THE COTTAGE GAHDENEE. 
[September 11. 
1 requiring to he kept dry while it is at rest, like the old window Begonia. 
i It is too late now to do much good with it from cuttings, Mr. Appleby 
noticed this beautiful plant lately, with full directions for its treat¬ 
ment, fee. 
Golden-chain Geranium, &c. (71. L.). — Mr. Appleby has it, or 
should have it, on sale; but as you propose seeing it at the fountain¬ 
head, we need say no more of it here. We believe “ our worthy friend ” 
will soon give a descriptive list of the whole of that class. The only 
means of procuring admission to the gardens is to apply, in Writing, to 
the proprietor, who is said never to refuse. There is a stated day (every 
Friday), but that is all we know. Apply immediately, and your other 
questions will be better explained on the spot. It is almost the only show- 
place we ever visited without being disappointed. 
Plants to Train Over a House (77. B. B.). —Plant the Ivy as you 
propose on the south-west aspect; let it have a good border to grow in, 
and procure strong plants, and as tall as you can get, to be planted any 
time next October or November. We would plant the opposite aspect 
in the same way, and then plant two, three, or four kinds of the best 
evergreen climbing Roses, to train over the Ivy. There is no way of 
heightening the effects of Hoses so much as this. You may then bud 
Noisette Lanark and Souvenir de Mulmaison, as the best white roses, 
and a dozen or more of other sorts on the climbers. For the south front, 
the Glycine sinense would look splendid, and if it did well would soon 
cover a large space. On each side of the door, or windows, we would 
plant Chimonapthus fragrans, the most deliciously-scented flower we 
have in winter. Strong plants of the whole ; the balls shook off, if they 
are in pots, put into good rich soil, would soon cover any house. In 
many places the common Jasmine is used to cover such walls, but we 
dread to recommend it, because we never yet saw it well managed except 
by professed gardeners. 
Home-made Wine (An Old Subscriber). — Mr. Livett says, “The 
drachm of isinglass to fine ten gallons was intended by me to be of 
apothecaries weight, but a few grains, more or less, will be of no conse¬ 
quence. With regard to bottling, I will send you, when I am less 
engaged, a few lines on the subject, which shall answer the queries as to 
bursting of bottles, &c. I do not know the gravity of good cider, or 
rather apple-juice, but I will endeavour to ascertain it during the cider 
season now approaching. I will send you another paper on ‘ Home- 
wines,’ in which I can embody these replies if you wish.” We do wish 
it certainly. 
Rose-leaves Blotched ( Georgiana ).—Your gardener, who attributes 
the disease to the influence of “Witchcraft!” knows “ the cause of it ” 
just as well as any man living. He may be glad to know that the follow¬ 
ing spell will keep all the witches in the country out of the garden. 
When he first sees a new moon let him prick his left thumb with a rose- 
prickle, let a drop from the wound fall on an old horse-shoe, and then 
nail this over the garden-door, and say, “ Cottage Gardener” three 
times, and our word for it, the witches will never enter the garden again ! 
But rose-blights will come every year, notwithstanding. There is not a 
garden nor a rose nursery in the three kingdoms, at this moment, free 
from the parasitical fungus which infests your rose-leaves. When the 
wood is ripe, or nearly ripe, the leaves of nine-tenths of all roses die off, 
blotched with this fungus, and no one heeds it, and we never find it do 
much harm for the next crop. We strip off great numbers of such leaves 
every September, and thin the bushes from weak and misplaced shoots; 
then we give a good watering of liquid-manure to all the perpetuals or 
autumn blowers. 
Cochin-China Fowls (B — If—).—Anster Bonn says—“From the 
account which you give, both of the appearance and disposition of your 
Cochin-China fowls, I am led to believe that they are of the genuine sort, 
but it is difficult to judge from a description only. It should be borne in 
mind, both by dealers and amateurs, that there are two kinds of Cochin- 
China fowls ; the square-built variety, which I have so minutely described, 
which I keep, and which (perhaps on that account) I most admire, and 
those which slightly resemble the Malay, but which I believe to be the 
pure-bred Cochin-China, notwithstanding. When these throw out the 
indispensable single comb, before and while laying, they greatly lose the 
Malay-like appearance about the head. The weight of your birds (7 lbs. 
for the cocks, and 5 lbs. for pullets of the March brood) I consider good 
for their ages. Respecting the price, I am at a loss how to offer you any 
advice, as I am not a dealer, and do not know what dealers are in the habit 
of offering for Cochin-China fowls. They are, of course, entitled to fair 
remuneration ; I think Mr. Nolan suggests one-third of the selling price 
as their share; but the sum you name (10s.) certainly appears very low, 
if the birds are genuine, and is, I think, more than would be offered if 
they are not so.” 
Bucks for a Weedy Pond. — A Parson’s Wife says, “ I have some 
Musk, or Muscovy, Bucks, neither black nor white, but pied like a 
magpie; they were purchased last spring for the chief purpose of keeping 
clean a small piece of water. For this they are useless, being seldom 
upon it; and this, it now appears, is their character. Two of the ducks 
laid and sat very well, but took an unusual length of time about it—six 
weeks each, all but one day. If this is their habit, it is a pity it is not 
known, as more than one little one was killed to see whether it was alive. 
The third duck was very anxious to sit, and made her nest under the 
knife-board, sitting very steadily in spite of the daily clatter over her 
head. Whether she sat five weeks-and-a-half, or six weeks-and-n-half, is 
a disputed point, but she hatched sixteen fine young ducks out of seven¬ 
teen eggs, and then never looked at them again, except to peck them. 
They are nursing by hand, and she is amusing herself with the drake, 
little thinking that she is destined to the stewpan. Can you recommend 
a breed that would keep down the weeds, without giving unreasonable 
trouble? The handsome black Botany Bay ducks were tried, but they 
were so very wild that they could not he brought into the yard to sleep 
or to sit, and so the foxes, or other thieves, carried off the young, and, at 
i last, all the old ones likewise.” We never knew ducks keep a pond free 
j from weeds ; nor do we believe they produce any other effect in it than to 
| make it filthy. Planted with Water Lilies, their broad leaves would be 
the best weed-destroyers. 
Hardy Climbers (Ibid). —All the strong Clematises ought to grow in 
a grove, if planted in barrels. Clematis Montana does not flower with us 
before May. The only one of them which blooms in our climate in March 
is C. cirrhosa, of which there are some varieties. There is not a climber 
on our lists suitable for your purpose which will flower before May. The 
Glycine sinensis grows and flowers beautifully with us in the shade. The 
Ayrshire Roses ought to do with you. We have ruga all over an old 
Oak, flowering where the sun never reaches it. 
Rose-cuttings (Verax).— Your plan is good, but a better way would 
be to say that Tea, Noisette, Bourbon, Hybrid Bourbon, Hybrid Per¬ 
petual, Ayrshire, Multiflora, Boursault, China, Banksian, Macartneys, and 
Miniature Roses, will, each and all of them, come from cuttings, in heat, 
any day from February to October ; that the spring months are the best 
for them in hotbeds; and after the middle or end of May, under hand- j 
glasses; without heat is less trouble. 
Honey varying in Colour. — A. D. R. says, he “took a cup of 
honey from one of his hives in July weighing Gibs.; it was beautiful. 
He takes another cup in August from the same hive, also weighing 6 lbs., 
but the honey was very black, looked as if it had beefl mixed with soot, j 
and was not half as good as the first. Can The Cottage Gardener 
throw any light on the subject ? Also, he has noticed that in his stock- 
hives, two and three years old, the combs are quite black, and half-filled 
up with rubbish ; the bees seem indolent, and the hives do not weigh so 
much as swarms of this year of eight weeks’ old. What is the reason of I 
this ? And should any of the old combs be cut out?”—Honey collected ! 
in May and June is always very fine, while that of July and August is ' 
generally dark and not so good flavoured, but this year much darker than 
usual, and, in some places, as black as treacle. Your stocks were weak¬ 
ened by swarming. It is now too late to cut out any of the combs, and 
if they are only three years old it is not necessary; the cup of dark 
honey had better be given to them as food. 
Phloxes (E. P .).—Both Cwlestis and Nitens are hardy and do not 
require winter protection. 
Caterpillars (G. W. Howlett). —These found upon a Lime-tree are 
the lame of the Puss-Moss, and very common. 
Biseased Laurel (T. A.). —When we first saw “the vermicular 
woody formations springing from all parts of the inner bark ” of your 
Laurels, growing at Lyme Regis, we thought they were fungi, but upon 
showing them to a botanical friend, he suggests that they arc only fibres 
protruded from the old stems. In a place, warm and moist like Lyme, 
and if the Laurels are so situated as that the warmth and moisture are 
increased, it is probable that the formations are rootlets, such as are 
frequently produced by the stems of Vines in the warm, moist atmosphere 
of the stove. 
Constructing a Pit (J. Betswortli). —If you will buy our No. 105 
you will find one drawn and described. 
Piercing Trees (Docilis). —Every wound injures a tree ; but an Ash 
and Poplar will not have “ their vitality endangered ” by being pierced 
so as to render them efficient as straining posts for a wire fence. 
Laundry (W. K—, W.). —Our correspondent will be obliged by any 
one describing “ a perfect and economical laundry, with information 
respecting boilers, washing-machine, dry-room, and other necessaries.” 
Brewing with Sugar (Hussey). —The directions are too long for 
republication. They are in No. 116 , which number will cost you two¬ 
pence. 
Yucca gloriosa (A Subscriber). —If the flowers on your fine Yucca 
glnriosa are not over by the time you read this, let the flower-stalk 
remain on till it is quite dry down to the heart of the leaves, and then 
cut it off. If the flowers are over, cut it now in the green or soft state; 
but the former is the best plan. From the moment the flower-stem of a 
Yucca is seen rising from among the leaves, the plant should be well 
watered once a week until the most part of the flowers are open ; and, if 
it could be managed, no more water should reach the roots for the next 
four months. These beautiful Lilies are sadly mismanaged in many 
places ; they are either too wet at the root all the year round, and so kept 
growing, or are nearly starved in poor, dry soil, and will not flower at all. 
Lettuces (W. K —, W.). —“I had a quantity of hardy’green lettuce, 
which stood out through last winter ; and this spring, when my gardener 
cut them, he left the roots in the ground, and, to our surprise, we had a most 
excellent second crop of lettuces from these roots ; many of them had 
seven and eight tops to a root, none less than four. Is this usual? Would 
it not be a good plan to take up some old roots for winter forcing of this 
sort? ” It is not unusual for lettuces to produce a crop of sprouts, but 
we never saw any of these sprouts heart, or at all equal the crop of let¬ 
tuces obtainable by a fresh plantation. The only use we ever made of 
such sprouts was for vegetable soup. 
Chrysanthemums (C. L.). —From your attention to your Chrysan¬ 
themums you ought to have a good bloom and good plants, too, if you 
have been mindful that your plants have plenty of room to stand upon, 
so as not to touch each other in an open situation. You say they have 
never wanted for water. Sometimes, in a gloomy situation, and perhaps 
not all right as to drainage, too much water will cause them to look 
yellow or sickly. In such cases the plants should be allowed to ask for 
water before watered again, and see that the drainage is all right. We 
never think of using manure-water in the early growth of these plants, nor 
till after the final shift, and the pot becomes filled with roots, and seem 
to need stimulus, then a good watering of manure-water once a week is 
very beneficial to the plants during dry, hot weather. We think, on the 
whole, that your plants looking a little yellow, and losing some of their 
lower leaves, has been caused either by a want of light from being placed 
too close together before they were last shifted, then shifted and set out 
in some more open situation, and distinct from each other, or from an 
insufficient supply of water at some time or times. Any such great 
changes cause the plants to look a little yellow, or lose some of their 
lower leaves. You have paid great attention to many shifts and manure- 
waterings during the early growth of the plants, and your final shift was 
on the ] gth of June, therefore your pots must be pretty full of roots long 
ago, and need very much water. As we have had some very dry and hot j 
weather, if your plants stood out much exposed to the sun they would, | 
in your sized pots, need watering even twice a day sometimes, and after 
being watered well at the root, should have been well watered over 
head, too, and, during hot, dry w'eather, this repeated once a week. 
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.— September 11th, 1951. 
