September 19.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
387 
os the safest plan, that no hive be interred save in cold (and, if possible, 
frosty ) weather, either very early in the morning or late ut night, when 
the bees will be found in a half-torpid state, and close huddled up toge¬ 
ther. They should be handled gently, so as not to be disturbed. A metal 
tube of a(or J inch bore should certainly be applied either to the entrance 
or top of the hive (whether buried or stored in leaves), communicating 
with the open air above. 
NATIVE WILD FLOWERS. 
September. 
The falling leaves that rustle in our path tell of the rapid 
approach of winter; and the hare harvest fields and almost 
flowerless meadows of September present few attractions to 
the botanist. Still, however, some of the mountain flowers 
are fresh and lovely—such as the glowing purple heather 
and the golden Rod (Soliilayo Yirgaurea ), both of which 
have been in blossom for several months ; the latter, 
although rare in England, is a common plant in some of the 
Highland districts of Scotland. 
One of the most conspicuous plants in pasture lands, and 
by hedgerows and waysides, at the present time, is the Rag¬ 
wort (Senecio Jacohcea), which has proved itself highly pre¬ 
judicial to the farmer on account of its drain-obstructing 
propensities, and thus draws our attention to a subject of 
considerable importance to the cottage gardener. Draining 
lias now established itself as one of the most profitable and 
essential departments of agricultural as well as horticultural 
improvement, and whatever tends to affect its success is of 
importance to the cultivator. We will, therefore, venture a few 
remarks on the obstruction of drainage by those weeds and 
wild flowers which make their unwelcome appearance on the 
farm and in the garden, and injure the legitimate crops of the 
soil. Such obstructions are not now noticed for the first time 
in agricultural history, but with the increase of draining 
they have recently become quite alarming in extent, and in 
many cases threaten to nullify the exertions and improve¬ 
ments of the diligent cultivator, and, indeed, in many in¬ 
stances to lessen the inducement to judicious improvement. 
The plants hitherto observed, whose roots form the obstruc¬ 
tions referred to, are chiefly the following:—The elm, poplar, 
willow 7 , ash, and larch trees; the gooseberry; the polygonum 
amphibium, field hoi’setail, docks, thistles, and the ragwort 
to which w T e have already referred, which in one remarkable 
instance, recorded on the authority of Dr. Neill, had insinu¬ 
ated its roots into a drain by a very small orifice, and com¬ 
pletely filled it up for about 20 ft. of its length ! It would 
appeal' from the limited number of facts which have come 
before us, that the evil is of much more ready occurrence in 
wet heavy soils, with moist climate (where drainage is most 
wanted), than in soils of a lighter and drier nature. That 
such is the case is the more unfortunate for the farmer; but 
not at all to be wondered at when we consider that those 
semi-aquatic plants most likely to insinuate their roots into 
drains and seek nourishment there, are the very plants 
which thrive in and form the field-pests of such lands. And 
the equally cogent reason is not to be lost sight of, that drains 
laid in such wet and heavy lands are, in very many cases, 
kept running with water, more or less, throughout the entire 
year; thus forming a continued support and encouragement 
for the extension of the drain infesting roots, instead of 
allowing them to be dried up, or their growth arrested, in 
the dry season, as would be the case in a light sandy soil. 
That drainage is much disturbed by the roots of the legi¬ 
timate crops of the land, we do not think to be the case, 
although instances may occur, more especially where the 
drains have not been placed at a sufficient depth, and this 
will form a reason for placing drains beyond the mere depth 
of the plough, even where subsoil ploughing has not attained 
to its proper rank, as an essential element of cultivation. 
The roots to be mainly feared are those of the weeds which 
naturally infest the soil; and .the timeous and systematic 
destruction of these lias now become more than ever of the 
first importance. Our fields, in general, present a less weedy 
aspect than they did some twenty years ago; but it is a fact, 
undeniable, though lamentable, that attention to the eradi¬ 
cation of such cumberers of the soil has not increased in an 
equal ratio with improved cultivation. It is no common 
thing to see a good crop of weeds on a farm where cul¬ 
tivation is otherwise unexceptionable, and we could point 
out fields wholly crimsoned with poppies, and whitened 
with ox-eye flowers. Weeds of a perennial kind are those 
to be mostly feared, and special care should be bestowed 
on the eradication of such semi-aquatics as horsetails, 
polygonums, tussilago, &c., which form excessively trou¬ 
blesome, ahnost ineradicable, weeds in some parts of the 
country. Perhaps no argument more powerful than the 
occurrences to which we refer, has yet appeared in condemna¬ 
tion of the absurd practice which obtains, in some districts, of 
leaving large margins of the fields for the growth of peren¬ 
nial weeds. These, with the entire host of open ditches, 
hedge banks, and marsh wastes, will now surely be all but 
abolished, and their remnants only left in the rudest wilds of 
Ireland, to be pointed out to students of agricultural history 
as the barbarous practices of a barbarous age. There are 
two points of considerable importance to the farmer as well 
as to the landed proprietor, which have been long under con¬ 
sideration, and which have formed the subjects of many an able 
argument, both pro and con. We refer to the question of the ad¬ 
vantages and disadvantages of hedges as field enclosures, and 
of hedge-row trees ; and upon these questions, we think, the 
discoveries of drain obstructions may bear heavily. We are 
not aware of its having been shown by actual observation that 
the roots of hawthorn and other hedging plants are amongst 
the drain pests ; but, reasoning from analogy, weare entitled 
to entertain the provisional supposition that such is the case; 
and here, then, is a fruitful source of drain obstructions. 
According to facts already shown respecting other plants, 
it is quite reasonable to conclude, that the roots proceeding 
from a hedge-row are capable of completely obstructing the 
drains on either side of the hedge to an extent of 20 ft. 
throughout its entire length. Such would be the case were 
the radical powers of hawthorn similar to those of the ragwort; 
and it is more probable that they will be much greater, the 
former being the more permanent of the two. If such facts 
hold good with regard to hedges, what must be the case with 
large hedge-row trees ? Without any breach of probability 
we may safely say, that where an ordinary sized field is sur¬ 
rounded with hedge-row trees, the roots of the latter may be 
capable of completely filling up and obstructing the drains 
throughout the entire length and breadth of the field (unless 
checked by deep trenchings, or otherwise), besides extending 
considerably to adjoining fields. The roots of forest trees 
have, in many instances, been found to extend to astonish¬ 
ingly great distances in the soil; and when they enter a drain 
there is no saying how far they may go. We should be sorry to 
think that the safety of drains should require the removal of 
many of the beautiful forest trees which, scattered here and 
there, add shelter and picturesque beauty to the cultivated 
land of rich agricultural districts where these seem to be 
required; but if the interests of agriculture demand it, 
then, of course, our wishes give way. We have regretted 
the loss of many an old hawthorn hedge, aged tree, and 
piece of waste headland; but the consideration of rural 
improvement rises with us above all other claims ; and, 
beautiful as may be a bramble brake, we rank not amongst 
those who would regret to see it cleared away to give place 
to a cottage garden or a field of golden grain. 
(To be continued.) G. W. Lawson, F.B.S. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Insects on Vine Leaves (B. Watson). —They are the thrips, and 
miserably are the leaves affected. Your only remedy now is to fumigate j 
daily with tobacco smoke, in the hope of destroying the pest. We 
should in the autumn clean out the vinery thoroughly, and lime-wash it 
with some flowers of sulphur mixed with the lime. In the spring we 
should scrape off all the loose bark, and similarly paint the entire vine, 
stems and shoots. Your border must be poor, if the leaf sent is an 
average size. Put some mulch upon it at once as you propose, and in 
the spring point in with a fork some rich compost. Keep your air moister 
during the forcing season ; dry air promotes the thrips. Have you not 
allowed the vine to bear too heavy crops ? 
Storing Walnuts {Zero). —These will not bear storing away in the 
green husks the same as filberts. They sprout, and acquire a most acrid 
flavour. We are eating filberts now which have been kept exactly a year 
in their husks in a damp cellar, without any addition, and they are nearly 
as juicy as those now gathering. Take your walnuts from their green 
coats, wipe them dry, put them in a jar between layers of sand, so that 
no two walnuts touch, and keep them in a cool damp cellar. When 
required for use, soak them fqr an hour in warm water, changing it as it 
cools. They will cat crisp, and will peel nearly as easily as fresh ones. 
Forest Trees (A. T. B.). —These will not flourish with a less depth 
of soil than two feet. On such light elevated soil as yours, we should 
not attempt to grow any other trees than birch and larch. Some of the 
