26 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[July 24. 
swarm into Nutt’s hive. Buy “ Payne’s Bee-keeper’s Guideit is well 
suited for a person quite unaquainted with the arrangement. 
Tiie Ranting Widow. — Queen il/«Avery kindly has written to us the 
following:—“On turning over the leaves of the last volume of The 
Cottage Gardener I one day noticed an inquiry from a correspondent, 
T. B. P., (in No. 109), as to what plant it is which is known by the 
designation of “The Ranting Widow.” It is the Epilubium Angusti- 
folium, which may often be seen in cottage gardens, and grows wild in 
the Forest of Dean. It is one of the handsomest of our English flowers; 
six or seven feet high, and bearing an abundance of bright pink flowers, 
which, as you will see, answers to the description of the plant seen by 
T. B. P.” 
Mignonette ( B. B.) —This growing on your aspargus-bed will be 
killed by the application of salt. Cut down the Melilotus when it has 
done flowering, if you do not require seed. Thanks for the tulip-bulbs ; 
we fear, from the appearance of the flower-stem, that it is an accidental 
monstrosity, and will not be a habit inherited by its off-sets ; but we will 
try them. 
Strawberries (I. S.). —It will be of little use to try these so far north 
on “ poor and strong soil.” Make it more open by the mixture of lime 
rubbish and dung; and plant it with Keen’s seedlings. 
Distorted Dahlias (R. P . Hamilton). —When young, the tops, we 
think, must have been slug-eaten, or frosted. The cuckoo spit insect 
had nothing do with it ; but it is not at all improbable that the cold 
nights, which occurred just at the time of the appearance of that insect, 
may have done the mischief. What you consider “eaten away” is an 
ulceration of the tissue of the leaf. We think if you mulch over the roots, 
and shelter at night in early spring, your Dahlias next year will not 
present this appearance. 
Solfatare Rose (P , V . 31 . E.).—There is no doubt that this is a 
tender tea-scented variety that will not suceeed as a standard on the 
Worcestershire hills ; and, indeed, you will not find that we ever recom¬ 
mended it to be grown as a standard anywhere. As you have budded it 
for a standard, its shoots are strong, and you are in a warmer district of 
England, why not try it as a weeping rose, and train it all round en 
Quenouille ? 
Honey-dew. —The same correspondent says—“ Permit me to mention 
that about terTdays ago I was passing under a beech-tree, when, hearing 
a loud buzzing over head, my attention was at once arrested. On looking up 
I saw some forty or fifty liumble-bees hovering about the leaves (the time, 
7$ o’clock, p.M. ; the weather very sultry) attracted by the glutinous 
excretion of the aphides (?), which was very abundant on the leaves. I did 
not observe any of them actually settle or suck the dew, but I have very 
little doubt they did so. Of the hive-bee, I saw not an individual; but 
it was getting late.” 
Rhododendrons (Queen Mob). —These, you say, “look more and 
more unhappy every year;” and so they will in your “ very burning 
situation ” on a gravelly subsoil, unless you come to the rescue by pre¬ 
serving more moisture to their roots. The sandy peaty soil in which they 
were planted is all right, but you must cover the surface thickly with 
moss, and give their roots a good soaking of water three times a week in 
dry weather from May until August, but not over the leaves. 
Heartsease (C — P —).—It was completely shrivelled up. : How often 
have we said flowers must be sent in a box of damp, not wet, moss. 
Fuchsia-buds dropping (C. C .).—See what is said at p. 184. To 
obtain Fuchsia-seed you have only to crush the berries when quite black 
and ripe, and to wash the pulp from the seed; dry it, and sow it next 
March. 
Geraniums bedded-out (Jones). —As these do not seem to grow, we 
fear you turned them out too suddenly, without gradually accustoming 
them to the open air. If so, they will not recover it until late in the 
season. Cover the surface over their roots with moss, and keep the 
roots watered every evening in dry weather.. 
Strawberries for Forcing (Garden). —See page 247- Gas with 
proper regulation can be employed for heating the air of a stove. Such 
a small house as you mention could be built for jfiTO, even if you em¬ 
ployed workmen. You will see an account of the gas apparatus we 
employ at page 312 of our last volume. 
Permanent Pasture (F. Procter ).—By all means sow the grass 
seeds immediately after the wheat is sown, and as early in the autumn as 
you can. September would be better than October. 
Artificial Flowers (F. P .).—You may readily obtain instructions 
in the art of wax-flower making, for now there are many teachers ; but 
the making of the talc flowers, as shewn at the Great Exhibition, is, we 
believe, a secret. Artificial-flower making is by no means so modern an 
art as you seem to consider, for in the Talmud, or Gemura, is this 
legend :—“ As Solomon sat surrounded by his court, at the foot of the 
throne stood the inquisitive Queen Sheba ; in each hand she held a wreath 
of flowers, the one composed of natural, the other of artificial flowers. 
Art, in the labour of the mimic wreath, had exquisitely emulated the 
lively hues and the variegated beauties of nature, so that, at the distance 
it was held by the queen for the inspection of the king, it was deemed 
impossible for him to decide, as her question imported, which wreath 
was the natural, and which the artificial. The sagacious Solomon 
seemed quite posed. Yet to be vanquished, though in a trifle, by a 
trifling woman, much irritated his pride : the son of David—he who had 
written treatises on the vegetable productions, ‘ from the cedar to the 
hyssop ’—to acknowledge himself outwitted by a woman ! with shreds of 
paper and glazed paintings ! The honour of the monarch’s reputation 
for divine sagacity seemed diminished ; and the whole Jewish court 
looked solemn and melancholy. At length an expedient presented itself 
to the king, and, it must be confessed, worthy of the great natural phi¬ 
losopher. Observing a cluster of bees hovering about a window, he 
commanded that it should be opened; it was immediately opened, the 
bees rushed into the court, and immediately alighted on one of the 
wreaths, while not a single one fixed on the other. The decision was 
not then difficult; the learned rabbins shook their beards in rapture, and 
the baffled Sheba had one more reason to be astonished at the wisdom of 
Solomon. This would make a pretty poetical tale. It would yield an 
elegant description and a pleasing moral—that the bee only rests on the 
natural beauties, and never fixes on the painted flowers, however inimi¬ 
tably the colours may be laid on. This, applied to the ladies, would give 
it pungency.” ( D’Israeli’s Curiosities of Literature.) 
The Best Provision for Gravy. —This is from a correspondent:— 
“Dip an ox’s liver in water when it comes from the butcher’s, and take 
it out immediately ; mix 1 lb. of coarse brown sugar with £ lb. of common 
salt, and rub it daily with this for a week or ten days, according to the 
size of the liver ; then take 3 oz. of saltpetre, and 1 lb. of common salt; 
boil it to a brine, with sufficient water to cover the liver. Let the liver 
lie in it six weeks, and then hang it up in your kitchen like bacon. The 
size of a man’s finger, cut into very thin shavings, is sufficient to put to a 
pint of water. Let it boil half-an-hour, and then strain it off. This is 
an excellent gravy for poultry and game ; no salt nor pepper should be 
added, as it will destroy the flavour. A bone of meat to a piece of the 
liver, makes a good soup ; it is also very useful to stew with vegetables, 
when no meat for stock is at hand. 
Names of Plants (31. and T .).—The fleshy leaf, we think, is that of 
Crassula orbicularis, and the little fragrant plant only some variety of 
the Wild Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) grown in the shade; but we will 
plant this, and tell you more about it. (Osmond’s Ash). —Your hardy 
shrub is Deutzia scabra ; it is well worth cultivating. Cut out the flower¬ 
ing shoots as soon as the flowering is over. 
Cape Shrubs from Seed (0. Y .). — You will find more said about 
them to-day by Mr. Fish. 
Kalmia Glauca (31. H .).—This is, seemingly, dying, as it is putting 
out only a stunted leaf at the points. Probably from flowering so early 
in spring it had been forced freely, and then turned out to the cold when 
the flowers were fading. We fear it is gone or going past redemption, as 
you say it has always been well watered, and that the drainage is good. 
Do not saturate the soil with water now ; but keep it in a shady place. 
Sandy loam suits it best. Kalmia latifolia requires similar treatment. 
Portable Greenhouse (An Old Subscriber). —Will think over it 
until next week. 
Sponge Cake (L. B.). —Take a pound of loaf sugar, finely pounded, 
and beat it with 1 lb. of new eggs twenty minutes, leaving out three of 
the whites. Then gently mix in J lb. of flour, and bake it immediately 
in a brisk oven. A few drops of essence of lemon or almond is a great 
improvement. 
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.—July 24th, 1851. 
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