THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S 
COMPANION, June 30, 1857. 
ORNAMENTAL CONIFERS. 
“ I have planted on a sloping bank opposite my house, 
near Glasgow, Cedrus deodara, Cedar of Lebanon, Araucaria 
imbricuta , Pinus nobilis , Weymouth Pine, Cryptomeria Ja- 
ponica , and Taxodium sempervirens. I want a few more 
Pines for ornament, and should value much those you would 
recommend. The exposure is a northern one, and I must 
have hardy Pines. My object is entirely ornamental, and, 
from what I have already planted, I am partial to Pines. 
The bank is not of large extent, and three or four kinds are 
all I have room for. Be pleased to name the Pines in the order 
I you esteem them.”— An Old and Regular Subscriber. 
[Add Pinus Benthamiana, P. ins ignis, P. pinea, Thuja 
' gigantea or Cupressus macrocarpa , or both, Abies Douglasii, 
j and A . Morinda.~\ 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Uniting Swarms of Bees ( A Novice Indeed). —It is quite prac¬ 
ticable to unite two swarms of bees, but it must be done within two 
| or three days, or before more than a very few combs are made. On the 1 
evening of the day of the second swarm’s appearing place a table 
covered with a cloth in front of the first hived colony; by a smart ; 
i stroke the bees of the second can be dislodged, falling in a lump upon 
| the cloth. Place the first hive over them, raising it a little at bottom, 
| when the families will generally unite without much commotion, and 
I early in the morning restore the doubled hive to its original position. 
Some persons like to puff a little smoke into both hives previously. 
Strawberry Seed (An Inquirer). — Buy our 399 th number; it 
contains full directions for saving and sowing the seed, raising plants, &c. j 
Garden Work. (/. S.P.). —We could give no answer that would not be 1 
j liable to mislead you unless we knew the exact amounts of each garden, 
! lawn, walls, &c. If a master’s heart is in the right place, and he sees that ! 
his gardener is assiduous, he never refuses to allow all needful assistance. 1 
Encyclopaedia of Plants (An Apprentice). —Mr. Petheram, book- j 
seller, Holborn, is likely to obtain for you a second-hand copy. 
Names of Plants (Clericus).— 1 . Cerastium tomentosum. 2. 1 
Dielytra spectabilis. 3. Celsia, probably arcturus, but we cannot be 
certain without seeing the leaves. (G. R. F.). —Your plants are, No. 1. 
Astrantia maxima. 2. Astrantia minor. 
Sowing Violets (W. G .).— Sow the seeds of sweet Violets, single 
ones of course, any time in July, or in February, March, and April, and 
they will come as thick as grass. 
Double Saxifrage (F .).—We have only one plant of it, from the 
Rose Bank Nursery, Edinbuigh ; and the Golden Stonecrop perished on 
the way, so we have none of it. 
Sowing Iris Germanica (G. R.). —There is not a man alive who 
could from experience answer your question. It is more than 300 
years since Iris Germanica has been raised from seeds “on purpose.” 
It increases by far too fast for most gardens by its creeping roots ; 
but sow the seeds the moment they are ripe, and if they come up next 
spring you will see them, and unless they do not come till the second 
spring you must wait for them, and when they flower please to let us know. 
Various (A Constant Reader ).—1. September is the best time to 
clip a scarlet Hawthorn into shape, and the effect of the clipping on the 
bloom will depend on the strength or weakness of the roots. If the 
tree is very strong cut as little as possible ; if not strong cut freely, and 
the more you cut “ in reason ” the better the bloom. These Haw¬ 
thorns are just like Apples and Pears in their nature for bloom. 2. The 
double Tulips have been grown too long on a soil which does not suit 
them. They never degenerate on Tulip soil, but no one can guess a 
right Tulip soil without a trial. All you can do is to put some fresh soil 
in the bed or border, or to plant them in a different part of the garden. 
Avoid the folly of experimenting on them with liquid nostrums, or any 
solid stinking stuff. Nothing will do them so much good as clean 
virgin soil from a loamy common. 3. Cabbage seeds and the like seeds 
will keep good two or three years or more, but, like the salt we use from 
the Bromsgrove Works, they are better “fresh and fresh” from each 
harvest. 4. We have no experience of sea-weed on meadow land. 
Manuring Shrubs (Rector). —Bone dust and guano, mixed in the 
proportion of four bushels of the first to one bushel of the second, would 
benefit the shrubs. We should remove the surface soil two inches deep 
over the roots, sprinkle about each shrub a pint measure full of the 
compost, and cover it over by returning the surface soil. We find house 
sewage one of the best of applications to hardy shrubs of all kinds. 
Dahlia Stand (A Novice Indeed).—X box to exhibit Dahlias in 
should be made of light deal.’painted green. It should be nine inches 
deep at the back and seven inches at the front. To hold twelve full- 
sized blooms it should be at least twenty inches long and fifteen wide. 
At each corner of this box there should be a square piece of deal firmly 
fixed, reaching so high as to leave three inches clear below the lid. I 
These pillars are to support a board, and this board should be pierced 1 
with twelve holes, four in a row, and consequently three rows deep. I 
These holes must be wide enough to receive water-tight tin tubes, with a i 
border to each to fit close down to the board. Then procure twelve plugs, 1 
made either of wood or cork, to fit rather tightly into the tubes. Through 
each of these plugs bore a hole just wide enough to allow the flower- j 
stem to be drawn through. Handle the flowers by the stem only, for the j 
least touch of the petals will spoil them. Fill each tin tube or bottle in 1 
succession, and when all are filled drop the board gently within the box. ; 
and secure it in its place by a peg at each corner, thrust through from 
the outside. Then shut down the lid, lock it securely, and you may 
carry the flowers a hundred miles by rail as safe and as fresh as when 
they left home. Boxes of this size are more convenient than larger 
ones. If a stand of twenty-four dissimilar blooms is required it is easy 
to place two together to form that stand. We would advise “ A 
Novice Indeed ” to cut his flowers the night previous to the exhibition 
day. If the dew is on them they will keep fresh much longer. 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
July 8th, 9th, and 10th, I 857 . Leamington. Sec., Thomas Grove. 
July 9th. Prescot. Sec., J. F. Ollard. 
July 20th. Royal Agricultural Society. Salisbury. The Ex- ! 
hibition will be open to the public on the 22nd. 
July 28th, 29 th, and 30th. Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and j 
North Derbyshire. Sec., William Henry Dawson, Fig Tree i 
Lane, Sheffield. 
August 8th, 10th, 11th, and 12th. Crystal Palace. Sec., W. : 
Houghton. 
August 19 . Bridlington. Sec., Mr. Thomas Cape. 
Aug. 29 th. Calder Vale. Sec., W. Irvine, Esq., Holmefield, Halifax, j 
September 2 nd. Dewsbury. Sec., Harrison Brooke, Esq. 
September 7 th, 8 th, 9 th, 10 th. Gloucester. Sec., Mr. H. Churchill, j 
King’s Head Hotel. 
October 1st and 2nd. Worcester. Sec., Mr. G. Griffiths, 7, St. 
Swithen Street, Worcester. Entries close Sept. 19 th. 
November 30th, and December 1 st, 2nd, and 3rd. Birmingham. 
Sec., John Morgan. Entries close the 2nd of November. 
December 1 6 th and 17 th. Nottinghamshire. Entries close No¬ 
vember 18th.' Hon. Sec-, Mr. R. Hawksley, jun., Southwell. 
December 30th and 31st. Burnley and East Lancashire. 1 
Entries close December 1 st. Secs., Angus Sutherland and Ralph 
Landless. 
January 9 th, 11 th, 12 th, and 13th, 1858. Crystal Palace. 
January 19 th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd, 1858. Nottingham Central. 
Sec., Mr. Etherington, jun., Notintone Place, Sneinton, near Notting¬ 
ham. 
N.B.— Secretaries will oblige us by sending early copies of their lists. 1 
GAME FOWLS—THEIR VARIETIES AND i 
OTHER POINTS. 
1 
Your correspondent “ Newmarket,” replying to my second 
communication on Game fowls, states that he has not found 
olive legs to result from the cross between yellow and blue¬ 
legged birds. He gives as an instance a brood of eleven 
chickens bred from this cross, only two of which had willow 
or olive legs, and even these two he attributes to some 
anterior cross in the parent birds. This is a result at 
variance with my experience and that of many other 
breeders, who have stated to me that they concur in my i 
opinion on this subject. 
Some of your correspondents occasionally furnish accounts | 
of the various crosses they have tried, and perhaps some of . 
them who have bred between the Cochins and Spanish or 
Hamburghs would state in what proportion the chickens 
have had olive legs. In this experiment we should have a 
pure yellow-legged fowl on one side, and a pure blue-legged 
fowl on the other, and there is little probability of any 
previous cross affecting the results. 
There is a remark at the conclusion of “ Newmarket’s ” 
communication, from which it appears that he considers my 
opinion about olive legs is founded on the fact that a coni- j 
bination of blue and yellow will produce green. I trust I 
am incapable of anything so absurd. The opinion I have 
expressed may be right or wrong, hut it certainly has no 
other foundation than what I have observed in breeding 
Game fowls, and it was only by observation that I was led 
to the conclusion that white, yellow, blue, and, in some 
varieties of Game fowls, black legs were the primitive 
colours; and I certainly think the three former colours are 
more pleasing to the eye than olive, hut this is a matter of 
taste. I readily admit that the olive-legged birds have many ; 
points in their favour; they are generally strong, well- , 
formed, and well-boned birds; in some varieties, as the 
Black Reds,'they are well marked in feather, and breed with 
remarkable uniformity both in feather and colour of the 
le " s - . 
So far from having any prejudice against them, I believe i 
it has fallen to my lot, when acting as a Poultry Judge, to 
award more prizes to the olive-legged birds than to any 
other. “ Newmarket” thinks white legs give an appearance 
of softness. I cannot say this ever struck me, and at any 
rate it is only an appearance. As an admirer of Game fowls 
I have a rather extensive acquaintance with the old breeders, 
many of whom have bred them, and I regret to say still 
breed them, for less legitimate purposes than fancy or exhi¬ 
bition, but I never met with one who considered the white¬ 
legged birds inferior in strength or courage to those with 
yellow or dark legs. ; 
