85 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, May 12, 1857 
piece of information they require, and which, if procured by 
themselves, would make our labours much lighter, though, 
if we had the time to spare, even in that respect we should 
be happy to oblige them. \Ve are glad to find the Fuchsias 
kept so well in the closet; but in the case of such small 
late-flowering plants they would have been as well in the 
greenhouse, and not kept so dry as those spoken of Avith 
tall pyramidal stems. However, the closet seems to 
have answered, as they are all alive, though not pushing 
vigorously. We attribute this to two causes. First, the 
greenhouse may have been too cool to promote free 
growth ; and secondly, if you have pondered over what 
Ave have said about Heaths above, you will perceive that it 
Avould have been better if the Fuchsias had been growing 
before you repotted them. You would thus have had the 
stem and the unchecked, unmutilated roots directed to the 
forming or protruding of shoots and leaves, and then 
when repotted these fresh leaves Avould act in assisting 
the growth of fresh roots. Keep your plants close and 
warm in one end of your greenhouse, syringing them over¬ 
head frequently if you have no warmer place to put them | 
in, and if your tall-stemmed ones do not break to your 
mind cut them down to the pot, and select a single shoot 
Avhen they break there. By such means you Avill have 
flowers earlier, but we cannot say you will have them better, 
than if you Avaited further in the summer and autumn 
months. Fine large carly-floAvering plants, from plants 
one foot in height to begin with, and floAvering late in the 
autumn, can only be procured by keeping them growing 
slowly all the winter, and by February and March giving 
them a temperature and general accessories more allied to 
a stove or a vinery than a cool greenhouse. See various 
articles on Fuchsia culture in previous volumes.] 
WILD TULIPS. 
“ By the term ( Wild Tulips ’ ‘ A Subscriber ’ means some 
that are indigenous in a wood near where she lives. They 
are Tulipa sylvestris. Some of these Tulips she transplanted 
into the garden; but, having never bloomed since, she 
Avishes to know if there is any means she could take to 
induce them to do so. Some that are left in the wood 
continue to floAver, looking like beautiful, drooping, yellow 
bells, though they, too, seem rather shy bloomers.” 
[Cultivated Tulips are easily removed from all quarters 
just as they are coming into bloom; but we have no ex¬ 
perience about Tulipa sylvestris , our only native Tulip— 
a very rare plant. One would think this Tulip could be as I 
safely removed when in bloom as our native Fritillarias, of j 
Avhich Ave have had “ bushels ” removed Avithout losing one, ! 
or any to signify; but, as you have failed, the next and only 
plan is to mark them now , and to fork them up next August, 
and transplant them at once Avhere you wish them to bloom. 
Any bulb which is ripe enough to floAver next year in a Avihl 
state in England could not be prevented from doing so by 
moving it to a pot, or bed, or border; but it might not flower 
the second year from several causes. The Tulipa sylvestris 
is only a naturalised plant, and is known to gardeners as 
the Sweet-scented Florentine Tulip. There is a double 
variety. It is found but rarely Avild in this country, and in 
very few places. Another correspondent, signing his com¬ 
munication “A Constant Reader,” says, “ It is found in 
the meadoAvs of Yorkshire, and in Somersetshire.” Our 
botanical authorities say it has also been found in old chalk 
pits at Whipsnade, Bedfordshire, on the borders of Hertford¬ 
shire ; on the top of Muswell Hill, Middlesex ; in old chalk 
pits at CarroAV Abbey, near Norwich; in chalk pits near 
St. Peter’s Barn, Risby Gate Street, Bury, Suffolk; near 
Blackwell, Durham; about Allesley, and in meadows by the 
bourne at Shustock, Warwickshire; in Bitton meadoAvs, 
opposite the church, Gloucestershire; and in Scotland near 
Hamilton and Brechin. We hear, also, that it grows two 
miles from Gloucester in abundance on a high plateau on 
the margin of the “mill-stream” running by Hucclecote, 
under the Chosen Hills, and we Avould advise the Messrs. 
Wheeler, of Gloucester, and other florists, to look after it, 
and bring it to market as a spring flower.] 
THE EMPEROR STOCK. 
“ How long after sowing the Emperor Stock should it be in 
floAver? Also, Avill it stand wintering in the open ground if 
sown in autumn ? ”—W. S. S. 
[The Emperor Stock, Avith the Queen and Rrompton 
Stocks and their varieties, are biennials, which, in former 
days, used to be sown in the spring of one year to floAver 
at the beginning of the summer of the following year; but, 
thus early soAvn, the plants Avere rendered too strong and 
too succulent to stand the Avinter Avithout the protection of 
glass, Avhich the modern gardener has not yet in his poAVer 
to spare, and on that single pretext rests the blatne, or 
rather, the national stinginess about Stocks and GillyfloAvers. 
We only groAv one plant of them for every thousand Ave 
ought to floAver. Ten-Aveek Stocks ought to be in flower 
from the middle or end of May to the last day of the old 
year, and the biennial Stocks the Avliole summer long; but 
until nought is ought we must do as others do, and that is, 
sow biennial Stocks in June, or even in July, and give them 
some slight protection in winter. If you soav the Emperor 
Stock at the end of July, pot the seedlings in October, and 
keep them in a cold frame, they Avill bloom early the 
folloAving year, and Avith this treatment another soAving of 
them could be made in the autumn. We can never depend 
on any kind of Stock to stand the winter in the open 
ground : Ave are liable to very severe winters, which cut up 
the whole race.] 
TREATMENT OF CAMPANULA PYRAM1DALIS. 
“I Avas pleased to see the name of the good old Cam¬ 
panula, pyramidalis brought into notice in The Cottage 
Gardener of the 21st. HaAung had a plant of it last year 
(the blue) which floAvered (but this spring it sIioavs no sign 
of floAvering, but has a great number of offsets), I shall be 
obliged by being informed the best Avay to propagate this 
plant. I have thought, as the stem of the plant is very 
thick, and the offsets so many, that if good, fine compost is 
put round the stem the offsets may take root in the compost; 
or may these offsets, when they have grown stronger, be 
carefully slipped off*, and planted under a cap glass in sandy 
compost? I have also two plants of the Avhite-flowering; 
one of them is likely to floAver, the other has some offsets 
like the blue-floAvering.”—M. F. 
[The blue and Avhite old Campanula, like the new Lilium 
giganteum, and like all the pyramidal Lobelias, new or old, 
never flower twice from the same plant ; therefore a suc¬ 
cession of them must be kept either from seeds, as detailed, 
or from cuttings, which Avas not detailed. The sprouts on 
your plants will root as cuttings, and make some floAvering 
plants for the open borders next year, but certainly not 
such plants as one Avould like to see in pots. Cut off’ some 
of the strongest close to the stem, and cut off the bottom 
leaves; then let the cut ends dry for a couple of hours 
before you put them under the glass; and you may earth up 
the old plants also—some of the shoots may root. Sep¬ 
tember, hoAvever, is the best time to propagate this Campa¬ 
nula, by dividing the roots as they do old Dahlias, with an 
eye or offset to each piece; then to plant them out of doors 
in light, rich soil, and to protect them in Avinter; then to 
“ look over” such a bed every year tOAvards the end of 
March, and to pot from it the best, strongest, and most 
promising plants to floAver that summer, and a feAv to nurse 
in pots the first year, and to make extra fine plants for the 
folloAving season. Every garden in the three kingdoms 
ought to have this kind of nurse-bed.] 
NUTT’S COLLATERAL FIIYES. 
“I have had for some years a set of Nutt’s collateral 
boxes, but, although keeping a few hives of bees, have never 
yet made use of them. I should much like to place a swarm 
in them this season, but cannot understand how to do it, as ! 
the centre box has a loose top and partially open sides, i 
whence the insects can escape while being hived. Any in¬ 
formation from yourself or correspondents I shall be 
thankful for, having consulted several Avorks on that point 
without success.”—A piarian. 
[You are not the only one avIio has been at a loss when 
about to stock a Nutt’s hive. The inventor himself Avas 
