, and the 
j wonder is how you could possibly contrive to go wrong with it. You 
! were ])robahly misled, trying to imitate the planting of the designer. 
Committing a fault to escape the consequences of a misfortune put you 
wrong the whole season. The autumn-sown annuals ^lerished, and to 
make good their loss you sowed more annuals in the spring, in the very 
beds wlicrc the summer plants were to go. Did any mortal body ever 
hear of such a daft trick before ! And what is the use of asking for our 
advice now, when you positively do just the contrary of all that you have 
read in these pages already ? In the first place, what was to hinder the 
removal of the bulbs when the time came for the other planting? No 
re.ason whatever. In the second place, try again, and keep to tlie advice of 
one book only, and then you will he right. Every book is right according 
to some notion or other, and every amateur is wrong in trying to work out 
more than one system at the same time and in the same space. Look to the 
index for all you want for the fresli start, and after that let us hear 
from you again, and we engage you shall be right this time. 
