May 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
61 
as has often been observed in former years, notwith¬ 
standing all the open mildness of the winter, it will 
be a late spring for most kinds of vegetation. From 
the 12tli to the 21st of April we have had, in this 
locality, the severest nights that have occurred since 
the 21st of December, and more snow than has fallen 
during the whole of the last winter; consequently all 
kinds of fruit and vegetables are very seriously in¬ 
jured, and present the most miserable appearance 
that we have ever seen in the last week of April. 
The hurricane of wind prevented the proper cover¬ 
ing and protection being afforded to the growing 
crops that the severity of the weather required. 
Frames. —Sow, in succession, the best varieties of 
cucumbers and melons; keep well thinned the vine 
where the fruit is swelling; and should the canker 
make its appearance, which is not unlikely after the 
late unfavourable weather, dust over the parts af¬ 
fected a little fresh slaked lime, taking care, when 
applying water, not to wet either the foliage or the 
vine of the melon. Our standing rule, indeed, has 
been for years, as we have frequently observed, never 
to water over the heads of either cucumber or melon, 
but to apply it amongst them from the spout of the 
watering-pot without the rose, and by watering 
around the inside of the pits or frames at shutting- 
up time, which causes a kindly vapour to arise 
during the night. James Barnes. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
N.B.—Want of space obliges us to postpone many answers until 
next week. 
Dandelions (J. S. L.). —A tedious but only effectual mode of 
destroying the dandelion on your lawn, is to cut each out with a knife 
or spud in dry weather, and to put a spoonful of salt into the hole 
upon the stump of the roots. A woman will go over a large lawn in 
a day. The grass will soon stool out and cover the blank patches. 
Lamb Abbey Pearmain (Ibid). —This has no other name either 
in Lindley’s “ Guide to the Orchard,” nor in the Horticultural So¬ 
ciety’s “ Catalogue of Fruits.” You could obtain it of any respect¬ 
able nurseryman. It is a middle-sized apple, of the usual pearmain 
shape ; eye small and deeply sunk ; stalk short and deeply inserted ; 
yellowish green on the north side, and red, spotted with black, on the 
sunned side ; flesh green next the core, but yellowish near the skin ; 
crisp, juicy, rich, and aromatic. Lasts from January to April. Raised 
in 1803, by Mrs. Malcolm, of Lamb Abbey, in Kent, from a kernel 
of the Newtown pippin. 
Name of Grub (Dr. Sylvester). —The dirty-looking grubs which 
you have sent, and which you say are destroying your peas by eating 
their roots, and which are similarly destructive to strawberries in 
your friend’s garden, “ where he has found thousands of them,” are 
the larva of one of the crane flies, so familiarly known as daddy long- 
legs (Tipuhx). Your grubs are probably those of Tipulapratensis 
or T. quadrifaria, These grubs are called, by gardeners, “ surface 
grubs ” and “ leather jacketsare dirty white, stained with earth 
colour, with wavy lines of the same down the back, and heads almost 
black. They are found not far from the surface in our gardens during 
April and May, especially where the soil is wet; and feed on the 
roots not only of those vegetables you mention, but upon those of 
kidney beans, potatoes, lettuces, &c. Indeed, scarcely any root is 
rejected by them. They change to the pupa state in August, and in 
a few weeks after from thence come forth the crane flies. Lime- 
water has no effect upon them, but quicklime and gas lime dug 
where they are, is said to be fatal to them. We should pare off two 
or three inches of the surface, wherever practicable, mix it thoroughly 
with one bushel of gas lime to two bushels of the earth, and after 
turning it over at the end of two days, spread it as a manure wher¬ 
ever required. 
Errata. —At p. 11, line 24 from bottom, for “ Runcia” read 
“ Rumia.” At p. 16 , line 24 from bottom, for “faciculattis” read 
“ fasciculatus.” At p. 17, line 36 from top, for “ grandiflora ” read 
“ grandi/lorum.” 
Window Duty (Rev. Mr. Baker). —A greenhouse connected with 
the parlour, as mentioned at p. 19 , we think would be within the 
stat. 57 George III., c. 55, s. 1, exempting from duty windows in 
buildings not used for the purposes of habitation. We know of no 
decision upon the point. Thanks for the two corrections. 
Exposed Situation (R. P. Burton). —We can suggest no better 
mode of procedure than that you should plant a belt of quickly 
growing trees, such as the black poplar, or whatever tree may be 
better suited to your soil. Plant on the S.W. and other sides whence 
the offending winds come. 
Althea Frutex (F. J. Williams). —This is the common name for 
the Syrian hibiscus (Hibiscus syriacus). The flowers are shaped like 
those of the mallow; but they are of various colours, those of some 
varieties being white, but they are chiefly of various shades of purple. 
Plant your cuttings in a pot of light earth, cover it with a bell-glass, 
plunge it in a gentle hot-bed, and keep the earth gently moist. It is 
a very common and very showy plant. It has been cultivated here for 
more than two centuries. 
Bulbs (Ibid). —All choice bulbs should be taken up and dried, but 
they must on no account be moved until the leaves are quite dead. 
If you cut off the leaves, or move the bulbs before the leaves are 
dead, it will injure or prevent the production of flowers next year. 
Adage (Rev. J.S. L.). —We are quite sure you are right in stat- 
I ing that our adage, at p. 21, refers to the river Dove in Derbyshire ; 
yet it may well bear our interpretation that a gentle increase of our 
rivers’ waters in April is universally favourable to vegetation. 
Budding’s Mowing Machine (Ibid). —\Ve fear that this will 
not answer your purpose, unless you have some one you can depend 
upon for keeping the blades of the machine sharp and in constant 
good order. It certainly will not roll a lawn sufficiently to render a 
roller needless. 
Vinegar Plant (John Horsley and E.Mugridge). —This, we be¬ 
lieve, is an aquatic plant introduced from Italy, which, when put into 
| a mixture of sugar and water, grows and rapidly converts the mixture 
j to vinegar. We hope to give further information shortly. 
Painted Box Hives (Municeps). —These are not injurious to 
! bees, if they are not painted on the inside; neither are dahlias in- 
| jurious to them. 
Cauliflower (Ibid). —Your seedsman is pretty correct: there is 
but one kind of cauliflower, and early or late crops of it are usually 
dependent upon the times of sowing. At the same time there are 
three varieties recognized—the early, the large late, and the red- 
' stalked. Our coadjutor, Mr. Barnes, has also stated in some of his 
published writings, that there is a large late variety, quite distinct 
I from the common. We can only say, that all the varieties we have 
met with, pass into each other according to the time of sowing and 
the richness of the soil. It is on record, that a poor gardener was 
sued in Westminster Hall for selling, as cauliflower-seed, seed which 
only produced long-leaved cabbages ! Little was known in those 
days about the liability of the tribe to be cross impregnated and to 
sport into varieties. 
Bone Dust used for Hardening Iron (J. W., Birmingham). 
—The bone-dust so employed, if we understand the process, is car¬ 
bonized by coming in contact with the red hot metal. If this be so, 
the bone-dust will be improved rather than reduced in value by the 
process. Animal charcoal is a very excellent manure. 
Fuchsias in a Hot-bed (S. Anderson). —The heat arising from 
stable dung is not injurious to fuchsias, but you must keep it very 
moderate; never higher than 70°- You need not shade them, but 
you must keep them well supplied with air, and that very moist. Too 
great dryness has occasioned the red spider, of which you complain. 
To fumigate with sulphur, use the mixture specified at p. 271 of Vol. 
I. Apply it round the sides of your frame at the time there men¬ 
tioned. You must apply it until you find the vermin are all gone. 
Conservatory Border (Lex, Jun.). —The climber appears from 
the phonetic spelling to be Stephanotus fluribundus. We are never 
at a loss to know what plant any reader means if he only spells it ac¬ 
cordingly as it sounds. Your proposed plan of making a border for 
climbers over the flue across the east end of your hothouse will not do 
at all, although that is the coolest part of the flue ; it would in one 
week render the soil so dry that nothing could grow in it. Constant 
watering to counteract this would only hasten the ruin. A strong 
wooden box of the same dimensions as your proposed pit, and placed 
a few inches above the flue, might answer. The Stephanotus, Hoya 
Carnosa, and new passion-flower, will require 40° of heat in winter to 
do any good, and to be kept very dry. Why not make a raised border 
for them where the flue and pipes enter the house, being the warmest 
end? this border might stand a yard from the pipes and flue, the 
climbers to be trained to upright rods to the height of seven feet, and 
then arched over to the back wall, leaving a passage along the side of 
the pipes. 
Pit for Forcing Cucumbers (J. W. Sice). —You propose to 
have a small brick pit, three feet deep, 7 feet long, and 3£ feet wide, 
to be heated by hot-water pipes, supported on pillars within a few 
inches of the slates supporting the soil. This plan, for growing 
winter cucumbers in, is very good and will answer perfectly. See 
what is said about bottom heat, from pipes under a slate covering, at 
page 265, Vol. I. Three feet will be the outside of the depth you 
want; if the pipes stand one brick clear from the bottom and three 
inches below the slate it will be enough, because the smaller the 
cavity the better. Do not make the slate covering quite close, leave 
a small space between the edges to drain ; place a thin layer of rough 
cinder ashes over the slate, then a thin turf, and the mould on that. 
Winter Shelter for Plants (Ibid). —With a wooden shelter 
over the glass, and abundance of straw stubble or fern to put on all 
round during severe frost, you may keep your geraniums, fuchsias, 
&c. safe enough in a cold frame If you were to plant them into the 
pit in September, using light soil, they would keep much better than 
in pots, and would not require any water from October to March. 
Damp is a much greater enemy to plants than frost. To grow these 
plants bushy, nip off their tops occasionally, and allow them plenty 
of air. 
Border Plants in Pots (John Wilson Blackett). —To let well 
alone, is a good maxim; and you have done quite right to keep your 
border plants in their winter pots. Leave them just as they are till 
