92 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 5. 
times out of ten. Where the shoots arc soft, plump, and purple, and 
each with a prominent bud, is the place to prune to. 
Taxidermy. — 31r. F. Grant obliges us with the following:—“Why 
does your correspondent ‘T. M. W.’ not buy the small edition of ‘ Water- 
ton’s Wanderings’ by Charles Waterton, Esq., of Walton Hall? In it 
Mr. Waterton (among the first, if not the first of bird-stuffers,) explains 
every particular of ms system. When a lad of the Durham University, 
I took some lessons of H. Proctor in bird-stuffing. He is the Curator of 
the University Museum, and a first-rate hand. He lent me a small book, 
which I have forgotten all about, except that it was called ‘ The 
Taxidermist,’ but aline addressed Mr. H. Proctor, University Museum, 
Durham, would meet with immediate attention. Excuse me for saying 
that your late articles upon the subject were sad mistakes, if they were 
not intended as mere curiosities.” (We were quite aware of Dr. La¬ 
tham’s practice in Taxidermy being behind modern practice, and only 
published the MS. as a relique of so distinguished a naturalist.— Ed. 
C. G.) Messrs. Jessop, of Cheltenham, recommend “Taxidermy” by 
Mrs. Lee, published by Messrs. Longman in 1843. 
Mushrooms (J. J.).—Y our failure may arise from two or three causes’ 
any one of which is sufficient to account for it. In the first place, if your 
dung had lain out during the soddening rains of last autumn, it would be 
almost hopeless to look for Mushrooms; secondly, if the bed was put 
together without the dung being so far tempered in its heating properties 
as to ensure its internal warmth not to have exceeded 80° ; and thirdly, 
an evil sometimes arises out of one directly contrary to the first, i. e. by 
the bed being too dry, but this is of rare occurrence, nevertheless, we 
recommend you to consider if one or other of these evils has not caused 
your failure ; should it be the last, we have known a good sound watering, 
with the addition of some more spawn, produce a fair crop ; and in the 
second instance, where the spawn has been destroyed by undue heat, we 
have known a similar result by applying more spawn when the heat has 
subsided, but this is seldom good, lor the over-heating of the dung unfits 
it for producing a crop ; and we know of no remedy for the first of these 
evils, unless it be that watchful care which prevents, rather than cures, 
such a state of things ; but you need not despair. Many eminent 
gardeners are deceived in their Mushroom beds, which are, perhaps, more 
capricious than anything else they have to cultivate. 
Barren Apricot Blooms (IV. N .).—The Apricot flower was so shri¬ 
velled that we could judge nothing certain from its appearance. The 
incipient germ is, in all probability, defective. This is not a very un¬ 
common case in some fruits; but the cause is not well ascertained, 
Whenever we have a case of the kind—and we have had several during 
the last thirty years—we invariably replant or destroy, according to the 
age and value of the kind. We have thus reclaimed Pears and Cherries 
but have not always been successful. This practice is based on the 
assumption of injuries or checks received through a bad or wet subsoil. 
Indeed, it is probable that any severe check, at the period the blossom 
tor the future year is in active organisation, may have a tendency to pro¬ 
duce imperfection in the organs. That period will be July or August; 
and extreme drought, or stagnated wet, may alike produce the same 
result. H hether the roots rot or are dried up, “the supplies are cut off.’> 
Vinery to commence forcing in December (E. S. A.).— For the roof 
we should use an angle of 45°, or half a right angle. We know of no better 
glass for your purpose than good “sheet.” As to heating, we are not 
aware of anything superior to hot water. A house of this kind, about 
ten or twelve feet wide, and as many high, would be tolerably well heated 
by a, five-inch flow and return-pipe placed about a foot from the front, espe¬ 
cially if night covers could be used. We would rather not have the 
Pines in an early vinery ; these things are both better and more econo¬ 
mically done in separate places. An early vinery, properly managed, 
must be profitable. ^ u s ’ 
Peach-house (A. 31.). —From the period of setting, to the com¬ 
mencement of the ‘ stoning” period, we should let the thermometer 
range from 55 (no sun) to 70° (with sun and air) by day, and through 
the night from 45 to 55 . During the stoning process, we would allow 
some 10 more by day, but only a degree or two more by night. Whether 
guano or manure-water will be beneficial at that or any other time 
depends on two considerations-whether the trees arc short of energy ; 
or whether they will bear root moisture. 
A few best Greenhouse Plants (E. G.).—Lists are of little use, 
unless the object and the means available are known. Greenhouse 
hushes Acrophyllum verticillatum, Boronia serrulata, Aphelexis macran- 
tha, Chorozema Henchmanni,C. varia, Croweasaligna, Pimelea spectabilis, 
1 . Hendersonn, Enostemon scabrum, and E. intermedium. Azaleas — 
Optima, Lateritia, Gledstanesii, Variegata, Ignescens, and Perryana. 
Ai icas— Cerinthoides, ampuliacea, Cavendishii, depressa, Ewerana, and 
Massonii. Ejiacrises gran diflora, miniata, impressa, hyacinthiflora, 
hyacinthiflora alba, and campanulata. Gloxinias— Cartonii, grandis, 
maxima alba, Passinghami, Handlyana, and maxima rubra. Achimenes— 
picta, longiflora major, and alba, Tugwelliana, patens, venusta grandi- 
flora, and pedunculata. 
Tropieolum Leaves dropping and turning Yellow (T. B .).— 
Ihis you have grown in peat. Are you sure that it has been watered 
enough or that you have not grown it too freely in the dark days of 
winter. that will cause it to fade now when flowers ought to be ex- 
pected, because there was not enough of light to consolidate the stems. 
\V e prefer some loam and cowdung with peat, instead of having it all 
alone ; the plants are apt to grow weak and fast, and the above result is 
«?;n ie ^n me ff the c ° nsec l uence ' It is only just to say, that sometimes they 
unaccountably, baffling the gardener as effectually as 
some patients do a medical man. J 
Hep ; vticas (Q/mro)—These do not bloom, but leaf 
bnfflf- definH^B f ' ,lcxt / ear - ^lve them P lent y of light to mature the 
buds , defend them from frost and wet in winter, but do not let them 
f’ an(1 next s P rlt >g you will have a fine show, all the better for the 
'if 6 n ° W '- bee previous articles. Violets were lately alluded to; 
ey , J 1 c °. me *" * he . way for a short sketch in a week or two. You 
should mention what kind; but you will see all about it in a few days. 
DoHchos btnnJ., GR ir EfIH0USE Climbers (Ibid). — Cobea scandens, 
Dolichos lignosus, Eccremocarpus scaber, Lophospermum erubescens’ 
scandens, Hcndersonii, and spectabilis ; Maurandya Barclayana, Hender- 
sonii, and alba ; and last, but far from least, Tropceolum pentaphyllum. 
These will all cover a large space during summer. 
Chambers’s Journal (G. J .).—Thanks ; wc will refer to the article’ 
Tanks for Sewerage (Brevis). —Those described in our first 
volume, page 7, answer quite well. Others, on a similar plan, are about 
to be erected. 
Wax Moth (H. F .).—If you refer to page 193 of our third volume 
you will find a drawing and description of this moth and its larva (Tinea 
metlonella). If you have not the volume, order the number (No. ti7). 
Rennet (Ibid). —We never heard of “ liquid rennet.” The best mode 
of preserving the stomach of the calf is to dry salt it thoroughly. The 
fresh flowers of the common Lady's Bed-Straw are a vegetable rennet, 
and a much more elegant one than that afforded by the calf. If the 
1 flowers were dried and well preserved would they retain their curdling 
power? It is worth the trial. 
Vinegar Plant (31. S.). —Write on the subject to Mrs. Somers 
Smith, Rectory, Little Bentley, near Colchester. 
Hybrid Fowl. — Salvia says:—“One of my neighbours, Robert 
Raw, gamekeeper to Viscount Downe, of Danby Lodge, Yorkshire, has at 
present a very fine bird between a cock Pheasant and a Dorking hen. The 
; hybrid (a male) takes after the hen in colour, and after the Pheasant in 
shape, though much larger, He was shown last year at the Castleton 
and Danby Poultry Show, and, of course, attracted much attention. He 
continues very wild, and appears as though he will never be made tame, 
lhe colour is brown, and white-spangled.” 
List of Snows ( Bearded Poland). —We will give them occasionally. 
Remember our space has to meet many rural tastes. 
Names of Plants (W. T. 11 ,).—]. Sparatcispendula. 2. Sparaxis. 
3. S.stellaris. ( E.F.H .).— Luzula campestris. Field Wood Rush, or 
Small hairy Wood Grass. 
Fowls too Crowded (J. if .),—“I have eleven hens and one cock, 
of the common sort, occupying a yard 12 ft. long, and 9 ft. wide, to 
winch is attached a roosting-house, about 7 ft. long, 8 ft. high, and 
l "* ae ’ I ac ‘ n g the east. For some months some of them have been 
the most deplorable-looking objects I ever saw ; having lost nearly all 
their leathers. Lpon watching them closely, I have, on several occa- 
sions, seen them pick the feathers out of each other, and eat them. 
1 hey lost their tails in the moult, and have not owned any since. No 
sooner did a feather appear in one of their tails, than it was picked at 
by the others, until the protuberance from which the tail grows 
was completely covered with blood. I feed my fowls morning and 
nl SjA. with barley and oats mixed, and in the middle of the day with 
middlings and potatoes, mashed together, with green food occasionally.” 
[A fowl, when allowed its liberty, obtains a large supply of food from 
grubs, worms, and insects ; now your birds have no such opportunity 
of gratifying their taste for animal food; and, hence, probably, one 
cause of the morbid appetite you speak of. We would advise your giving 
a quarter-of-a-pound of cooked meat daily, among the twelve, and also 
giving them a portion of wheat. The meat to be gradually diminished 
on recovery ; but fowls, we should add, can not be kept in health when 
thus closely confined, without animal food of some kind; greatly as we 
object to the indiscriminate use that is too often made of it. Your yard, 
also, is, doubtless, tainted with its too numerous inhabitants ; for a cock 
with two or three hens would be the most that ought to be kept within 
such narrow limits ; and even then, the closest attention would be always 
necessary. We can hold out, however, but little hope of your birds 
recovery in their present locality, and their best chance would be imme- 
diate removal to a good country run.—W.] 
Five-toed Siianghaes (Veraz).— If you refer to “The Poultry 
Book, p. 1, you will see sufficient reasons for the opinion, that the 
^nanghae and Cochin-China Fowls are one and the same. None having 
five toes ought to be bred from; because, if even a mere accidental sport! 
it might be inherited by their chickens. But, the probability is, that 
the birds having five toes have Dorking blood in their veins, We know 
a strain in Hampshire that is Dorkingized. 
° F Siianghaes (Rusticus, A. B.).- When it is said in 
I he I oultry Book, that there should be no feathers in the Shanghae’s 
tail more curved than the scimitar, and, “like the weapon itself, with a 
radius not exceeding one-fourth of a circle, 99 you are quite right in 
pointing out that the definition is not mathematically accurate. We 
are not surprised that you, “as a Cambridge Wrangler,” object to its 
faultiness ; and we are quite sure that the authors will adopt, in any 
future edition, your definition, as follows: “The Scimetar feather has 
a curvature so small, that if laid upon the circumference of a circle 
corresponding to it, the feather would just cover one-fourth part of that 
circumference. \\ e do not know where you can get White Shanghae 
eggs, except of the parties who have advertised in our columns. 
Grease stains on Marble (A Lady Subscriber).—' These, arising 
from putty, or any other source, may be removed by rubbing them for 
some time, by means of a flannel, with a paste of equal parts of quick¬ 
lime and pearlasli. Yeast, whether fresh or putrid, is a good manure. 
Kidd’s Journal of Nature. —In the advertisement of this Journal, 
in our paper last week, the concluding paragraph in the quotation from 
the Liverpool 3Iercury should have been as follows:—“This Work 
boasts a gratuitous correspondence, peculiarly rich in useful information, 
introuvable elsewhere; highly suggestive of sources of innocent and 
grateful excitement, and adorned with all the charms which originality 
0 , conce pt lon a "d a natural style of expression can bestow upon it.”— 
Abridged from the Liverpool 3Iercury, March 8, 1853. 
London: Printed by Harry Wooldridge, Winchester High-street, 
in the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and Published by William 
Somerville Orr, of Church Hill, Walthamstow, in the County of 
Essex, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish of Christ 
Church, City of London.—May 5th, 1853. 
