40 
THE COTTAGE GABDBNEB ANP COtTNTUV Cl'N’m^ AN. bbiwri. 20,rtfc 
FAILURE OF CERTAIN PLANTS IN THE 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
In taking a retrospect of the merits or shortcomings 
of the various occupants of the flower gai'den during the 
past season it will he seen that it has diffeied iiom 
that of 1856 in many points ; hut, as we are accustomed 
to witness such changes as they aftect the well-being of 
certain plants, we ought not to form too hasty a con 
elusion on the result of one season alone, noi oo i* s 
condemn certain things for having cprne shoit o w ia ^ 
was expected of them, nor he too much led away by the 
well-being of others, the success ot which was, in ail 
probability, the result of something peculiar m the 
season which might not occur again. \\ e say this be¬ 
cause we all know that certain plants do well m one 
season, while they do badly in the next. ne reason 
may, perhaps, be its being too bright, dry, and hot id- 
one article, while another benefits by it and vice versa; 
mixed bed or border, as it is too preoarious to dopend on 
to make a bed alone. . _ , . , . 
Pulos DnuMMONOt. —This 1 havo never had to do 
well, and had ceased to try it; but this season i was 
tempted to try a couple of bods ol the striped varieties 
so nearly related to this, but they never looked well. 
J J. Robson. 
(To be continued.) 
new food for bees. 
May not the “ tilseed ” spoken of as a food for bees 
be* the seed of the Lime tree ( Tilia ), the flowers of 
which are such favourites with bees, and from the seed 
of which an oil may be extracted ? I have been curious 
enough to gather some of the seed and bruise it; but my 
bees would not touch it, though induced to visit it by a 
little honey. Still I am not altogether incredulous, as 
when the oil is extracted, or even without extracting, bj 
one article, while another benents oy u, «iuu oito ^ en t q e 0 q i s extracted, or even without extracting, 
but disappointments repeated again and again, as we i f ermentat i 0U) as y 0U suggest with regard to linseed, the 
as satisfactory results likewise following each other, lead j albumen } n t he seed may be attractive to them. 
lia DaLioiauiuij ipouho - <-> m , 
one to the belief that certain plants are suited to the 
situation in question, and others not.. Of the lattei I 
feel sorry to say my list is rather extensive ; but 1 gne 
albumen in the seed may be attractive to them. 
I wish I could speak so highly of the honey season m 
South Hants as your correspondents do of their success in 
feel sorry to say my list is rather extensive , uui -l ot her parts. Here there has been nearly a total failure, scores 
it nevertheless, in order that others differently situated 0 f stocks never having swarmed, whilst from lour old stocks 
mav compare it with their own, and that ail sides of and three swarms I have only taken about 20 lbs. ot honey, 
may compare it wnu iu«u u > rr^ nrAA Qf iha onf1 nf Mav nTU ] hernnnim? of June seemed 
the question may be fully understood. 
This situation is a very dry one, a light-coloured soil, 
not sandy, resting on a subsoil of soft, porous stone, with 
limestone beneath. This soil produces excellent Elm 
timber, quickset hedges, Hops, Morello Cherries, Apples, 
and Pears; Currants and Gooseberries pretty good; 
while pasture fields are but indifferent, Barley light, and 
Potatoes inferior in point of crop to that of many other 
districts. The principal feature in the soil, without 
ttilU. till. C.O OB uiiug - -- -j 
The cold at the end of May and beginning of June seemed 
to benumb them as if it had been winter.—E. IT. C. 
I understand by your paper of the Gth of October that 
some of your readers have been rather puzzled by the word 
“ tilseed ” as food for bees. I do not know more than you 
what “ tilseed ” may stand for. The fact related appeared 
in the French papers first, as it is said to have happened in 
the south of our country; but it was said that the cake used 
was cake of Sesamum, which, as you know, is a very rich oil 
entering into abstract chemical proportions, is the absence plant. I shall not venture to give an opinion on the matter, 
of iron This I find ha 3 much influence on certain 1 as I have none. I only address you on account of the con- 
crops, and is most apparent in the grass lands, which fusion which comes from an inaccurate translation. I am 
are on the whole, better adapted to sheep feeding than altogether of your opinion that, though it would prove very 
feeding the bullock. . advantageous if it could be true, this fact is really ie,y 
This digression I have thought proper to make in ou u * ‘ 1>E ’’ alls ‘ 
order to point out that, notwithstanding all the skill that [The letter of our Parisian correspondent has led us to the 
maybe brought to act on the matter, there is still a true explanation of the alleged new food for bees, and we be- 
Bomething local left to work upon which exercises much lieveitmaybeas stated. In the India bazaars the seed of Sesa- 
influence on the ultimate result. A quantity of peat may mum onentale is sold commonly as til, and in an essay on the 
be imbedded in chalk, and Rhododendrons and other ; Agriculture ol Hindustan, published by one o our hd,tor, 
plants thrive or a time thereon ; but at length a time render > d ,^ iliar , the tale ! The Forty Thieves,’ is 
comes when the chalk warring against the peat obtains + r.i./ u, unia-P. 
1*10 o*m.u --.. 
the mastery, and the Rhododendrons cease to thrive, 
and drag out a wretched existence. In like manner 
many of our more delicate flower-garden plants do but 
indifferently when planted in an adverse soil, and soils 
of an extreme kind must of necessity be adverse to some 
cultivated throughout India. The plant is not unlike 
hemp, hut the stalk is clearer and semi-transparent. The 
flower, also, is so gaudy that a field in bloom looks like a 
bed of some florist’s flower, and its aromatic fragrance 
strengthens the delusion. It is cultivated for its oil (the 
gingeli), which is that chiefly employed by the natives in 
. MV 1_ *1 * ^ 1 .. j I , . v trxt ivnoCP 
- ---- ^ wjvwm; lv ovuic? w/nun timi ciiieiiy eiiipHuyeu uy uie uuuvco m 
or others of the numerous ornaments enlisted into the | their culinary preparations. The oil is fitted for the purpose 
flower garden of late years. At the same time there are by its aromatic savour. The Hour is used, after the oil is 
many so exceedingly accommodating as to suit themselves expressed, in making cakes.” It is suited for this purpose 
to whatever situation they are grown in, and these, he it Ly its sweetness, arid was used also in the same way in very 
observed, arc amongst the most useful and ornamental distant times. Parkinson, writing in 1(540, says, “ 1 ho seede 
plants we possess; but as my use was tide eribe w<1 “ ln rnnA ' h i " ,1V . . fnv fttid 
those which have done v/ell this season, and those 
which havo not, J shall begin with the latter class first. 
'- 7 . . III iWTEV, KUy - 
was in ancient times much used in bread for to relish and 
make it sweeter.”] 
Anagalljs.— 1 have never bad a good bed of this 
plant since iBOO, and, iri fact, have not grown it for 
some years; thus I ought not to iocmde it in tins season's 
failures, hut as 1 purposed to record loose nnsuite bie 
1 mention this as showing that this plant is not a 
favourite with any one around here, its U. being o,e 
liability it has to die oil, leaving nos {/fitly ge )r, tbe 
beds. 
Doubi.i: Sknkcjo.— There i. not s dficb.et flower on 
this plant when it is in a thriving condii ,<m er,title 
it to a good place in the flowe/ garden, >»s it se ldom 
presents anything in the autumn rnoo:e , r, ,t t, 
of rank herbage. J generally put a fey/ f,fi,nt# in >» 
QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 
OLD GERANIUMS, I’EI.A lUiONl UMS, AND 
VEIIII15NAS. 
In conserptenco of your advice to keep old, scarlet Gera- 
rd'im pboif I um about to gel, boxes made to preserve them 
iri wind r, and flower them in r.iimmur on my window-sill, 
'"''h I - fm>i fie obliged by your giving me the needful dimen- 
iri wbiefi they will lloi|M,ib,uH I cuiniot get suoh things 
•dy frmde, and mint fiespoak them. My window-sill is 
ft ' h i t, ten incfiilong and twelve inches wide. Would not 
bo/ \>, /// tliis be mtlior cumbrous and heavy to move? 
non- 
