302 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 18. 
you explain it? One was a first swarm this year, hived in a box on 
Midsummer day. The other was a cast, hived in a straw ship in my 
absence, about ten days after that date, both were working very well 
when I left home on the 25th of July; on my return, on the 30th, both 
were dead. On lifting up the hives the bees were lying dead on the floor¬ 
board, an inch thick; a few wretched survivors were crawling stupidly 
about the combs. The queens were alive. There was not a particle of 
honey in the comb. The swarm and the cast were from the same parent 
stock.” your bees died from starvation most certainly. We have heard 
of several similar cases where the bee pasturage is not good. 
Wintering Cuttings (S. lb). —You can winter cuttings of all the 
bedding Geraniums in the room you mention quite well; also hundreds 
of old Fuchsias, Scarlet Geraniums, Salvias, Lobelias, and, in short, any¬ 
thing in a dormant state, with the cuttings on the stage facing the 
window ; that is, on the supposition that the room is perfectly dry, and 
that you can guard it against frost. The room of our correspondent is 
an outhouse, with a window facing the south, three feet six inches by 
four feet. It is about eight feet by ten feet, and seven feet high, with a 
fire-place in it, and a flower-stand close to the window. 
Tree Pieony (M. C. E.). —The plan you propose, of cutting down a 
straggling Tree Pceony is hardly ever adopted, but there is no question 
about its being the best plan in the long run. We often see these plants, 
under ten years of age, straggling on the tops of hide-bound stag-horn 
sticks, that would not be allowed one day in any other plant in the 
garden. As far as the proper culture of these Moutan Pceonies go, we 
Britishers are just as indifferent to common sense as the Chinese gar¬ 
dener is in using his chopsticks in preference to knives, forks, and 
spoons. Cut them down by all means, and let the bottom throw up 
strong shoots instead, as they are now offering to do ; but recollect, this 
cutting, or any kind of pruning to Moutans, must be done in March, and 
at no other time. A starved Gooseberry bush should be pruned at the 
end of September ; a starved Apple, Plum, and Cherry, at the same 
season, but these arc not early risers like Moutans, which move by the 
first sun of the new year, and move the sooner the earlier they are 
pruned; and so sure as they move before the proper time in the spring, 
so sure are they to be nipped by the late frosts ; therefore, it is best to 
delay pruning them until they begin to move in the spring. 
Paralysed Ducks (A Constant Subscriber, Exeter ).— Ducks hatched | 
in June and July are constantly liable to the spasmodic attacks you 
complain of, and the greater the degree of heat, the more numerous the 
cases. In Cornwall this malady is commonly spoken of as the sprawls, 
a name sufficiently indicative of the symptoms. Recovery rarely happens, 
and the exact nature of the attack is not clear, but since ducklings 
hatched before and after this period suffer comparatively little from these 
seizures, it would be fair to presume that the heat of that period of the 
year is the main cause.—W 
Beak of the Ayleshury Duck (Ibid).—We have seen some of the 
best Aylesbury ducks injured in the colour of their bills by being placed 
! in situations where they had access to water flowing from peat and moss. 
In other cases the failing is hereditary. Young birds are less subject to 
j these stained bills than the older ones, and the blemish does not manifest 
j itself, in some instances, till the second year. The parent of your’s might 
be thus faulty; but occasionally, in the best breeds, this failing shows 
itself with age. The drake’s bill is more difficult to obtain of the right 
colour than those of the ducks; its yellowish tinge, indeed, has often 
marred the appearance of otherwise good pens.—W. 
j Quince Trees (Amateur, Queen's County).— They rarely bear well 
except by the side of water, or where the soil is always cool and moist. 
! It prefers a rather shaded situation to an open sunny exposure. We will 
| recur to the subject. 
I 
\ Early Vinery (T.). —Have a ridge-and-furrow roof by all means. 
The roof may be fixed, as you propose to have ample ventilation at the 
back and front. We should have it at the ends also. 
Raising Varieties (Caroline). —As you wish only for hardy flowers, 
none will be so easy for you to practice upon as the Pansey. You may 
move your large Lilacs as soon as their leaves begin to change colour in 
! the autumn. 
Fruit Synonymes (R. S .).— We have heard of the Lady Lennox 
apple, which is thus described in Hogg’s British Pomology : —“ Large 
and handsome; lemon-coloured, pale red next the sun, and striped with 
deeper red. An excellent culinary apple, in use from November to 
, April. Raised from the Ilymer, and is a favourite about Nottingham.” 
We will enquire about the Lord Lennox. Your King of the Pippins is 
also called Hampshire Yellow, Hampshire Yellow Pippin, and Jones’s 
\ Southampton Pippin. Y'our Vicar of Wakefield Pear is also called 
Monsieur le Cure and Dumas. You may obtain the Lamb Abbey and 
the Claygate Pearmains of any nurseryman near London. Use your | 
own Asparagus seed ; some will certainly ripen. The strength of your 
seedlings will depend upon the liberal culture you bestow upon them. 
Tar-barrel system of Planting (Rouge).— The reference made 1 
to this at page 422 alludes to a mode of planting climbers beneath trees. 
The roots of the trees soon destroy the climbers by robbing them of the 
nutriment in the soil. To prevent this, the climbers are planted in tar 
or other barrels, which exclude the roots of the trees. Any light rich 
garden soil suits the Stauntnnia. If planted in a barrel, the fertility of 
the soil must be maintained by top-dressings and mulchings. 
Fancy Geraniums (J. R.). —You may make cuttings now. They 
must be preserved through the winter in a cool greenhouse, or room, 
from which frost is excluded. For an excellent list, just refer to page 
283. Pompone Chrysanthemums will bloom in October and November. 
On no account stop them if you wish them to bloom. Ducks w'ould not 
thrive in your small yard. 
Diseased Poultry. — G. M. II. says—“ I have suddenly lost two 
hens, and have now two more affected with the same disease, which 
appears to be infectious, as a duck has now got it. It appears to seize 
them in the back and legs, as they cannot stand, and their backs become 
rounded, and the tail droops. One or two hens have all had great 
giddiness and staggering, with loss of appetite.” We think that these 
symptoms intimate excess of feeding. Try a lower diet; give them only 
soft food, such as boiled potatoes and a little barley-meal, and keep in 1 
a cool place. 
Beer Houses (A. C.). —The evil is in their abuse; and surely it is 
not wrong to raise a warning voice against this ? 
Seedling Pansey (J. C.). —It is curiously splashed with blue and 
white, something like Harlequin, and the form is good; the petals, 
however, are thin, and it would not do for a show flower. 
Rose-culture (Rhodophilos), —There is no good separate treatise on 
this subject. There is a translation from the French full of inaccuracies. 
Have you seen the directions given in The Cottage Gardeners’ Dic¬ 
tionary ? 
Mortality among Chickens (N. G. Morris ).— You must have 
mismanaged them in some way ; but as we neither know the variety, nor 
the food, nor the treatment, we cannot say where the error lies. 
Grubs on Pear-tree Leaves (An Old Subscriber ).— The curious 
insects you enclosed are not uncommon. The upper surface of pear- 
tree leaves during the months of July, August, and September, are liable 
j to be destroyed by what is very characteristically named the slimy grub. 
Of these yours are specimens. These grubs are nearly half-an-inch 
long, cylindrical, but thicker towards the head than at the other ex¬ 
tremity. The whole body, except at the time of skin-casting, is covered 
with a sticky, greenish-black matter, and from this they have been named. 
Whilst feeding, the fore part of the body is so swollen that the vermin 
looks somewhat like a small tadpole. If the slimy matter is removed 
from the body, this is found to be a grub or caterpillar with twenty feet, 
and of a pitchy brown colour. At the last-but-one casting of its skin, 
the sliminess no longer appears, and the grubs become of a clayey colour- 
They finally form a brown cocoon about October, and remain in the 
pupa state until the following June or July, when the perfect insect comes 
forth as the Selandria JEthiops. Linmeus called it the Cherry Saw- 
fly (Tenihrcdo cerasi), from the mistaken opinion that it attacked the 
leaves of that tree only, whereas its grubs are more frequently found on 
the leaves of the pear. This fly is shining black, and the tips of the legs 
yellowish. The female lays her eggs on the upper surface of the leaves. 
The slime on the grub is of a peculiar nature, not being dried by ex¬ 
posure to the hottest sunshine. The best mode of destroying it, is by 
dusting it with quick-lime whilst the grub is in a slimy state. A drawing 
of the Saw-fly is in our 58th number. 
William Adams (C .).—Stamps received. 
Calceolaria Seedlings (M. II.). —All dried up. Flowers in such | 
hot weather should be in a tin box, and laid upon damp moss. 
Name of Tree (L. M. J.). —We think Pyrus edulis. You may graft j 
the Pear upon it. 
London: Printed by I-Iarry Wooldridge,- Winchester High-street, 
in the Parish of Saint Mary Ivalendar; and Published by William 
Somerville Orr, of Church Hill, Walthamstow, in the County of 
Essex, at the Office, No. S, Amen Corner, in the Parish of Christ 
Church, City of London.—August 18th, 1853. 
