204 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[June 26 . 
they are quite ripe. Some bulbs that require resting, and feel like 
naughty children indisposed to go to bed when ordered, we force to 
slumber by withholding water, &c.; but we would not do so with the 
hyancinth. 
Camellia Pruning.— Mr. F. W. Tetley, of Ridge House, Leeds, 
writes to us thus :—“ In an early number of The Cottage Gardener, 
on the culture of the Camellia, you state that they bear pruning as freely 
as apple-trees. This I have no wish to deny ; but does not this convey 
the idea to an amateur that he may cut away without damage, as he 
would with a soft, woody, quick-growing plant ? 1 felt the inconvenience 
of this remark myself, and cut my camellias in freelybne year, and found, 
after the growth of the next, that my plants were scarcely so large as 
before I pruned them. The following year, by advice of an eminent 
camellia grower, I merely took out the bud at the top of the shoots, 
expecting to make the plants bushy, but this did not succeed ; and this 
year I am following another plan, which so far promises well. I have 
bent down all the top and other bare shoots, and have tied them down 
with soft thick thread, or very soft twine, and find many buds have 
broken which otherwise would have remained dormant, and the plants, 
instead of having long, bare stems, are now feathered ; and by following 
this practice I have little doubt of getting all my plants nice and bushy, 
and this with no diminution in the size of the plant. I have not broken 
one branch in this practice, so that they cannot be very brittle ; and I 
think many amateurs would follow this practice if it were communicated 
to them.” Your plan of bending down the Camellia shoots, to cause | 
them to break, is a good one, and, where practicable, is better than 
pruning ; at the same time we are certain, that if properly cut back the 
Camellia will break again freely, and make handsome bushes. There is 
a wide difference between the cutting in required by a Camellia and a 
Pelargonium. 
Alonsoa as a Bedder (IF . K.). —This bedding plant will do better 
from cuttings in the spring, treated in all respects like Verbena cuttings, 
than by seeds, if your ground is at all rich, as seedlings go too much to 
leaf, which cuttings do not. Two or more plants of it should be kept in 
pots through the winter, to get cuttings from in the spring. It is very 
easy to keep. 
Petunias in Beds (Ibid). —Of course you planted them nine inches 
or a foot apart all over the bed ; and pegging down means that the 
shoots, as they grow, should be trained over the bare places till they all 
meet, and so cover the whole bed. 
Cuttings (Ibid). —The spring is the best time to make a stock of 
cuttings of all the Verbenas, and other soft-wooded low plants like them ; 
for Geraniums and Calceolarias, the autumn is the best time. 
Transplanting Evergreens (A. B.). —If by “laurels,” you mean 
the common laurel, you may go to work with them immediately, though 
they are fifteen feet high. If they are Portugal laurels, which are more 
difficult to move safely, wait till the second week in July. 
Chimney Campanulas (IF. C.). —You must mean the tall pyramidal 
Campanula, and no wonder that the same plants do not “ throw up ” a 
second time, for they never do ; you are only growing a large number of 
sidelings from the collar of the old plants which flowered two or three 
years back, and although some of these side shoots might possibly 
flower, that is not the way to treat them. Slip cuttings from round the 
bottom of the flower-stalk should be made every year, in the autumn, or 
in the spring, from where the flower-stalk is to issue, and as soon as 
rooted, be planted out in rows, nine inches or a foot apart, on a bed or 
border made very rich. The strongest of the cuttings would flower the 
following year, and some not till the second season. Keep a lot of nursing 
plants always on hand, and pot the strongest for flowering every April, 
which is a better, easier, and more sure way than having them always in 
pots ; good gardeners can alone manage them in pots. 
Sowing Seeds (J. M. U .).—Seeds of Gladiolus, Humea elegans, and 
Calceolarias, will not do at all to be sown in the open ground, nor will 
seedlings of either, from autumn sowing, stand over the first winter 
without protection. Gladiolus seed, sow in pots as soon as ripe, or leave 
to September, and keep the seedlings in the same pots over the winter, 
and next spring till the leaves die ; in May or June, before they begin to 
grow again shake them out of the pot, and give them fresh soil, chiefly 
peat, placing six bulbs in a six-inch pot. Humeas —sow from January to 
April, or from April to the end of June, in pots, and in a close frame, for 
flowering the following year; early spring-sown ones will make the best 
plants. Calceolarias may be sown in the spring, summer, or in the au¬ 
tumn, as late as September. 
Cutting Down Geraniums (A. Y. Z.).—Old wood is bro\vn, and 
young wood green ; cut them a little below the green parts, and all the 
leaves will be gone; they will grow better from the brown wood, which is 
ripe. Those you intend to plant out need not be cut so close, only half 
way down the green wood, or say remove as much as will carry off half 
the leaves. You need not shake away all the balls from them till you 
take them up in the autumn, then you will have to cut them again, and 
trim the roots also, but all the leaves are not to be then removed; but 
you shall see all about them before the time of potting comes round. For 
those you keep always in pots, you cannot do better than follow Aunt 
Harriot’s plan to the letter. She was the best manager of pot geraniums 
out of London, for many, many years. 
Bees (IF. B . C.). — Your hive is in the most properous state possible. 
If you will trouble yourself to examine the few bees brought out, they 
will be found to be young ones, and every one of them imperfectly 
formed,—some wanting a leg, some with an imperfect wing, and so on. 
Bees (Clericus). —Mr. Payne’s small hives contain about ten pounds 
of honeycomb, he. In putting on a second small hive, it is better to 
have the hole in the wooden top two inches in diameter. In three or 
four weeks after the swarm has been in a common store hive, you may 
cut a 4-inch hole iu its top to put on a small super. 
Bees ( Bob ). —You say, “ In the spring of this year I bought two hives 
of bees, both of straw ; one of these I placed on Taylor’s Amateur Bar- 
Ilive, which is now nearly filled with comb, and I hope in the course of 
a few days to be able to remove the old straw hive, and to replace it 
with either the second bar-hive or glasses. I wish I could give as good 
an account of the second ; the bees are literally doing nothing; a few 
congregate in the entrance and bask in the sun, but do not work ; it is 
respecting this hive more particularly that I wish your advice. I see by ! 
your number of 29 th ult., that this state of things is caused by the old age 1 
or death of the queen ; as a remedy you recommend placing a piece of 
larva and eggs in the inactive hive, by placing a comb from a “Taylor’s” | 
hive in it, but this with me is impracticable. I have double floor-boards, 
as figured at p. 30 of “Taylor’s Bee-keeper’s Manual,” third edition, and 
had intended by means of it, to have transferred them to one of Nutt’s 1 
Collateral-hives. Now how am I to act; will it be better to insert a | 
piece of comb under the straw-hive, or fixing it in the Collateral-hive as 
a guide-comb, and by means of the doubling board force them to pass 
through it?”—You must not remove the straw-hive placed on Taylor’s | 
Bar-hive (you did very wrong in placing it there), you should have 
allowed it to swarm, and then have put the swarm into Taylor’s hive, j 
If you remove it now the bees will, in all probability, leave the Taylor’s ] 
hive, and all return to the straw one. As regards your queenless hive, | 
you had better put a piece of comb, containing both brood and eggs, into \ 
a small bell-glass ; cut a hole at the top of the hive, and place the glass 1 
with comb, containing eggs, he., over it, covering the glass with several j 
thicknesses of flannel, or something of the kind, until the brood is all 
hatched. 
Bees (C. C.). —You' ask “The best remedy for bees putting brood in 
the glasses, which it is often difficult to prevent when the hive is very 
strong. I have a 6 -inch and a 10 -inch glass, both nearly full, on the 
same hive, but some brood in each. I have put an 8 -inch square box 
under the smaller glass, and left a little space for air, so that the glass 
has been pretty cool since, and I hope her majesty will not again visit it. 
Can you recommend any better plan ? ” Had you given the ventilation 
earlier the queen would not have gone up. The best method of ventilating 
that we have heard of is Mr. Kitchner’s Ventilated Passage, which you 
may see in the Exhibition, with two splendid glasses of honey obtained 
by its use. With this apparatus it is impossible for the queen to go up ; 
we may, perhaps, at some future time give a figure and description of it. 
Bees (B. B.).—“ A short time since I informed you that 1 met with a 
drone brood in a glass partially filled with comb, and very little honey, 
when I went to place a super between the glass and the stock hive. I 
thought I had now effectually secured them from swarming, and was not 
a little surprised, on my return from church (1st June), to find a large 
swarm had issued from it, and was settled on the identical gooseberry- 
bush on which a swarm settled last year, and to-day ( 11 th June), a cast 
came off ( 2 ^ lbs.), and settled on the same bush. I thought, from the 
number of bees in the super, and the brood in the glass above, that the 
bees would not have left them. There are very few in either; a small 
number over the brood, and others in the super raising the comb—up¬ 
wards. In some of the pages of your work, I think I have observed that 
no profit can now be expected from this stock. It seems full of honey, 
all the cells to be seen through the window, are closed up. How should 
I proceed ; the comb is raised up in the super two inches? (Raise the 
super, cut away the two-inch of comb, and replace the straw top.) The 
guide comb in the glass, the bees did not take to, but built upwards in 
it.” (We should have raised the glass, cut away the combs worked up, 
and then replaced the glass.) l)o not put on supers after July. Treat 
Melilotus leucantha as common clover; if sown in August, it flowers the 
next summer, The great number of drones arises from the stocks being 
very strong, and this is in favour of the doubling system. 
Corn Mill. —A correspondent (Incubator) wishes to know where he 
can obtain one of the corn mills mentioned by one of our correspondents 
in our number for May 29 th. 
Scotch Cows (Utile et dulce). —They are usually black. They are 
hardy and good milkers, but inferior in the latter quality to the North j 
Wales. If we can aid you further about the Jersey cows we will. 
Laburnum with Various Flowers (I. S.). —This is not at all 
uncommon. The sports you mention might be grafted or budded upon a 
common Laburnum stock, but would not be more permanent than on 
their parent. 
Rose Flower-stalks ( One who fears, §c.). —Cut them off close to 
the leaf whence they spring as soon as done flowering. They will not 
bleed. Take up your Ranunculus roots, and preserve them iu sand in a 
dry place. 
Gooseberry Caterpillars (R. II. D.). —Sprinkling them with 
white hellebore powder, by the aid of a cook’s dredging box, is the best 
mode of destroying them. In using hard water to plants, both expose 
it to the air ana sun, and add a little ammoniacal water ; they will then 
sustain no perceptible injury. 
Dublin (A Subscriber from the Beginning). —We have given direc¬ 
tions which, we hope, will prevent future delay. If delays occur oblige 
us by the information. We are totally unconscious of any omission iu 
answering questions, and think you will find the answers, though we may 
have mistaken the signature. The earth that you enclosed is not loam, 
but very barren silicious sand. By loam is meant a soil containing clay 
and sand in fertile proportions. 
Bees (J. H., Manchester). —Mr. Payne’s Bee-keeper's Guide, of which 
a fourth edition has just appeared, will suit you. 
Botanical Work (D. S. S.). —Lindley’s School Botany will meet 
your wants. 
Plants (Z. Z., Birmingham). —Any of the nurserymen and florists 
advertising in our columns can supply them. They are quite common. 
Italian Rye Grass (IF. Beardshall). —Taking your cows from such 
nourishing keep as hay, bean-meal, and bran, and putting them upon 
such watery food as young Italian rye grass, would necessarily cause 
their milk to decrease. Tares now are much more nourishing, and would 
restore their secretion of milk. Violent changes from highly nutritious j 
to very relaxing green food is very weakening to any animal. 
Names ok Plants (C. B.). —Your three specimens are Polygala 
grandiflora, a species of Esculonia, and Melaleuca paludosa. (Queen 
Mab). —Yours is Veronica lutifolia. (I. S.). —Who could tell a Begonia 
from three very young leaves ? They are like those of Begonia parvifolia. 
(S. R., Belcham Hall). —Yours is Staphelia pinnatu. 
Bottling Gooseberries (Wordsley). —We have it from good autho¬ 
rity that gooseberries picked quite green from the trees into bottles, 
