101 
the cottage gardener. 
[May 16. 
havin" the tank under the bed at one side, that there must be an undue 
accumulation of heat just over it, as it presents so much larger a surface 
than the pipe. Besides this, the horizontal position of the copper-pipe in 
the cylinder is bad, inasmuch as the circulation would, I apprehend, 
lie much accelerated by giving it a slanting direction through the fire. 
Would it not be practicable and much more advantageous instead ot using 
lead-pipes, to make a shallow tank, either of wood, or cast iron, and let 
the copper-pipe lead directly into this tank'/ Would not, in such, the 
circulation be quicker; and would not the effect be greater; and would 
not the pit be altogether more complete; and scarcely, if at all, moie ex¬ 
pensive ?” Will IF. X. IF. oblige us by answering these queries. 
Potatoes (T ijro, l’lumstead) The leaf you have enclosed is blackened 
by frost and not by disease. This will not affect the crop much, tlic leaves 
at present being so young. Never mind your Ash-leaved Kidneys not 
bein"’ so forward as others, they will soon pass them when once they get 
above ground. The peas, of which you find the tops off and lying on the 
ground, have had their stems eaten through by slugs; hoc the ground 
near the rows and dust over it with quick lime, which will prevent their 
further depredations; the lime must he renewed after rain has fallen. 
Heating Conservatory on First-Floor (A.H., Camden Tool). 
Have your boiler at A, and take care that the joints of your hot-water 
pipes are made very tight, or leakages from them will annoy you. We 
cannot give any estimate of the cost of your plan, nor recommend any one 
to do it. With so small an affair, and so situated, wc should have the 
water kept hot by a jet of gas on the same floor with the conservatory. 
Bees (E. E.). —You ask “ If a swarm of bees is put into a hive placed 
on a doubling hoard (Taylor, page 28) will it require a second hive this 
season ? ” If it he a good and early swarm it will require another hive 
this season; and it should be supplied about 21 days after its being hived. 
It is not too late to obtain Payne’s hives. You can obtain a folio case for 
The Cottage Gardener numbers as they come out, of Mr. Low, H>9, 
Fleet-street. 
Zaucksneria Californica Seeds (T. M. W.). These should be 
sown in very light soil, and placed in a cold pit; common garden soil is 
by far too heavy for bucIi very small seeds. Otherwise, the whole of your 
seeds, if they were ripe, would have vegetated. 
Flower-Beds, Arrangement (C. IF. L.). —Your flower-bed, five and 
a half feet in diameter, with an Irish yew in the centre, and a row of 
crocuses and two rows of hyacinths round the outside, may be planted 
with geraniums, calceolarias, or verbenas, or with all three; and as it is 
always best to allow bulbs, as hyacinths, to ripen their leaves where they 
flowered, you might use any of those annuals which form good edging, 
and which' could be transplanted as late as when the hyacinths were fit 
to move. More generally, however, all those spring bulbs are removed as 
soon in Slay as the weather will allow of half-hardy plants to be “ turned 
outand if they are removed in showery, or cloudy weather, taking great 
care not to injure the roots, and afterwards carefully watered till their 
leaves turn yellow, they take very little hurt. The beds are then dug, and 
are ready for a fresli crop. 
Number of Plants for a Bed {Ibid).— There is no rule necessary to 
determine the number of plants that will fill a bed of a given Bize, nor can 
we be of the least use to you, or to any one, under this head; but take an 
instance—we are now planting calceolarias at two feet six inches apart 
everyway, and the beds are quite full at once; the very same kind of 
calceolarias we are planting not quite six inches apart, and the bed does 
not seem full, so that the number of plants depend entirely on their size. 
Every bed in a gay flower-garden ought to be planted as full as the stock 
of plants or the weight of the purse will allow of; plant thickly, and thin 
in time, is the proper rule. 
Flower to Mix with Crimson Lobelias (Ibid).— I eroena teu- 
creoides would make a good match, and the best contrast to your “ deep 
crimson lobelias ; ” at least a white flowering plant should be used. In 
the corners of your square bed large patches of Gladiolus psittacinus 
would look remarkably well, and suit the other plants as to colour and 
style of growth—and both should have equal consideration. 
Bedding-oct Flowers in Pots (JAfd).-Scailet geraniums, fuchsias, 
&c.—indeed, all half-hardy plants —may be put into beds in their pots; 
and sometimes it is necessary to do so with some scarlet geraniums, to 
keep them in check in damp rich beds. The plan requires much attention, 
however ; as if the Halls once get thoroughly dry, no amount ol water 
thrown on the lied will save them, as it will pass off as from the slates on 
a roof. 
Verbena Venosa (Rad).— No other purple verbena or Stachy-tarpheta 
will do for mixing with the Scarlet variegated Geranium. A our idea that 
Emma would do, because it is a good dark purple, is an apt illustration of 
many of the closet arrangements of flowers that have been industriously 
recommended. It will not contrast pleasingly. 
Azaleas done Flowering (Ibid). —We suppose you mean the Chi¬ 
nese kinds. Plants of them getting bare below, with only leaves on the 
tips of the branches, are in a precarious state, probably, at the roots. Such 
require to be now pruned-in ; or say cut away two-thirds of all the hare 
branches, and stop all those that are not bare. See that the drainage is 
all right, and then assist them by a good moist heat of from fi0° to 80° 
for the next six weeks. 
separating it from the parent stem when in full leaf; others, only ringing 
it, and separating it in the winter ; and our advice is asked. \\ e should 
suffer the branch to become filled with sap from its parent before resorting j 
to measures tending to a separation. Towards June we would morel) 
score round the stem with a knife to begin with, and in the middle ot 
July wc would remove a strip of bark altogether—say about a quarter cr. 
an inch in width. Wc would then out off th- branch in the middle of 
October, and replant, tub and all. An excavation might be loft for one 
year after around the tub, and the staves drawn away in the ensuing 
winter, and the hole tilled up with good soil. 
Vine Border [T. W. />.).—Your vine border soil is not bad after all : 
you will grow good grapes if you are. safe from stagnant moisture. We : 
’should have preferred more loam and lime-rubbish in the mixture. The 
Bishop Stortford border will not last seven years longer if the quantity 
of manure used be correctly stated. The other portion of your arrange¬ 
ments are excellent; and you can scarcely fail. You will have no success 
with oranges on the back wall, unless you confine your vines to the rafters 
on the spurring system. 
Hed Spider (X^*—No syringing is employed by Mr. Ernngton to his 
wall fruit the whole summer. We do not, however, say that judiciously 
used it would not be beneficial. Mr. Errington wrote rather strongly, in 
order to deter from an abuse of the syringe. i 
Inarching Vines ( S. G.).— Vines are generally inarched on the old 
wood during the rest season. You may, however, inarch directly, using a ; 
young shoot in a young shoot, if possible. This is an operation that re- j 
quires care. They will take almost any way; but one point is to guard 
against bleeding. 
Answers (E. E.).— It is impossible for us to guarantee an answer to a 
query in any given time, for we never give a reply until we feel certain 
that it is accurate; and before this certainty is attained we often have to 
consult authorities. The next Thursday hut one after we receive a query 
its answer usually appears. 
Accenting Names (W. B. JR .).—We should accent the names if we 
could be certain of accuracy, but this cannot be secured in a weekly peri¬ 
odical ; and to be inaccurate, even occasionally, would be worse than lea^ - 
ing the names without accents. One of our objects in publishing The 
Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary , now preparing for the press, is to give it 
reference for accented names. 
Ginger Wine (M. A. C.).— The correct receipt is as follows To make 
six gallons, boil together for one hour, and skimming whilst they boil, the j 
peels of six lemons, nine ounces of ginger bruised, twelve pounds of loaf ( 
sugar, and six gallons of water. Bet it remain until about as warm as 
new milk, tlien put in the juice of the six lemons, and four pounds ol 
raisins cut small. Put all into a clean cask, and add three tablespoonsful 
of yeast or barm. Stir it daily for seven days ; then add half an ounce ot 
isinglass dissolved in a little hot water, and a pint of brandy ; bung down ; 
the cask tightly, let it remain for six weeks, and then bottle it. 
Fuchsia Macrantiia (IF. D .).—Any London florist will supply it for 
about eighteenpence. 
Iron Stove for Greenhouse (J. <$. L.). —We never thought an iron 
stove suitable for heating a small greenhouse, though we may have endea¬ 
voured to render our correspondent’s intentions as little injurious as we 
could. It is not merely the gases from the fuel that are injurious, but 
those formed by the dust always floating in the air being burnt against 
the sides and tubes of the stove. No one can mistake the smell caused 
by this burning; added to which there is dust from clearing away ashes, See. 
Wire-worm in Comport Heap {Ibid). —You do not say what com¬ 
post. If there is no objection, we should soak it thoroughly with ammo- 
niacal liquor from a gas-work. If a small quantity, effect the soaking in 
a hogshead cask. 
Asparagus Shoots Decaying (C. T. P .).—The specimens sent to 
us are quite decayed about three inches below the surface of tlic soil, and 
their tops curled round. We think this must arise from too much stag¬ 
nant moisture in the beds. If this be so, the cure is to cut a trench 
between the beds three feet deep, and thence into some neighbouring 
ditch; and lay draining pipes down, or to fill up the trench with flint* 
stones to keep the drain open. 
Moon’s Watering Pots (.4 Lover of Gardening). Can any of oui 
readers inform us where these are to be purchased, and at what price t 
White Forget-me-not. —This grows abundantly in a garden near 
Ledbury ; and the kind owner offers to send it to any one who informs us 
that they require it. They must send their address and a stumped blank 
envelope. 
Names of Plants (.4 Lover of Flowers from Childhood), lour spe¬ 
cimen sent is Berberis heterophylla. We cannot guess at the othei, 
please to let us see a specimen of the flowers, &c. 
Peach-tree Shedding its Leaves (A Constant Subscriber). The 
probability is, that this tree in your hothouse has its roots too dry. Soak 
the earth in the pot thoroughly with tepid water, and take carc to keep it 
moist. No two peaches on so young a tree should be nearer to each other 
on the same branch than nine inches. Answer to other question next 
week. 
Mulberry Branch Layered (J. H. P .).—In May last was placed 
around one of a mulberry-tree’s large branches a barrel about four feet 
deep, filled with clay : it held six or seven wheelbarrows full. The branch 
has roots in the clay already more than a foot long. Some persons advise 
London: Printed by Harry Wooldridge, Winchester High-street, 
in the Parish of Saint Mary Kalcndar; and Published by \\ illiam 
Somerville Orr, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish ot 
Christ Church, City of London.—May lfith, 1850. 
