&08 the COTTAGE GAHHENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, September 8, 1857. 
vou gravel it, the same work should he done ; as, without a 
thorough revision of the soil, you will never be able to do 
much good by merely filling the beds with good soil in such 
a situation ; but do as advised, and j'ou will soon see such 
masses of flowers as were never seen in that part of the 
country before, owing to your favourable situation. Del¬ 
phinium formosvm requires only to be allowed to rest in 
winter whore.it flowered in the beds or borders like other 
hardy herbaceous plants. The Limnn varum kermesinum is 
a name we never heard before. Leave the Tacsonia as it is 
till the end of October, then cut it back to within one yard 
of the roots , even should it be forty or fifty feet long.] 
CLIMBERS FOR A WEST WALL. 
“Will you inform me the best description of climbing 
plants to cover a space of twelve feet by fifteen feet high 
with a western aspect, and also those best suited for a south¬ 
eastern aspect.”—H. P, 
[The answer depends on whether the walls are in London 
or in the country, and what kind of scenery is in front of 
the parts required to be covered; but Ivy, the "Virginian 
Creeper (Ampelopsis quinquefolia), and the Periploca Graca 
are the best to cover walls in town or country, if it is merely 
to get rid of the sight of bricks in the shortest time.] 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Botanical Classification (J. A. D.). — Leaves are much too 
variable to form the basis of a classification, and may be changed in 
their characters by such simple circumstances as soil and climate. 
What would you do with some aquatic plants which have leaves of one 
form when growing in the water, but when grown on the land are com¬ 
pletely altered? You could not put the same plant under two different 
classes. 
Club-root (A. B. C.).—You will see an article in our publication 
to-day that will suit your case. All we can urge, in extension of what is 
there stated, is to give the seed-beds a good watering of guano water in 
which soot has been also liberally diluted. The acrid bitter of the one, 
combined with the stimulating powers of the other, will assist the plant 
in outgrowing its adversary. 
Mead (T. M. W.)> —It is useless to hope for good mead merely from 
refuse honey and the washing of the combs. If a luscious mead is re¬ 
quired use four pounds of honey to every gallon of water ; if a dry mead 
only three pounds. Boil gently for an hour, skimming carefully ; cool 
until milk warm (/5°) in an open tub. If four gallons are made add 
half a tea-cupful of yeast spread upon a toast. In two or three days the 
fermentation will cease ; then barrel and treat like other home-made 
M'ine. If made in September it should be bright by the end of March ; 
it may then be racked off into a clean cask and bunged down again. By 
September it will be fit for bottling. 
Names of Ferns (B. A.). —1. Nephrodium exaltation. 2. Adian- 
tum cuneatum. 3. P ter is serrulutum. 
Names of Plants (.4 Subscriber').— The pink flower inclosed is the 
(Enothera. rosea , not an Epilobium, which is said to be a perennial 
plant, but is seldom seen now; yet some thirty years ago we used to 
have it come up in the borders in a weedy form, from allowing a plant 
or two to stand and go to seed yearly. The other specimen is an annual, 
Nicandra physaloides, the blue-flowered Nicandra, which will, in very 
rich soil, attain the height of from four to five feet, but it flowers more 
freely and forms a prettier ornament in poor soil. (.4 Young Gardener). 
— Your plant is the Eutocu viscida, a very pretty hardy annual, a native 
of California. Of course it has escaped from the garden on to the wall. 
( J . P. ).—The everlasting flower is the Antennariu margaritacea. The 
Pelargonium is most likely the very variety you bought it for : it is too 
much shrivelled fur us to form an opinion in this case of a mere variety. 
THE P©ULT1¥ CHRONICLE, 
POULTRY SHOY/S. 
September 7th, 8th, pth, 10th. Gloucester. Sec ., Mr. H. Churchill, 
King’s Head Hotel. 
September 9th. Heckmondwike. Secs., Mr. G. H. Rhode* and 
Mr, Fred. Brearley. Entries close August 31st. 
October 1st and 2nd. Worcester. Sec., Mr. G. Griffiths, 7, St. 
Swithin Street, Worcester, Entries close Sept. 19 tli. 
October 7th. South West Middlesex Agriceltural Society. 
At Gunncrsbury Farm, Ealing. See., J. Gotelee, Hounslow. 
October 8th. Bucks Agricultural Society. Sec., Mr. Charles 
Fuller, Chiltern House, Wendover, Bucks. Entries close Sept. 24. 
November 30tli, and December 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, Birmingham. 
Sec., John Morgan. Entries close the 2nd of November. 
December l6th and 17 th. Nottinghamshire. Entries close No¬ 
vember 18th. Hon. Sec., Mr. R. Hawksley, jun., Southwell. 
December 30th and 31st. Burnley and East Lancashire. 
Entries close December 1st. Secs., Mr. Angus Sutherland and Mr. 
Ralph Landless. 
January 1st, 18.58. Paisley. Poultry, Pigeons, and Fancy Birds. 
Sec., Mr. W. Houston, 14, Barr Street., Paisley. 
January 4th, 1858. Kirkcaldy Poultry and Fancy Bird 
Show. Sec., Mr. Bonthron, jun,, Thistle Street. 
January Qth, 11th, 12th, 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. 
February 3rd and 4th, 1858. Preston and North Lancashire. 
Secs., Mr. R. Teebay and Mr. H. Oakey, Preston. 
N.B.— Secretaries will oblige us by sejiding early copies of their lists. 
ERRORS ABOUT CHICKENS EXHIBITED. 
There is a penalty for doing more or better than your 
neighbours. Galileo gained only imprisonment by bis 
discoveries. The inventors of printing did not fare much 
better. The first who discovered the power of'steam was 
confined in the Bicetre at Paris. Dr. Darwin was con¬ 
sidered almost insane because, in bis inflated verse, be 
predicted the uses to which it would be applied. These 
were all discoveries of men who, rising above their 
fellows, toiled at the shadows of the great things their 
minds conceived or saw. Statues and bronzes now celebrate 
the merit that was denied them at the time. 
What would, however, be said if all these great achieve¬ 
ments had taken place in pursuit of a reward offered for the 
discovery of either of these powers, and, when accomplished, 
had been met by doubt and accusation? It would seem 
incredible, yet such is the case with a small section of our 
poultry amateurs, and such will always be the case while 
men weigh their fellows and their exploits by themselves 
and their own capabilities. In a well regulated mind 
excellence in another should stimulate to exertion, and 
arouse a kindly spirit of emulation. A feeling of proper 
pride will always rather seek equality by rising to the 
height of the distinguished than by bringing him down to 
its own lower level. 
Now, although this may he thought rather a high-flown 
introduction to a poultry article, yet w^ feel we are justified 
in treating the subject in this manner, because we believe 
some of our friends have been mistaken. 
Prizes for chickens are offered for competition, and, of 
course, the largest and earliest get them. It has been the 
fashion of late years to look very learned, and to say, “ They 
were hatched very early.” No doubt they were, or they 
would not have been successful. Now, let us take the ques¬ 
tion fairly in hand. What is a chicken ? A young fowl that 
has not attained to maturity. When does it become a fowl ? 
When it lays and sits. At what age will those functions he 
performed ? It differs according to the breed, the feeding, 
and the time of year. Cochins begin laying at from seventeen 
to twenty weeks; Brahmas the same; Dorkings at twenty 
weeks; Hamburglis the same, provided they are all gene¬ 
rously fed and well cared for. Another point is that a 
chicken hatched in September is not so forward at five 
months old, i.e., in January, as a four months’ chicken 
hatched in January is in April. The reason is plain. The 
first during its trying time has to encounter colder weather 
and longer nights every week; the second reverses it, 
because each day ushers in a more favourable time. A 
chicken, then, shown now, may he eight months old, and 
have gone through every process that forms a fowl—hatched 
in January, began to lay in May, sat in July, reared her 
chickens, and exhibited as a chicken in September. We do 
not mean by this to say that such are not to he distinguished 
from those classed as adults or birds of the previous year: 
a competent judge will detect the difference between them. 
What we would insist upon is, that it does not of necessity 
follow that a bird in a chicken class is a hen because she 
has appearances of maturity about her, as we think we have 
shown that she may have fulfilled all the duties of maternity, 
and yet he honestly shown as a bird of the year. It is not 
a fair criterion to judge such birds by comparison with 
others that have been allowed almost to take their chance. 
These are hatched on purpose for competition, and fed from 
the egg ; they are, consequently, forced on to maturity, and 
arrive at it long before those that are less cared for. As 
early maturity is one of the most valuable points in any 
