346 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 
enough if potted any time in October, or even by the 
middle of November. After they are potted they 
may be placed in a sheltered place out of doors, and 
coal-aslies, earth, sawdust, or leaf-mould heaped over 
them, so that five or six inches of the covering may 
stand above the pots. The reason for covering them 
thus deeply is that the heat of the season may not 
excite the bulbs till their roots are first made, and if 
one gentle watering is given at the time of potting it 
wall be enough to excite the roots into growth. Those 
intended for water-glasses need not be potted, but 
only buried in light soil, or placed in a box of sandy 
soil, yet, in either case, to be buried from the influ¬ 
ence of the sun, like the potted ones. Those intended 
to he grown in fresh moss may be potted at once in 
pots full of moss, and placed behind a north wall or 
any dark corner, and empty pots turned over them; 
or if placed in a row, and a board laid over the pots, 
to keep mice or other vermin from them, it will be 
enough; or the whole lot may be put down in a cool 
cellar, the great desideratum being to get them well 
rooted before the leaves are put in action, and to 
preserve the bulbs from rats and mice and all such 
enemies. Some people put rich old manure at the 
bottom of the pots, and if that does not turn sour or 
hinder the drainage it will be of considerable use in 
strengthening the foliage, but hardly of much im¬ 
portance for the size or vigour of the flowers, as all, 
or almost all, the substance which produces the flowers 
is already stored up in each bulb.—D. Beaton. 
Two Grots of Potatoes a Year. —I am growing 
a second crop of potatoes this year, and they are 
looking very well (August 28tb). They are now in 
flower, and do not seem to be touched with the 
blight. My first crop was of Ash-leaved kidneys, 
and this is of Prolific and Jersey blues. This crop 
is growing in lazy beds. What do you think of that 
plan? I think well of it: there is no idle ground. 
[Lazy beds are advantageous in wet soils and 
climates. Oblige us by informing us when you 
planted your first crop, and what amount of produce 
you have from your second crop. Did you plant 
sets taken from the crops of 1848 ?—Ed. C. G.] 
Blackberry Jam. —Allow me to suggest to those 
of your readers who feel an interest in the welfare of 
their poorer neighbours, that preserved blackberries 
are nearly equal to black currant jelly in relieving 
affections of the throat, &c., arising from colds and 
coughs. They should be made into jam or jelly in 
the same manner as currants, save that instead of 
putting equal quantities of fruit and sugar, half the 
quantity of the latter will be sufficient. Thus, to 
one pound of blackberries I put half a pound of 
sugar. Might it not be the means, also, of putting 
a few pence into the pockets of some industrious 
lads for collecting fruit ? I may mention that many 
who were in the habit of visiting amongst the poor 
and sick during that period when the influenza was 
so prevalent, found blackberry jam extremely useful. 
—F. W. R. . 
Packing Trees for Exportation. —A son of mine, 
who has been for some years settled on a branch of 
the Hunter River in New South Wales, has written 
to me to request that I will send him out this autumn 
a collection of the best apples and pears and other 
fruit-trees, for a large orchard which he has prepared 
to receive them. Now, I should be glad to be in¬ 
formed, as exactly as possible, the precise time when 
the plants should be taken up, and the best mode of 
packing them. He assures me that a neighbour has 
received fruit-trees from England, and that they all 
lived; but as the winter here is summer in Austra¬ 
lia, I am confident it must require the nicest manage¬ 
ment to ensure their surviving the voyage.—A. R. A. 
[Young fruit-trees destined for Australia, or other 
long voyages, should be pruned immediately, and 
that closely, leaving no more than two or three buds 
at the bottom of the young shoots. This will cause 
an accumulation of sap in the buds left, wfliich helps 
materially to their success. Healthy, upright trees, 
and about three years old, should be selected; the 
names to be on zinc labels, fastened to the trees with 
copper wire. Prune the roots also close. The trees 
need not be taken up till the vessel is nearly ready 
to sail. October and November are the best months; 
and by far the best way to pack them is in strong 
wooden cases, using seasoned or dry saw-dust to 
pack with, and that as closely as you can ram it 
without bruising the trees. You should contract 
with a respectable nurseryman at once, show him 
this notice, and if he engages to transmit them on a 
safer plan, let him have his own way. Pruning 
them at the end of September is the most essential 
part of the undertaking. We shall be very glad to 
hear from any one who has sent trees successfully to 
Australia, how they packed them. We want facts. 
See what Mr. Beaton says to-day on this subject.— 
Ed. C. G.] 
Destroying Slugs. —Few questions seem to be 
put to you more frequently than, how to resist the 
ravages of slugs? It is incredible the numbers I 
have destroyed by placing slices of Swedish turnip 
about the parts infested. They crowd to it, and in 
wet weather may be picked from the slices several 
times a day.—E. I. 
Caterpillars and Slugs. —About seven years ago 
I came into possession of the gardens which I now 
occupy, and the first thing which struck my attention 
was the leafless and stunted appearance of the goose¬ 
berry-bushes. In a short time, as the summer ad¬ 
vanced,! found that caterpillars were the cause of all 
this mischief; on further search I began to suspect 
that they were produced by a moth, a handsome one 
with black and red wings. I observed that it was 
not to be seen except in the neighbourhood of goose¬ 
berry and currant-bushes. I immediately gave my 
little boys encouragement to kill them by purchasing 
at a cheap rate the dead bodies of my adversaries. I 
began this system about three years ago; gradually 
the caterpillar has disappeared, and, though a few 
moths have been seen and destroyed this year, such 
a scarcity of caterpillars has been the result that I 
have my bushes looking well and full of leaf, and, in 
spite of a reward offered for their apprehension, re¬ 
markably few have been brought to justice. I write 
this for the encouragement of those who may be simi¬ 
larly afflicted. Slugs have also been the objects of my 
attention, and I have found that the best method for 
destroying them is to place slices of the Swede turnip 
near the young crops which they are most likely to at¬ 
tack. On dewy mornings they will be found beneath 
the turnip in great numbers, both great and small. 
Now, the great can easily be cut into two parts 
with a scissors, and their size is always a sufficiently 
strong inducement to destroy them, but the difficulty 
was to kill the more minute ones sticking in great 
numbers to the turnip ; to effect this I take with me 
a brickbat, against which I strike the slice of turnip, 
whereby a host of young depredators are crushed in 
a moment. These suggestions are not very novel, 
but the practice has been so successful that I hope 
you will excuse the liberty I take in addressing you 
on so humble a department of gardening.— J. W., 
Helston. > 
