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TITE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, January 19, 1858. 
on such a place^ if it is as you say, “ of very fine pure sea- 
sand.” The only possible way of getting it covered, and laying 
the foundation of a soil, is to sow it with a mixture of Am- 
mophila arundinacea , Elymus arenarlus , and Elymus geni- 
culatus. These are what are recommended in Messrs. 
Lawson’s “ Agrostographia but, if the sand is drifting, or 
shifting, even these will not remain in position unless they are 
mixed with clay, and dibbled into the sand at certain dis¬ 
tances, or sown on pieces of turf, and transplanted on to the 
sands after having taken root. In course of time, these will 
establish themselves, and throw out rooting stems, which 
spread in all directions, and form a complete mat over the 
whole surface. Ey annually mowing these alter they are 
established, and leaving the crop to rot on the surface, you 
may, in time, form a surface-soil, .of decomposed vegetable 
matter.] 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Aquarium [Hester). —Mr. Copland’s little pamphlet, “The Aqua¬ 
rium and its Lessons,” will just suit you. It is written in the same 
good spirit as ltalph Austin’s “ Orchard Spiritualized.” You can have 
! it sent to you post-free, if you send five penny postage stamps, to 
Mr. E, A. Copland, Bellefield, near Chelmsford. 
Twelve Good Cheap Hollyhocks ( A Subscriber).- 1 - The following 
are twelve good varieties of Hollyhocks, lit for any exhibition ; you 
will obtain them from any grower of note for as many shillings. W hen 
you order them, request them to be sent strong enough to flower this 
year. Should any of them be rather weak, pot such, and keep them 
under a frame for a time, to enable them to get into good growth.— 
Aurantia superba (Bircliam), orange and scarlet, very distinct, fine, 
large, and full, and a bold flower. Charles Baron (Chafer), pinkish 
salmon, fine. Comet (Chafer), bright ruby red, fine. Cream of the 
Valley (Bircham), cream colour, fine form, and large. Duchess of 
Sutherland (Bircham), bright rose, silvery tinge, beautiful. Emperor 
(Roake), deep rose, large, bold flower, fine form, and spike. Jenny 
Lind (Bircham), French-white tinged with pink, chocolate base, very 
large and fine full flower, centre well up, fine spike. Lizzie (Pauli, 
clear peach, very large, smooth, and finely formed, magnificent flower, 
extra fine. Meteor (Bircham), brilliant crimson, tine spike, and large 
flower. Mrs. Dawson (Bircham), satin white, with a lilac tinge, 
mottled. Omar Dacha (Bircham), pale straw, chocolate base, beauti¬ 
fully laced with purple, produces a splendid spike. Yellow Model 
(Bircham), primrose yellow, chocolate ground, splendid form, fine 
texture. 
Vinery (7. IV.). —There has been a great deal on Vines lately. VVe 
should like to know more particulars, and then we would try and advise 
you. What are the length and width of the place you can appropriate ! 
! and what form of a house would you like best—lean-to, hipped roof, or 
span-roofed ? as all will equally answer the purpose. Meanwhile we 
reply: 1, Best British plate, from sixteen to twenty ounces per foot. 2, If 
roof to be fixed, and stout sasli-bar rafters : then have the panes about 
sixteen inches wide, and tw r elve inches deep. 3, Length of rafter ac¬ 
cording to fancy and convenience, provided it slopes sufficiently to 
throw off the water easily, say from twelve to twenty feet, or more. 
4, If lean-to and roof fixed, ventilate by the front and the back wall. 
You would see how a correspondent the other week used a double w all- 
plate for that purpose. If hipped roof, give air at the hip. If spanned- 
roof, make ventilator at the apex. If after looking over the last and 
present volumes, there is anything definite you wish information upon, 
we will do our best to oblige you, even to the minutise of all within our 
power, except prices, as w'e find the latter are only misleading. 
Guano for Gooseberries [J. Held). — Guano would do very well 
for the Gooseberry. We should give it in a weak liquid state once a 
week if w T e were growing for prize Gooseberries. 
Rose Leaves ( C. It. C.). —The clustered lines of rings on the surface 
of your Rose leaves are caused by a minute Fungus. Dusting with 
flowers of sulphur will probably destroy them. The w'hole house should 
be similarly fumigated ; for the spores are very volatile, and are diffused 
widely. 
Names or Plants (Charlie ).—No. 1, the plant with the long catkins 
is Carry a ell iplica. 2, a species of Cist us, but the specimen is too 
small to enable us to say which one it is. 3, Ligustrum lucidum. 4. 
Elccagn us angustifolia. 
Fruit of Stephanotis floribunda (C. B. S.).—Stcphanotis flori- 
bimda belongs to the family of Milkweeds (Asclepiacese), w'hicli wc are 
told in Mr. Hogg’s “Yegetablc Kingdom,” contain “a bitter, acrid, 
milky juice, with extractive substances, which act as emetics. Many 
i are used as a substitute for ipecacuanha, a few are purgatives and an¬ 
thelmintics, and some are possessed of stimulating properties.” We 
do not know that any use has ever been made of the fruit of Stepha¬ 
notis ; but from the above quotation we should suspect what its pro¬ 
perties are, particularly as the whole family is a pretty natural one. 
Drainage of Cowhouse (A. M, P.). —You may apply it to your wall 
trees as you have to your Gooseberry trees. But we do not ‘see what 
advantage is to be expected. Washed into the soil by the rains, the 
drainage will tend to render the trees over-gross, 
' 1NKS IN Pots ( IV. L. Lowestoft).- —In our No. 310 you will find an 
essay on the subject. 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
January 20th, 21st and 22nd, 1858. Nottingham Central. Sec., Mr. 
Etherington, jun., Notintone Place, Sneinton, near Nottingham. 
January 20th, 21st, and 22nd. Liverpool. Secs., G. W. Moss and 
W. C. Worrall, Esqrs. 
February 3rd and 4th, 1858. Preston and North Lancashire. 
Secs., Mr. It. Teebay and Mr. II. Oakey, 25, Fishergate, Preston. 
Entries close January 16th. 
February 10th and lltli. Ulvf.rrtone. Secs., T. Robinson, and J. 
Kitchin, Esqrs. Entries close January 25th. 
February 25th, 26th, and 27tli. Hereford. Sec., Mr. Thomas Birch, 
Hereford. 
N.B.— Secretaries will oblige ns by sending early copies of their lists. 
CRYSTAL PALACE POULTRY SHOW. 
What would Pepys have said in his “Diary” had lie j 
lived in the days of Poultry Shows ? How quaintly he would 
have described the loud crowing of the cocks, the numbers of 
spectators, and the crowding round the prize pens, and then 
the prices given for successful birds. And such a close observer 
would have remarked on the increase in the number of entries ; 
' I 
and the support that all, or nearly all, well-conducted Shows , 
may depend on receiving. He would have gloried in the 
Crystal Palace ; and, we doubt not, he would have been an 1 
exhibitor. In reporting these popular gatherings, we are, in ! 
many eases, excused from any description of the building in 
which they are held, because they are well-established ; and, 
being always held in the same place, a full account has been 
given before. 
Tims the habitue of Poultry Shows has in bis mind’s eye, j 
when he reads of Liverpool, Lucas’s comfortable Repository, 
with its classical statues around. If we speak of Birmingham, 
all the grandeur of Binglcy Hall hursts upon him. And so, 
when it is a question of the Crystal Palace, he ascends the • 
stairs, and is at once among the long row of pens, with their 
delicate shades of violet relieving the monotony of the white j 
interiors of ordinary ones. This colouring belongs to the 
place where everything is artistic. 
Our readers will he aware that Mr. Houghton, the experi¬ 
enced and indefatigable Secretary of this Show, has this time 
raised the price of his entries from 4s. to 6 . 9 . per pen ; and the 
result has shown he was wise in doing so. The number of 
entries has increased ; and it helps to make it, what all Shows 
should be—remunerating. The entire management is so good, 
that there can never he any doubt as to the result. 
We will now merely add that there were 1080 pens ex¬ 
hibited ; all of them containing good, and many of them most 
excellent birds. The sales on the first day alone amounted to 
£250 : and those who went on the second and third days to , 
find good and cheap birds were too late: — everything was 
bought up. The remark we have had occasion to make at 
almost all the recent Shows holds good at this—that the 
prizes have been more scattered about in the last poultry year 
than in any of its predecessors. With few exceptions, unvarying 
success has not been the lot of any particular exhibitor. The 
requisites for success are also better understood; and super¬ 
ficial observers are, in some instances, led to think slightingly 
of the successful, because they do not show as much superiority 
over their less fortunate competitors as they formerly did. 
The truth is, that the classes have improved; and the general 
excellence takes away from the apparent pre-eminence of the 
prizetakers. The latter have no foils to set them off. 
We will now proceed to speak of the classes as they present 
themselves. The prize list will give the names of the sitccess- | 
ful; and we can only mention such as especially attracted the 1 
notice of the Judges and the public. The three classes of 
Spanish brought 96 pens. The principal prizetakers were 
Messrs. Botham and Rake, each taking three. While we 
record that there were numerous good, even perfect, birds in 
this class, yet we must in candour say that there was scarcely j 
a pen in high condition. The combs of the hens and pullets | 
were pale, and, in some cases, shrivelled ; and we heard many 
experienced breeders say that their birds bad never moulted | 
so badly as this year. It is the more extraordinary, as we j 
shall not have to say the same of any other class. An in- j 
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