March 4. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
361 
tained for you a pair of Singapore bantams, true to the wild colours, and 
[ smaller than the Arekan cock who is on his way; holding, too, as it 
I appears to me, the same relationship to the wild fowl of the Malayan 
\ Peninsula, as the Arekan does to the wild Arekan race.”—D. 
Belgian Daisies ( Darlington Florist). —By all means plant the new 
| Belgian Daisies out at once, and see that they do not suffer by want of 
| water in summer, as they are very apt to do the first season after planting. 
They are very pretty, and worthy of extended cultivation, and they like 
a rich, light soil, and an open situation. No one here can yet tell which 
are the best varieties of them, but they are cheap enough, and no one 
i will grudge if one or two of the kinds should not suit our climate. 
Flower-beds (Novice). —3, 4, 5, and 6, are just to our mind ; two 
scarlets, and two yellows, just in their proper place. Any plants not of a 
very bright colour would do in 1 and 2. The purple petunia intended 
for 2, must be a dark purple, and the heliotrope will look better in 1, 
than the white petunia, because 1 and 2 are match beds, like the two 
scarlets and two yellows. 
Jacob.ea Lily (M. D. P.). —The offsets of this beautiful bulb must 
be treated like the parent bulb, in all respects, only that you may plant 
them out any time in March, as you would so many potatoes, whilst the 
old bulbs ought to be kept in doors till after they flower. 
Pillar Roses (E. H.). —Your gardener is quite right about the size 
of the wooden posts, they must be four inches thick, as he says. Iron 
rods well fixed in stone, would do, if they were only an inch in diameter. 
As you are going to festoon from the pillars, the uprights need not be 
quite so thick as for single pillars. You will see the best kinds in the 
number for November 27 th, 1851. 
Six Good Fancy Geraniums ( Eliza B.). —Hero of Surrey, 2s 6d 
Alboni, 2s 6d; Anais, 2s 6d; Bouquet tout fait, 2s 6d: Jehu (best va¬ 
riety), ls6d; Reine des Francais, 2s 6d. You can have Tiie Cottage 
Gardener bound two volumes in one, and can have covers for the pur¬ 
pose at Messrs. Orr & Co., Amen-corner. 
Six Good Phloxes (A Correspondent). —Abd el Medschid Khan, 
2s 6d; Campanulata alba, Is 6d; Imbricata, Is 6d; Madame Jolly, 2s fid; 
Madame Regal, 2s 6d; Pastor Clement, 2s fid. 
Twenty-four Pansies (J. Short). —The following will answer your 
purpose:— Abd el Kadir, dark self, Is fid; Burryer, dark mulberry, Is; 
Emma, yellow self, Is; Lucy Neal, dark, Is; Ophir, yellow, Is; Sa¬ 
tirist, bronze, Is; White Sergeant, white, Is; Bellona, yellow and 
purple, Is; Duke of Norfolk, yellow and rich bronze, ls6d; France 
Cycole, straw and purple, 2s; Mr. Beck, yellow and rich maroon, 2s ; 
Ophelia, yellow and bronze, Is ; Polynice, yellow aud bronze purple, Is ; 
Rubens , rich yellow and red, 2s; Supreme, yellow and maroon. Is; 
Zabdii, yellow and bronzed red, Is; Almanzor, purple, Is; Bertha, 
lilac, Is; Climax, white and blue purple, Is; Exquisite, white and 
lilac, 1 s ; Madame Sontag, white and purple, Is 6d; Mrs. Trotter, white 
and purple, 2s; Mrs. Beck, white and dark purple, Is 6d; Princess, 
white and blue. 
Dendrobium Moschatum (Silas). — This, “consisting of fifteen 
stems, three feet high, having made its growth last summer, does not 
as yet show any signs of blooming, although it is kept dry and at a 
temperature of from 60 ° to 70° by day, and about 50° by night. Will it 
shed its leaves before blooming or not ? and when will it be expected 
to bloom ? ” It will shed its leaves before it flowers. The season is June 
or July. Your winter temperature is too high; 55° to 6o° by day, and 
50° by night, will be ample heat for it. Give no water at the root, and 
very little in the air during the resting season. 
Bees at Camberwell ( H . W.). —Wildman kept his bees in Hol- 
born, and those in the Crystal Palace did wonders; therefore they may 
be tried at Camberwell with a fair prospect of success. 
Taylor’s Hives (B. B .).—Additional ventilation, if required, may 
be given by inserting between the stock-box and super four pieces of 
sheet lead, of about one-eighth-of-an-inch in thickness, just so much as 
not to allow of the bees passing out. London barley sugar is sold retail 
in Bury St. Edmunds at 8d. per pound, therefore it may certainly be 
bought wholesale in London for 6d.; but it is very easily made. A 
receipt has already been given by us more than once, 
Fruit Walls (Nemo). —If you do not plant on the north side of 
your wall, you may use arches, but remember it may prove some diffi¬ 
culty when your trees need removal. If your soil is properly prepared, 
there will be plenty of food for the tree roots on one side only, and those 
under the arch will at times be subject to much drought. Garden walls 
are built of various heights—generally from nine to twelve feet. The 
higher the walls the more sheltered will the garden be. We should not 
go beyond twelve feet. We should prefer moveable copings ; these are 
generally of wood, placed on iron brackets built in the wall. Stone 
copings, fixed, answer very well with us; they project about nine inches 
on each side. They are laid with a convex facing upwards, but it would 
be better concave, the water being collected in the centre groove, from 
whence it may be carried at intervals, by zinc or other spouting, into 
drains. This would do away with drip. 
Fig-Tree (W. T.). —You had better destroy your fig-tree, which never 
ripens its fruit among others which do, and plant a fresh, strong plant. 
Your grafted fig would constantly plague you with suckers. 
Cucumber Culture (A Constant Reader). —If you look to page 243 
of our present volume, you will see the process of raising young cucum¬ 
ber plants detailed up to the time of planting out, which is usually done 
as soon as the plant has two rough leaves. A sound good loam, mixed 
with a little leaf-mould, suits them best; but as a paper on their after 
treatment will shortly appear, we will only say that Mills's Jewess, and 
Kenyon’s Hothouse are both good kinds—the former for size, the latter 
for its prolific properties ; but many others are equally good. 
Apple-trees with Mistletoe. — J. K. T. says:— “I do not think 
your correspondent C. J. P. would be able to get any young apple-trees 
with the mistletoe on them, if she could, they would very probably be 
broken in carriage. The only plan is to get some young plants of the 
mistletoe, which can be found by scores in old apple or whitethorn trees, 
and easily transplanted, by removing them with a little of the bark 
adhering to them, and then making an incision in the bark of the tree 
you wish them in, and tie them firmly round with some old cloth or 
matting. I have sent numbers of young plants by post, to friends in 
different parts of the country.” We shall be glad to hear from you at 
any time. 
Fuel Consumed under a Boiler. — An Old Subscriber has obliged 
us with the following :—“ Your correspondent, X. Y., at page 326, makes 
some enquiries about the consumption of fuel in a hot-water apparatus. 
I have a small greenhouse twelve feet by ten feet, furnished with twenty- 
feet of 33-inch cast-iron piping, exclusive of twenty-four feet of lj-inch 
gas tubing to fill up the distance between the boiler and house, those con¬ 
necting pipes I cover with woollen rags, fastens four laths on the tube, 
and fills up the angles and spaces with saw-dust, so that no heat may be 
lost in this part. Last week (which was a very cold one) I find that the 
fires consumed 70 lbs. of coal, or 10 lb. per day. The price of coal here 
is 4d. per cwt., delivered. From this it appears the cost in this case will 
be twopence-halfpenny per week. This is certainly a very trifling ex¬ 
pense. The coal of this locality is considered about five per cent in¬ 
ferior to the Newcastle coal. I gave for my boiler £1 14s. Gd.; it was 
charged 10». per cwt. I have no doubt the parties would furnish any 
number at the same price. It is of a peculiar construction, the water 
space exceeds little more than one-half a cubic foot, or say about four 
gallons, yet with this small capacity, there is upwards of six feet super¬ 
ficial heating surface in the flue and fire-box together. You may judge of 
the action, when I tell you that it only requires twenty minutes to get 
the hot water through the length of the piping named. I use 6 lb. of 
coal for the night operations, and 4 lb. for the morning, and the tem¬ 
perature never below 40°. My greenhouse has two openings in front, 
twelve inches long each, and one-inch-and-a-quarter wide. My outlet 
ventilation is four inches square, communicating with a shaft or dry 
chimney. Is this sufficiently ventilated ? They are open night and day. 
I may mention that I can open the front sashes if required.” Your ven¬ 
tilation is good and sufficient, but of course at times the thermometer 
will warn you to open the windows. 
Lice on Canaries (A Subscriber ).—Powdered henbane dusted under 
the feathers is said to destroy these vermin. 
Name of Flower (Sarah ).— Your note reached us, but the flower 
was gone. 
Marie Louise Pear-tree (A Subscriber, Chester). —Your tree is 
affected with canker. It is rarely that a tree once so diseased can be cured. 
Draining the soil, cutting away the tap-roots, removing the diseased 
shoots, and mulching to induce the fibrous roots to keep near the surface 
and increase the vigour of the tree, may be tried. In Mr. Errington’s 
tying-down system, the large branch remains permanently. The variety 
you mention is not at all superior to the old Walnut-leaved Kidney potato. 
Salt for Asparagus-Beds (C. A. M.). —You may apply this now, 
and it is a good plan to repeat the application monthly until the stems 
turn yellow in autumn. If applied thus regularly, about three pounds to 
thirty square yards will be sufficient. Let the lettuce seed be sown else¬ 
where. There is no better application to asparagus than salt. 
The English Bee-Keeper (Juvenis). —It is published by Messrs. 
Rivington, London. Price about four shillings. 
Chicory Culture (J. Short). —Some of our Guernsey or Jersey 
readers will oblige us by sending us the mode and time of sowing and 
cultivating chicory. The covering you mention would answer for vines. 
Flavour of Green Tea (X. Y. Z.).—When we said at page 282 that 
“ one-third of a dried bud of the black currant” was sufficient, we meant 
what we said, and did not mean either “ a young leaf, a single berry, or 
a bunch of the ripe fruit.” 
Melilotus leucantha (B. B .).—This is a biennial, and should be 
sown annually. You will see what we have said about salt for asparagus. 
Ale made from sugar keeps as well, and is as suitable for any stomach, 
as ale made from malt. 
Gas Tar (O. O.).—We do not recommend this so strongly for manure 
as we do the ammoniacal water from the gas-works. The tar is neither 
so powerful, so prompt in its benefits, nor so manageable. 
Turner’s Budding Instrument (Rhodon). —Write, w'ith your 
address, to Mr. John Turner, Parkwood Springs, Neepsend, Sheffield. 
Tanning Garden Nets (A. R. S .).—One pound of oak to a gallon 
of water is the proper proportions for a dye for your garden nets. We 
answer each correspondent as soon as we obtain the information he 
requires. 
Flower Beds ( Floretta ).—We cannot undertake to plant these for 
any one. The most we can do is to suggest improvements, when the 
plans and proposed arrangements are sent to us. 
Galvanism for Plants (A Window Gardener ).—This is a disputed 
question ; we will give you a fuller answer next week. 
Planting out Camellias (C. A.).— See what Mr. Fish says to-day. 
Names of Plants (J. G .).—6. Abutilon striatum. 7• Gompho- 
carpus fruticosus. 8. Euonymus japonicus variegatus. 9. Euonymus 
lucidus (?). 10. Phillyrea angustifolia. Of the others we are not 
certain, but perhaps may tell you next week. ( H. W. F.) —Your orchids 
were 1. Oncidium ornithorynchum. 2. Kodrigueza crispa. 3. Epiden- 
drum crassifolium. (J. Stanley). —Your plant seems to be Aloe variegata 
or partridge-breast Aloe. (Inquirer). —Your “ vegetable bodies ” seem 
to be mistletoe seeds with the glutinous coat removed, perhaps by birds. 
London: Printed by Harry Wooldridge, Winchester High-street, j 
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.—March 4th, 1852. 
