90 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Change of Names (Ibid),— You complain, and very justly, of some 
botanists changing the name of our common heath from Erica vulgaris 
into Calluna vulgaris , and Plumbago Larpentes into Valoradia Plum - 
baginoides; and you add this query—“Whose adoption is neces¬ 
sary to their being acknowledged.” To which we can only reply, that we 
know of no botanist with authority and judgment so acknowledged as to 
entitle him to create new genera, and to re-name species at his own dis¬ 
cretion. There are some pests among naturalists who think their pene¬ 
tration is great in discovering some trivial distinction on which to argue 
for a new name. Respecting such men, great only in trifles, we will 
quote these words of the late Sir J. E. Smith “ Those who alter names, 
often for the worse, according to arbitrary rules of their own, or in order 
to aim at consequence, which they cannot otherwise attain, are best 
treated with silent neglect. The system should not be encumbered with 
such names even as synonymes.” 
Ants Invading Bees (Apis). —To prevent the ants climbing up the 
leg or legs of your bee-stand, tie a piece of sheep’s wool round each. 
Diseased Leaves of Geranium (S. J. E.). —The leaf sent seems 
perforated by some insect, but is too mashed by the post-office for us to 
be certain. Leaves and flowers should be put in little boxes that will 
endure the official blows. 
Onions Disappearing (T. Fallon). —Your onion seedlings on a rich 
suitable soil came up healthy, “Jiut disappeared totally during one night 
and day.” They must have been drawn into the soil by worms, or pulled 
up by sparrows ; or both may have contributed to your loss. Water your 
ground with a solution of corrosive sublimate before re-sowing, and 
stretch threads of white worsted over the bed. 
Brocoli Culture (C. Fisk ).—You will find all necessary hints if you 
refer to the indexes of previous volumes. If you require information on 
any particular point, write to us again. We have put your note into good 
hands. Liquid-manure may be applied advantageously to peas and beans 
as soon as their pods are set. 
Bone-boiler’s Wash (Ibid). —This, which is “the water in which 
bones have been boiled, and when cold is like jelly,” would be a good 
manure for turnips, cabbages, brocoli, and many other things, if poured 
over the ground, and dug in before planting or sowing. Such liquor 
contains a large quantity of animal and saline matters, and is, in fact, a 
very strong liquid-manure. 
Softening Hard Wa ter (J. Toms ).—Your water is so hard that it 
injures your verbena and other greenhouse and frame plants. Do not add 
j soda to it, but put an ounce of carbonate of ammonia (obtainable at the 
| chemists) into each sixty gallons of the water. When it is quite dissolved, 
i and has stood for a few hours, it will be ready for use. You can obtain 
j guano of the company you name ; their office is at No. 40, Bridge-street, 
Blackfriars. 
Crickets (S. A .). —Every mode of destroying the cockroach, detailed at 
page 35 of our present volume, is equally efficacious against the cricket. 
Another way of trapping this insect is, to put into phials a little beer, and 
to place them on their side near the haunts of these insects. They creep 
in, but cannot escape. 
Weevil on Apple-trees (W. M., Prescot ).—The weevil which you 
caught at night eating the bark from the shoots of your young apple-trees 
is the apple weevil (Anthonymus pomorum), of which you will find a draw¬ 
ing and many particulars at page 145 of our first volume. 
Growing Mushrooms in Boxes (H. I. B.). —Boxes, two feet by four 
feet, and from nine inches to a foot deep, are a very convenient size for 
the growth of the mushroom. These boxes should be filled with horse- 
droppings, mixed with a little light rich loam, say two-thirds of the 
former and one-third of the latter, well incorporated together. These 
materials should be placed in a dry open shed, to be turned over several 
times to ferment until pretty dry and sweet. The whole being well mixed, 
i dry, and sweet, fill the boxes to within two inches of the top, making the 
j mixture as solid as possible. Then let them stand in the dry until the 
i heat rises, when holes are to be made with a dibble six or seven inches 
' apart all over the surface, and five or six inches deep. After two or three 
days, if the whole should be too hot, let the boxes remain in this way for 
several days longer, and the open holes will assist in letting off the exces¬ 
sive heat. As soon as the heat is a little on the decline, fill the holes with 
I spawn, and if thought to be still too hot to cover over with earth, let them 
remain in this state any necessary length of time. When the heat has 
become gentle cover over the whole surface, from one to two inches thick, 
with light loam beat down solid and smooth. Keep the boxes in some 
suitable situation, according to the season. See page 36. 
Auricula Pips not Opening (Herbert). —Your auriculas “ half form 
their pips, and then these wither;” and from your statement we con - 
I elude that you did not keep your auriculas warm enough just at the time 
| when they required most protection; that is, from the time they shew 
' bloom up to the point when they ought to be in perfection. Your com- 
1 moner kinds have flowered well, because they are more hardy. Also, arc 
1 you quite sure that the cow dung you used to top dress with in February 
I last was old enough and well sweetened enough ? If not (which we 
] strongly suspect), that is cause enough to prevent your flowers expand- 
1 ing; the too rich, crude food would poison the young roots, and prevent 
their taking up nourishment. Besides, you had too much dung and too 
1 little loam in your compost (half dung, quarter loam, and quarter sand), 
i The proportions ought to have been reversed. We advise you to take off 
this too rich compost now, and top-dress again with a compost not so 
I rich. See Mr. Appleby’s weekly instruction on this subject, 
i Vine Scale (Ibid). —You will do quite right to strip off carefully the 
[May 9. 
old bark from your vines that harbours not aphis but coccus , or brown 
scale. The former generally inhabits the leaves and jmung shoots. 
Tobacco smoke is the effectual destructive agent for aphides. The coccus 
or brown scale will be nearly destroyed by peeling off the old bark, but 
you must be careful not to injure the inner bark, or the least wound will 
cause the vine to bleed just now severely. When the leaves are fully ex¬ 
panded there is no danger. Wait a fortnight before you water with liquid 
manure. 
Obtaining new Varieties of Pansy (Amateur). —It is not neces¬ 
sary to impregnate pansies in order to improve the breed. Bce4 and other 
insects do this effectually. Nevertheless, you may try it, but you must 
cover the flower you intend to operate upon before it opens, and keep it 
covered till the bloom drops off. Save seed from the best formed and 
brightest coloured flowers, and you will undoubtedly have some improved 
varieties. The best colour for a pansy stand is a dark green. The stand 
ought to slope three inches in a foot. The plate on the top of the tube 
to contain the calyx or flower cup of each pansy should be oval and 
sloping, and should be rather below the level of the board, so as to cause 
the flower to lay flat upon it. The best time to sow pansy seed is as soon 
as it is ripe. It need not be kept an hour after that. Therefore, the season 
of sowing will extend from June to September. 
Peruvian Guano. —We are requested to state that Messrs. Anthony 
Gibbs and Sons, of Bishopsgate-street, are the sole importers of Peruvian 
guano. 
Liquid Guano (C. T. F,).—Dissolve an ounce of guano in each gallon 
of water, and let it stand still until quite clear. 
Blistered Peach-leaves (W. S.). —These do not arise from the 
wounds of the aphides, but from excess of stagnant moisture at the roots. 
If your borders were thoroughly drained, or your trees planted on plat¬ 
forms, you would have no blistered leaves. We shall be obliged by the 
report about screening wall-trees. 
Swedish Turnips after Tares (Ibid). —If you have a seed bed of 
Swedish turnips, you may plant these upon the ground as fast as you clear 
it of tares, provided you pulverize the soil and manure it. Both your 
swedes and mangold wurtzel may be cleared off in time, to sow wheat in 
November as you propose. 
Weight of Eggs (Inkpen ).—Our correspondent says:—“ Would you 
be kind enough to state what is the average weight of the eggs of the 
Aylesbury duck ? I weighed some the other day and found that nine 
weighed 2lbs., but I saw one belonging to a neighbour which weighed 
GAoz. It was badly shaped, and appeared to be double yolked. I have 
never had hens’ eggs which weighed heavier than five to a lb., although 
a neighbour informed me that he had a Spanish egg which weighed nearly 
4A oz., but I did not see it. Are ducks* eggs considered wholesome food ? I 
have had a prejudice against eating them.” This is only a prejudice, for 
ducks’ eggs are as wholesome as those of fowls ; the only difference being 
that they are stronger in flavour, and larger. Can any of our correspon¬ 
dents tell what is the average or usual weight of an Aylesbury duck’s egg ? 
Tecoma Jasminoides not Blooming (An Ardent Amateur). —This 
plant requires plenty of room ; but the chief reason why we suspect your 
plant has not flowered is because you have been too kind to it, in nursing 
it so carefully in a stove. The pillar and roof of a greenhouse would suit 
it better. We think, however, you will succeed in the cool end of a stove, 
and by giving it plenty of air to ripen its shoots in the autumn. As your 
plant made shoots from one to two yards in length last autumn, it may 
flower on the side shoots, if the wood was well ripened. The stopping of 
the shoots would soon enable you to see, as their side shoots would sooner 
be thrown out. If it does not flower, you must make up your mind to 
give air in the autumn to ripen the shoots, or at once transfer it to the 
roof of the greenhouse, where the declining heat in the autumn, combined 
with a stinted supply of water, will accelerate the wood-ripening process. 
Double French Marigold Cuttings (Verax). —These arc annual 
plants reared from seeds sown in the spring, and they die away by the 
end of the season; but by taking cuttings of them in August, we can pre¬ 
serve a given variety for many years. See what we said of them in the 
last weekly number. 
Eggs (Ibid). —We believe that eggs will bear carriage without injury, 
if not treated with excessive violence. See page 55. 
Veranda (M. 31 .).—The shade caused by the luxuriant climbers in 
front of your veranda, and by the opaque roof, render the back wall unfit 
for any plants, except such as common ivy, and nothing can enable you 
to grow other plants, unless you cover the veranda with glass, or at least 
partly so, and the new rough plate is most suitable for such a roof. We 
often wonder how it is that those who can afford it do not use at least one- 
third glass in the roofs of verandas, and so get nice plants trained against 
the house as you propose. 
Gentianella not Thriving CIbid). —Your soil is too poor; it re¬ 
quires deep, light, rich soil; remove it to an open place in the kitchen- 
garden for a year or two. 
Plants for Australia (M. C. E .).—No plants can live in a tin case, 
soldered close, for any length of time ; living plants must have light, and 
that can only be given in such a voyage by a Wardian case. Such plants 
as you intend taking out would do much easier from seeds, and we would 
advise an assortment of all our popular half-hardy flowers to be tried that 
way, even if yo u should take the plantsjalso._ 
London : Printed by Harry Wooldridge, Winchester High Street, 
in the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar, and Published by William 
Somerville Our, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish of 
Christ Church, City of London.—May 9, 1850. 
