THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
July 25.] 
to give them room, btit they have not taken to it. When the brood 
hatches, and they require more room, would it be better to put an eke 
under, ins tend of the glass over , being so late a swarm ? I took the 
glasses off the parent hive immediately, and found five pounds of honey 
in. A fortnight after the swarm flew off—viz., 8th of July a cast of 
good size came. This I hived in another of Neighbour’s cottage hives, 
and in the evening put it (after opening the holes at the top) tinder the 
parent swarm, and they have united well.” It appears that bees having 
been stupified with fungus, &c., never do so well as those that have not 
been treated in that way. The “ large glass ” should not have been put 
on until 18 or 20 days afterw ards, and not then unless room was abso¬ 
lute! i/ wanted. Put no eke tinder, and take the glass off if there is only 
a few' bees in it. Uniting bees in the way you have done, by placing them 
in a hive under the one you wish to join them to, is very bad; you risk 
their being all killed. Join them in future as directed at page 104, vol. ii., 
of Tiie Cottage Gardener. 
Taylor’s Hivf. {Hyde).— Mr. Taylor having given models of his hive 
to Messrs. Neighbour and to Mr. Baxter, we do not feel at liberty to give 
working drawings. You were right in raising the part of the floor-board 
within the hive an eighth of an inch, to prevent the hive slipping aside. 
! There is no objection to the thermometer you have introduced. Your 
elevation in the crown board as in the floor board is right. You will see 
how to fix the cover of the super-box at page 47 of Mr. Taylor’s book. 
The lower edge of the super-box ought to rest on the bars. The roof 
should not be solid. The openings under the cornice, convey air only 
between the super-box and the cover. The super-box is not to remain 
on in winter. The roof should be merely placed upon the crown board 
of the stock box. To remove the crown board of the stock box, take 
out the screws, and then pass a very thin knife between the bars and the 
crown board. For the feeder required, see Mr. Taylor’s book, page 126. 
Payne’s Hives (Q. Q.). — The drawing, No. 5, you sent, is not 
Payne’s Improved Cottage Hive. His costs Is fid, but your No. 5 costs 
33 s. We recommend your waiting till next year before you purchase 
No. 7 j it will, by that time, hare undergone some very considerable 
alteration. A shed will render the use of pans or zinc covers unneces¬ 
sary. The shed you mention had only roof and sides, open back and 
front; south aspect is certainly the best. Mr. Farwell, of W olver- 
hampton, has Payne’s hives in use. 
Bees {An Unfortunate Bee-keeper). — Your bees, without doubt, 
swarmed on the 28th. You had better not smear the box with honey. 
Your bees having swarmed, you must not expect any honey from the 
boxes or the glass. It is very likely that a second swarm will leave the 
hive, which will now be comparatively useless to you. 
Steele’s Hand-Book of Field Botany.—T he abbreviations we 
are told, for we have not a copy, are explained at page 4 of the work. 
The asterisks, daggers, &c., we are also told, are chiefly to maTk with 
greater clearness the several sections. 
Caterpillars and Ants (A Constant Subscriber, Netherton).— 
Dust the caterpillars, by means of a dredging-box, with the powder of 
white hellebore. Ants do as much good by killing the green fly {Aphis) 
as they do harm by eating the ripe fruit. We are quite sure that ants do 
j not eat the leaves of the peach. 
Tortoise (W. 7 ). Payne ).— In hot weather the tortoise will drink, or, 
at all events, put its head into water if placed before it in a shallow dish. 
It should be fed with lettuce and dandelion leaves, and with soft fruits, 
such as strawberries and the flesh of cherries. It becomes torpid in the 
winter, and to prevent its being killed by cold, it should be taken into 
the house and placed in a box filled with hay. If it revives before green 
food can be obtained, it will eat bread sopped in milk. 
Lavender (-).—This should be picked either for drying or for dis¬ 
tilling just after the flowers have opened. 
Index (T. Lindsay).—' Thanks for your suggestions. We do not think 
our readers object to refer to four indexes for what they require. When 
we become more voluminous we will publish a general index. 
Queen of Beauty Fuchsia (Ystrad). —The bloom from your cutting 
is paler than that from the parent, but the colour will be uniform if 
grown in similar soil and similarly cultivated next year. 
Pine Apple Preserve (717. B.). —Cut off the rind, and cut the pine 
apple into tolerably thick slices ; boil the rind in half a pint of water, 
with a pound of powdered loaf sugar and the juice of a lemon, for twenty 
minutes. Strain this liquor, and then boil the slices in it for a quarter 
of an hour. The following day pour off the syrup and boil it again, 
removing the scum as it rises; put the slices into the jar where they are 
to remain, and pour the liquor hot over them. When cold, place a paper 
dipped in brandy over the preserve, and tie the jar down with bladder. 
You will see some valuable hints on the best and most economical modes 
of preserving in the present number. 
Saving Strawberry Seed ( Carrig Cathol).— The best mode is that 
chiefly adopted by the French. Collect a sufficient quantity of well-shaped 
and well-ripened berries. Put these berries upon a plate, and set them in 
I a dry place out of the reach of mice. They will then decompose and dry 
: up. No danger is to be apprehended from the berries becoming putrid 
or mouldy, for the decomposition of the pulp tends only to perfect the 
i seeds. The strawberries thus dried are to be kept till the following spring, 
| when, by rubbing them between the fingers, the seed may be easily se- 
I parated from the remains of the pulp, which may be thrown away as use- 
I less, and then the seeds will remain unmixed and almost perfectly 
1 clean. If seed from Alpine strawberries was saved from the finest and 
1 earliest ripening berries, it ought to be as good as that from France. 
267 
Fuchsia seed is obtained by keeping the berries until quite dry, and then 
crushing them. In Hie Cottage Gardeners’ Dictionary all the points you 
name will be attended to. 
Work on American Plants {B. le B.).—k very good and cheap 
one has lately been published, entitled “ Waterer’s System of growing 
the Rhododendron, &c., &c.,” by W. B. M’Person. Simpkin and 
Marshall, publishers. We know of no separate publication on the 
Cedar tribe. 
Name of Pea (Oxoniensis ).—Yours is the Tamarind pea. One of 
those with skinless shells, and, therefore, boiled in the pod. You will see 
more particulars in our list at page 194 of our third volume. 
British Plants. —A clergyman wishes for some rooted plants of such 
species as Comas Suecica, Saxifraga stellaris, Rudbeckia purpurea., 
Gentiana verna, &c. We shall be obliged by information where they can 
be obtained. 
Goats (T. Woolley ).—There is no book upon the management of 
goats, but there is a paper upon the subject in one of the volumes of the 
Royal Agricultural Society. You will see, to-day, that we are promised 
information from one who says he has long practical acquaintance with 
the subject. 
Rabbits’ Dung {A Constant Reader ).— A very good liquid-manure 
can be made from this by putting a peck of the dung to thirty gallons of 
water. 
Potato Stems (Hawthorn). —We incline to your opinion that those 
inclosed by you were attacked by the potato murrain, but we cannot 
decide without having a doubt, they were so flattened and dry. The affec¬ 
tion seems confined to the very top of the stems, and if so try what effect 
cutting off these tops will have. On no account cut off the stems to any 
great extent, for that will destroy the crop under any circumstances. 
They are late sorts, which are always most open to injury from the mur¬ 
rain. 
Pelargonium Unique (J. 717. 77.).—This may be obtained of any 
florist who advertises in our columns. 
Heating Greenhouse (J. S. L,).—So far as keeping up a sufficient 
temperature in a house, 14ft. by 10ft., there is no doubt that a Walker’s 
stove of moderate size would be sufficient; but it is a mode of heating 
among the very worst that can be adopted. 
Himalayaii Pumpkin (R. 0.).— For greater security, you may im¬ 
pregnate the flowers as you would those of the melon; but the bees will 
do it for you. 
Glycine Sinensis (Ibid ).—This is now called Wistaria Sinensis. The 
best mode of propagating it is by layers, made any time after the fall of 
its leaf. Your plant is Echium vulgare. Common Viper’s Bugloss. 
Seedlings (ill. 77.).— All these are not carnations; even the glaucous¬ 
leaved one is more like a seedling pink. The pea-green coloured seedling 
is a China pink, Dianthus Chinensis. You may have many handsome 
flowers from your seedlings, however, if you plant them out in some 
border, and can select from them when blooming. 
Names of Plants (R. A., Banning ).—Your plant is a Commelina, 
but we cannot tell the species from your fragment. (T. 717. W). —Yours 
is Lycium Europcmm, or European Box Thorn, called the Tea-tree by 
many people. We cannot tell you of any book from which you can learn 
the names of plants, unless you understand botany. If you do, Loudon's 
Encyclopedia of Plants. 
Green Peas to Preserve for Winter Use (X. X. X .).—Shell full 
grown peas; scald them ; dry them by spreading them on cloths ; harden 
them by putting them on dishes in a cool oven; keep them in paper bags 
hung up in the kitchen. To cook them, let them first be for an hour in 
water; then set on to boil in cold water, with a piece of butter, and boil 
until ready: boil a spoonful of sugar and a sprig of dried mint with 
them. 
Various Queries (Ibid).—We do not know how Bass’s pale ale is 
brewed. Any gardener will give you a cutting in November of a Black 
Hamburgh vine, to plant against your south wall. The best ventilator 
for a bed-room is a balanced trap-door opening into the chimney from 
near the ceiling. For the centre of your little garden have the hybrid 
China Rose Adolphe, budded as a standard. 
CALENDAR FOR AUGUST. 
GREENHOUSE. 
Air, give plenty night and day, especially during the former. In very 
hot weather, it is often advisable to keep rather close with a moist atmos¬ 
phere during the day, even though the sashes should be entirely removed 
in the evening, to be replaced in the morning. This treatment will apply 
to Heaths, Azaleas, Camellias, &c., that are now making their growth. 
Those which have set their buds may be removed to a sheltered place, 
and have no glass protection for a time. Cinerarias, propagate by 
rooted slips, and transfer the earliest to blooming pots. Pelargoniums : 
those done flowering cut down, and now pushing again may have the soil 
shaken from them, be placed in light soil, and in a close moist pit, to 
encourage free growth. In growing from cuttings, success will greatly 
depend in never allowing them to stand still, but keeping them con¬ 
stantly, but slowly, growing. Budding and Summer Grafting must 
now be finished. Greenhouse Plants in General, if healthy and 
