July 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
101 
and liis plough are all he has to look to. He will 
douhly enjoy his smiling home, and blooming plants, 
and fruitful soil, and busy labours, when lie feels 
how much of his country’s welfare depends on his 
steady efforts and peaceable demeanour. The exam¬ 
ple of one honest, loyal, religious cottage gardener is 
a benefit and an honour to the parish in which he 
lives; and who will not strive thus to labour for his 
country’s service ? 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Onion-like Plant (T. Morgan ).—We cannot “ guess” what your 
onion-like plant is, nor would a drawing of it assist us much ; the 
alliacke are by far too numerous and so much alike that we should 
very probably find it difficult to determine the species if we had the 
plant in flower. 
Sepals (Dianthus ).—This name is applied to the sections into 
which the calyx is divided. 
Roberts’s Strawberry Tiles (J. Roberts). —You observe that 
these being raised on feet from the ground the space underneath 
forms “ a good trap” for slugs.—There is something in this, but we 
prefer flat tiles as these do not afford any harbour at all for the slugs. 
You say that tiles not raised allow the dirt to be “washed over them 
in heavy rain,” and here your tiles certainly have the advantage. 
Having tried black tiles we prefer them to those not blackened ; and 
we do not sec how the flat tiles could infringe your registration, since 
a drawing of them and description were published in 1844. Whether 
we were right in saying that flat tiles may be obtained at a few 
shillings per 1000 any one could ascertain by inquiring of a tile- 
maker. 
Names of Plants (Unjeune homme).— Your plants are Eutoca 
divaricata, Geranium sanguineum, and Veronica gentianoides . 
(Little Tom). —There is no doubt of your plant being Nemophila 
atomaria. Those flowers with blue-black petals, edged with white, 
are only a variety, probably resembling that seen by Mr. Loudon at 
Tonbridge Wells. See Gard. Mag., viii. 6l6. N. S. (A Country 
Clergyman). —The larger specimen of fern from your church buttress 
is Polypodium Vulgare, and the smaller from the ruined tomb is an 
Asplenium, but we cannot say which species without seeing a larger 
specimen, and with fruit beneath the leaves. (Alfred). — Your’s is 
Mesembryanthemum confertmn, a greenhouse plant. (F. H. Earle). 
—It is Hoy a carnosa, you will find directions for cultivating it at page 
62 of this volume. (H. R.). —We were right at first, your plant is 
Geranium striatum. (Rusticus ).—The leaf you sent is a young one, 
we think, of the Umbrella-tree, Magnolia tripetala. If you send 
three inches of the top and three inches of the bottom of an old leaf, 
rve could say for certain. We wish all of our correspondents to know 
that it is very seldom that the name of a plant can be told from one 
of its leaves. (F. Giles). —Your pelargonium is not Pearl, its crimson 
flame has more the character of Beck’s Annette, but it is impossible 
to decide from a single damaged bloom. The other plant is Bouvar- 
dia triphylla, a greenhouse shrub. 
Cineraria Seed (W. J. Edge ).—The last week of this month 
and the first week in August cineraria seeds may be sown to produce 
plants for flowering next spring. A close cold pit is the best place in 
which to get the seedlings up, but a window will do almost as well. 
Budding Knife (A Propagator). —Mr. Turner, of Neepsend, 
Sheffield, has sent to us a most convenient and efficient budding 
knife. It has a blade of the usual shape, a handle permitting a firm 
grasp, and, at the end opposite to the blade, a very effectual shaped 
grooved wedge of white metal for raising the bark. This metal does 
not strike a black colour with the gallic acid in the bark, checking 
the wound’s healing, as would be the case if the wedge were of iron. 
This wedge closes with a spring like the blade, so that the knife may 
be carried easily in the pocket. It is the invention of a friend of Mr. 
Turner. 
Potato Disease (Potato). —The leaves of your “ second earlies” 
are blotched as many potatoes are when affected by the decay of the 
tuber, usually called “ the potato disease but we have seen similar 
blotches on potato plants of which the tubers were not diseased ; and 
we have seen diseased tubers where the leaves were not blotched. 
How are the tubers of your “ second earlies ?” 
Worms in Strawberries (Rev. E. F.). —These which you have 
sent us are the snake millepede, lulus pulchellus, drawn and described 
at page 139 of the present volume. We believe that it does not feed 
upon the strawberry until this has been previously attacked by the 
slug, or has been otherwise wounded. 
Name ok Insect (T. Morgan), —“The little, active, shining in¬ 
sect,” of which you enclose specimens, is the sugar louse, Lepisma 
saccharina, common in dirty kitchens, &c. This is not a subject con¬ 
nected with the objects of our journal, and as we really find it difficult 
to provide space for intelligence closely connected with gardening, we 
hope that you will not seek from us information on other topics. 
Penton or Paignton Cabbage (C.). —You may sow this during 
the first fortnight in August, the seedlings to remain pricked out 
through the winter, and finally planted out in the spring for summer 
use. 
Cancelled Leaf(J. Dawson). —The leaf containing pages 21 and 
22 in our third number, is to be cut off and destroyed ; and the leaf 
containing the same pages given after page 84 is to be substituted for 
it. By mistake, the wrong drawing was inserted in No. 3. Your 
other questions shall be answered next week. 
Night Soil (A. Z .)—House sewage strained, as directed at p. ~ 
or p. 60 of our first volume, is a very excellent liquid manure, but to 
make it from night soil would be a disgusting process, and not at all 
calculated for any garden. 
Signatures (S. S. G.). —Our correpondent suggests, and wisely 
suggests, that if every one in writing to us would merely sign their 
initials, and the initial of the place where they reside, it would save 
us some time and space. Thanks for the report of your commenced 
experiments with sea-weed ; we shall be still more obliged by a full 
report when you have weighed the produce. 
Chicory (Ibid). —This is the Cichorium intybus, and popularly 
known also as succory or wild endive. It is raised only from seed, 
which should be sown early in April if required for the roots, in a rich, 
light soil. Sow in drills half an inch deep and a foot apart. It 
would be by mere chance that shrivelled cuttings of liquorice root 
bought from the chemist would grow. But we have seen it kept by 
them in damp sand quite fresh and juicy. 
Watering-Pot (W, W.). —You ask us which is “the best kind 
for watering flowers?”—a general question scarcely admitting a pre¬ 
cise answer, but, we think, that of which the following is an engrav¬ 
ing and description, published some years ago in the Gardener’s 
Chronicle, is about the most simple and generally useful, It is 
made by Mr. G. Thompson, 390 , Oxford Street, who states that its 
superiority consists in the roses being so formed as to give the water 
thrown from them the nearest resemblance to a gentle shower of rain, 
rendering it peculiarly suitable for watering seedlings or other tender 
plants. As the brass joints, which connect the roses to the sprout, 
are made water tight, there is no danger of its returning outside to 
the annoyance of the person using it; a is the spout to which the 
roses are screwed; b, the 
box to contain either spout 
out of use ; c and d, the 
holes in which the joints 
are placed ; e, a large rose 
for watering flower beds ; 
f, a smaller rose for water¬ 
ing plants in pots. We 
know of no reel for wind¬ 
ing silk from the worms 
superior to the common 
reel. Thereneverhasbeen 
more than one edition of 
“ The Gardener’s Diction¬ 
ary.” 
Honey-Dew (A Bee Muster). —Our editorial to-day answers your 
inquiries on this subject. Your other questions shall be replied to 
next week. 
Ranunculus Soil (W. H.).— The best is a compound of loam, 
including the turf, from the surface of a rich old pasture, mixed with 
one third its bulk of decayed cow-dung. Continue to water your 
cactus until about September, and then winter it as recommended at 
p. 44. Your Banksian rose against a south wall does not bloom; 
perhaps you prune it at the wrong season of the year; now is the 
proper time. If you strew salt thickly over your pitched yard, three 
or four times a year, it will effectually destroy the weeds and grass. 
Tropceolum canariense (A Lady Subscriber). —Your “ canary 
plant” is attacked by the green-fly or aphis ; and the large one you 
enclose, coloured light green and yellow, may be called Aphis enna- 
riensis. Cover your plants over with a table-cloth, and fumigate 
them with tobacco, according to some of the modes described at p. 
270 of our first volume. 
Box Clipping (B. D.). —This only requires to be done once a year. 
June is the best month for the operation, but you may do so now. 
Select showery weather for performing the clipping. 
Pruning Rhododendrons (Rev. H. Stevens).— The best time 
for pruning them is just after they have done flowering. Nothing 
short of turfing, burning, and resowing, will effectually eradicate 
the ox-eye from your field. 
Mignonette for Trees (A Novice).— This should not be trans¬ 
planted at all, being one of the most difficult to nurse after trans¬ 
planting ; but prove yourself a good gardener by transplanting your 
small seedlings into small pots, as soon as you finish reading this 
number. Place them for ten days or so in a close shady situation 
—under a hand glass would be the best place for them ; damp their 
leaves gently twdee a day till they begin to grow, and in future sow 
in pots for this purpose. 
Balsam Leaves Dying (Ibid). —When balsams get out of order 
there is hardly any means of doctoring them to advantage. When 
any of ours get deranged we plant them out of doors, and they often 
prove useful that way. 
Fuchsia (Ibid), —They only give Latin names to the wild fuchsias. 
English seedlings bear English names only. There is no English for 
the fuchsia itself; it is called after a botanist named Fuchs. It does 
add to the interest, as you say, to “ know the Latin names of all the 
plants one grows,” and their meaning too, when we can get at it. 
Fuchsia fulgens (W. II. R.). —You complain that its rich pur¬ 
plish red foliage has become green as its growth advances, and you 
wish to “fetch the colour back.” Why, you know, the leaves of our 
own forest-trees turn from their various spring tints to their “ sum¬ 
mer green,” and no one can prevent this or bring back their early 
hues in the autumn, neither can you that of your fuchsia fulgens. It 
was ordered in the beginning that these things should be so, and that 
is the best reason to assign for them. 
The Ice Plant (Ibid).— This is an annual which requires the same 
treatment as ridged or out-of-door cucumbers. You are too late for 
it this season, as April is the right time to sow the seeds. 
The Begonia (Ibid). —This has been touched on merely in back 
numbers. It is now too late to rear it this season; but if you have it 
already, all that it now requires is to be constantly kept well watered 
and exposed freely to the air. It is one of the best things we have to 
bloom in a window without much sun, if first reared in a sunny place. 
Its names are Begonia Evansiuna or discolor. 
