May 1.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER, 
77 
Indica in the greenhouse till the end of May, then place it out of doors 
till September, giving it due supplies of water, and then bring it into the 
greenhouse again. 
Triciiomanes buevisetum (Incubator ).—Your remark, that this 
fern is difficult to cultivate, is perfectly true if attempted in the ordinary 
way. It is found in the neighbourhood of waterfalls, where there is 
much shade and a constant supply of moisture both in the air and soil. 
It grows in black spongy peat. Now, to grow it successfully, these cir¬ 
cumstances must be imitated: place the plant in peat mixed with stones, 
in a shady place, but not too much so; cover it with a hand-glass, and 
sprinkle it slightly with rain-water everyday; with this treatment the 
plant will probably surprize you by its beautiful growth. 
List of Hollyhocks (A Lover of Hollyhocks ).—You wish for a list 
of 30 hollyhocks, and the following are first-rate varieties, and all dis¬ 
tinct. — Atrosanguinea (Baron), Bicolnr (Chater), Coccinea (Baron), 
Comet (Chater), Delicata (Baron), Delicatissima (Bragg), Enchantress 
(Chater), Exquisite (Parsons), Flower of the Day (Bragg), Horatio 
(Bragg), Magniflora (Bragg), Magnum Bonum (Baron), Model of Per¬ 
fection (Chater), Maiden’s Blush (Bragg), Mr. C. Baron (Chater), 
Napoleon (—), Obscura (Chater), Purpurea elegans (—), Perfection 
(Bragg), Prince of Orange (Bragg), Princess Royal (Bragg), Princess 
Helena (Bragg), President (Bragg), Queen (Baron), Rosy Queen (Chater), 
Rosea alba (Chater), Rosea elegans (Bragg), Sulphured elegans (Bragg), 
Snowflake (Bragg), Walden Gem (Chater). 
Various Queries (Cantiensis ).—Sow the seeds, as Phlox Drum- 
mondii, Petunia, and Globe Amaranth, in a gentle hotbed. See an 
account of the culture of the latter in a late number. They will all flower 
about July this year. 
C.elestina ageratoides (Ibid).— This is a good bedding plant, and 
it is a pale blue; a border of variegated geraniums would set off the 
colour. Verbena pulchella and its varieties make very pretty small beds 
or edgings for scarlet geraniums. It is a distinct species. Plant Ver¬ 
benas to procure bloom to show in June, as soon as the cold nights are 
past, as early in May as possible. Keep some in a frame in large pots, 
to secure early bloom. Your selection of Hollyhocks is a good one, and 
also your Pansies. Add the Duke of Norfolk to the latter.- 
Lobelia iiamosa (F. H .).—The “ red and white striped” Lobelia 
ramosa must have been a mistake of some sliop-boy in writing the labels ; 
there is no such plant known. Nasturtiums, or, better, Tropoeolum 
majus, sown about the 20th of April will be in bloom by the 1st of July, 
perhaps a little earlier if the situation and season are favourable; they 
will do in beds or as edgings to large beds, but their large leaves must be 
cut once in ten days for three months ; plant them a foot apart each way, 
or sow the seeds four inches apart, and thin afterwards, if they all grow. 
Marvel of Peru does best in the open ground. 
Bedding Geraniums (Royalist ).—Number one is not Spleenii, or 
any thing like it; and number two does not even belong to the section of 
Quercifolium ; and neither of the two will answer well as bedders by 
themselves. We now speak positively. 
Flowerless Bignonia (F. G .).—Not an unusual circumstance, and 
chiefly caused by rearing plants from American seeds. Some of the 
seedlings turning out absolutely barren last year, we rooted out one of 
them after a growth of eight years without a single flower. Try severe 
root-pruning. 
Ipom.'ea Rubro Coerulea (J. W. F.). —This should be loosed from 
its first support and brought to the outside of the new trellis, and spread 
over it in all directions as it grows. The first part of your note we 
cannot understand ; pray write more plainly what Ipomsea you wish to 
know how to treat. Trellis for I. quamoclit quite right. We are glad 
to find your hotbed answers built on the plan Mr. Appleby described in 
The Cottage Gardener. 
Geranium (W. M .).—Your geranium is called Colleyanum ; it is 
useful as an early blooming kind, but for shape, or any other good point, 
it is good for nothing. 
Bees (A Country Rector ).—Bees are driven from one hive to another 
by inverting the hive they are to be driven from and placing upon it an 
empty one, making the union secure by tying a napkin round, and gently 
tapping the lower hive. In artificial swarming the queen must be driven 
from the old hive, and a new queen is made by the bees left in the old 
stock. No honey escapes in separating a glass or small hive from a stock. 
Payne’s hives are Is. fid. the large hive, and Is. 8d. the small one to be 
put on it; they can be sent by rail. For economical bee-keepers Payne’s 
Bee-Keeper’s Guide is the best; for those who can afford box-hives 
Taylor’s Bee-Keeper’s Manual. Both are full of information useful to 
all bee-keepers, and so is The English Bee-Keeper, by A Country Citrate, 
just published, which we will notice more fully. 
Morns in Hives (Another Country Curate ).—You must endeavour 
to destroy the moths, or they will soon destroy your bees ; the maggot of 
the moths will be found between the hive and floor-board, which must 
be daily examined. Driving cannot be done at this time with advantage, 
autumn is the time ; put your swarms into Payne’s hives, and drive the 
old stocks in autumn. A small hive put on the stock hive will retard 
their swarming, and if a supply be given prevent it entirely; but if 
your hives are so old, the combs so black, and infested with moths, let 
them by all means swarm. Small hives should be put on the first week 
in May. We painted hives last week, all having bees in them. 
Bees (J. W. C.).— There should be a tube of perforated zinc reaching 
through the hole to the bottom of the glass, upon which glass a piece or 
two of guide-comb should be fixed. The lime, or any kind of fastening 
for the glass is unnecessary, remove it immediately. Where is the diffi¬ 
culty of setting Ducks Eggs found floating in the water ? Is it feared 
that Genii would come forth from them ? 
Names of Plants (M. C. R .).—Your plant is the White-stalked 
Marchantia, Marchantia cruciata of Withering. (R. F. R.). —1. Adi- 
antum capillus-veneris. 2. A. cuneatum. 3 and 5. Uncertain. 4. 
Lycopodium helveticum. 6. Mesembryanthemum acinaciforme. 7. 
M. inclaudens. 8. Kennedya macrophylla. (S.P .).— No plant came 
with your note. ( M.A.P.)—Omphulodes verna (Spring Venus’s Navel- 
wort); a very pretty rock plant; native of the south of Europe. (J.S.) — 
A young frond of Pteris serrulata. The name Aphelandra is derived 
from apheles, single, and aner, a male, alluding to the anthers being one- 
eelled. (A. M. G - Co. Cork.). —Your star-like orange flower Gazania 
rigens, a greenhouse evergreen from the Cape. 
Age of Seeds (Sigma). —We are obliged by the trouble you have 
taken in copying Cobbett’s list of the age to which seeds preserve their 
vegetating powers, but it is not a truthful guide, therefore is worse than 
silence. We should be sorry to depend upon Brocoliseed four years old ; 
and we should have no fear of Peas and Beans, if well kept, though two 
years old. We shall be obliged by any reader sending us his actual ex¬ 
perience of the time to which any seed may be kept, without losing its 
powers to vegetate productively. 
Stall-Feeding Sheep (Ibid). —Will some of our readers answer 
these querries—“ At what age should they be put up ? How should they 
be fed and managed ? ” The advantages of spade-husbandry can scarcely 
require any demonstrations, but we will insert those sent to us. 
Asparagus Beds (G. F. W .).—Though you are digging into the 
gravel this will not be injurious, provided the drainage is good, and the 
soil you put in rich. The roots at the sides will turn from the gravel into 
the better soil. Four rows in a bed is a bad arrangement, because of the 
difficulty of weeding and cutting in a broad bed. Two rows are far more 
convenient than even three, and single rows still more so. 
Crumbly Butter (Legcolium). —This certainly does not arise from 
the cows being fed upon carrots. Can any of our readers state a remedy '! 
For twopence you can obtain a copy of the number with the two missing 
pages. 
Ammonia Water (R. H.). —Mr. Beaton evidently means that he 
employs the house slops for syringing the green fly on his roses, and of 
course diluted with water; but no one can give the proportions as a 
general rule—very weak and often is the best one. 
JovauiLL (Betruss). —This name is properly pronounced Jhone-keel, 
but John-quill is the usual pronunciation. It is a corruption of the 
Italian giunchiglia, which means the Rush Lily. Your notice is probably 
bad in law ; but we cannot undertake to give legal opinions. 
Receipt (T. P. L.). —Try the experiment. Guano water, as a liquid 
manure for your flowers, may be made with half an ounce to a gallon. 
Cuttings of Roses (G. P.). —It would be highly improper to ask, 
nor would it be done ; for where must the stop come—at the 10th, 100th, 
or 1000th ? 
Distemper in Dogs (X. 0. X.).—This is too varying in its symptoms 
to prescribe any mode of treatment of universal applicability. Vaccina¬ 
tion certainly will not prevent its occurrence; nor is a black rim on the 
gums a sign that a dog has had the disease. Giving salt as you did to 
your puppy, or any other emetic, is the best medicine you can give a 
dog upon the first appearance of the disease; but dashing cold water 
over him is a very doubtful application. The severest case we ever knew 
in a pointer puppy was cured by administering emetics at intervals, com¬ 
posed of one grain calomel and one grain tartar emetic, keeping the dog 
warm, and giving him a nourishing diet of milk and strong broth. Read 
what Mr. Youatt says in his work entitled The Dog. 
Double-white Violet (A. M. G., Co. Cork). —Divide the old stool 
into single plants, such as that sent; pot into 4-incli pots, one plant in 
each ; place under a north wall during the summer months ; shift into 
larger pots about the first of August. Or the old stool may be divided 
as directed above, and the plants be inserted in a cool border, to be 
potted about the first week in September ; cut away all runners during 
their summer growth in the border. We cannot say what makes the 
points of your Carnation-leaves become deformed and brown, unless we 
know how you are cultivating them: similar effects arise from very 
dissimilar causes. 
Charring Refuse (J. B. C.). —Mr. Barnes says—“ The most con¬ 
venient size we find to form the conical heap for charring is about seven 
feet diameter at the base, exclusive of the outside casing. Such sized 
heaps, with attention, may be properly charred from the top to the 
bottom, on an average, in 30 hours. The influence of the weather of 
course has much to do with the matter, as well as good attention. We 
find, at times, that the same sized heaps may be properly charred in 24 
hours, while occasionally the same will take even 36 hours. If larger 
heaps, or kilns, are formed, they will take two nights and from two to 
three days, which is not so pleasant if the whole attention should devolve 
on one person. Our system is to have from four to six heaps or kilns 
all ready to ignite at the same time, which may be well watched by one 
attendant, and two batches a week charred and stored, without interfering 
with Sunday. In charring billet wood, if a conical kiln of seven feet 
diameter is ignited at five o’clock on the morning of Monday, it will be 
completely finished, and the fire smothered, before six on Tuesday after¬ 
noon. The batch drawn, sifted, and sorted early on Wednesday morning, 
and another placed for charring the same day, to be ignited early on 
Thursday morning, and this will be ready for taking out on Saturday 
morning. We always store the fine charrings for garden-seed sowing, 
mangold wurtzel, turnips and Swedes, grass, &c., &c., all and everything 
of which are greatly benefited by its application. You are right in 
supposing the stakes and centre billet are bound together at the summit, 
which, as a matter of course, is only a temporary arrangement to keep 
them from bilging, and the cavity in the centre from getting choked ; a 
hay or straw band, a bramble, or a wythe, is made use of for the pur¬ 
pose.” 
Zauchsneria Californica (J. P., Matlock). —Good plants of this, 
for bedding-out, may be purchased at the London nurseries for 6s. per 
dozen. You can have any volume you wish for of The Cottage Gar¬ 
dener for 6s. 6d. Your plant is Arabis albida. 
London: Printed by Harry Wooldridge, Winchester High-street, 
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.—May 1st, 1851. 
