Matich 
THE COTTAGE GARDENEK 
till this winter. On the first approach of the late incle¬ 
ment weather, 1 enJeavom-ed to light a fire in my furnace, 
but from tlia dampness of the flue it proved a very tedious 
, and unpleasant aflair; I therefore abandoned the task, and 
: instead, filled a three quart bottle with boiUity water, and ! 
placed it on a stool in tlie house about ten o’clock at night; 
I found this to answer the pmpose admirably, the thermo- 
' meter at seven in the morning standing at I have 
i repeated this nightly to the present date (I'ebruary 21), and 
I seconding the hot-water-bottle by closing the lights wliile 
the sun is on them, am so satisfied with the result that 1 
' shall not again attempt to light a fire. 
! 1 should add that the house is 1.0 feet by 7 feet, and 1-1 feet 
! high; is in a sheltered position, with a waU on the iiorth 
and west sides ; is, moreover, glazed with sheets of glass tliree 
feet long. This is, of course, all in its favour; still there 
may be many similarly situated to myself, who may think a 
Hue absolutely necessary to repel the frost, who would be 
gratified to know tliat it might be done by simpler and less 
expensive means. 
IN’ith a lower house than mine, and the addition of an 
outer curtain to hang on at night, 1 feel certain I could 
repel the shai-pest frost likely to occur in this latitude.— 
AY. Savage. 
BANTAM FOAYLS. 
Of these elegant little pets there are several varieties, the 
first of which, I believe, were imported from Bantam, a 
town and province of Java, whence the name. They were 
small fowls of a light red colour, with black tails, and black 
maiidngs in their hackles, single-combed, and clean legged. 
Another imported variety is tlie feather-footed Bantam, 
which, I believe, was brought from China; of this sort 
there are three colours—the nankeens, or light bulls, with 
black tails ; the quite white ; and the blacks—all with single 
combs and feathered feet. To these may be added several 
varieties of small fowls known by the name of Bantam, and 
most likely produced originally from them, with a slight 
mixture of some other fowl, and by in-and-in breeding 
reduced even below the size of the true Bantams. 
The first of these 1 shall bring to notice is the old 
Spangled Bantam, a most beautiful little bird, though almost 
forgotten, and nearly lost. The ground colour is of a bright 
red, slightly streaked with black, every feather being tipxjed 
with white, giving the fowl somewhat the appearance of 
j being set with pearls; the quill feathers of the wings and 
i tail are mostly white, grizzled with black; the white spots 
on the hens are larger than those on the cocks; they are 
j feather-footed, and often rose-combed. 
The Golden Pheasant Bantam next claims our attention. 
The colour is of a bright red, the feathers having a spot of 
I black at the tips—from this reason they are called Pheasant, 
because of the resemblance of this marking to the dotted 
appearance of the pheasant’s neck, and not, as supposed by 
some persons, from any mixture of the breed with pheasants. 
These are well-made birds, with rose-combs, and smooth 
green legs, but are generally rather large for Bantams, 
which strengthens my opinion that they owe their origin to 
a cross with the Golden Pheasant Butch breed. 
The Laced Bantams are of two vaideties—that of gold 
and silver, being distinguished by the ground colour, the 
featliers having a narrow edge or border of black, which 
gives their wearer a scaly or imbricated ajipearance. Like 
the last, they are rather large, with mostly rose-combs, clean 
■ greenish legs, and they are good layers, from which reasons 
! I suspect them to be derived from a mixture with the Dutch 
' Every-day-layers of the same markings. 
I Sir John Sebright's beautiful little Bantams are of this 
j variety, reduced in size by careful breeding. Their liackle, 
j saddle, and sickle feathers are short, the last remarkably 
! so, that they almost resemble the other tail feathers ; the 
j colour of cock and hen scarcely differ, and they carry them¬ 
selves exquisitely. 
I The Game Bantam is a charming little fowl, produced 
between the Game fowl and the Bantam, and by patient 
! and careful breeding brought to resemble a diminutive 
; Game cock of the black-breasted red variety, with single 
comb and clean yellow legs, with flow'ing saddle and tail 
-DU 
feathers. To these may be added a perfectly u-hilc, and a 
quite hlacli, variety, each with clean legs and rose-combs. 
Common Bantams present a very great variety of colours 
and markings, sometimes approaching one of these varieties, 
and often differing entirely from them. J have seen some 
tufted, and once saw' a live-toed Bantam. '^I'hey are inte¬ 
resting little pets, and may be kept where other fowis would 
be an annoyance. Some of them lay exceedingly well; the 
eggs are small, but very nice, and tlie chicken of the pre¬ 
ceding summer make a good substitute for early chicken, 
j with asparagus. 
Bantams are good nurses, and are sometimes used to rear 
young pheasants and partridges.— B. Buf.nt, Besseh 
Green, near Seven Oahs, 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
*** We request that no one will write to the departmental writers of 
The Cottage Gaudener. It gives them unjustifiable trouble and 
e-ipense. All communications should be addressed “ To the Editor of 
the Cottage Gardener, 2, Amen Corner, Paternoster Bow, London," 
An Old Garden {R. H. G .),—You will see Mr. Hobson has, to a 
certain extent, met your enquiries. In addition, we have only to advise 
you to trench up nearly all the Strawberries tiiat are run wild, and to 
plant young ones on a separate piece of ground. For the first year 
restrict yourself to Keen’s Seedling and the Elton ; you may also plant 
a small breadth of the Falstoff Raspberry, but do not destroy all your 
old ones. Though they are wild they will produce something. The same 
may be said of a few Strawberries. Keserve, also, a few of the best 
Gooseberry and Currant trees, and plant young ones elsewhere to replace 
them ; and on the site of old plantations vegetables may be planted with 
advantage. In arranging your ivalks do not have too many ; and the walls 
being low will not allow the trees against them being planted thick. Your 
north wall, 150 feet long, will not hold more than eight trees properly, 
which might be two Koyal George Peaches; two Elruge Nectarines; 
one brown Ischia Fig, if the climate be good; one Moorpark and one i 
Ord-nge Apricot; and one Greengage Ptw/n. The latter may, however, 
be substituted for another Peach, if thought wcli of. The east wall may 
be planted with Apricots and Pears, and the west one with one Violet 
Hative Peach ; one Red Roman Nectarine, and the remainder Apricots 
and Pears, The fence you speak of as bounding the garden on the 
south would be better removed if you propose taking in part of the 
adjoining field. We advise that the works be not e.vtended too far 
at once ; it is better to do well what is attempted than to grasp at too 
much. Your other enquiries will have been met by the articles of our 
coadjutors in this and the last week’s paper ; but other observations will 
follow equally serviceable to you. 
Compost for Calceol.arias and Ciner.arias (J. R. Jessop ).— 
Herbaceous Calceolarias thrive best in a good, fresh, turfy loam, without 
any manure of any kind. If the soil is made too rich they are apt to die 
off suddenly. Shrubby kinds will require an addition of one-fourth leaf 
mould. The soil for Cinerarias should consist of two-parts loam, one- 
part peat, and one-part leaf mould, or very-wcll-decomposed hotbed 
manure, with a liberal allowance of river sand. 
Balsam-sowing ^Amateur). —Balsams to be shown on the 30th of 
July should be sown about the first week in April. 
Egyptian Fowls (A Constant Reader). —We are not aware of any 
distinct variety of fowls known as Those we have seen from 
that country have usually represented mongrelism in all its bearings; i 
and, with the partial exception of one feature, an upright single comb, i 
like that of the Spanish, which, however, is far from universal, they are 
utterly devoid of any general characteristic ; but when we remember the 
immense numbers that are there produced by artificial hatchings, the 
eggs for which are collected without any reference to the breed, no other 
result could he expected. If our correspondents on such inquiries would 
send brief notices of the form, colour, and figure of the birds in search of 
a name, with a few feathers, and the colour and shape of the egg, our 
task would be more easily and satisfactorily performed. 
Planting Conifera! (Two Inquirers), —You inquire what distance 
the Cedar of Leba7ion and the Deodar Cedar should be planted from 
each other, so as never to injure each other at any period of time? The 
Cedar of Eebanon spreads its branches horizontally, and when old these 
cover a great extent of ground. 'There are specimens in this country, 
the diameter of whose head exceeds a hundred feet. The Deodar does 
not spread its branches to near that extent, consequently, does not require 
so much room. Sixty or eighty feet would be a safe distance to plant 
these two trees asunder. Other coniferous plants do not require so much 
space; forty or fifty feet would be ample allowance, and even that 
depends upon the habit of the species. Many of the genus Juniperus 
are upright growing trees, occupying a space not more, even in very old 
specimens, than ten or fifteen feet. These may be planted still nearer, | 
as also may the Arbor vitte tribe. You must study their habits, and 
plant accordingly. You inquire, also, what distance such shrubs as Yews, 
Laurels, &c., should be planted from each other. The Yew is a spread¬ 
ing tree, and should be allowed at least twenty feet diameter of space ; 
but Lam'ets do not require quite so much. You ask, also, about deciduous 
trees, and the Pine tribe generally, what distance apart they should be. 
'These should be planted rather thickly at first, and regularly thinned as 
they advance in size. If you wish to carry out your views, plant first such 
trees as you intend to be permanent, and fill up amongst them other 
trees to serve as nurses, till the permanent trees require more space; the 
nurses can then be gradually removed, either to plant again or to make 
stakes and fire wood. 'This plan is much to be preferred to planting the 
