COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
149 
May 39. 
which have been constructed for the plants can wear a 
satisfactory aspect. The raised clumps in the open ground 
are filled with Stocks, Pansies, Tulips, &c., and some rich 
collections of greenhouse Azaleas, and miscellaneous plants, 
occupy two or three round tents of about twenty feet in 
diameter. The stove and the aquarium have been partially 
filled, hut the arrangements are not yet sufficiently advanced 
to make it worth while sending a detailed notice. An effort 
has been made to shut out the view of the grounds from the 
exterior, but the Bays and other shrubs, which have been 
planted for this purpose inside of the slight wooden-rail, 
appear to have been shaken by lifting and standing so long 
in the baskets before being replanted. The leaves of last 
year are now yellow, and are likely soon to drop. 
In some of the London daily papers the plant structures 
have been spoken of as “ the great glass houses; ” but 
though they are neat enough, they are, in reality, very small, 
and only two of them deserve the name of houses. 
The greenhouses of France, in general, present a pecu¬ 
liarity which is worth notice ; they have all, more or less, a 
neat and light iron gangway on the top, to which access is 
obtained by a sort of ladder, also of iron, and the whole is 
raised about six inches from the glass on iron props. The 
gangway or balcony is by no means unsightly, but is very 
convenient, as the workmen are thereby enabled, with 
perfect facility, to do anything that may be required on the 
roof. 
The general arrangement of the garden is all that could 
be expected on so small a scale, for it is but little more than 
half au-acre in extent. The English style of “laying out” 
has been copied as nearly as possible; that is, there are no 
rectangular figures, or beds such as prevail in the orna¬ 
mental gardens of the Palais des Tulleries, and at the 
garden of the Luxembourgh. Indeed, the continental 
style of gardening, as seen in France, Belgium, &c., is 
essentially stiff and formal in outline; like the rigid des¬ 
cription of the institutions which form the national character. 
This severe style can only be adopted with advantage in the 
construction of cities and towns; but it is quite out of 
place in pleasure grounds or ornamental gardens. 
With the exception of M. Verschoffelt, of Ghent, who 
has contributed some coloured illustrations of choice 
Camellias, the exhibitors are all French, the greater 
number being nurserymen in the vicinity of Paris. One or 
two insignificant contributions have come from Bordeaux 
and Strasbourg. I have seen nothing from England. But, 
if my information is correct (for at the time of my visit 
there was no official label attached to the case), the East 
India Company have sent a large and very valuable col¬ 
lection of wax models of tropical fruits, the natural size, all 
finished in a style of the highest excellence. These models 
surpass anything that is to be seen at Kew Gardens, or at 
the Museum d’ Ilistoire Naturelle here; at least, with re¬ 
spect to tropical fruits, for the models of Fungi and Lichens 
at the Museum there is far beyond all praise. Indeed, the 
great and never-failing attraction of this Exhibition is the 
fruit department, which includes both natural and artificial 
productions, and it is certainly no ordinary treat, in our 
latitude, to see, in the first week of May, an exhibition of 
Cherry-trees, in pots, loaded with beautifully-coloured fruit; 
also Strawberries, Figs, Grapes, Cucumbers, and young 
Green Peas. The Cherry-trees are but little more than two 
feet high, and bear, on an average, from fifty to sixty fruit. 
In a former communication I offered some observations 
on artificial fruit, and proposed that models of all the sorts 
in cultivation should he exhibited in our public Museums, 
hut I was not aware that at the very moment I was offering 
this suggestion, preparations for the first example were 
nearly completed, and there is at present to be seen, at the 
Horticultural Exhibition, a collection of several hundred 
varieties of Apples, Pears, Plums, Apricots, Peaches, Goose¬ 
berries, Strawberries, &c., all accurately named, and modelled 
from nature with the utmost nicety of detail. The “ bloom ” 
of the Plums, the slight down of the Peaches and Apricots, 
the clear transparency of some of the Gooseberries—all are 
represented with a fidelity that might deceive the most 
practised eye. The directors have, however, made a mistake 
in placing these and similar productions in a place which 
is much too small to admit the crowds that will be sure to 
flock round them. 
The manner in which the fruit is at present arranged is 
not what it might be, and, in a matter of this kind, arrange¬ 
ment is of the first importance; but it is not worse than 
what we have in England. One or two large, ornamental 
baskets have been filled with some attempt at taste, but 
they are exceptions. I should observe, that they are literally 
covered on the outside as well as the inside, as if the outside 
of a vase or basket was ever intended to be stuck all over 
with fruit. Such, however, are sometimes the outrages of 
our decorators. A feature which deserves particular notice, 
is the formation of a fruit-garden, showing the various ways 
of training fruit-trees, as standards, and on trellises, in¬ 
cluding dwarfs and riders. Considering the small extent of 
i ground, the trees have been placed to the most advantage, 
and, in some cases, the borders of the clumps are formed of 
young Apple-trees, bent and tied in the form of a light 
trellis, which is both ornamental and agreeable when in 
flower and fruit. The plants offer but little requiring 
mention ; they are composed chiefly of Azaleas, Cinerarias, 
Tulips, Pmonies, and the common sorts of the greenhouse. 
But I must reserve further details for a future occasion.— 
P. F. K. 
THE APIARIAN’S CALENDAR.— June. 
By J. II. Payne , Esq., Author of “ The Bee-Keeper's 
Guide,” <Scc. 
Swarming. —The time for swarms is now very nigh at 
hand, if we are to have any, but the weak state of the stocks 
generally makes it not very desirable. However, if they 
come, the best must be made of them. By all means let 
the new swarm be placed where it is to remain as soon as 
it is settled in its new hive, which rarely exceeds ten minutes. 
This will save the bees much loss of time, as well as numbers 
of them their lives. 
Second Swarms. —On no account suffer a second swarm 
to remain by itself, either join it to the first swarm, or return 
it to the parent hive; or, where more than one second swarm 
is expected, let two of them be put together. 
Losses. —Numbers of stocks have died in April, and some 
even in May. An amateur told me rather boastingly, at the 
breaking up of the winter frost, that he had eleven stocks 
in fine health, but now he tells me quite a different tale, for 
eight of the eleven are dead. 
New Queen. —On the 29th of April, I observed at the 
mouth of one of my stocks (a swarm of last year) an un¬ 
usual number of bees, and upon examining them I dis¬ 
covered a queen in the centre, a very large one, and, from 
her colour and the tattered state of her wings, a very old 
one. This may be accounted for from the swarm coming 
from a stock that had not swarmed before for many years. 
I took her from them, and kept her for two hours, and then 
returned her; her return caused the greatest uproar, which 
lasted for half-an-liour, when she was brought out quite 
dead. Order was then immediately restored. 
That a new queen had been made was quite clear from 
all this. (Query .—Where can a drone be found to mate 
with her?) Up to this time pollen had been carried in in 
large quantities, but from the above date until the 19tli of 
May not any—on that day, however, it was resumed as 
usual. 
Supers. —Supers should be supplied very cautiously, for 
the whole of April and the greater part of May has been so 
exceedingly cold, that the stocks are generally become very 
weak. The supers, therefore, should not be put on until 
the bees actually require room, to prevent their swarming. 
IS THE TOAD POISONOUS? 
A singular circumstance occurred in my garden lately. 
In turning over an old Sea-kale pot accidentally, I discovered 
four kittens, a few days old, which a strange cat had depo¬ 
sited on the dry ground, the pot being the only protection 
from the weather. Interested in the well-being of the little 
foundlings, I provided a saucer of milk and other food for the 
mother, placing them near the pot, and which were regularly 
consumed. I was surprised on going into my garden, early 
