138 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[May 29 . 
I Peruvian Squill is the only bulbous plant that has a place as 
i a principal plant in our arrangement. Of this, there is 
(1 another variety, called Peruviana discolor, or the dingy- 
iiowered Squill, the same as the latter in every respect 
except that of colour. Both flower in May. 
S. riu'.cox (Early Squill). This plant grows from four 
to five inches high; colour deep blue. It is one of the 
most important plants that a garden can possess, on account 
of its real beauty, and the early season in which it flowers, 
i It is as hardy as the commonest crocus, and is in flower at 
the same time, early in March. It should be kept in pots, 
as it is too valuable to have even a bulb of it forked out 
j of its place by an inexperienced person happening to be 
! dressing off the borders. We have no plant its equal, in 
| point of beauty, to flower in the open border at that season 
i of the year. If a pot of it stands in bloom in the conserva¬ 
tory, even amongst so many other beauties it is sure to strike 
* the eye of every visitor. Four or five bulbs may be planted 
in a six-inch pot, and notwithstanding it will flourish in any 
rich soil, yet turfy loam, a little peat, and leaf-mould, should 
be used in the case of potting; and when potted and plunged 
in its proper place in the border, it may remain four or five 
years without being disturbed. 
S. bieolia (Two-leaved Squill) is the next kind in point 
of beauty. It is included in our English Flora, but I do 
not know where it is to be found in a wild state. It is a 
little early flowerer, earlier of the two than the last men¬ 
tioned species, and grows from three to four inches high; 
colour deep blue; not quite so many flowered, but should be 
treated in every respect the same as the S. prcecox. 
S. Italica (Italian Squill) grows from six to nine inches 
high; colour blue, and being a stronger grower, may be 
kept in pot or otherwise. Flowers in April and May. 
S. lusitanica (Spanish Squill) is from four to six inches 
high; colour light blue, and is a very neat little plant. It 
may be kept in a pot, or in the border. It flowers in April 
and May. 
S. campanulata (Bell-flowered Squill).—This, I think, is 
the most common of all the Squills, and a very cheerful, free- 
blooming plant it is. This good-natured plant will flower in 
almost any place, whether among trees or bushes, and be 
the soil rich or poor. It rises from nine inches to a foot 
high; colour blue, and flowers in May. There are two 
varieties of this species, the pink and the white, both of 
which are very pretty, and will do in a pot or otherwise. 
Having mentioned some of the most beautiful of the 
Squills, and turning to the Fritillaria, I shall first make 
mention of our own native species, which is not only an 
early flowering plant, but one of the prettiest of the whole 
family of the dwarf kinds, and flowers in April or May, and 
does exceedingly well if planted in six-inch pots in turfy 
loam and a little leaf-mould, and plunged deep in its proper 
places in the border, where it will increase itself, and may 
remain for some years, until the pot appears to be full, when 
it may be taken up and divided and repotted. The best 
time to take up and divide any bulbous plant is when the 
leaves and stems have died down naturally. 
This interesting plant is called Fritillaria meleaguis 
(Fritillary, Chequered Daffodil, Guinea-hen Flower, or 
Snakeshead). It rises from nine inches to a foot high. 
There is a white variety of this flower. Many others might 
be here mentioned of dwarf kinds, such as nigra, pyrenaica, 
j obliqua, Ac., all of which we keep in pots, and are rewarded 
i by them every spring with a neat compact bunch of flowers. 
I The largest of this family is the Bed and Yellow Crown 
Imperial, or Fritillaria imperialis. This is too large for 
pot culture. It delights in good, rich soil, and rises from 
two and a half to three feet in height, flowering in April 
and May, and a noble looking plant it is, particularly the 
yellow variety. These plants will flower well in the same 
spots for three or four years successively, after which they 
should be taken up and tliier place exchanged with some 
other plant. This we prefer doing as soon as the plants die 
down naturally, first making their new situation rich and 
good, and planting immediately. Most bulbs do best when 
kept in the ground all the year. 
The little Eranthis hyemalis (Winter Aconite) is one of 
the earliest welcome spring flowers, and although it is not 
much of a flower for nosegays, its bright yellow flowers and 
earliness make it acceptable, and it is ornamental when the 
roots are kept snug together, so as to form neat, little, com¬ 
pact bunches near the edges of the flower-borders. I never 
have tried this plant in a pot, but no doubt it would do ex¬ 
ceedingly well if potted in six-inch pots, and a nice way it 
would be of keeping the tubers together. T. Weaver. 
HENS AND CHICKENS. 
Having given much attention to my poultry yard for the [ 
last few years, and having tried a great many schemes for j 
the management of hens more particularly, I beg to offer a 
few remarks on the way which I have found most successful. 
Our situation is very bad, being a cold, wet, clay soil, and 
what is worse, we are overrun with rats, which, do all we can, 
we cannot keep away. We have lost, I may say, dozens of 
goslings by them this spring, yet we have caught as many 
as ten rats in a trap at one time, and I am sure we should 
be most thankful to any correspondent of The Cottage 
Gardener, who could inform us of an effectual way of 
getting rid of them; we have tried traps, eats, of which we 
have three, who catch a good many, and I do not know how 
many kinds of poison. But all to no avail, for there the 
vermin are, perhaps not quite so numerous as ever, but 
quite as audacious. 
But to return to my subject. When first our hens arrived 
their eggs were all that could be desired, but gradually the 
shells got thinner and thinner, until after a year or two we 
often had eggs laid actually without shells. Well, we set 
ourselves thinking how we could prevent this, and at last 
we. obtained some chalk, which we broke up and mixed with 
the corn, and put in their water, and so eager were the hens 
after it, that they would often peck and eat the pieces of 
chalk before they touched their corn. This practice we have 
continued ever since, and find that it not only strengthens 
the shell of the egg, but has a beneficial effect on the health 
of the poultry generally. 
With respect to feeding .—They are let out, generally, 
about half-past eight in the morning in summer, and a little 
later in winter, and are fed directly on being let out with 
barley mixed with the chalk, as before-mentioned, sometimes 
they have a little boiled rice given them warm, and occa¬ 
sionally a little boiled Indian corn. About two o’clock in 
summer, and at one in winter we give them a second 
meal of barley, for which they come home as regularly as 
possible, then gradually go into roost, and are all in by six, 
when they are shut up for the night. Many advocate letting 
them out sooner in the morning, saying, that they then get 
the worms, grubs, Ac., which the dew of the previous night 
has called out from their hiding places. But against this I 
have two objections—the first is, we like them to have a 
good foundation of corn first thing in the morning ; and the 
second is, that we always found that by letting them out so 
early it was a temptation to lay their eggs astray, but that 
by keeping them in they became much more regular, and 
seldom layed elsewhere than in their proper place. 
With respect to houses and nests ,—I would only remark 
that we do not use any artificial warmth or anything of the 1 
kind; we allow a little light through a small window; and 
that the perches are arranged like two ladders with their i 
feet touching, and the upper ends leaning against the 
opposite sides of the house, which is decidedly the best 
plan. The nests are simply open boxes of wood turned on 
their sides and arranged in a line, taking care so to place 
them that you need not pass under the perches to get at 
them, and putting them close to the wall so that the rats 
cannot get up behind. 
When a hen makes up her mind to sit, we allow her to do 
so for a day or two before the eggs are given her, and when 
they are given we place a piece of trellis work in front of the 
nest, which is removed every morning for about half an hour 
to allow the hen to come off and feed, Ac. The use of the 
trellis work is to keep the other hens from teazing and 
laying in the same nest as the sitting lien, which they will 
otherwise often do. 
With respect to the rearing of chickens .—As soon as all 
the eggs are hatched, the hen and chickens are put in their 
coops and kept hi an old barn. The chickens being able to 
run about after a day or two, when fine — the coops are 
lifted out into the yard in the morning, and taken back again 
in the evening in wet or coldjweatlier, but in fine weather left 
