3(30 
the cottage gardener. 
it still less ; but from your statement about the preparation of the ground 
anil feeding we have no doubt but your roses will give you very great 
satisfaction next year. The cold spring, the long journey, and the 
sudden turn to sultry weather at the end of May, sufficiently account for 
your disappointment this time; pray do not prune them too close, nut 
have it done next November, and after that smear them over, stems and 
all, with a thick paint of fresh lime and soot; repeat this again next 
spring, before the buds are too forward, and you may say good-bye to 
black blotches, but give them neither manure nor strong drinks till the 
flower-buds are well formed next May, as high feeding aggravates the 
disposition to “green centres.” 
g EES ,_If x JTJ. p. will send his address to J. H. Payne, Esq., Bury 
St. Edmunds, inclosing four postage stamps, he will send him a packet 
of the Racodium Cellars, which he can compare with that found in the 
Dublin Custom House vaults. Your “ two fine first swaipns united on 
the 13th of June, and weighing at this time only 1/4 lbs. gross, and your 
best stocks being equally deficient,” is on a par with us in England, with 
very few exceptions. 
Bees (A Lady Subscriber). —Your third swarm should have been 
united to the second on the day of its swarming, as recommended in 
The Cottage Gardener, page 104, vol. ii.; it will now be very diffi¬ 
cult to get them out of the cap without fumigation. In driving, a napkin 
should have been tied very tightly round the hives at the point of junc¬ 
tion, to prevent the escape of the bees. Bell-glasses of all sizes may 
be had of Messrs. Neighbour and Son, 12/, Holborn, London, at about 
Is fid per pound. . 
Potato Storing (Rev. H. R. 1). P.).— Your chief query is answered 
editorially. Walnut leaved Kidneys arc not at all forwarded, but rather 
retarded bv being planted in the autumn, otherwise they may be safely 
inserted. For autumn field planting we should recommend a depth of 
seven inches. 
Spanish Poultry (A Naval Officer).—C an any one say where the 
real breed of these can be obtained. Thanks for your drawing, it has 
been sent to the engraver. Your list of roses is good. 
Cardon de Tours (-4 Subscriber). —This is considered by the French 
the best kind of Cardoon, because it has ribs thicker, more tender, and 
more delicate than the common Cardoon. It is of the same botanical 
genus as the artichoke ( Cynara). Sow four together, in patches 18 
inches apart, about the middle of April, in trenches six inches deep and 
22 inches wide, into which a little good dung has been dug previously. 
When the plants have four or live leaves remove all but one at each 
patch; water frequently and abundantly. At the end of October, when 
the plants are full grown and quite dry, tie up the leaves carefully with 
pieces of bass matting, then wind a hay-band round each, after which 
earth them up like celery. When blanched they are ready for cooking. 
The flavour is very agreeable. Reject all the stalks which are tough, 
fibrous, or hollow ; cut the good into four-inch lengths, cleansing them 
from all prickles ; put them into boiling water and parboil them, boiling 
the heart less time than the outer stalks ; as soon as the slime upon them 
will come oft* by dipping them in cold water and wiping them with a 
cloth, they are done enough ; clean them all from the slime in that way, 
then stew them in a little rich gravy, and just before taking off the fire 
add a piece of butter rolled in flour. This is the best mode of dressing, 
but they sometimes, after being cleaned of the slime, are again put into 
boiling water and sent to table like sea-kale. 
Covering Preserves ( A Young Housekeeper). The paste must be 
put on the inside of the paper, according to the plan at page 323, for the 
paper has to be pasted over the mouth of the preserve-pot. The object 
is to exclude the air. Paste spread thinly dries and does not mould. 
Ferns and Rock Plants (W. F.). —You wish for twelve of these for 
a shaded border beneath your dining-room window, and we recommend— 
of Ferns : Poly podium driopteris , Onoclea sensibilis , Asplenium filix 
feeminu , and Aspidium lonchitis. Of Rock Plants : Cheir ant hus 
alpinus (yellow), Dianthus ulpestris (white), Gnuphalium dioicum 
(pink), Vinca herbacea (blue), Myosotis rupicola (blue), Phlox procum- 
bens (lilac), Soldanella alpina (purple), and Potentilla reptans pleno 
(yellow). 
Tiie Cottage Gardeners’ Dictionary (Ibid). It will be suffi¬ 
ciently copious. The first number will appear on the 3rd of October. 
Potatoes (Beta — W. Blood). —^Ve had our Martin’s Early Seedlings 
and Red Ash-leaved Kidneys from Mr. Hairs, 109, St. Martin’s Lane, 
Charing Cross. From November to January is a good time for pruning 
the yew. 
Pits (W. Barnely).— We know of no separate work upon the erection 
of these with working drawings, See. 
Chrysanthemums (French). —The Compte de Rantzau is aline show 
flower, large and crimson ; Lucidum is very double, large, and white; 
and Pilot is also a good show flower, large, and pink. If you stop them 
now they will not bloom this season. Six-inch pots are large enough for 
you this year. You had better not try a peach-tree in your greenhouse. 
You had better have a Black Hamburgh vine. The eastern aspect will 
suit it well. 
Hen (Rev. H. L. J .).—We have more than once known a hen to have 
a brood of small chickens and to lay at the same time. 
Landscape Gardening (W. H.).— You will find the first part of 
Practical Mathematics in “Chambers’s Educational Course,” and the 
Key to it of great use. It will teach you all the geometry aud land-sur¬ 
veying that you require. 
[September 5. 
Plants True to Stock (IF. 7?.).—Some kitchen-garden varieties 
produce seed that give birth to seedlings like their parent, but quite as 
many, and rhubarb is among these, do not. Your Victoria rhubarb seed¬ 
lings will be all more or less unlike their parent. An answer to your bee 
question next week. 
Savoys, Szc., Club-rooted (IF. IF. II.). — Your garden probably had 
been over-cropped with cabbage-worts before you had it. If the case were 
our own, and our savoys, See., were club-rooted “ to a dreadful extent,” 
we should pull them all up, soak the ground with ammoniacal liquor 
from a gas-work, give a good coating of dung, and plant again fresh un- 
diseased savoys, Brussels sprouts, See. If you obtain vigorous plants, and 
move them carefully, you will be in time. 
Manure for an Acre (J. S.). —If you have plenty of soot, and the 
mowings off three-quarters of an acre of lawn, some leaves, and charred 
rubbish, you will have enough manure for your acre, provided you can 
have a supply of ammoniacal liquor from the Canterbury gas-works to 
soak your ground previously to digging it for each crop. 
Soldenella Alpina (Burkestone Vicarage). —This is best treated as 
a pot plant in winter, giving it the protection of a cold frame. 1 he plant 
you sent is Verbena venosa , so often mentioned by Mr. Beaton as the 
most useful and hardiest of our bedding verbenas. 
Names of Plants (R. R., Birmingham).— Yours is Agathosma 
ciliata, a native of the Cape of Good Hope. (A Durham Reader). We 
do not know of such a plant as Phlox depressa. 
Alpine Plants (A Durham Reader). —To drive the worms away from 
these you may water them with lime water at any time when the worms 
are troublesome. 
Many Queries (Philocarpus).-We do not know any chemical sub¬ 
stance more effectual for destroying vegetable life than some of the salts; 
nor should we like to impart the knowledge by which the evil-disposed 
might injure others covertly. We have given all the knowledge we 
possess relative to the blistering of peach and nectarine leaves. We 
believe it to arise from too much moisture at the root, or from some other 
cause of too much sap being furnished to the leaves. A top-dressing of 
gas-lime and ashes has been found a good application against the Turnip 
fly. A very little gas-lime is sufficient, applied a day or two after sowing. 
Flowers of Sulphur are a good application to the mildew on peaches, or 
any other plant. We do not know what you mean by root-pruning 
strawberries to renew them. You cannot disturb their root without 
injuring them. Spring is the best time for planting artichokes. 
Fowls (R. L. H.).— When they have been driven by workmen from 
their usual haunts they are some time before they again become recon¬ 
ciled, especially when, as in your case, they roam to a distance during the 
disturbance. Give them a little more stimulating food, such as chopped 
meat, brank or buck-wheat, and sun-flower seeds. 
Large Fungus (J. Brotchie).— Your globular fungus twenty-seven 
inches in circumference is nothing extraordinary in size. It is probably a 
species of Boletus. 
Bees (G. Ambler).—Racodium Cellare is frequently used for stupifying 
bees, and with better success than the puff ball. It grows abundantly in 
the London Docks’ wine vaults. See, about feeding, the Calendar for 
September, in last number: feed them copiously until they weigh 20 lbs. 
The bee dress is described at page 66 of The Cottage Gardener, 
present volume. The use of the adapting board is two-fold; it renders 
the removal of a box much easier than it would otherwise be; and, 
secondly, it prevents the crown of the stock-hive being pressed in by the 
weight of boxes and glasses that from time to time are placed upon it. 
Make sheds for your bees, if you please, but they are quite unnecessary ; 
the earthern milkpan is sufficient protection. 
Bee-iiives (Crewensis) .—The small hive, glass, or box is required for 
early swarms the first year; and in a good season 30 lbs. is frequently 
taken from a new swarm, leaving about the same quantity in the hive for 
winter store. The tops will be forwarded at Is. 8d. each. Mr. Payne s 
hive is certainly not complete without either a small hive (or indeed two), 
box, or glass. 
Liquid Manure (.4 Staffordshire Inquirer). — There cannot be a 
better manure than the mingled drainage from your pigs, cows, and 
horses. It is good for any plant when diluted with water, but especially 
for kitchen-garden crops. 
Grapes (J. C ., Winchester).—Do not put bags over your grapes until 
they are nearly ripe ; the best material is net, such as women’s caps are 
made of. Mr. Maund, of Bromsgrove, says that glass over the bunches 
hastens their ripening ; but Mr. Weaver says that it only preserves them 
by keeping off the wet and insects. No injury need occur to your vine 
by building a greenhouse over it; the foundation would be too far from 
the roots. 
Cucumber Plants (Minnie).—' These trained against a south wall 
suddenly flag and wither. The reason for this is that the root action is 
not equal to the demand of “ the remarkably healthy leaves.” Let the 
soil over their roots he covered with mulch, aud uncovered during hot 
days, but covered again every night. 
London: Printed by Harry Wooldridge, Winchester High-street, 
in the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and Published by M illiam 
Somerville Orr, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the I arisli of 
Christchurch, City of London.— September5th, 1850. 
