April 28. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
G9 
months—hence my motive for seeking your advice. She continues to 
crow, yet, I am happy to say, has laid within the last week.” 
Names of African Plants. — A Subscriber says — “I have just got 
the eighth volume of The Cottage Gardener. In the April number 
of last year is the following article :—‘ African Plants. —-M. B. has seeds 
from Africa with these names, Bameea, or Ochra, Kasbur, Strut, Hubb- 
Azis. Can any reader help us to the botanical names ? ’ I beg to send 
you my ideas on the subject, but I do not pronounce them to be correct, 
but only ‘ quantum valeat.’ Hubb-Aziz I have not been able to find 
out.— Bameea, or Ochra, I take to be the Okro, of the West Indies and 
India, of the Hibiscus tribe, vide ‘ Loudon’s Encyclopaedia of Plants,’ 
article Hibiscus Abelmoschus, and Esculentus; also ‘ Hortus Suburb- 
anus Calcuttensis,’ article Hisbiscus, Ac., as above, page 118. In Hin- 
doostanee it is called ‘ Ramturay.’ It is a very nice vegetable. Kushbur 
I take to be the Saccharum spontaneum of Roxburgh, vide ‘ Hortus 
Suburbanus Calcuttensis,’page 705. In the Arabic it is Kath; in the 
Sanscrit Kasha. It is of the grass tribe. Saut is probably the ‘ Soub,’ 
or ‘ South,’ '/Anziber officinalis, vide ‘ Piddington’s English Index to the 
Plants of India.’ The ‘Hortus Suburbanus Calcuttensis’ is by the late 
J. O. Voigt, surgeon to the Danish Government at Serampore.” 
Cross-breeding Fowls (A Recent Subscriber).— The uncertainty 
that attends the form of all cross-bred fowls would preclude our speaking 
with confidence in answer to your question ; for of a Shanghae-Dorking, 
or Shanghae-Hamburgh brood, the resemblance to either parent would 
probably vary greatly in the different individuals, some reverting more 
than others to the characteristics of either parent. The Dorking being 
the heavier fowl, and the least diposed to exercise its powers of flight, 
you would have more chance of obtaining your object by taking that as 
one of the parents, than if a Hamburgh was selected, since the latter are 
as indisposed as any of our poultry to allow their movements to be 
restrained by ordinary fences. The term “ Lovell Shanghaes" denotes 
a small, but very compact variety of that family; low on the leg, and 
with a good development of breast. They are excellent as layers, sitters, 
and for table fowls. Any dealer can supply you, and they are constantly 
advertised in our columns.—W. 
Making a Hotbed.— G. Boggis says “ It being my lot to be placed 
where no dung is ever bought, I am obliged to make the best use J can 
of what is made, not from ‘ The Cottage Gardener’s Pony,’ but from 
one horse. Not liking to be defeated by a friend who has the dung from 
two horses, I made a hotbed in the following way :—I had a two-light 
frame at liberty, at each corner ot which I drove a strong stake, and one 
under the centre of the back and of the front. I drove the three front 
stakes six inches lower than the back three. On these six stakes I have 
nailed part of an old paling (an old field-gate would do well); on this 
I set "my frame, laying on some straw to keep the mould from running 
through, of which I have laid on nine inches thick. This being done, I 
took some of an old bed which has lain all the winter, and with this I 
built a wall at each end and at the front. At the back, under each glass, 
I leave an opening. The bed being thus far, I took some of six or seven 
barrowfuls of dung, which I had previously thrown up in a heap to heat, 
and threw it in under the frame, and then stopped up the openings which 
I bad left with some of the same old dung as I had built the sides with, 
and four days after I threw in a little more of my hot dung. By this time 
I found my mould was a little warm, in which I sowed some Short- 
topped Radishes, and to my satisfaction, in about four days, they were up. 
j I should have said that it was the last week in January when I made this 
bed. From time to time, as the dung declined in heat, I took some out 
J at one end, and then the other, and replaced it with a little fresh, which 
I threw up, from time to time, to get a little heat; and I am happy to 
say I was able to draw Radishes two days before my friend who had the 
dung from two horses, who made his bed in the old way, with all his 
linings and attention which the old way of making them requires; and I 
would observe, that there is no fear of burning by my plan, as the dung 
I throw in does not reach the bottom. The Radishes, as I drew them, I 
j found had run down through the nine inches of mould and straw, and 
the roots were hanging-down two inches toward the hot dung. Some 
Potatoes, which I set as I drew, are looking strong and very healthy. 
I have some young ones upon them.” [There is nothing new in Mr. 
| Boggis’s mode of heating “ in a chamber,” as it is termed, but we insert 
| it to induce other readers to follow his example of contriving, and telling 
us what they contrive.] 
Egg-eating Hen.— Y. L. says—“Several different modes of treat¬ 
ment have been advised in your valuable publication for the cure of egg¬ 
eating hens (which propensity arises invariably from the birds being 
confined with an insufficient supply of food or calcareous matter), but I 
firmly believe this bad habit is incurable; still, as some of your readers 
may possess hens too valuable to destroy, I would advise them to adopt 
[ the following plan, by which means they may secure some eggs from 
such birds—Let the hen be kept apart from other hens that are laying; 
as soon as she proceeds to her nest (to lay), let her be removed to a nest 
] in a box, cr other convenient place where the light can be excluded, 
i when she will lay, but, being unable to see her egg, will not attempt to 
| eat it. Care must be taken that the box be well ventilated. Should this 
not succeed (but it may be relied on in most cases), have a perch sub¬ 
stituted for the nest, so adjusted as to allow the egg to fall on some soft 
substance, that it be not broken ; by these means I have obtained eggs 
from a first-class hen.” 
PEAcn and Vine Forcing together ( A Yorkshireman).— Yours is 
an extraordinary case—Vines and a Peach forcing together in the same 
house since February 1 : the Peaches big as Walnuts, the Grapes not yet 
in blossom ! From your statement, it is probable that your Vines, first 
excited too keenly, and thereby rendered tender and highly susceptible, 
were unable to cope with the extraordinary weather at the end of March. 
It is not unlikely' that on one of those pinching nights your thermometer 
might sink to 35° or 40° whilst you were asleep ; if so, curling—what you 
term “coiling”—or something as bad, must occur ; or your border may 
be saturated below. The Vines making strong wood, drought could by 
no means cause it. Your soil appears an undeniable depth, &c., and 
the Vines, you say, making strong shoots. Hanging small weights on 
the curled bunches has been suggested, but we have little faith in it: 
the cause must be sought. Who ever saw this curling on the open wall? 
Our impression is, that you have been too ardent at “ starting,” and that 
you have lost your crop for this year. 
Fixing CoriNGS (C. C. W.'j. —There are various ways of fixing copings, 
and that suggested by you will certainly be a very good plan. As for 
putting copings on all the aspects, that is a matter of expense alone : the 
principle, we think, indisputable. Of course, a coping to a north wall 
can do nothing in the way of arresting solar heat; but then the drip ! 
and, by your own confession, the cats and rats !! we verily had left the 
latter pests out of consideration. As for material, that must ever depend 
; in a great measure on what is available. 
i Double Violets ( Scrutator ).—Now is a good time to plant double 
Violets, and the sooner the better, if you have to buy the plants, as all 
the plants for sale are now ready and prepared for immediate planting ; 
good kitchen garden soil, without being too heavy, suits them best, and 
they are best on an east or west aspect, and not to be in the shade. If 
; you c.Tn get plants from your neighbour, the middle or end of May will 
j he time enough for you to plant them. The double white Violet is more 
liable to be hurt by a hard winter, and it requires more shade and shelter 
than any other. 
Cape Bulbs (A.B.). —With the exception of Brunsvigia ciliaris, 
which is Buphane ciliaris, all the names appear to us true. It is not 
true, howeveT, that Brunsvigia multiflora was ever gathered at the 
j Cape. It must be some other species. There is not a single plant in 
your list that ought to have a particle of artificial heat applied to them 
after potting, except Strelitzia reginai, all the rest should have been 
placed in a cold pit, and to be allowed their own way from first to last. 
Large pots, twenty-one inches in diameter, for Brunsvigias twelve or 
thirteen inches in diameter, are monstrous absurdities; putting Bruns¬ 
vigias, and such large bulbs, into heat as soon as they are potted on 
their arrival, is worse than madness; and Joseph Upjohn, who gathered 
these bulbs, although he named them pretty fairly, ought to have his ear 
nailed to the door-post for saying “ light sandy soil for all,” and “ those 
marked with an x will require the aid of a hothouse.” If he knows any¬ 
thing at all about the matter, he must have wished these beautiful bulbs 
to be killed as soon as possible, that he might have a fresh order for more. 
Get a light or two of a cold frame cleared, and divide your bulbs into two 
lots ; No. 1 to be all those that did grow, turned sickly, and the leaves are 
dead ; let them be kept quite dry till next September, unless they push a 
second time, when they must be turned to No. 2 lot. This second lot you 
keep moist all the summer, whether they make leaves or not, but after the 
first good watering use water very sparingly until the leaves come. In this 
lot place Antholyzas, Cyrtunthiis, Call a, Ornithogalum, Eucomis, Wat- 
sonia, Nerine, Valotta, Crinum, and Agapanthus. So you see that your 
very smallest bulbs, and the very largest ones, are to be kept at rest all 
the summer. The Strelitzia ought to have the heat of a stove till the 
pot is full of roots, then a warm greenhouse, with a little forcing everv 
spring, would do for it. Watch for the soils to be recommended, ami 
the proper spelling of the bulbs in our articles on bulbs, in which all 
yours will be included. 
Striking Calceolarias under Hand-ligiits ( Ignotus ). — The 
chief difference between the practice of the friend referred to, and the 
practice detailed some time ago by Mr. Fish, consists in the latter using 
old sashes instead of hand-lights, and then removing them in winter, 
instead of allowing them to remain where struck. As the matter seems 
to create some interest, Mr. Fish will try to obtain from the nobleman’s 
gardener referred to the minutiae of the process. Meanwhile, subject to 
the correction that may then be given, we give the following answ ers to 
your queries. 1. The cuttings referred to were taken off in autumn; 
they would strike equally well now, especially if a slight hotbed w'as 
placed under them. Without the bed they would take longer time in 
striking. 2. If placed on a north border, they would require little 
shading ; if placed on a south, they must be shaded from the sun until 
struck. Mr. Fish’s stock, struck in the simple mode detailed last 
autumn, had^no shade. 3. South border would do well if shaded, but this 
involves more labour ; we would like south or west for preserving where 
struck in winter, but the north for striking in autumn. 4. The hand-lights 
are kept close until the cuttings are struck, and air is then given. 5. Water 
when the cuttings arc inserted; after that little more will be wanted 
except damping the foliage in striking in autumn. In striking now, 
several waterings may be required, as it is advisable to shade no more 
than will keep the plants from flagging. 6. Destroy green fly by fumi¬ 
gating with tobacco, but in autumn-striking, in September and October, 
it seldom shows itself, owing to the coolness of the weather. If, for 
expediting the process, you use a little heat now, harden them off as 
soon as possible when struck, and that will keep the fly at a distance. 
Erica Potting ( A Subscriber) .—The sorts you mention are not likely 
to bloom if not showing now, and, therefore, you may pot safely in a 
week or two’s time, as ventricosa may show in that time. If large 
plants that you wish to cut in, you had better perform that operation 
first, and not repot until fresh growth has taken place. This cutting in 
will make the plants more bushy, but some of the kinds you mention— 
such as Cavendishii —seldom require much of the knife, it grows so 
compact. Vestita coccinea takes it freely, or it soon gets lanky, and the 
ventricosa varieties, when strong plants, may be clipped without injuring 
them ; but do not pot until growth has again commenced, and see that 
that growth is well matured, and you will have abundance of bloom. 
Rhododendrons (W. H.). —If the peat is at all good, or like what 
5 'ou Essex people get in Epping Forest, it does not require one particle 
of sand added to it for growing Rhododendrons in a bed to the very 
utmost perfection. It is when used in pots that it is necessary to add 
sand ta it. Essex is skirted with the best nurserymen in England, on 
the London side, and any one of them will point out to you the best of 
two sections for your bed—that is, the best hybrids of the Ponticum 
breed, and the best hybrids of the Caiawbiense; or follow us, and ask 
one-half of one and half the other. The real names of the kinds of 
Rhododendrons you want may not be known out of the nursery where 
they are applied; every grower names his own hybrid Rhododendrons, 
and when he gets an extraordinary good one, he puts an extraordinary 
good price on it, so that people do not bother him to sell it until he has a 
large stock of it, then he names it, gets the name in the market lists, and 
every body learns it, and can get it at anything, from 10s. to 110s., accord¬ 
ing to the size of the plant. You ought to have a couple of the Andro¬ 
meda floribundu in the new bed. You will now get good ones for 5s. 
apiece 
Irish Ivy (Ibid). — It is requisite to prune Irish Ivy and all other Ivy, 
