June 5.J 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
155 
With respect to purchasing hives, I hold the opinion that 
they should be young, clean combs, and free from moth, 
never in an old hive, and if in March they have four or five 
pounds of honey in store, it is quite sufficient. 
I acknowledge myself quite at a loss to know what is 
meant by artificial swarms. If it is to procure a premature 
swarm, the only way is to divide the combs perpendicularly, 
I so as to take away a portion in which is a queen’s cell 
| sealed up, and, by a distant removal, the nurses may remain 
till the said queen’s cell produces a young queen bee; but to 
divide the hive horizontally, is next to impossible to make 
two out of one, as it will ever be found that the queen’s 
cells are in the lower part of the hive, and on being much 
1 disturbed they will all follow the old queen. Let me tell “ A 
Country Curate,” that a much better plan is, to await till he 
can observe one or more caps from the queen’s cell lying 
beneath the hive; or, another certain sign which I could tell 
him (if a first swarm), that everything is ready for a separa¬ 
tion of the community, weather permitting, he may then, by 
artificially producing that which is the last cause of the 
turn-out, enjoy the sight of a natural swarm of much more 
value than in prematurely dividing the stock. 
If his object is only to obtain the honey and preserve the 
lives of his bees, let him adopt mine, which has ever been 
denominated the “ storying principle ; ” or, taking the upper 
box or hive, and leave the lower habitation, without driving 
from one hive to another, as though the poor bees had no 
feeling. 
As to locality, mine is Barnsley, in Yorkshire, by no means 
an early or a warm climate ; and around me the gooseberry- 
bush is rapidly giving way to the factory-chimney. I have 
still one consolation, and that is, I am not near a brewery, as 
I was at Middlewich, when a brewer brought me nearly a 
quartern-measure of bees which he said belonged to me, 
adding that “he had taken the drunken toivads out of 
the cooling wort.” S. J. R. 
TEA-SCENTED ROSES. 
Amateur cultivators of these roses who, like myself, reside 
within a few miles of the metropolis, and are compelled 
necessarily to grow them under glass in pots, find them 
fail after a season or two. We may be successful with most 
kinds of plants, but these prove more than our match. With 
great care, I get at first, certainly, very satisfactory speci¬ 
mens, but find it impossible' to keep the plants in the same 
state, and the blooms speedily deteriorate. Before giving 
them up, I made a new attempt, which has been quite suc ¬ 
cessful. I planted about fifty half-standards and dwarfs of 
Souvenir d’un Ami, Eliza Sauvage, Adam, Devoniensis, Ac., 
in the autumn, in a well-prepared compost, and erected a 
low span-roofed house over them, with glass sides to the 
ground, and side windows for ventilators. It answers admi¬ 
rably ; the plants are looking remarkably healthy and pro¬ 
mise well. The shoots are most vigorous, and are covered 
with buds.—W. Cf., Stoke Newinyton. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS 
*** We request that no one will write to the departmental writers of 
Tue Cottage Gardener. It gives them unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. All communications should be addressed “ To the Editor of 
The Cottage Gardener, 2, Amen Corner, Paternoster Row, London.” 
Botanical Arrangement in Borders (Miss M. B. A .).—We 
cordially agree with you, that with a view to the encouragement of the 
study of hardy plants in natural groups, or according to natural classifi¬ 
cation, specimens from the different groups should be procured and cul¬ 
tivated by amateurs and others in their “ mixed borders.” This has 
been our own idea for many years, as to the true use of what are called 
“herbaceous plants,” and with this impression we have sent your letter 
to one of our contributors with a request to aid you. Meantime, our 
Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary, is the best and cheapest reference 
to suit you; indeed, it is the only catalogue in our language in which an 
attempt is made to separate the useless from the beautiful. 
Calystegia soldanella ( Ibid ).—Can any of our readers procure a 
rooted plant of this British bindweed for our correspondent ? 
Calycers (Ibid ).—There are some hardy, or half-hardy, plants in the 
obscure Order Calycers (Calyceracese), but, as far as we are aware, there 
are none of them in cultivation. All that are described of them, inhabit 
the southern parts of South America, particularly in South Chili. 
Wintergreens (Pyrolacese) (Ibid ).—They are all hardy, and the 
easiest of them to be procured are Pyrola and Gal ex —plants not un¬ 
common. 
Fir Rapes (Monotropaceee) (Ibid ).—They are parasites which grow on 
the roots of trees. We are not aware of any attempt having been made 
to cultivate them. 
Dodders (Ibid). —They grow freely from seeds in the usual way, and 
as they rise from the seed-pot they become parasites, and attach them¬ 
selves to the nearest plant. 
Nectarine Leaves Blighted (P. D. D.). —We have no faith in 
any hand work performed for leaf or branch in your case, for we fear the 
constitution of the soil is bad. Whether too wet, too dry, or too poor, 
we of course cannot say ; but think you will do well to pick off all diseased 
leaves instantly, and immediately to apply a rich mulching, four inches 
thick ; presuming that the bottom is too poor, and too dry, fitfully. On 
this mulch we would apply a soaking of guano and soot water, at a tem¬ 
perature of 90 °, in order to excite new and clean wood betimes, and pinch 
the points of all at the end of August. The Roman Nectarine is not 
very tender. If this does not improve its condition, pray dig it up in 
October, and make a platform as advised in our back numbers. 
To Preserve Ginger (A Constant Reader ).—Put some of the 
youngest and most tender races of ginger, which should also be free from 
knots, into a China bowl, cover them with water, and let them soak 12 
days, stirring them two or three times a-day during that time, and then 
boiling them until tender. Let a syrup be made of a pound of sifted 
loaf-sugar to every pint of water, to which some lemon-peel and cinna¬ 
mon should be added. Boil this syrup, skim, and when it has boiled 
half an hour put in the ginger, and boil all together for another half an 
hour. Pour the ginger and syrup together into a China bowl or vessel, 
and let it stand closely covered until the next day, when it should be 
boiled another half hour, and the same be repeated daily until the syrup 
is clear, and remains attached to the spoon, when it may be put into a 
jar, and when cold be tied closely down. Some use equal parts of raisin 
wine and vinegar, instead of water, for soaking and boiling the ginger. 
Fusciiia Buds Dropping (T. P. L.).~ When you shifted them the 
other day it was probably into cold earth ; and the abundant watering 
you speak of was probably with cold water. Keep the roots warmer ; 
water with tepid water, and shade the tops. 
Heracleum giganteum (II. Winckworth). —We cannot go to the 
expense of having this engraved, nor do we see the need for describing 
it, since you have a flourishing plant from Messrs. Hardy. We shall 
willingly answer any specific question regarding it. 
Eggs Dropt from the Perch (E.M. F.). —Hens will do this occa¬ 
sionally ; the best remedy is to have the perches close to the ground, and 
a thick covering of sand or fine coal ashes beneath. 
Wardian Case. —In answer to an inquiry, particulars relative to one 
on sale may be obtained of Mr. W. Batger, 3 Beauvoir-terrace, Kings- 
land-road, London. 
Apple Blossom Grub (J. C.). —The grub which destroys the blos¬ 
soms of your apple trees just before the fruit is set, is probably the larva 
of the Apple-blossom Weevil (Anthonymus pomorum), of which you 
will find a drawing and description in the Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary, 
p. 53, and in our first volume, p. 145. We know of no cure at this time 
of the year. Smoking the trees will have no effect. Destroying every 
infected blossom, and scraping off the bark and destroying the Weevils 
beneath it at the close of autumn, are the best preventives ; especially 
if you afterwards keep a broad band of moist tar round the stem of each 
tree until the fruit is well set. 
Planting out Potted Trees (J. H.). —We never received your 
first communication with the seed vessel. There is no doubt about the 
benefit of spreading out the roots of potted trees when they are turned 
out into the border. The hair-like roots of Cupressus thurifera we should 
have set free by washing the earth from them. No stronger case than 
that could occur, illustrating the importance of spreading out the roots 
of potted plants. 
Narcissus biflorus (Ibid). —We think, though we cannot speak 
with certainty without seeing the specimen, that your wild specimen is 
N. biflorus. It is common for it to have only one flower, and sometimes 
it has three upon a stalk, or scape. Much less is it a specific distinction 
having a white margin to the tube of the nectary ; this is as often absent 
as present. We presume you know that its popular names are the Pale 
Daffodil, and Primrose peerless. If the flower-bud bent down, or elbowed 
soon after it came forth from the ground, it is a confirmation of our 
opinion that your specimen is N. biflorus. 
Watering with Hard Water (R. H. D.). —It may injure your 
flowers; and can there be any insurmountable difficulty in exposing the 
water to the air for a few hours before using it ? It is a part of good 
gardening, as well as good practice in all other transactions, not to run 
unnecessary risks. 
Motii in Clothes (G. H.). —The grub of Tinea pellionella is, pro¬ 
bably, your enemy. Beat the infected articles frequently, expose to the 
air, and keep camphor in the drawers, &c., renewed as often as needed, 
to make them smell strongly for the next six months. 
Elementary Catechisms (G. P.). —These are published by Messrs. 
Groombridge, Paternoster-row. Your reproof about the cuttings is not 
just. If we were to give away these, we should have hundreds of appli¬ 
cants, as we had, to our serious inconvenience, for Himalayah Pumpkin 
seeds. 
Araucaria (Syonica). —You do not tell us the species; but as you 
talk of “ an avenue” of it, we presume it is A. imbricata. Your light 
soil ought to suit it, if not overshadowed with trees, for it requires no 
particular culture. If your plant was raised from a cutting, instead of 
from seed, it will grow very slow, and remain moie dwarf, do what you 
will. 
Thinning Potato Stems (A Constant Reader). —We quite agree 
with you in recommending this. Our correspondent says—“ We practise 
it by going along the row before hoeing, and drawing away all the weak 
lateral shoots, and leaving two, or, perhaps, three to a root of the strongest 
shoots. We served them all the same way last year, and had a splendid 
crop of potatoes, there were scarcely any small ones.” We cannot tell 
what plant you refer to in your question. Give us the name and refer 
to the page. 
Bitter Butter (D. II.). —Cows will not eat the buttercup; there- 
