33(1 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
EkBUUAKY T). 
i. 
(Vom me. Tlie common tamo Eabbil is also well knoAvn, 
though it is giailnally giving vvny to the i'ancy sort, ami 
assuming, in various degrees, tlie long er drooping ears, 
'erigtliened form of that variety which seems destined in a 
short space of time to snpersecle them. 
The common Eahhit of Germany closely resembles onr 
old fashioned domestic kind in its short, tliick form; their 
colour is various, ns grey, whiti', black, or sandy, and occa¬ 
sionally pied. The white marking usually (as I'ar as my 
observation went) consisting in a collar, and not unfrerjuently 
one of the fore, legs, the rest of the body being coloured. 
The Belgian Babbits come next in order, and a very fine 
breed they are, both in respect to their size and the flavour 
of their flesh. Their live weight averages about fifteen 
l)Ounds. In colour they aro what are termed hare-coloured ; 
that is, a grey, but rather more of a reddish brown mixture 
than our common grey Babbits, and having darker points to 
their ears. There are some few black and pied, but are 
mostly esteemed when wholly of a shify-blue. 
The Angola, known also as the Trench Babbit, is re¬ 
markable for its long and bea\itiful silky or woolly coat. , 
The.se are sometimes uj) eared, at others, lop eared. 'J'heir ; 
colour is various, though the pure white aro most admired. 
Some persons have bred them exclusively for their skins ; 
and others regard them, when pure hi ed, as fancy stock, 
and set great value on them. 1 believe there is also a large 
breed brought from Spain. 
Mr. Nolan, of Dublin, some time back advertised some, j 
which he called Patagonian Babbits, averaging twenty 1 
pounds weight each. In some parts of Texas, 1 have read, j 
there are very large Babbits, and also on the west coast of 
Africa, so large a.s to be compared in size to a shcej); if, I 
however, these are really Babbits, or have merely received 
that name from some fancied re.semblance, I must leave to 
some one wdio has had an opportunity of determining. 1 
have, how'ever, been informed that some Babbits that were 
known to have been turned out on au island, 1 forget where, 
about tbree centuries back, with the idea of their being use¬ 
ful to ships crews visiting that neighbourhood, had so dege¬ 
nerated as scarcely to exceed a large rat in size.—B. P. 
Bkent. 
QUERIES AND ANSWERS. j 
GARDENING. ' 
CAMELLIAS SHEDDING THEIR FLOWEB-BUDS. j 
[There have been many complaints of this during the ' 
winter,—chiefly among amateins, and, perhaps, more par- j 
ticularly among ladies. From several of our fair friends i 
1 have had long details of what they consideretl to be the 
reason, and what the gardener assigned to be the reason, 
and asking me to fulfil the somewhat onerous task of 
deciding who was in the right; wdiich I generally managed 
to do, by assuring them that, bating a few little matters, 
both were in the right. In fact, simple as the more fact of ' 
the shedding of these buds is, it is produced by several ' 
causes instead of one ; and it is ditlicult to decide wdiich of ' 
these causes operate, in any particular instance, Avithout 
being acquainted with all the antecedent circumstances and j 
present position of the plant. I do not pretend, myself, to j 
know' the exact or particular cause of this disap()ointnient. 
The alluding to the matter thus prominently may bring ' 
out the opinions of others; but I will mention the circum- i 
stances in which, as it seemed to me, the evil was produced; I 
having no doubt that many friends will compare notes, and 
give our readers the heneht of their iiractice and observation. ■ 
One tiling is pretty certain ; that avIk'u everything about ' 
the plant is just as it ought to be, the disappointment seldom 
appears. 'I'he lirst cause I would allude to, is the util Ihin 
iiiut/ the Jhiici'r hurls. Some kinds jiroduce quite a cluster of 
buds at the points of the shoots, and these should be as i 
carelully thinned out as a bunch of grapes, allowing only as 
many to remain as can get room to expand. M'ilhout this, 
Avhen they swell Ireely they dislodge each other, and thus 
failure will proceed from suportluily. 
A second reason is, iusiijjicient and improperly tiiliniiiislexed 
Avateriugs. Here is an instance. Mrs. Anxious sees the 
buds drop, day after day—the weather has been suuriy, and 
the plant has been duly Avalered, to meet the demands of 
jierspiraiion, and the pot is Avell filled Avith excellent roots. 
'The soil decs secvi moist enough—and, as the doctor, you 
cannot divine the ailment of theiiaticut; but suddenly you 
strike the pot with your knuckles, and the clear, reverberating 
sound rings in your mind the cause of the evil; confirmed, 
Avhen, on lifting it, you lind it lighter than it ought to be to 
be moist. 'There is nothing like seeing, to cause believing ; 
and, turning the jdant out of the ]iot, it is found that the 
ilii/y wtileriiiys have got down about an inch and a-half, and 
all beyond is almost as dry as dust. In such a case, it is 
better to set the pot Avith the roots in a pan ; the water 
rising a couple of inches, or less, instead of immersing the 
pot at once ; as the sudden extreme Avould he as mischievous 
as the dryness. Another error in Avatering, especially if the 
drainage is not very perfect, is giving it almndantly in dull 
Aveather, when there is no natural stimulus to cause the 
moisture to evajiorate, and the buds are throAvn off by a 
gorged repletion. 
This leason may resolve itself into one lately given, 
namely, the roots and the top being in an unequal state of 
activity.—the one too hot and the other too cold; or the one 
Avet and the other dry. After the plants are in the hotise, 
and are groAvn in pots, there will not be such ditl'ercnces if 
some little matters are attended to. After dull Aveathei', a 
bright sun Avould show the propriety of sliglitly damping 
the foliage, and a cooling of the routs, by evaporation, should 
be prevented liy Avatering early in the day ; and all 
waterings should be given judiciously, according to the 
Aveather and the circumstances of the plant ; ami not by 
hap hazard—letting the water-put give every thing a drop in 
its turn. 
Another reason is, rcpotliiiij late in miliimn, and more 
es]ic( ially if the old ball had not been previously properly 
Avatcred. I lately saw a plant that had been so manageil. 
A small shift had been given, less than half an inch, round 
the ball, and the spongioles Avere just beginning to Avork in 
the ncAv soil, Avhicli Avas suHicieutly Avet to look at; but 
the weight again raised doubts, and, on turning the ball out, 
it was found the old ball Avas perfectly dry : the Avater hail 
gone past it into the ucav soil, just as if it had been throAvn 
Irom a duck’s wing. 'The soaking of this ball by degrees, 
placing the pot in a saucer of Avater for a few days, caused 
the remaining buds to open Avell. 
Exposure to severe cold, and especially to sudden ex¬ 
tremes of heat and cold, Avill produce the evil. One corre¬ 
spondent says, it is from too much dry fii’e heat; but that could 
easily be neutralised by slight syringings and evaporating 
pans. Another says, it is from frost, and Avonders how that 
could be, as the plant is said to be almost hardy. Treat the 
hardiest plant as our Camellias in pots are generally treated, 
and we should make it comparatively tender. A plant 
groAving in the ground, and one groAving in a pot, though 
naturally equally hardy, Avill not stand tlie same treatment. 
1 am convinced that this bud-shedding frequently proceeds 
from forgetfulness of this, and from leaving the plants out of- 
doors loo late in the autumn, I recollect a case Avhich seems 
to mo to confirm this. 'The Camellias Avere frosted in their 
pots by a sudden frost in the end of October. The soil 
seemed quite bard, but the lops did not seem at all injured. 
Unfortunately, the plants had been Avatered the day before, 
and the roots, in the expo.scd iiots, full of roots, fell to a Icav 
temperature. A number of smaller jiots Avere plunged in 
ashes, and a little dry litter Avas throAvn over the pots early 
in the morning. 'The day broke out sunny and Avarm, and, 
as soon as the exposed pots moved freely from the ground, a 
part of tliem Avas taken into the grecnhoiiso, and part into a 
cold shed—to Avhich place, also, those plunged in the ashes 
Avere transferred. 'Those taken into the house shed the 
most of their buds; the result of the sudden change from 
being frosted into heat and sunshine. B hen the roots were 
examined, fresh spongioles Averc just forming, and the 
decayed ends of the older ones that bad been frosted Avere 
easily perceptible. 'Those removed to the cold sheil, and 
thaAved gradually, received no injury, but opened their buds 
Avcll. 'Tins is just contirmatory of all that has been 
advanced about thaAving all frosted plants gradually. 'The 
plating these frosted plants into a sunny greenhouse Avas 
quite as Avise as pitching a hard-frozen SaAoy into boiling 
Avater, and expecting Ave should get a delicate, nutritious 
