August 7.J 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
297 
Ferns for Wardian Case (Legeolium ).—Any of the following will 
do for the centre of your Wardian Case, two feet high : —Adiantitm for- 
mosum (Handsome Maiden-hair), Lygodium scandens (Climbing Snakes- 
tongue), Nephradiuin molle (Soft N.), and Pteris Chinensis (Chinese 
Brake). 
Setting Melon Bloom ( E . B.).— The female blossoms are ready for 
the application of the pollen as soon as they are completely open. 
Candle Plant {Ibid).— We know of no plant called exactly thus. 
The Candleberry Myrtle is the genus Myrica, and Candel was the old 
name of the Mangrove, Rhizophora. 
Paralysed Ducks (F. B.).— Your young ducks that have lost the use 
of their feet, had better be allowed to swim in a tub of hot water daily, 
and be kept warm. It they are costive, give them each a small tea¬ 
spoonful of gin. 
Index (K. O. T .).—We duly received your two notes recommending 
us to prepare a general index for our six volumes at the end of the present 
one. If our readers generally are willing to pay for an extra double 
number, we have no objection to have one prepared, but they must 
write to us and express such a wish. 
Epilobium angustifolium— J. R. P., after wishing that “Queen 
Mab’s shadow may never be less” for communicating this botanical name 
of “ The Ranting Widow,” asks for its history and culture. Its general 
English name is the Narrow-leaved or Rose-bay Willow-herb, and it is 
found wild in most parts of Europe from Lapland to Italy. It is a 
native of many places in England and Scotland, and there is of it a white- 
dowered variety. Our earliest herbalists mention it, and Gerarde says he 
had it from Yorkshire, “being a plant very goodly to behold for the 
decking up of houses and gardens.” Professor Martyn says the young 
shoots are eatable, though an infusion of the plant stupefies; the pith, 
dried and boiled, becomes sweet, and it is made into a drink and vinegar 
by the Kamscliatdales : cows and sheep will eat it, but goats arc said to 
be very fond of it; the down of the seeds mixed with cotton has been 
made into stockings. It is a hardy herbaceous plant, and may be pro¬ 
pagated by seed sown as soon as ripe in the autumn, or by division of the 
plants. 
Drying Flowers (A New Subscriber). —Very few flowers retain their 
colours perfectly when dried. The following, published by Mr. Coleman 
in the Pharmaceutical Journal, is said to preserve the colour most suc¬ 
cessfully. Quickness in the drying is well known to be the best means 
of preserving the tints of the petals :—“ The apparatus required is very 
simple, consisting of a few canvass or linen bags, of such size that, when 
laid flat, they will rather more than cover a sheet of demy paper; a quan¬ 
tity of clean sand ; an old saucepan, or other convenient vessel, to heat it 
in ; and a few quires of blotting paper. Having provided these, first put 
a sufficient quantity of sand in the saucepan, over the fire, and, while 
this is heating, take a quire of blotting paper, on which arrange the 
plants, covering them with two or three sheets of blotting paper. When 
the sand is sufficiently heated, and uniformly so (which may be promoted 
by stirring it with a stick), pour into one of the bags enough to fill it to 
one-third^ The mouth of the bag being closed, by tying or folding back, 
it is then to be laid carefully over the plants arranged between the paper, 
and the sand contained in it to be spread out by the hand, and pressed 
with a board, so as to form a flat uniform surface. This process may be 
repeated, several layers of paper, plants, and sand-bags being laid on one 
another. If this is done, no extra weight will be required—the smallest 
and most delicate plants being placed in the uppermost layers ; but if 
the subject be large and thick, a board and weight will be generally 
necessary. Unless they are very thick and succulent, in which case they 
may require a second application of hot sand, the plants will generally be 
found quite dry within twenty-four hours, and often much sooner. This 
is one advantage; as, by this rapid desiccation, the colour is preserved 
in the greatest perfection, i. e., if the temperature be well regulated. 
The second, and, perhaps, of more importance as regards the botanical 
value of the specimen, is, that the sand, by adapting itself to the inequal¬ 
ities of the object under pressure, prevents any crushing of the stems, 
receptacles, &c. ; while the parts of the leaves in juxtaposition with a 
hard, thick stem, which, by the ordinary method, escape any pressure, 
and consequently shrivel up, are all equally flattened.” 
Charcoal-dust (A Recent Subscriber ).—You can obtain this of any 
large dealer in charcoal; and the nearest to you can be found by con¬ 
sulting the Post-Office Directory. 
Back Numbers {Ibid).—All our early numbers have been reprinted, 
and may now be had either in single numbers or in volumes. 
Fumigating with Cayenne Pepper { W .). —Grapes now colouring 
would not be injured by fumigating either with tobacco or cayenne 
pepper. We have nothing new relative to the latter mode. 
Chicory culture (T. Hill ).—As you have The Cottage Gardeners' 
Dictionary, we need only refer you to page 234 of that work , and 
other for information relative to cultivating it for its root, to The 
Cottage Gardener, ii. 50 and lgi, which you say you also have. 
We should sow in April, cut down the flower-stems as fast as they 
appear, and take up the roots in October for drying and slicing. 
In your deep Soil in Derbyshire, Liquorice would do very well. See 
for its culture under the title Glycyrrhiza, in the Dictionary. You 
may sometimes obtain from the chemists fresh juicy roots, cuttings of 
which would grow. When dry they are useless. Our correspondent 
says that vinegar made by the Vinegar plant should be boiled imme¬ 
diately it has turned sour. 
Retarding Gooseberries {Rev. H. B. Hall ),—You ask for the 
numbers in which this subject is mentioned, and you will find it in Nos. 45 
and 93. The best early and late Strawberries are Keen’s Seedling and 
1 Elton. Put Pansies for criticism into a thin box, with corks so placed 
! that the post-office punch will not crush it in ; put a little damp moss 
, below the flowers and a little of the same moss over them. 
Raising Mushroom Spawn (31. D .),—In answer to your query, we 
1 extract the following from The Cottage Gardeners’ Dictionary : —Two 
barrow-loads of cow-dung, not grass-fed, one load of sheep’s-dung, and 
one of horses’, well-dried and broken so small as to pass through a coarse 
sieve, are well mixed, and laid ip a conical heap during March, in a dry 
shed, being well trod, as it is formed, to check its heating excessively. 
This heap is covered with hot dung, four inches thick, or only with mats 
if the shed is warm ; for here, as in all the stages of growth, the heat 
should only range between 55° and fi0°. In about a month the heap is 
examined ; and if the spawn has not begun to run, which is shown by 
indistinct white fibres pervading its texture, another covering of equal 
thickness to the first is applied over the old one; in another month it 
will indubitably make its appearance. The time varies from three to ten 
weeks. If a small quantity of spawn only can be collected, it maybe 
increased in the following method :—Small pieces of the spawn may be i 
planted a foot asunder, just beneath the surface of the mould of a 
cucumber-bed constructed in the spring. In about two months the 
surface of the spawn will assume a mouldy appearance ; it may then be 
taken up, with the earth adhering to it, and when dried stored as before 
directed. As to melting Honeycomb into Wax, look at p. 132 of 
our No. 62 . 
Guernsey Cow (K. 0. T .).—Do not attempt to fat her; they are of 
the worst possible breed for fatting. Sell her at the next fair for what¬ 
ever she will fetch. 
Quick Hedges (T. 31. W .).—Our correspondent says :—“ It is usual 
here (Bishop’s Waltham), for the sake of ornament (1), in cutting the 
Hawthorn hedges, to leave one plant uncut at about every ten or fifteen 
yards, which has a pretty appearance, when all the other parts of the hedge I 
are closely and evenly clipped, especially as these uncut bushes are usually 
covered with a profusion of blossoms, succeeded by a plentiful show of 
fruit. But the object of my noticing this is to say that I observe, whilst 
the other plants which are clipped remain only the size of small walking, 
sticks, those that are left uncut are the size of a man’s wrist, and fre¬ 
quently much larger. Does not this show that it is the best policy to 
allow the young haw'thorn hedge to grow without any top pruning till 
the plants are several years old, and then cut them down to about three 
feet? Will they not then shoot well, and make a much stronger fence 
than if they are twice a-year constantly clipped ? I have a young quickset 
hedge by the side of my garden, and I shall not give it the usual pruning 
till I have your opinion.” Our opinion is that you must cut back all the 
side branches of your young hawthorns, but only just stop the leading 
shoots. This is the way to get height and thickness at the same time 
speedily. If you let them grow up unpruned they will increase in thick¬ 
ness of stem like those you mention, but they will get bare at the bottom. 
Cut the upper side shoots in close, and increase a joint or two more in 
length on each shoot as you get nearer the ground, leaving the lowest 
the longest, so as to have the outline of the young hedge like an in¬ 
verted A- 
Red Spider (An Incumbent). —With the bloom upon your grapes by 
no means syringe at all; it is the worst possible practice. Keep the air 
of your house moist by frequently watering the paths, and give a strong 
application of flowers of sulphur on the flue at the part furthest from the 
fire, and thus very gently repeat the fumigation, again and again, at 
intervals of a day or two, if the red-spider has not disappeared; if the 
flue where the sulphur is applied is not hotter than 212°, it w ill do no 
harm. You havebeen too timid in fumigating. 
Grape ( Questor ).—It is quite impossible, from the inspection of a few 
green berries, to be certain of the name, but as the berries are very oval, 
and you say the grape is black, and very like the Hamburgh when ripe, 
it is most probably the Black Prince. 
Dahlia (T. J. L. 31.). —If correctly pronounced, it would be as if 
spelt Darlia, but as by general acceptation it is pronounced Daylia, no 
one chooses to appear pedantic by uttering it with any other intonation. ] 
Your young 3Iyrtle, the shoots of which die as soon as three inches long, 
is in an unsuitable soil probably; but we cannot tell without knowing 
what the soil is, or where the plant is growing. The Cottage Gardeners' 
Dictionary, as nearly as we can tell, will be completed in fifty-three 
numbers, of which forty have been published. 
Profit from One-eighth of an Acre (An Anxious Enquirer ).— 
We sympathize with you sincerely, but not all the ingenuity of the best 
gardener could clear i J 35 a year oil’ that space. Nevertheless, “ Health is 
a merry fellow,” and worth making some sacrifice for. Have nothing to 
do with a cow, nor with rabbits ; but do what you can with pigs, poultry, 
and bees. These well managed, and the vegetables from your garden, 
might clear you half the desired sum. 
Names of Plants (T. N. IF.). —Yours is a species of JEschynunthus, 
and probably JE. radicans. Treat it as a stove plant. We never heard 
of such a plant as Pulea. (Brentingly Cottage). —Yours is Silene 
armwria. In most cases old tan will do for protecting plants as well as 
coal ashes. It is impossible to answer your question about the hen-yard. 
Why not have one wing of each fowl clipped ? or why not cover the yard 
entirely with iron net ? (John Leonard). —The flower was quite crushed 
of your Gladiolus. (Hester S.). —No. 1. Agrostemma curonaria. Rose 
Campion. 2. Clematis erecta, Upright Virgin’s Bower. 3. Spireea 
Jilipendula, Double Dropwort. The fungus is the Stinking Morel, Phallus 
impudicus. 
Wistarias (J. N., Omagh). —You may plant W. sinensis (which was 
once called consequana) and W.frutescens against your cast wall. They 
will remain longer in bloom, if the soil and situation be favourable, than 
when grown against a south wall. The common Orange, from Italy, is 
best for a cool greenhouse. List of Roses next week. 
Cow sore Teated (D. L.).— Foment her teats, before milking, with I 
warm water, and after milking anoint them with the following salve:— 
Melt together 1 oz. of bees’ wax and 3 oz. of lard; and when this begins 
to get firm in cooling, rub into it Joz. sugar of lead, and a drachm of 
aloes, both finely powdered. Thistles can only be eradicated by continu¬ 
ally cutting them down. Colesat or Rape is the best thing you can sow 
for the use of cattle upon ground cleared of crops during the present 
month. 
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.—August 7th,1851, 
