THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
J uly 21. 
813 
and the old stock, extract the queens, and unite them with the first ? 
Or should I drive all the bees, queens and all, into one hive, to fight it 
out for themselves ? With regard to fumigation generally, how long 
are the bees, when once stupified, under the influence of the fungus ? 
And does the open air revive them immediately ? Also, how ought one 
to go to work to find the queen; for, among 15,000 or 20,000 bees, it is 
easy to overlook one ; and if the bees are soon revived by the fresh air, 
they may be all buzzing about before her majesty is discovered ? I sup¬ 
pose the hive of stupified bees ought to be turned over on a large white 
cloth, and the bees spread out and searched over till the right one is 
found. Under these circumstances, the questions I have to put is as 
follows :—1. Whether the three stocks should be united, or only the two 
swarms? 2. Whether fumigation alone should be resorted to for the 
purpose of extracting the queens ? 3. If so, the readiest mode of dis¬ 
covering the queens?” You should have joined your second swarm to 
the first on the day it swarmed; it cannot be done now. Or you might 
have placed the swarm in the place the old stock stood immediately upon 
its being hived, and carried the old stock to a distance, then no second 
swarm would have left it; as it is, they must remain as they are for some 
time, at least. Full directions for joining swarms, and casts, queen, &c., 
have been given repeatedly in The Cottage Gardener. The time 
that bees remain torpid under the influence of smoking fungus depends 
upon the kind used, the quantity, and the time they are exposed to it. 
Woodlice (E. P.). —Lime will not drive them away, nor destroy 
them. You will have seen what we said about them last week. 
Ward’s Cases.— If you write to Mr. Appleby, Victoria Nursery, 
Uxbridge, he will give you all the particulars you need. We cannot 
recommend dealers in anything. 
Black Fantail Pigeon (H. C. J.). —The cock of this breed falling 
helpless whenever he attempts to fly is probably paralyzed from the 
oozing of blood from a ruptured vessel of the brain. If this be the case, 
the only chance of his recovering is by keeping him quietly confined by 
himself, and feeding him moderately for some time. We shall be glad 
of any information from you relative to the Roup. 
French Gardening (Viator). — It may be true that our neighbours 
are behind us very far in some branches of gardening, especially, as you 
observe, in the culture of Strawberries. It is not the fact, however, as 
you infer, that they have not improved at all for “ more than two cen¬ 
turies.” So far from this being the case, even in remote parts of France, 
that we will quote one out of many evidences to the contrary, from a 
recent number of the Revue Horticole. It is there said, “ Vegetable 
culture at Roscoff dates a long time back. In the year 1600, pretty good 
onions, artichokes, and asparagus were produced there. In the early 
part of the 18th century, a French naval captain, M. Habasque, brought 
from Holland some brocoli and cauliflower seed ; some were also received 
from England at the same time. The cultivation of vegetables then 
began to increase, though not in a very extraordinary degree ; but within 
the last twelve or fifteen years it has increased prodigiously, and con¬ 
tinues to do so. Twenty-five years ago the half-hectare of ground for 
vegetable culture let for 25 francs, which at the present time lets for 200. 
The Roscovitc not only cultivates his vegetables for himself, but sends 
them into both the French and English markets.” 
Recently Removed Vine (A Novice). — The gardener who advised 
you to pour half a pail of water containing two-thirds of a pint of guano, 
over the soil above the roots of your Vine, led you into the error which 
Mr, Fish warns “novices ” against to-day. Your Vine, you say, started 
well, but then suddenly ceased to advance, and the half-opened leaves 
are now withering. The check came so soon as the strong liquid-manure 
reached the roots. If the Vine is not actually killed, the best chance to 
save it will be to dig out all the soil from above the roots, and put in 
some light turfy loam without manure of any kind. 
Two Eggs in a Day.— C. W . M . says — “Having read in “The 
Poultry Book,” and several numbers of your periodical, cases of Cochin- 
China hens laying two eggs in one day, of which many are still doubtful, 
now I have only one cock and hen ; the hen laid two eggs last Wednes¬ 
day, and has laid every day since. She laid one egg early in the morn¬ 
ing, and at one o’clock was again on the nest, and I removed her, and 
found a perfect egg just laid under her. I can positively assert this as a 
fact, being the only hen I have.” 
Plants in an Up-stairs Room, and in the Tool House of a 
Mill (A Clerk), see p. 132. — We are pleased, but not surprised, you 
have succeeded so well, as it merely illustrates the old adage, “ Where 
there is a will, there is a way.” In ordinary seasons, we still think you 
could keep all such things in such a room in winter, by keeping the 
plants in the centre of the room when severe frost came, and covering 
them there with cloths, and keeping the window-shutters close at 
night; more especially, if, when very severe, you added a couple of stone 
bottles filled with water as hot as they would stand it. The tool room 
in the mill, however, having a skylight, and a hole in the wall with a 
moveable board for air, will be a good auxiliary, provided you can keep 
it cool enough. You say, that from the steam-pipe passing through it, it 
now averages 80°. You will not succeed well with these plants in winter, 
skylights opened more than one inch, as the hole in the wall would give 
a nice circulation. Place the shelf more rather than less than a foot from 
the skylight, if you can. Make as little dust as possible in the room. If 
you require to admit much air in cold frosty weather in winter, put pans 
of water, or a damp woollen cloth over the steam-pipe, or the atmosphere 
will get too dry. If you can keep down the temperature by such means, 
the plants may be moved there by the end of October; if you cannot do 
so, you had better try some stove plants, such, as for instance, Ferns 
and Mosses, as are now being treated on by Mr. Appleby. See answers 
on “ Engine House Gardening.” We know of no means of lowering the 
temperature without giving air, unless you went to the expense of sur¬ 
rounding the steam-pipe with wood, or some other non-conductor of 
heat. If a body of air was enclosed between the pipe and the non-con¬ 
ducting substance, it would be still more effectual. You might thus 
manage the temperature to what you liked with a little trouble. 
List of Hardy Plants (H. C.). —We have given judgment over and 
over again on your suggestion, which, if we were to comply with, you 
would, as likely as not, be the first that “ a list ” would puzzle, and the 
second to complain against the best that could be constructed. There is 
not the least difficulty in filling whole pages with the names of plants 
that flower in any of the summer months. What then ? No two agree 
about the value or beauty of nine-tenths of them ; and who is to make 
the selection ? Suppose you would select for yourself, say twenty kinds, 
out of nine-hundred plants in our list, that would flower between the 
spring bulbs and the Roses; or suppose we selected the ten best, in our 
opinion, for’you; there would be just twenty chances against your having 
suitable plants, or ten chances against the high opinion you now enter¬ 
tain of The Cottage Gardener. “When shall we have done with 
Cochin fowls?” We can only answer, when they cease to form so 
generally interesting a part of our domestic economy. 
Many Questions (M. F.). —A bed for Pinks should be eighteen 
inches deep at least, and filled with good loamy soil, such as would grow 
barley or cabbages. The Early Tulips and Turban Anemones are best 
for the Verbena-bed. We approve of your planting, generally, and No. 
12 we would plant with the Everlasting Tree Carnations, and a row of 
alternate white and dark Cloves all round them, to suit No. 5; and for 
the spring crop we would use the varieties of Polyanthus Narcissus, and 
leave them in the bed all the year round. The white flower you sent is 
not a Campanula at all, nor anything like it. There is nothing among 
the ordinary Phloxes, Penstemons, and Saponarias, that will not flower 
next year from seeds sown non; “upon an old spring hotbed,” but lose 
no time, and do not ask for novelties in any of the families. 
Thrips (Tyro). —If you had given sufficient ventilation, and kept the 
air of your melon pit thoroughly and regularly moist, you would not 
have been so overwhelmed by this pest. Try dusting the leaves com¬ 
pletely and repeatedly with Scotch snuff; and keep the air moist. 
Gooseberry Champagne. — Champagne will be much obliged to any 
of our readers who will send us an approved receipt for making this 
wine. 
Fruit in Pots (A Subscriber, Cheltenham). — If your Apricots, 
Peaches, and Nectarines, in pots, two years from the bud, have gross 
laterals, continue to pinch the most consequential of them at intervals of 
a week or so. If they are weak, let them ramble until the middle of 
August. Your business is twofold—to equalise the distribution of the 
sap to the young wood; and to get the wood highly solidified. Your 
pinching, therefore, must be done in due order. 
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 j 
Essex, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish of Christ ; 
Church, City of London.—July 21st, 1853. 
