240 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[July 18. 
and therefore he decidedly recommended its application outside. Hot 
size just coloured with whiting remained on his glass the whole of last 
summer ; hot size put on alone, daubed, as mentioned in a late article, 
has already been on for a couple of months, both on upright glass, and on 
a sloping roof, and though subjected to heavy rains there seems no 
perceptible difference in its appearance; of course the glass should he 
quite dry when it is put on, and if in the morning, it seems to adhere best. 
He prefers this to any other preparation, if well done, and no whiting 
used. You will require to examine it, to see that there is anything on the 
glass at all, and yet everything like burning is perfectly done away with, 
while a great portion of the heating rays are excluded. Use double size, 
which is procured in a jelly-form, and not a cake-like substance. 
Fuchsia Spectabilis (H. Bennet).— We cannot conceive why your 
nlant will not grow, as you succeed so well with F. seratifoliu, for they 
require similar treatment. We partly agree with you that the stock must 
have been deteriorated by some means, as all your neighbours are in a 
similar predicament. We should suppose, that any nurseryman in the 
south that deals in Fuchsias would supply you with a nice little plant 
at a fifth part of the price that yours cost in the beginning of 1849- As a 
last hope, we would place the gentleman in a sweet hotbed, and set a 
propagating glass over him, not close, but nearly so ; stir the soil on the 
surface of the pot almost every day; keep all sweet around him, and see 
and start him into free growth by heat and genial moisture in the atmos- 
pliere. 
Preserving Half-hardy Things during Winter (A Constant 
Reader).—See mode of raising turf pits above the level of the soil in 
last, volume. This will insure their being kept dry. In sunk pits, damp 
will commit even greater ravages than the frost. The plants you name 
Petunias, Verbenas, &c., may thus be kept all the winter without any 
fire-heat, but in continued dull weather, and in severe frost, a little would 
be an advantage. 
Rose Cuttings for Growing in Pots (J. R. Collins ). If your 
standards are the kinds that propagate freely by cuttings, the spring of 
the year, just when the shoots are from one inch to two inches in length, 
is the best of all periods for striking the cuttings successfully, by placing 
them either under a hand-light, or in a close frame in light soil, and 
shaded when necessary. They may be propagated at any time however; 
but if you try it late in autumn, you may make up your mind to lose a 
good many in winter. 
Cineraria Seed (Iff. J.).— These will vegetate nicely in an open pot in 
a warm window, or in a cool place either, and require no artificial heat; 
but it would be as well to use light soil, and just place a square of glass 
over the pot, not so much for heat, as to prevent evaporation, and thus 
save frequent waterings. 
Cuttings (An Enquirer).—\ . You say : “Cuttings of double wall¬ 
flowers inserted in light soil on the north side of a hedge, covered with a 
hand-glass, and then shaded with a bag over all, do not strike well- 
turn yellowish.” The bag was here superfluous. 2. You ask: “ Is it 
necessary that cuttings should have no sun for the first two weeks ? 
Quite the reverse. In such a position we should consider all shading 
unnecessary. See a late article on propagating by Mr. Fish. 3. You ask : 
“ Will soft wooded cuttings strike nearly as well under a hand-light in a 
frame as under a bell-glass ?” Often better; we generally use neither— 
quite content and happy to get the frame. 4. The double yellow scented 
tender rose. Smith’s we presume. See answer, “ Rose cuttings,” above. 
Double Flowers ( Mary H .).— You will see you have been at- 
tended to. 
Impregnating Flowers {Ibid). —To insure a hybrid, the stamens 
of the female plant should be renewed, but it is not always necessary, for 
in the case of the violet referred to the stigma stands out beyond the 
anthers, and if pollen is applied to its summit before its own anthers 
hurst, and fecundation is effected, its own pollen will have no effect after¬ 
wards. However, we think you could remove the anthers without even 
destroying the petals which you are so careful about, by inserting the 
point of a small penknife and rubbing them off. Have you noticed a 
peculiarity as to how the stamens open their anthers and clasp the base of 
the pistil ? Something more may be said on the subject ere long. 
Cropping Fruit Borders (L. R. L .).—Your vine border is far too 
rich and too deep; however, your question is, “ May I, without injuring 
materially my vines, plant geraniums, &c., in the border, as it is an eye¬ 
sore from my room windows ?” and we are obliged to answer, you cannot. 
It is not the impoverishing of the soil, which you suggest may be reme¬ 
died by applying more manure annually, that renders cropping fruit- 
borders objectionable, but it is the disturbance of the surface-roots of the 
vines, and the shading them when shading is not desirable. If the 
objection to the bare border must be obviated by screening it with gera¬ 
niums and other flowering shrubs, grow' these in pots plunged in the 
border. Thanks for your hints, which we do not lose sight of, but we 
must render our pages attractive to some who otherwise would not aid in 
circulating them. Take a volume, and your objection is not valid; take 
a section of a volume, and it is. Thanks also for the observations on 
surface stirring, which we will publish. 
Viola Canina (J. S.).-We cannot tell you where Mr. Paxton ascer¬ 
tained that this (Dog’s Violet) is “ a famous agent in removing cutaneous 
diseases.” All the violets produce seeds which are diuretic, and their 
roots are purgative in drachm doses, i our Cyclamen seedlings arc now 
at rest; see their treatment at page 231 of last number. 
Black Grouse Bantam (A Subscriber). — This, which has a diffi¬ 
culty in swallowing whole barley, should be fed on moist, nourishing 
food,—barley meal mixed with a little milk and water. If the crop is 
hard, give the bird a tea-spoonful of gin. If costive, give it the same 
quantity of castor oil. 
Cage Birds (A. H. R.).— We can only advance by degrees. We wish 
we could find room for everything that everybody wishes to have prefer¬ 
ence, which is somewhat difficult as tastes arc so different. 
Name of Insect (Verax). —Your question was answered at page 168. 
Roses with Green Centres (A. T .). —This is an instance of what 
is now termed morphology, or the science of vegetable transformations, 
the pistils of the roses being changed into leaves. It is probably caused 
cither by your soil being too full of moisture or too rich. Prune off all 
these misformed flowers from your Bourbon, Noisette, and autumn¬ 
blooming roses, for these will probably push again and produce more per¬ 
fect roses. 
Name of Motii (A Young Collector). —It is the Six-spotted Burnet 
Moth (Anthrocerasfilipendulce). Its caterpillar feeds on trefoil, plantain, 
and quaking grass. You may obtain good strawberries from seed, but 
they will be different from their parent. 
Cyrtoceras Reflexum ( F. W. T.).—' This being leggy, with only 
one stem, is very little worth. All plants, to make handsome bushes, 
should be operated upon when young. They ought, when four inches 
high, to have their tops nipped off; and this should be repeated until the 
plant becomes bushy, compact, and shapely. It is hardly possible to 
make a nice bushy plant of a long-legged one, but you may try. Bend 
the plant down as low as you can without breaking—do this two or three 
times until you get the top down quite to the pot; keep it in that posi¬ 
tion. The tendency to grow upwards will induce some buds, perhaps, to 
break at the base of the stem. When these have got three or four leaves 
top them; that is, pinch out the pair of leaves last made. Just allow 
them to push again, and then you may safely remove the old stem, and 
make cuttings of it. If you cut it down at once, ten to one it will die. 
Cuttings of it must be planted in silver sand round the edge of the pot, 
placed under a hand-glass upon a heated bed of sand, in a top-heat of 
70° at least. Very little water must be given, as they are very succulent 
(full of juice), and will be apt to damp off. 
Hoitzia Coccinea (Ibid). —This flowers in March or April; it loves 
a rich light soil and liberal treatment. It requires, also, to be frequently 
stopped during summer to induce a bushy habit. Cease stopping about 
August, as it flowers on the tops of the young shoots. It is, when well 
managed, a very pretty desirable plant. Cuttings root readily treated 
similarly to the Cyrtoceras. 
Bees Transferred. — M. A. B. says:—“ I have an improved cottage 
hive of Neighbour’s, which was stocked on the 1st of July last year by 
fumigating a very large and promising swarm which had previously been 
placed in a common straw hive. This straw hive, though a large one, 
they had from the 1st of June almost entirely filled, and there was a great 
deal of brood still in the cells. I was not then aware that all the brood 
comb should be restored to them (being quite a novice in bee keeping). 
After being transferred they never seemed to thrive, and though they 
existed through the winter they did not appear to work with much vigour 
or activity when the warm weather set in; their numbers, too, instead 
of increasing visibly diminished. I therefore thought it advisable to add 
some fresh bees, and accordingly, on the 15th of June, a strong cast was 
joined (by first fumigating the bees) to the old hive. For the first week 
or ten days all appeared to be well with the united bees ; they commenced 
fresh combs and seemed rapidly filling their hive, but the last week they 
neither seemed so numerous or to be working so much, and the thermo¬ 
meter in the hive shows a much lower temperature, "2°—74°.” Your 
large and promising swarm of the 1st of June, last year, was destroyed 
by being fumigated and removed from the hive they had very nearly filled 
with honey and brood to an empty one; we have never recommended 
fumigating nor transferring. As they are you must not expect them to 
survive the coming winter. Your better plan will be to stock the hive 
next year with a good and early swarm. That bees do sometimes desert 
their hive is certain, for we have now a hive in which a cast was put on 
the 20th June, and it is now deserted, leaving a few leaves of comb which 
the bees had made. It is very unusual for a swarm to go off without any 
drones, which you say you have noticed. 
Weight of Peaches. —Mr. Errington wishes to correct his state¬ 
ment at page 207 ; instead of “ our fruit at that period averaging 11 
ounces,” he wishes to have inserted “ our fruit at that period not un- 
frequently weighing 11 ounces.” 
Names of Plants (T. M. W .).—If you had sent us a more perfect 
specimen of your Rose at first we could have told you the name before; 
it is Rosa cinnamomea, or Cinnamon Rose. We would say, once for all, 
that if it is desirable to ask us to devote our attention to a plant, it is but 
common courtesy to take every pains to save us from unnecessary diffi¬ 
culty by sending a good sized specimen of the flower and leaves in a box 
that cannot be crushed by the post-office punches. Your Fuchsia we 
believe to be racemiflora, a freely blooming old variety. (M. C.E.). 
Your plant is Calundrinia speciosa, or Showy Calandrinia, from Cali¬ 
fornia. Your pale pink rose is, we think, La Reine; and the purplish one 
fimbriata, but no one can be certain in his judgment founded upon a 
faded flower of which there are hundreds of varieties. 
London: Printed by Harry Wooldridge, Winchester High-street, 
in the Parish of Saint Marv Kalendar; and Published by William 
Somerville Orr, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish of 
Christ Church, City of London.—July 18th, 1850. 
