114 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 15. 
were quietly looking on, the busy natives of far distant 
i lands were contributing their labours. We thought of the 
Chincha Islands in the rainless Pacific, and of a fleet of 
merchantmen waiting their turn to be loaded; we remem¬ 
bered the cubic petre grounds of Peru, the ships loading 
with this salt at Iquique. We came nearer home; we were 
reminded of the banks of the huge La Plata, of its count¬ 
less droves of wild cattle, of their bones, once thrown away 
as useless, now collected, reduced in weight by burning, and 
annually shipped to the amount of thousands of tons ; and 
then of the now nearly exhausted bones of Belgium and the 
Baltic, the refuse animal charcoal of the French sugar 
I refiners. Still, when the merchant could find no more bones, 
| when the demand for their phosphate of lime still largely 
exceeded all possible supply, then came Liebig, Henslow, 
j and poor Buckland to the farmer’s aid; they pointed out 
the bones of now extinct races of animals—failing a supply 
from the present world, they had recourse to bones and 
other animal remains formed and in use long before Noah 
floated in his ark over the submerged Asiatic mountains. 
“ Such a glance at an agricultural chemist’s works is 
indeed instructive and refreshing—they remind us of past 
discoveries; they act as an incentive to other and perhaps 
still more successful inquiries—to discoveries which will 
be sure to attend upon agriculture, so long as the farmer 
j continues to encourage the labours of men of science, and 
| the productions of the honourable manufacturer.*’’ 
GRASS AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 
We are pleased to observe, in The Cottage Gardener 
of May 1st., page 08, Mr. Beaton admires the turf at 
Sydenham, produced by the grass seeds sown last summer. 
We were also pleased to observe, when there about a fortnight 
since, there was not one plot which had failed. Mr. Beaton 
remarks, that whoever supplied the seeds may be justly 
proud of them; and we have the great pleasure of saying 
that we had the honour* of supplying all the grass seeds 
sown at Sydenham.— John Sutton and Sons, Beading. 
RHUBARB VINEGAR. 
The following is the result of my experience in the 
making of Rhubarb Vinegar, after two trials in two succeed¬ 
ing years. The recipe was asked for in a number of The 
Cottage Gardener, perhaps two years ago, and I do not 
know that it has been answered. I can confidently recom¬ 
mend this as a very good and agreeable table Vinegar. The 
Vinegar that was bottled this time twelve-months is excel¬ 
lent, both in colour and strength.—E. Grant, Housekeeper 
to W. J. Harding, Esq., Baraset, Stratford-on-Avon. 
When the Rhubard-stalks are plentiful and strong, cut 
them in slices, as for tarts, without skinning them. To 
each gallon of Rhubarb so prepared pour one gallon of 
boiling water. Let it stand three days, then strain it, and 
add 11 lb. of coarse moist-sugar to every gallon of liquor. 
Barrel it, and keep it in a warm place till ready for bottling, 
which will be about March. Do not stop the barrel close 
whilst the liquor is in it. 
INDUCING ROOKS TO BUILD WHERE 
WISHED. 
In one of your late numbers there was an enquiry as to 
the best mode of inducing rooks to build in any wood. 
The best, and, indeed, the only plan I know, is to watch 
for either a magpie or crow to build in the wood you wish 
the rooks to colonize, and substitute rook’s eggs for those 
* In *be first two months of the present year were imported—of the 
hones of animals, 4,6l6 tons; of cubic petre, 17,847 cwt; of guano, 
17)410 tons* 
of the magpie or crow. The young rooks will return the 
following year, and in a few years there will be a strong 
rookery.— Anon. 
DEATH OF AN IMPORTED SHANGHAE 
COCKERELL. 
Perhaps you may think the enclosed account, from a 
medical man, of the cause of death in a half-starved fowl 
^ worth insertion in The Cottage Gardener, as I believe it 
I is rather an unusual case. The bird (a large cockerell) 
I had only arrived from Amoy a fortnight, and was kept by 
night in a stable for the sake of warmth.—A Constant 
Reader. 
“ It is ray painful duty to inform you, that after a careful 
post mortem examination of the body of your unfortunate 
chicken, I have come to the conclusion that he died a 
victim to his own excesses. Had he been content with the 
grain, &c., with which you doubtless bountifully supplied 
him, he would probably have long lived to be admired and 
respected by his brethren in the yard; but not content with 
your provisions, he had stuffed his crop with masses of 
straw and hay, which remained undigested in a state of 
fermentation, and thus became the cause of his untimely 
fate. May it prove a warning to others of his race who, 
after suffering the pangs of hunger, are suddenly placed in 
the midst of luxury and plenty.” 
[This, we think, was a decided case of “ hard crop.” The 
hay and straw were probably swallowed by the bird to act 
medicinally, as dogs eat grass for the .same purpose. 
Feeding the bird too plentifully, and on hard corn, whilst 
his powers of digestion were weak from long confinement 
on board the ship, was the treatment which led to his 
death. If he had been fed on soft food, the catastrophe 
would not have happened.] 
PEARS ON WHITE-THORN STOCKS.—COST OF 
POULTRY FEEDING. 
In observation on your correspondent’s enquiry about 
j Pears grafted on Quick Stocks (“ H.,” March 13, 1855, 
page 403), I beg to say, that in 1850 and 1851, I grafted 
j seven Pears on Quicks— Beurre D'Aremberg, Napoleon, 
Seccle, Fondant Van Mans, Beurre Bose, and Count de 
Launey (which all took well), and some others (names lost) 
which failed ; the failures, however, not above four. Of 
! these seven which took, four only remain to me, the others 
i having gone off at various periods, and one more ( Napoleon ) 
is dying at the top from canker. Of these four, Fondant Van 
\ Mons, Beurre Bose, and Napoleon, are full of bloom; 'Count 
de Launey, moderately so. They are between six and seven 
i feet high, and all but Napoleon very healthy. This mise- 
j rably icy spring will, 1 fear, preclude my sending you a 
| report of the quantity and quality of crop (they have, not 
borne fruit hitherto), but if any should arrive at maturity 
after the 8° of frost of the night of May 2nd, you shall hear. 
They all overgrow the stocks, which was to be expected; 
but if the dryness of the Quick be not imparted to the fruit, 
I which I also expect it will, the tendency to dwarfage will be 
an advantage in a small garden. An intelligent amateur 
friend of mine has, or had, some four or five years back, 
some stronger and finer trees than mine on the Quick 
stock, which, I believe, bore well. I have a small Medlar 
, by the side of the Pears which looks flourishing, and has 
blossomed (it is younger than the Pears) but not fruited 
yet. 
I think another correspondent, in your March number, 
which I have not by me now, asks how Shanghaes are to be 
reared and fed at so little as l^d. per head per week. I 
could give chapter and verse for the fact, even during the 
heavy prices of corn of last year [Pray do], but have now 
no time, and have taken up your space should you insert 
this.— Fras. H. S. Say, Braughin Vicarage, Ware. 
P.S.—I have for two seasons used the upright and in¬ 
verted flower pot saucers as a chicken fountain, and cer¬ 
tainly shall not buy expensive inventions so long as my 
garden pottery fails me not. 
