October 31. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
87 
in the cultivation of maizo and potatoes, and largo quantities 
of it are consumed in the haciendas that skirt the hanks of 
the rivers which flow from the mountains through the 
desert, raising in their passage through the arid sand-ocean 
long green islands of extraordinary fertility. The mode of 
applying the manure differs considerably from that adopted 
with ns. It is never used with the seed; hut when the 
plants are a few inches abovo the surface, a long shallow 
trench is made close to the roots, and in this a small quan¬ 
tity of guano is placed, the white being always preferred, the 
trench being laid completely under water by dams and 
sluices erected for the purpose, or, where no such system of 
irrigation exists, other means are adopted for thoroughly 
saturating the soil. The potatoes produced by this mode of 
culture are perhaps the finest, both for size and quality, in 
the world, and the extraordinary rapidity of their growth, 
after the application of the manure, is most astonishing.” 
A RAPID MODE OF NETTING. 
i am pleased to hear that my directions for making square- 
meshed poultry and other netting, at page 84, of the last 
volume, should have been found useful, and gladly give the 
additional information requested, as to a more rapid mode of 
making the mesh than is commonly used. This plan I 
learned from an Irish fisherman, whose rapidity of perform¬ 
ance was remarkable, even when the very much simplified 
plan of making the mesh which ho adopted was taken into 
consideration; it is, perhaps, rather difficult to describe the 
proceeding without having recourse to an engraving, but I 
will endeavour to do so, and I shall he much more easily 
understood by my readers, if they will take up a piece of 
netting in progress, and hold the spool and needle in the 
usual manner; then, to make a now loop, according to this 
plan, let them bring the loose twine, from the knot last 
made, backwards (viz., towards themselves), over the spool; 
then carry it forwards under the spool (but unlike the plan 
generally followed, the twine is not to he caught on the third 
or any finger, as it is to surround the spool merely), now 
pass the needle upwards through the loop that is to he 
taken up, and pull it close up to the spool, seizing it (and 
the twine passing through it) between the fore finger and 
thumb of the left hand, then throwing the loose twine to 
the left, bring the needle round to the right, and pass it 
upwards, between the loop now being taken up, and the 
one last taken up; then, as a sailor would say, “haul in 
the slack," and the mesh is completed. 
In description, this, perhaps, seems complicated; but in 
practice it is excessively simple, and can be performed with 
much greater rapidity than the old stylo, having less than 
half the number of movements. 
Persons used to the old mode of netting, will, of course, 
find this awkward at first, and they will be apt to make loose 
stitches from letting go with the finger and thumb of the 
left hand before the cord is tightly drawn, but a little 
practice remedies this inconvenience, and the plan will be 
found more pleasant, as well as quicker, as there is no 
sawing of the fingers, or fraying of the twine ; and, what is 
by no means unimportant, stout cord can be used as readily 
as slender string, and thus sheep netting, or other coarse 
! work, may be readily constructed. 
I may mention, that when spools of greater size than an 
| inch across are used, they are much moro conveniently held 
; if narrowed at one end from the thumb.—W. B. Tegetmeier. 
THE PRESENT HONEY HARVEST. 
Tns Bee-keeper’s harvest, in all quarters, being gathered 
| in, the enquiry may now be made as to what has been the 
i result of the season in our precarious climate. No doubt 
j the winter and cold, dry spring were trying, and the reports 
from many quarters announced the loss of hives. The 
i poor Bees ! If the commissariat department of the hives 
■ is attended to in autumn, and the necessary weight of food 
j insured, there need to be no apprehensions about the 
severity of the winter. 
I found hives in open sheds, and with only ordinary pro¬ 
tection, pass the last season in perfect safety. Even the 
uni-comb hive, about whose fate I had some misgivings, 
when the thermometer was falling to 10°, did not suffer in 
the least. 
The sad truth, however, is, that from the combined effects 
of ungenial weather, and inattention to autumn-feeding, the 
progress in spring was very precarious. A cold, dull June 
saw the death of many stocks strong in bees, which a little 
feeding would have maintained in a condition to profit by 
the gush of honey in July, or to reap a rich harvest on the 
Moors during August. 
Much as has been written about Bees, there aro many 
districts into which the light of practical science has not 
yet penetrated, and in Bee-management there often seems 
an obtusencss, probably caused by the fear of difficulties 
which are imaginary, forming a bar to advancement. Now 
and then, one moro intelligent than his neighbours, a 
“ Wildman," mastering his Bees with consummate skill, may 
spring up, but after the lapse of a few years, a traditionary 
remembrance of his powers is all that remains among his 
people. 
Among rugged hills and wild moors, whose stillness is 
unbroken, save by the bleating of the mountain sheep, or 
tho cry of the startled grouse, the rich carpet of purple 
heather yields its unrivalled honey; and on the braes, which 
the readers of Sir IV. Scott will remember to have been the 
scene of the dreaded depredations of “ Wat the Devil,” may 
be foitnd remnants of tbe superstitions of former days. 
There, when a hive is sold, it is considered prudent for the 
purchaser to leave a loaf of bread on one of the posts 
which supported it, as a preventive against his Bees been 
“ witched.” 
The peasants of these border districts aro frequently 
extensive Bee proprietors, and tbe lonely shepherd on the 
moor receives under his charge, during the blooming of the 
heather, a large collection of Bee-hives from the inhabitants 
of the vales below.—A. 
QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 
GARDENING. 
HEIGHT OF GREENHOUSE SHELVES. 
“ I shall be obliged if you will givo mo your opinion as to 
a stage for a greenhouse, as I am thinking of altering mine, 
which, at present, rises with ten-inch steps, which I think 
of reducing to five inches; but I am told if I do so the 
plants will not do so well, and be more liable to damp off 
in winter, from tho leaves or branches of the lower tier com¬ 
ing in contact with the pot above, and also, that it will inter¬ 
fere with the circulation of air too much.— D. 0. W.” 
[Most people would be content with tho stage as it is, if 
sound and strong. The propriety of altering it depends 
entirely on the size of the plants you intend cultivating. If 
from fifteen inches to two feet in height, let it remain as it 
is. If for sowing and growing great numbers of small 
plants, then reduce the height of the steps by all means. 
For bedding plants, and all others that will not reach a foot 
in height, the proposed plan will answor admirably. For 
larger plants, you would be obliged to angle the plants, and 
skip a shelf or two. On this latter account, as giving most 
advantages, we would prefer the shelves with less distance 
between them, as the distance of two can bo given when 
desired.] 
DEFORMED MARIE LOUISE PEARS. 
“ I beg you will oxcuse my troubling you with tho en¬ 
closed Pear, which, undoubtedly, is the variety called Marie 
Louise. The tree which produced the above deformed fruit 
is about ten or twelve year’s old, and is planted against the 
gable end of a large house facing the south. The tree has 
been in bearing for the last five or six years, but from the 
first year of bearing a few fruit up to the present time, it 
has always produced fruit like the one sent, with scarcely a 
perfect specimen, and many of the fruit are a fair size, many 
being much larger than the one sent; and what makes it 
the more remarkable, the tree is to all appearance in perfect 
