October 9. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
27 
the Lord.” These three must walk together on earth, just 
as they stand together in God’s Word. If man tries to 
separate them—to loosen the threefold cord—to take hold 
of one strand of the rope, and let go the others, he will 
hang on a little while, perhaps, hut his fall at last will he 
sure. There will be a sudden and startling crash, or, what 
is perhaps still more terrible, a slow and imperceptible 
decay—a crumbling away of the ground under the feet, 
which is scarcely noticed until they slip from their footing, 
and all is over. Oh! what a terrible end comes upon him 
who lives without God in the world. “Despisers ” may walk 
cheerily for a good while along the broad road; they may 
not always get into “trouble as other men,” nor be “plagued 
like other men; ” their eyes may “ stand out with fatness ; ” 
they may “have more than heart can wishbut the time 
will come when they shall “ wonder and perish.” ^ 
Let no man follow the had example and pernicious ways 
of John Todd. If they could see him standing by the side 
of good old Farmer Steady, they would see at once the road 
that leads to grace. John Todd has a sharp, piercing, sus¬ 
picious eye, an acute, worldly, watchful face, as if he was 
looking on every side for a foe, and ready to raise his hand 
to strike again. There is no peace in his countenance— 
nothing but pounds, shillings, and pence in it, except a 
scowl. Farmer Steady is the man to imitate, in his home, 
and his farm. A poor old man, who is about the premises 
constantly, said one day, “ They all seem, as it were, to 
dwell together in love. What one thinks another thinks; 
and the women-folk are as quiet and busy-like as the men.” 
Such ways would make much more harmony in the v'orld 
than there is at present. We need not be farmers to be 
steady and quiet, and dwelling in love. We may be cottage 
gardeners ! we may be peers and princes : it matters not 
what we are, if we only hold “ the Head,” and keep the 
charge He has laid upon us. Let us all strive and pray to 
be “ not slothful in business ; fervent in spirit; serving the 
Lord.” 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Beetles and Crickets Destroying.— We have had the following 
answers to the query how these vermin can be overcome:— (No. 1).—“ If 
your correspondent, “ G. J.,” will write to Charles Penny, 4, Roseberry 
Cottages, Dalston, near Kingsland-gate, he can have his beetles and 
crickets destroyed effectually. This I say from experience, having been 
swarmed with them, but now I never see one.” (No. 2.)—“ If “ G. J.” 
will strew the rind-parings of cucumbers on the infested floors, the black 
beetles will, most probably, be diminished. If he will set small glazed 
vessels of water about the floors, &c., he will And that crickets have a 
great tendency to suicide by drowning.” A friend tells us Cucumber 
parings are useless. (No. 3.)—“Some time ago I got hold of a flask 
of ‘Lyon’s Magnetic Powder,’ or ‘Vermin Killer,’ but I laid it aside; 
however, as the summer came round, our house became infested with 
cockroaches and fleas, notwithstanding all our cleanliness, the floors 
of the house being scrubbed every other week, and brushed down 
every morning; bed-clothes changed and washed every week. I deter¬ 
mined, without much hope, upon trying the ‘ Magnetic Powder,’ 
which I did, and, on entering the kitchen in the morning, I found the 
floor strewed with cockroaches, all on their backs, dead ; I tried it again 
and again, until I had destroyed all I could get up to the scratch. I 
now attacked the fleas, which the upper rooms were swarming with. 
I think they must have come from under the floors, the house being an 
old one. I was very much surprised, indeed, to find fleas in heaps 
wherever the powder had been sprinkled. In less than a week we had 
destroyed every flea that poked his nose out of his hole. I fancy this 
same powder would exterminate the green insects on plants just the 
same as if they were fleas. London is the only place that I know of 
where it can be bought; the prices are 2s. and 4s. per flask—very 
exorbitant for the size of them, certainly.” 
Flowers on a Grave.— A Country Clergyman writes to us thus: 
“ My feelings are entirely in sympathy with T.’s. I should say that the 
voice of nature, as well as religion, would teach us exactly the contrary 
of the conclusion, that “they do not grieve sincerely who are sedulous to 
find out appropriate demonstrations of their grief.” Indeed the whole 
reasoning is as unphilosophical as it is unreal—all facts teach the 
contrary. The practice, moreover, of having flowers on the grave, and of 
cemetries being planted, is so very common in England, that I wonder 
at any one’s calling the question of your correspondent a “ strange one,” 
when he only asks which are the most “appropriate” flowers. In this 
very parish several graves have shrubs and flowers round them from the 
wishes of relatives. If you like, I shall be happy to write a few lines on 
the subject for one of your future papers. In the meanwhile I think it is 
due to the feelings of your correspondent (T.), to know that at least one 
of your subscribers (a clergyman) dissents from the view taken in the 
correspondents’ sheet of your two last numbers.”—We hope that “A 
country clergyman” will favour us, as he offers, with his views on this 
subject. We admire cemetries, and we would not reprobate any one 
decking the grave with such plants as his own grief dictates. 
Award of Prizes (S. J .).—If a prize is offered “for the best 12 cut 
flowers of distinct species,” a stand containing Duke of Cornwall and 
Torn Thumb Pelargoniums ought not to have taken the prize; they are 
mere varieties, and it would not at all matter though they may be varieties 
of different species. This same answer applies to a Fuchsia so shewn ; if 
a variety, and not a species, it ought to have disqualified the stand in 
which it was shown. Scarlet Pelargoniums will not hybridize with the 
light-coloured ones usually grown in our windows and greenhouses. 
Cantua dependent purchased now ought to bloom next autumn, if a 
middling-sized plant. A plant of Dielytra spectabilis, with its roots in 
damp moss, might travel by post. 
Bedding Geraniums. —“ E. F. H. begs to say that many years ex¬ 
perience induces her to recommend Mungo Park and Queen Adelaide, as 
good Geraniums for bedding. They flower freely till the frost kills them, 
and the foliage of the first is free growing, and graceful in shape.” 
Many thanks for bringing these two Geraniums under our notice. We 
recollect the names very well, but had forgotten their colours and habits. 
The redish purple (Mungo Park) is the best. Could you not get some one 
near you to take them up in the way of trade ? The Tom Thumbs kept in 
sand in the cellar, ought to have been taken out by the end of March, in¬ 
stead of in June, then they would have flowered like others. Sec what 
Mr. Beaton says to-day on this subject. 
Tomatoes (R. D. Walsall ).—If your Tomatoes were raised in a hot¬ 
bed, it is strange that they have not fruited. Perhaps they are diseased, 
for they are liable to the attacks of some parasitical fungus; possibly the 
Butrytis infestans, to which the potato is liable. The only plan now, 
will be to pinch off all their growing points, to keep the foliage thinner, 
and to place them in the lightest and hottest part of your greenhouse, 
keeping them rather short of water. 
Fruit-trees (G. E. H.).— By all means remove the soil at the roots 
of your plum, or plant another. Your tree has been starved to death by 
inches. Your two Apricots may be Moorpark and Shipley’s ; the Peach, 
the Royal George ; the Nectarine, the Elruge; and the Cherries, the 
Royal Duke, or Morello. 
Gum in the Cucumber (A. L., Norfolk). —We are very glad that 
you have broached this question, having been as great sufferers as any 
body, for the last four or five years. It extends also to Melons, the Veget¬ 
able Marrow, ike. Our experience precisely coincides with yours; the 
out-door ones fail entirely, the frames suffer partially, and those in a 
fruiting pinery are seldom affected. This shows, at least, that whatever be 
the cause, heat and moisture of air are preventives. We have been told 
this week, that constant syringing with lime-water, is a prsventive, and 
are juRt commencing a trial. Wait a week or so, and we will hunt the 
country for further accounts of it. Only try lime-water clarified. 
Faulty Stones in Peaches and Nectarines (A. L. Z.). —Your 
Peaches and Nectarines which have split stones, are badly set. Your 
wood has not been well ripened. We do not like your net covering at 
the ripening period ; no shading for us. We should plant new Pear- 
trees on Quince stocks, under your circumstances. 
Concrete Walks (B. Y.). —A paved walk will be a very good founda¬ 
tion, if you put three inches of the concrete over it; but if the foundation 
is solid, we would prefer the walk to be all of concrete, and still only 
three inches deep. At present we have a heavy traffic of men and horses 
over a three-inch concrete walk, made last June, without any damage 
worth speaking of. 
Thrift Edgings (Ibid). — Late in March, or early in April, is the best 
time either to trim or plant thrift edgings. 
Veranda (E. M. F.). —This veranda, which is in an angle, and on 
a south aspect, closed at both ends would be an excellent place for the 
Geraniums, and also for a few climbers, as a Tacsonia molissima, and 
Mandevilla suaveolens. A border would be better than having them in 
boxes ; but if you plant climbers with the Geraniums, you will have to 
divide spaces for them, to keep them from robbing the latter. Save seeds 
from your Lobelia ramosa now, to sow next March. It is a true annual, 
and cannot be kept over the winter, unless the plants are very young 
now. If they are young, and not yet in bloom, keep them, by all means, 
and you will see their beautiful flowers a month earlier. A dry shelf, in 
a cool greenhouse, is the best for them ; a damp cold pit would hardly 
do for them, for they would become mouldy in damp or rainy weather. 
Bees: Preserving Combs. —T. Hill asks for “the best mode of 
keeping combs in a hive, through the winter, free from moth ?” He has 
tried putting them in a glass, and tying paper over them, without suc¬ 
cess.—When the eggs of moths are deposited in combs, their hatching 
can only be prevented by destroying the combs ; otherwise, tying paper 
over the hive, and then placing it in a dry place, will preserve them 
through the winter. 
Bees in Nutt’s Hive (A. F.). —Should the centre department of 
your Nutt’s hive contain twenty pounds of honey, it will be sufficient to 
carry the bees through the winter without feeding; but if less, make 
their store up to that weight by feeding. The bees in one of the colla¬ 
teral boxes arc, in all probability, a second swarm, or cast, and of very 
little value, and removing them from your collateral box to your neigh¬ 
bour’s centre one is not at all practical—their destruction would, in all 
probability, be the result. Your better plan would be to withdraw the 
divider, and give them the opportunity of joining those in your centre 
box. 
Hyacinths (R. S .).—If you do not object to give from eighteenpence 
to four shillings and sixpence per bulb for them, the following are the 
very best for pot-culture :— Lord Wellington, double, red ; Sans Souci, 
double, red; Blocksburg, double, mottled blue; Laurens Foster, 
double, violet; Gloria forum suprema, double, white, carmine eye; 
Due de Berri d’or, double, yellow, pink eye ; Lady Sale, double, citron; 
Amphion, single, crimson; Prosper Alpini, single, deep scarlet; Georgius 
primus, single, black (intense blue); La grande vedette, single, pale 
blue; Colossus, single, white; Grandeur a Merveille, single, French 
white ; Golden Branch, single, yellow ; Heroine, single, primrose. To 
Grow in Water, the following are the best of the cheap :— Comtesse de 
la Coste, double, rose, purple eye ; Waterloo, double, carmine ; Lord 
Wellington, double, violet; Mignon de Dryfbout, double, blue; Anna 
