32 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 14. 
Passe Colmar, Ne Plus Meuris, and Beurre Ranee ; or if you determine 
to adopt flowers, all the Ceanothuses will suit; or better still, those 
half-hardy plants mentioned by Mr. Appleby. But why write about 
planting so late—only daft folks put off, or think of planting so late as this. 
Fancy Geraniums (S. S). —If you have enough of them, including 
your Ibrahim Pacha, they will make the best possible match for the ! 
shot-silk bed, but without an edging of any kind. An edging of scarlet 
never looks well round a mass of shades, as in the fancies. The Sapo - j 
naria calabrica would make the best match to your Senecio and (Enothera \ 
prostrata in the trefoil-bed, or the reddish-pink of the pink Ivy-leafed, 
Geranium. The Sultan Calceolaria will not agree with your other two, 
if you have the true one. Unless you want a strong contrast, Lady Mary 
Fox, Gooseberry-leaf, and Lady Plymouth, will never do together in a 
trefoil-bed; her ladyship will put down the other two. Strong plants 
of the Gooseberry-leaf might do with a good Diudematum or Quercifo- 
lium Geranium. See what Mr. Beaton says to-day. 
Eggs with Irregular Shells. —Mr. Lort says—“I have a healthy- 
looking black Shanghae hen, that has for many weeks continued to lay 
eggs with very irregular shells. This irregularity is not one of thickness 
alone, for the inside presents a similar appearance. Would this be caused ■ 
by a cartilaginous thickening of the oviduct?” [I should attribute the 
irregularity here described to a slight degree of chronic inflammation 
in the oviduct, which has not proceeded so far as to cause cartilaginous 
thickening; and should certainly advise that the parts be allowed to rest. 
This would, I think, be best accomplished by feeding the hen on plain 
boiled rice, which contains very little egg-forming material, and giving 
one grain of calomel, and one-twelfth of a grain of tartar emetic, to 
reduce the inflammatory action. After the hen’s ceasing to lay for two or 
three weeks, I should think the parts would be so far restored to a 
healthy state that perfectly-formed eggs would be produced.—W. B. 
Tegetmeier, Tottenham .] 
Insects (Hev. H. Helyar). —The insects found on the surface of water 
in the open air, and supposed to be a sort of blight, are the small species 
of Lepisma, or Spring-tailed insect, often found in clusters on the surface j 
of the ground in the winter, and which are also often seen floating on 
little puddles of water, their silky coats preventing the action of the ] 
water. They are not injurious to vegetation, feeding, I believe, entirely J 
on decaying vegetable matter.—I, O. W« 
Shanghae Cockerels Diseased. — J. Peering says, “ I have lost i 
one, and two others are ill with the same complaint of which their com- ' 
panion died. They have had their liberty all day, a warm house at night. : 
The first appearance of illness was want of appetite, the comb becoming 
dark and scaly. There was a thickening under the tongue, which was 
removed, and a little butter applied, warm and soft food given, and the 
bird placed alone in warm quarters. There is now a rattling in the throat, 
which is very thick, and a lump in it.” [From the symptoms here de¬ 
scribed, I should suspect an inflammatory, or thickened state of some of 
the digestive organs, probably similar to the case described at page 450 ; ' 
there is now, evidently, a low inflammatory state of the mucous mem¬ 
brane of the throat. This I should treat with a large mustard plaster 
round the neck, and endeavour to restore the general health by such 
means as half-grain doses of calomel, and one grain of simple powder of 
ipecacuanha, given every night for three or four days, keeping the bird 
warm, and giving it soft food only. If my surmise as to the internal 
disease is correct, the case is not likely to turn out favourably.—W. B. 
Tegetmeier, Tottenham. 
Unblanciied Celery (A Subscriber').—-' This is not so wholesome as 
when it is blanched, having tougher woody fibres; but we do not think 
that unblanched celery is poisonous. 
Bell Glasses (A. R. and many others). —We do not know of any 
manufacturer in England, at present, from whom they could be obtained. 
Poultry House (C. G.). —You will have seen an answer in a recent 
number. Brick is more substantial than wood ; but our own poultry 
houses are built of wood, lined with straw or reeds, as described in the 
first number of the “The Poultry Book” just published. There are 
plans there which will suit you. Do not have the floor paved. Chalk, ! 
rammed hard, and covered daily with a sprinkling of sand, is far better. ! 
The door and windows properly attended to give sufficient ventilation. 
Lark (R. R.). —If you buy our 198th number you will find what you 
require as to its management. 
Egg-layers. — T. 0. T. writes thus— “I see the question so often 
asked in your paper, ‘ What breed of poultry is most profitable to the 
cottager?’ that I cannot help requesting some of your correspondents to 
favour us with an account of the number of eggs produced by their 
various breeds during the past three or four months, stating how many 
hens or pullets they have, and of what breed, as I think you will allow 
that no period could be better selected to prove what sort of poultry 
will be most advantageous to the cottager. I am most willing to com¬ 
mence with what little I know. I have four pullets and a cock, very 
fair specimens of Shanghae, but I do not think quite pure. I bought 
the cock and two pullets in November, and they commenced laying on 
December 1 ; on the 4th, I bought two more pullets, which began to lay 
on the 8th. My account since then shows as follows:—December, 54 
eggs; January, 23 eggs; February, 51 eggs; March, 46 eggs. On 
March 4 I set one on thirteen eggs, and have twelve very healthy chickens. 
On March 23 I set another; and, on the same day, I put another in a 
coop, from which she was released on the 29 th. Are pure-bred Shanghaes 
better layers than these?” [The average of the preceding table gives 
only about eleven eggs per month to each of the four pullets, which is a 
very small number for Shanghaes. When these begin to lay, they scarcely 
miss a day until they become broody. We have one pullet that laid 99 
eggs in 112 days, since the 15th of December, and is still (April 6) laying.] 
Egg-eating Pullets.—I would recommend your correspondent to 
use an artificial nest-egg, and to have the pullet closely watched while 
laying, in order that the newly-laid egg may be immediately removed. 
In a fortnight the hen will probably have forgotten all about egg-eating. I 
When too many hens are allowed to lay in the same nest, quarrels ensue, j 
eggs are broken and eaten, and then a habit is contracted which is only 
to be overcome by attention and patience. W. Lort. 
Lycopodiums and Ferns (Lycopodium). — We know of no work j 
upon the culture of these in a greenhouse. Mr. Appleby will take up ! 
the subject before long. 
Hartley’s Fluted Glass (D. P.). — We should have the fluted ^ 
surface inside the house. 
Plane Trees (Improver), —No one has a right to have the branches 
of their trees hanging over your garden. There is an old law phrase, 1 
that all above and below the surface, from the earth’s centre to the sky, i 
belongs to the landowner. There are many ways of killing the tree's, 
but remember, your neighbour has rights which must be respected. We 
should cut through the invading roots, and then ram the trench full of J 
chalk ; the roots would turn from this unfertile mass. 
Cociilearia acaulis (W.L.B.). — If you cannot get it of your 
seedsman apply to the Horticultural and Pomological Association. It. 
grows well in the open borders. Our double Hepaticas are propagated 
by dividing the plants. The Beilis perennis can only be improved by 
hybridizing. 
Crowing Hen. — D. J. F. says, “ I think the advice which ‘ K.’ gives 
to “ Chicken-Hearted,” is not altogether sound, nor can I agree with 
him that alien must be an hermaphrodite because she crows ; much less, 
that she never did lay, nor ever will. My own experience proves the 
reverse of all this to be true. The hen from which I bred most last year, 
but which I did not exhibit, upon being deprived (during the period of 
the Birmingham Show) of the company of the cock, crowed frequently 
daily until the cock was brought back, when she ceased. She is a very 
spirited hen, and rather a vixen, but a remarkably good layer. I am 
aware that farmers consider a crowing hen “ unlucky,” but I have not 
yet found any ill-luck follow, and do not expect any.” 
Bees — Excess of Drones.— “ Observing in your Cottage Gar¬ 
dener, of the 24th ult., a reply to a ‘Country Curate’ respecting the 
excess of drones, I am induced to report the case of a very strong stock 
with me during last spring. I left home on the 18th May, with every 
reason to think the bees were working admirably, as all the comb I could 
see, and which lay with the cells to the little window in the hive, was 
well filled and sealed over; and I had not, at this time, observed any 
drones. On my return, on the 18th June, the cells were all cleared out, 
and my gardener informed me that on looking at the hive he had scarcely 
seen anything but drones. I would ask, do you advise destroying them 
when they appear so numerous? (No.) I should observe, I do not destroy 
my stocks. In another swarm, which 1 hived on the 4 th of June, I observed, 
before the end of July, the drones in a chrysalis state were ejected from 
the hive. The last season was ruination to me, and I suspect most bee¬ 
keepers found it very bad.— Broadstairs.” 
Taxidermy (T. M. IF.).—Will some ornithologist oblige our corres¬ 
pondent by stating which is a good and cheap book upon this subject. 
Gutta Perciia Hose (C. C. IF.).—Our experience is not favourable 
to this when used in lengths of fifty feet and more. It becomes so hard 
and intractable. We think that short lengths, with joints of vulcanised 
Indian rubber, might be made more manageable. Have any of our 
readers found a mode of rendering gutta percha tubing more tractable ? 
Diseased Hamburgh Hen. —“A Spangled Hamburgh hen ceased 
laying to-day. I noticed her standing moping with her eyes shut. I 
caught her, and found she was very thin. Whilst in my hand, she 
vomited nearly a quarter-of-a-pint of thin, whitish fluid; the eyes, when 
opened, were bright, and her breathing regular, with no discharge from 
her nostrils. What is her malady ? and what should be the remedy ? 
She, like the rest of my fowls, are fed with barley-meal warm twice 
a-day, barley and wheat as a standing dish, with worms, and cabbages 
three times a-week.—M. B.” [It is impossible to determine the nature 
of a malady from so short a description of symptoms. The gluey fluid 
vomited is the natural secretion of the crop, employed in softening the 
food; the thinness may possibly arise from some disorder of the digestive 
organs. Give the hen a teaspoonful of castor oil, mixed up with some 
dry barley-meal, in which form it is readily taken, without the excite¬ 
ment occasioned by forcing it down the bird’s throat.—W. B. Teget¬ 
meier, Tottenham .] 
Crowing Hen. —Your correspondents respecting crowing hens are 
certainly in error in thinking they neither sit nor lay, for I have now a 
white Bantam which used to crow constantly, and she has proved to be 
the best sitter and layer I have. She has now one chick, and being re¬ 
cently removed into a pen by herself has recommenced the practice. 
Another instance to which I can refer, is a hen belonging to a friend of 
mine, which was kept alone in an outhouse, and having no companions 
used to crow for amusement. She was an exceedingly good layer, but, i 
of course, never sat. Some persons have a prejudice against crowing 
hens, but I do not find anything so objectionable in the practice.— 1 
A. E. Taylor, Birmingham. 
Names of Plants (Devoniensis). —The blue, Polygala vulgaris; the 
yellow, Berberis asiatica. 
Names of Ferns (A Lady Gardener). — The large-leaved is the 
common Maiden-hair, Adiantum capillus veneris; the other, the Wedge- 
leaved Maiden-hair, Adiantum cuneutum. 
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.—April 14tli, 1853. 
