432 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
and the rest with rough peat and sphagnum. Treat your Cattleyas so, 
also, and they will all be sure to flower. 
Names op Plants {Tiverton). — 1 . Pteris serrulata. 2. Ailiantum 
assimile. 3. Lycopodium ccesium. 4. Lycopodium denticulatum, 5. 
Lycopodium apodum. We have waited some time previously to answer¬ 
ing your multifarious questions, in order to procure some certain infor¬ 
mation on some of them. You ask where the best Wardian cases are to 
be seen. This we cannot tell; formerly there were goodl ones, readymade, 
at Laurence and Co., 55, Parliament-street, Westminster. The makers 
of these things should advertise. Neither can we recommend nursery¬ 
men. Such questions as these—What is the price of Ferns, and where 
are they to be obtained ? must be answered by a nurseryman. Apply to 
any that advertise in our columns. The window kind of Wardian cases 
you allude to, would answer for Ferns and Lycopods, but not for 
Fuchsias or Roses. 
SiiANcnAE Fowls {Ibid). —There are two opinions as to the com¬ 
parative beauty of these and Spanish fowls. Many, and we agree with 
them, think the buff Shanghaes the handsomer of the two. Shanghaes 
are certainly the better layers, though their eggs are smaller than those 
of the Spanish. See what is said to-day, in answer to the question— 
“ What kind of poultry ought I to keep ? ” 
Prolificacy of Shanghaes.—“ Some few weeks since, a corres¬ 
pondent gave an account, in The Cottage Gardener, of the proli¬ 
ficacy of some of his hens. In support of such statement, I beg to add a 
similar fact that has occurred with me, and may be confidently relied on. 
I have a cinnamon pullet in my possession which was hatched in August, 
1852, and commenced laying early in February, and has continued laying, 
upon an average, four days out of five, until about a fortnight since, 
when she began to moult; since that time she has laid every alternate 
day, without any inclination to sit. The hen is also the best I have, in 
point of shape, consequently I have bred many chickens from her, 
hoping they may prove as prolific.—T. J. Saltmarsh, Chelmsford.” 
Where to Buy Plants (An Old Subscriber).—We know perfectly 
well where all the plants you want could be bought, quite true to name, 
also the prices, except one, Ilymenocallis acutifolia, or Sir Alexander 
Johnson’s Mexican Pancratium ; but if we were dead to all conscience and 
reason, and tell you where, we should inflict an injury on many others 
equally respectable, and entitled to confidence. It is a different thing, 
when a plant is very scarce, or only in the hands of one man or firm. It 
is possible that this particular variety of Hymenocallis was never in the 
trade. Sir Alexander received it direct from Mexico, but any of the 
Adnate varieties will grow in a glass, jar, or cistern, that would hold no 
less than two quarts of water, and the whole bulb may be under water, 
or not, according to taste or convenience. Thirty years since that Hymen¬ 
ocallis was sold at Lee’s Nursery, and at Loddige’s, under the name of 
Pancratium Mexicanum. Sweet had it at Colvill’s, and calls it Pan¬ 
cratium acutifolium, in his “ Hortus Britanicus.” It is also Acutifolia 
in the “ Botanical Magazine,” volume 53, with a good representation at 
plate 2621 . We have not the least idea where it can be bought now. 
The Horticultural Society could get it and all this race home by the 
bushel through their new collector. 
Angle of a Greenhouse Roof (A. B.).— The “discrepancies” 
rise from the different ways of applying the quadrant to the rafter. The 
gardener’s angle is not a true angle ; they generally take the angle formed 
by the rafter and the plumb line, and call that the angle of the roof; 
therefore, their quadrant should be numbered both ways, to show the 
proper angle, which is that between the rafter and a horizontal line. 
When you apply the quadrant for finding the gardener’s angle, the side 
with the highest number should stand against the lower part of the 
rafter. It is all the same for greenhouse plants to be secured by a good 
working flue, or hot-water pipes; it is only a question of convenience 
and expense; of course, hot-water pipes are more convenient, and less 
likely to go out of tune. 
William Adams (C.).—Stamps received. 
Shanghae Pullet (An old Subscriber).—This pullet, with “ appa¬ 
rently cramp in her claws,” we fear is partly paralysed. A small blood 
vessel has, probably, burst on the brain. Separate her from her com¬ 
panions ; keep her quite cool and quiet; supply her with soft, unfatten¬ 
ing food, such as boiled and mashed potatoes, and give her a dessert 
spoonful of castor oil. It will be some weeks before you notice any 
amendment, if she recovers at all. We lost the grub you found on the 
Turnips, but we think it was the caterpillar of the Turnip Saw-fly 
(Athalia spinarum). It is fully described in The Cottage Gardeners’ 
Dictionary. 
September 1. 
Flies in Vinery (B. L.)r We know of no mode of excluding them 
but hanging fine gauze before any opened window. 
Cucumber for Greenhouse (Greenhorn). — The variety coming 
quickest to a useful size is the Short Green Prickly. Answer to other 
query next week. 
Wax from Sugar.— A. writes to us as follows“ Should ‘ Pecchia' 
furnish the empty hive with comb, as proposed at page 372 of The Cot¬ 
tage Gardener, perhaps also he would wish much to know the 
quantity of syrup required to form the combs, and also the dimensions 
of the hive. In the experiments of Huber, the largest quantity of wax 
yielded by a pound of sugar was two ounces and three-quarters. 
Cockerel Crowing.— Mademoiselle enquires, “What is the earliest 
age at which a cock generally crows ? I have a crossbred Spanish and 
Golden-spangled Poland cock, hatched June 4th, this year: and the 1 st 
of August I was astonished to hear him crow for his breakfast; so that 
being only eight weeks and three days old, I thought it a sufficiently 
remarkable circumstance to trouble you with my query.”—Cockerells 
rarely crow before they are four months old, and usually not so soon. 
Your’s is a precocious fellow. The charge for an advertisement depends 
upon its length. A short one is 4 s. 6 d. 
Suspended Baskets, &c. (Troublesome).—We are glad that the 
article by Mr. Fish pleased you so well. As you are so near Trentham, 
you will have seen how nicely all the Ivy-leaved Geraniums do when so 
treated. 
Glass-covered Walls at Trentiiam (Ibid).—' There can be no 
question as to their utility. We saw a house nearly finished at Woburn 
the other day, for Figs on the wall ; and we think Peaches or Plums in 
fruit. Either for late or early houses, they will answer admirably ; one 
thing peculiarly fitting them for the latter is, that you get rid of the drip, 
the inseparable attendant of flat-roofed houses. 
Vinery and Peachery (Ibid).—' This, if six feet wide, and ten feet 
six inches high, with the Vines at the back wall, and Peaches in front, 
no doubt it will answer; but see your trellis is not higher than Mr. 
Fleming’s. Your wall underground, five feet from the back wall, to 
prevent the roots mingling, is a capital idea, and will render your success 
more certain, as you can change and chop without injuring what is left. 
Width of border— Do not be alarmed; five feet is quite ample; but 
secure abundant drainage, two feet of soil, and be liberal with surface- 
dressings and manure-waterings. Think of one thing, however ; in such 
a house you can do nothing with pot plants. Will it suit your lady as 
well as a lean-to house, in which, after giving Peaches the go-by, you 
might have plants undergoing a preparing process during seven or eight 
months in the year ; in fact, from the time the Grapes are cut, until they 
are colouring again ? If you can settle that matter satisfactorily, then 
we would decidedly vote for a Trentham; house. You mean the roots of 
the Peaches to have access to the outside border, as at Trentham. 
Tail of Grey Dorkings (A Subscriber).— There is great uncer¬ 
tainty in all attempts to breed the Grey Dorkings true to a particular 
colour, but the tail of the Cock should be iridescent black ; if white 
indeed* appears in that part of his plumage, it can only be permitted in 
very small proportion to the former colour, to which our preference, other 
merits being equal, would certainly be given.—W. 
Names of Plants (An Old Subscriber).— Quite impossible to be 
certain of the name of your “weed,” from such a specimen, but it is 
probably Polygonum amphibium. (J. M.).- Yours is Chenopodium 
bonus-Henricus, Good Henry, or Goosefoot, sometimes used as Spinach, 
and, as in your district, is often applied as a healer to wounds and 
ulcers. (Lancastriensis). — Atriplex hortemis, var. rubra, Garden Orach 
or Mountain Spinach. (F. W. S., Melton).— The twisted seed-pod is that 
of Streptocaprus Rexii, and the Marjoram, we believe, is Origanum 
Tourneforte. 
- - . ; . . . » 
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.—September 1 st, 1853, 
