September 
THE COTTAGE GARDENEE. 
827 
plants, and flowers. We may find rich instruction 
in them still, and if hut one single ray of spiritual 
light reaches the heart from our “ vine,” or our “ fig- 
tree,” frOln “ the grass in the field,” or from the “ brier” 
that grows in the thicket, we shall gain far more 
profit than “ the whole world,” if we had it, could 
afford. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Use of the Nettle (Annie). —Wc never heard that the juice 
of the nettle promotes the growth of the hair, but it is not impro¬ 
bable, for the juice is slightly astringent, and used to be employed to 
check spitting of blood. We have not heard that infusion of rosemary, 
made by pouring boiling water upon the leaves, will prevent the fall¬ 
ing off of the hair. But we are promised a series of papers upon The 
Physic Garden, which will touch upon such subjects, 
Mi ldewe n Leaves (.4 Parson's Wife). —What you term the 
blight upon the leaves of your cucumbers and roses is the mildew. 
It has been observed that the state of the atmosphere which appears 
to be favourable to the cholera, appears equally favourable to the 
growth of the minute fungi which form the mildew. Be this true or 
not true, yet it is quite certain that this year has been productive of 
a greater amount of mildew on almost every genus of plants than has 
been known for many years past. We fear the season has arrived 
when it will be useless for you to contend against this attack, but you 
have the consolation of knowing that your rose-trees have completed 
their growths, and cannot be much injured by it. 
Sal Ammoniac and Lime (Amateur). —You have heard of an 
experiment in which a mixture of sal ammoniac (muriate of am¬ 
monia) and lime was found to destroy the wire-worm instantly, and 
you ask for the proportions in which they ought to be applied, and 
for an explanation of their action. The explanation is this :—when 
lime is mixed with sal ammoniac and brought into close contact hy 
being moistened with water, the lime decomposes the sal ammoniac 
by combining with its muriatic acid and setting its ammonia free, 
If thus set free near a wireworm it w'ould probably kill it. We 
should employ 50 lbs. of dry lime fresh from the kiln, slack it, mix it 
when quite reduced to powder with 80 lbs. of sal ammoniac, also in 
powder, spread it half an inch thick over the ground infested with 
wireworms, and dig it in immediately. 
Pig Keeping (A Friend of the Poor). —Your communication shall 
appear, and we shall be glad to hear further from you relative to pig 
feeding. 
Poultry (H. I. C\). —You will find your question answered at 
p. 259. As long as you can make hens lay they will not want to sit, 
or be “broody,” as you term it. 
Stocks for Roses (T.C.). —November is the best time to plant 
stocks for standard roses. They are obtained from the hedges and 
lanes, or waste places, and the best kind grows on strong land ; their 
long naked roots are well pruned in, and the straggling branches cut 
away, retaining the straightest one for the stock, and this is cut at 
the required height of the future head, and then planted in good 
ground. Next season shoots from all parts of these naked stocks 
will push out, but three or four of the best placed near the top are to 
be retained, and as soon as their bottoms are a little firm they are 
ready to bud on. Sometimes they do not grow very kindly the first 
season, in which case their growth is pruned back close to the old 
stocks in November, and they are in excellent order for budding the 
second season. 
Striking Cuttings (A Lady Subscriber). —Cuttings of succulents 
are struck in pure sand j other cuttings in very sandy soil, with a thin 
layer of sand on the top. Generally, if the sand or soil is just kept 
moist it is enough, and the cuttings are potted as soon as they are 
rooted. The time they take to root must be according to the sort and 
the treatment; generally cuttings make roots soon after new leaves 
are formed. 
Pruning Tree Mignonette (Ibid). —You remind us that we say 
the tree mignonette must not be allowed to flower while the plants 
in the garden are in bloom, and then ask, “ How can this be pre¬ 
vented ? The flower-bud at the top will form, and if left to itself 
will soon flower. If it is pinched off, the plant will grow no more from 
the main stem, and begins to look sickly from being stopped at all 
points. I had ten promising plants, and all have turned out alike.”—If 
you look at a mignonette-plant in the borders, you will find that a 
growing shoot always comes from where the flower-spikes issue ; 
when these separate, if the flower-spike is cut, the growing branch 
will have more nourishment. When there is any doubt as to which 
is the flower-spike, let it alone till it separates from the other—the 
flower-spike has no leaves, but the other has—then cut off the flower¬ 
ing one. You have pinched off both in your hurry, and so “stopped” 
your plants, but the next shoot below ought to take the leader’s place. 
Winter Shelter (Ibid). —In most instances a small greenhouse 
will answer when we recommend a cold pit culture, and plants are 
easier kept in winter in such a greenhouse as yours than in pits. Your 
treatment under your circumstances (covering the glass with mats, 
and putting in a Joyce’s stove during very severe weather) seems un¬ 
objectionable ; and all the greenhouse plants, including climbers, 
which w r e mention or recommend, may be kept by your mode, there¬ 
fore we should only waste space in republishing lists. 
Lists of Plants. —We are often applied to for lists of plants to 
suit particular houses, pits, or windows, but as we are most anxious 
to make the best of our confined space, we can seldom reprint lists 
that have already appeared. If our readers would refer to our indexes 
they would often save themselves and us much needless trouble. 
List of Roses (Poiycfirest). —You will find a list df the forty 1 
best, with descriptions, &c., at p. 24 of our first volume. 
Cottage and Land ( J. Ilymuri). —Put an advertisement in our 
columns, and in the Times, stating exactly what you require. 
Destroying Wasps.— Enveloping in bags made of fine muslin 
is the only mode of completely protecting your wall fruit from wasps. 
To lure them from it, the best mode is to use the bottles recommended 
by Mr. Errington at p. 308. If the wasps increase in number, in¬ 
crease the number of your bottles also. But, above all, offer a reward 
for all the wasps’ nests found in your neighbourhood. See these, and 
destroy them yourself by the mode recommended at p. 216 by Mr. 
Payne. We know it is effectual. 
Melon Frame (A Subscriber from the Beginning). —This should 
be made as the common cucumber frame, and this you can see and 
measure at any market gardener’s in your own neighbourhood. As 
for the routine of culture, if you will refer to our calendars and in¬ 
dexes you will find the whole that you require. How to make the bed 
you will find at p. 20 of our first volume, and at p. 244 of the present. 
We shall give more directions for melon culture from time to time. 
Name of Pea (J. Flockton). —The pea with very curved pods is 
either the Sickle or the Scimetar, but in good soil they grow three 
feet high. 
AbelIa FLORiBUNbA (W. R . I .).—This is a greenhouse evergreen 
shrub, a native of Mexico, and bearing red flowers. Hypericum 
Nepalense is the name applied by nurserymen to the H. chinense ; it 
is a greenhouse shrub, with yellow flowers, and very ornamental. 
Petunia Seed (A Subscriber).— See p. 192 . Let your verbena 
cuttings struck this month remain through the winter in the pots 
where struck. 
Bee-hives (John Spade). —You say that out of a common hive 
you have made one with a flat top, “ with four holes in its wooden top, 
covered with four flower pots, out of which a small square piece has 
been taken by means of a saw-file, and a bit of glass put in its place. 
This was a contrivance of mine. Now, what I want to know is the 
most approved size for a hive which is to be worked with small glasses 
or flower pots. My pots hold about a quart each, and have been filled 
twice this year, leaving still a good supply for the bees in winter in 
my hive.” The most approved size for such a hive is 9 inches deep, 
12 ’ inches in diameter, inside measure, straight sided, and consequently 
in shape like a half-bushel measure. One hole, 4 inches diameter, in 
the flat top, to be covered with a smaller hive, is the plan adopted by 
the inventor, Mr. Payne. At p. 239 of our first volume you will find 
drawings, and a full description. 
Crab Hedges (L. D., C. Parsonage ).—If Crabs are not to be ob¬ 
tained in your neighbourhood, your only alternative will be to sow apple 
pips, as directed at p. 303. A vast majority of the seedlings will 
prove Crabs. Any apple pips will do. Bones after cooking do admi¬ 
rably for manure, as their chief value arises from the phosphate of 
lime in them, which is insoluble in water. We know of no good work 
of moderate size on British Insects exactly such as you require. It 
is much needed. The best we know is Samouelle’s Entomologist’s 
Useful Compendium. Other answers next week. 
Bedding-out Plants (Lover of Flowers). —You can hardly keep 
petunias, salvias, and verbenas, by the help of a sitting-room. Yours 
are out in the borders, and old petunias will not bear removing. Cut¬ 
tings should have been made earlier; you are too late now unless you 
have a good hotbed. 
Insects on Cineraria Roots (J. E. B.).— Two or three appli¬ 
cations of lime water, as you propose, will probably kill or drive them 
away. You had better exhibit your scythe to the Society of Arts, or 
impart your plan to some large manufacturer of such tools, and bar¬ 
gain for a per centage on all sold: but, whatever you do, never take 
out a patent; you will lose all the money spent upon it. This is Mr. 
Beaton’s opinion as well as our own. 
Fuchsia Cordifolia ( F. W. T., Leeds).—' This is not worth 
much, being a pale sickly-looking thing, with large soft foliage. It 
makes a large standard, however, and blooms easily enough after it 
is of that size. 
Hybrid Perpetual Roses (Ibid).—' These are better raised in the 
autumn from cuttings under a hand-glass in the open ground, but they 
will root without the glass. In light soils thev answer better on their 
own roots. Rivers’ “ Rose Cultivator’s Guide” is the best book on 
roses. Most roses will root from small cuttings put in in August 
under a hand-glass. 
Magnolia Grandiflora (E. M. E.).— Your plant, placed ten 
years since in a warm corner of a Norfolk garden, has grown well, 
but never blooms. We think it is not the true sort, for there are 
several varieties. The true one is quite of a rusty brown colour on 
the under-side of the leaves. We know of one in your latitude only 
four years old that is now in bloom. The advice given you—carefully 
to remove the earth, and to cut away the tap-root—is very judicious. 
Pray try the plan, and let us know the result. 
Blue Hydrangeas (J. C., Holloway). —You say: “When I 
want a blue hydrangea I choose a good single-stemmed plant, and pot 
it in heath or peat mould, water with plain water till the flower head 
just appears, and then give it nothing but alum water, by which really 
I get a very fine blue flower.” You are fortunate in having access to 
that kind of peat which turns the natural colour to blue. The alum 
water, we consider, can have nothing to do with changing colour at 
the last stage. Is your peat from Epping forest? You have hit on 
the best mode of managing the intermediate stock, and we will insert 
your account of it in our next double Number. We shall be glad to 
hear of any more of your experiments, for we are always glad to make 
The CotVage Gardener a vehicle for interchange of opinions 
amongst its readers ; but we only want facts. 
Vines in Pots (T. W.).— You will find that Mr. Fish has consi¬ 
dered this mode of culture in the “ Hothouse Department.” 
Potting Bf,dded-out Plants (A Subscriber from the First).— 
In doing this you should prune close the tops and cut off the strag¬ 
gling roots of fuchsias, and geraniums. You may divide your calceo- 
