440 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 0. 
Whoever wishes for more information on this subject, will 
find abundance in Professor Buelcland’s Bridgewater Treatise, 
“ Geology and Mineralogy considered with reference to 
Natural Theology.” We will only give from it one extract 
“ Discoveries have recently been made of Coprolites de¬ 
rived from fossil fishes. Mr. Mantel! has found them within 
the body of the Macropoma Mantellii, from the chalk of 
Lewes, placed in contact with the long stomach of this vo¬ 
racious fish : the coats of its stomach are also well preserved. 
Miss Anning, also, has discovered them within the bodies of 
several species of fossil fish, from the lias of Lyme Kegis. 
Dr. Hilbert has shown that the strata of fresh-water lime¬ 
stone, in the lower region of the coal formation, at Burdie 
House, near Edinburgh, are abundantly interspersed with 
Coprolites, derived from fishes of that early era. Sir Philip 
Egerton has found similar fcccal remains mixed with the 
scales of the Megalycthys, and fresh-water shells, in the coal 
formation at Newcastle-under-Lyne. In 1832, Mr. W. C. 
Trevelyan recognized Coprolites in the centre of nodules of 
clay ironstone, that abound in a cliff composed of shale, 
belonging to the coal formation at Newhaven, near Leith. I 
visited this spot, with this gentleman and Lord Greenock, in 
September, 1834, and found these nodules strewed upon the 
shore, that a few minutes sufficed to collect more specimens 
than I could carry ; many of these contained a fossil fish, or 
fragment of a plant, but the greater number had for their 
nucleus a Coprolite, exhibiting an internal spiral structure; 
they were probably derived from voracious fishes, whose 
bones are found in the same stratum. These nodules take 
a beautiful polish, and have been applied by the lapidaries of 
Edinburgh to make tables, letter presses, and ladies orna¬ 
ments, under the name of beetle-stones, from their supposed 
insect origin. Lord Greenock has discovered, between the 
laminoe of a block of coal, from the neighbourhood of Edin¬ 
burgh, a mass of petrified intestines distended with Coprolite, 
and surrounded with the scales of a fish, which Professor 
Agassiz refers to the Megalycthys.’’] 
QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 
GARDENING. 
LENGTH OF PIPE HEATED BY A BOILER. 
“ Please say what length of four-inch piping a boiler of 
the following dimensions should heat, viz., saddle boiler, 
three feet six inches long ; width, two feet four inches out¬ 
side ; twenty inches wide fire-place; and thirteen inches 
deep; two flows, and two returns.— Troublesome.” 
[We should say between three and four hundred feet or 
more. The general rule is, that if there are five and-a-lialf 
feet of boiler surface exposed to the action of the fire, it 
will heat three hundred feet of four-inch pipe; if seven feet 
of surface of the boiler are so exposed, it wall heat four 
hundred feet. The size of the boiler is of little importance, 
for its power depends upon the amount of its surface acted 
upon by the fire.] 
DESTROYING WORMS.—RECOVERING FROZEN 
PLANTS. 
“ I have a garden infested with worms, in consequence of 
its contiguity to a churchyard. The borders are filled with 
herbaceous plants and bulbs. I wish to know whether the 
whole of the garden beds and paths may be soaked freely 
with lime-water without injury resulting therefrom to the 
plants? There is an edging of box. 
“ In the case of frozen plants, is it not desirable to keep 
them covered until the temperature is higher ? Would 
removing them in the frozen state, from a frame to a room, 
moderately lighted, but not warmed,be impolitic ?—W. PI. 0." 
[You may safely make use of the lime-water over all your 
beds, borders, and paths. 
When plants are frozen, the best chance of saving them 
is to allow them to thaw gradually, and in the dark. We 
have found a cellar answer excellently l'or this hospital- 
practice with greenhouse plants. We have kept the plants 
in the cellar until the frost was gone. Then returned them 
to the greenhouse at night, and kept a shade over them, 
such as a silk pocket-handkerchief, for some days.] 
NUMBER OF EYES IN POTATO SETS. 
“ Would Mr. Errington kindly oblige a reader of your 
valuable periodical, by favouring him with a reply which is 
requested, in giving his personal experience in the cropping 
of early Potatoes. Does Mr. Errington give preference 
to the mode adopted by a correspondent, in the number of 
December 20th, of the year 1853, under the title “ Potatoes 
for Ever,” where the correspondent recommends leaving but 
one shoot, or sprout, upon those sets which are the size of a 
small hen’s egg, and two shoots to those which exceed that 
size ? or whether Mr. Errington’s experience has gained 
still better results, in a different mode of treatment ?—A 
Foreigner and Reader.” 
[R. Errington will, with great pleasure, offer “ A 
Foreigner” his opinion as to the Potato case about which he 
desires information. The fact is, that the number of sprouts 
which ought to be left depends much on the kind. If I plant 
what is called “ a Radical ” in these parts, and an Ash-leaved 
Kidney, each of the same size, and each possessing one 
sprout only, the probability is, that I shall get about half-a 
dozen nice Kidneys, whilst the Radical will have about two 
dozen, and those of all sizes, from a duck’s egg to that of a 
crow. Potatoes which produce so many on one stem will 
generally find one or two stems sufficient; those which are 
the reverse will do with more stems, providing a good crop 
is the object.] 
PASSIFLORA AMAB1LIS. 
“ Can I grow and flower Passiflara amubilis with the heat 
I keep up in my house ? It is a land of intermediate one— 
rarely lower than 40° during winter, and in summer de¬ 
cidedly warm. I purpose planting it in the border at the 
back of the house (the warmest end near the boiler), free 
from all draught and cold air ; the only thing is that there 
will be no extra heat at the bottom in the border. I grow 
a general collection of plants, but manage to keep one end 
warmer than the other.—II. B.” 
[We think that in such a position the roots will derive 
some benefit from the hot-water boiler; and that though 
the leaves may mostly fall, the older stems of the Passijlora 
will survive, and send out young flower-shoots in spring and 
summer. Had we any doubt, however, we should use 
P. Billotii instead, which would thrive well, without any 
doubt.] 
SOWING MIGNONETTE IN WINDOW-BOXES. 
“Would you be good enough to tell me what time I should 
sow my boxes of Mignonette. I have three sets of boxes 
for my windows, and I want the first set to be in flower by 
the end of May, and the other two sets to follow in 
succession; to continue in flower as late in the season as 
possible. Of course, the boxes will have to stand outside 
the windows, as soon as the seed is sown, as I have no other 
place for them.—A Cottage Gardener.” 
[Could you set your boxes inside the window, we would say 
sow in the first week of March, and only place them outside 
at the beginning of May, or to give air on a fine day. If 
you must sow outside, the end of March, or beginning of 
April, will be soon enough. Sow again about the middle of 
May, and from the middle to the end of June.] 
PLANTS FOR THE DINNER TABLE. 
“ I am required to furnish, say twice or three times a 
week, a pair of plants for the dinner-tablo ; they are to be 
very nicely in bloom, and must be the best of their kind ; 
they are intended to be placed in two large silver stands, 
made in the shape of a Magnolia flower, and in order to fit 
them, must be grown in pots not more than four-inches- 
and-three-quarters wide inside. 
“ What I require is a list of such plants as may be 
suitable for the purpose, with a few cultural hints, as to the 
