TIIE COTTAGE CAEDENEE AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, April 19, 1859. 
43 
CC I sowed some (’Enothera Drummondii nanct; part have made 
their appearance, but are very spindly, and almost laid flat. The 
thermometer, when placed on the bed of silver sand, lias regis¬ 
tered not more than 80°, and when suspended a little off the bed 
about 70°.”— Joseph Wood. 
[You. used 20° too much, heat for these seedlings. To raise 
seedlings in a Waltonian Case is just the same as to raise them 
on a hotbed, only no dirt or danger from bad smells. There is 
nothing to learn about Waltonian separately, practice is the only 
thing you want.] 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Maranta pardina. — P. F. says, “Mr. Appleby, in The Cottage 
Gardener, No. 53!), page 2G5, classes J fa ran fa pardina , with the ever¬ 
greens ; whereas, I have found it now for two successive years to be quite 
herbaceous. Last November, my plant died down completely, and so ic- 
mained for nearly four months, after which it began to grow; and now it 
has several leaves, some of which measure nine inches.” 
Gas Injurious to Plants (A Constant Subscriber ).—Coal gas is very 
injurious to plants; but the leaves of your Cineraria, dying only at the 
bottom, suggest that want of moisture at the root, and in the aii : , was the 
cause of injury. 
Chemistry of the World {Charles Morris). —It treats of the compo¬ 
sition of plants, their food, and other topics, about which you inquire. 
Wireworms ( Silex ).—Your specimen is the larva of Elater lineatus , or 
common Click Beetle. No mode of eradicating it is known. Gardeners 
trap them by burying pieces of Carrot, &c., in the soil among their crops. 
Anemones Failing {J. A. F.). —The Anemone is very capricious. Thus, 
in a low-lying situation, on the same bank of the river lichen, we know two 
carefully cultivated gardens in which this flower will not grow, and a 
third in which it nourishes. These two gardens where it fails are very 
much more enclosed, and nearer to a town than that in which it thrives. 
On higher and better-drained, and fully-exposed situations within two 
miles of those gardens, it blooms and flourishes admirably. We consider an 
open situation, freedom from smoke, a light, well-drained, and moderately 
rich coil, indispensable for the Anemone. 
Root-pruning {Idem). —Root-pruning of fruit trees should be done early 
in the autumn, and not in the spring. Nor can we advise you as to whether 
such root-pruning would tentl to the production of fruit-buds in your 
trees. It would t>e useless, unless the trees arc over-luxuriant. Taking 
up the trees in autumn, and planting them on mounds of lighter soil placed 
on the surface of your clayey ground, would be better treatment, probably ; 
but we have not sufficient information on which to found an opinion. 
Seeds taken from great Depths [J. M .).—If you refer to page 217 of 
our last volume, you will find some remarks upon the length of time plants 
will retain their vitality ; and at great depths from the surface oily seeds 
have been preserved for ages. Ilow the seeds, probably, were deposited 
there, no one can tell; since no one, without examining the strata, can 
suggest whether the soil in that particular locality has been subjected to 
inundations and deposits. It is a wide field, and open to much very in¬ 
teresting dissertation. 
Garden Plan {II. Waller). —We regret that we cannot undertake to 
have garden plans drawn for you. As you are willing to pay for one, 
why not apply to a landscape gardener \ 
Ants Li Lady Subscriber). —These may he banished by sprinkling guano 
over their haunts. As they are in your kitchen, the strong smell of ilu* 
guano might be offensive. After it had answered its purpose, chloride of 
lime, or bleaching powder, would remove that smell. 
Seedlings of Tom Thumij Geraniums {Hose). —Seedlings from Tom 
Thumb, arc not Toni Thumb seedlings, but, probably, crosses from Tom 
by, it may be, half a score of other kinds. If you could insure genuine 
seedlings from Tom, they would answer instead of the parent. They would 
be the nearest to the parent of all the kinds we possess. But Tom Thumb 
lias never yet produced a seedling quite as good as itself. You should 
consider twice before you throw away anything so near planting-out time. 
Sopie one may fill a gap with your seedlings; and who knows but the very 
best bedder is in that pot l Take great care of them, plant them out, and 
let them prove what they are. 
Rose Insect. — Louisa is informed that the little grubs which she found 
eating the leaves of her pot Roses in her greenhouse are the caterpillars 
of a piain-colouved, narrow-winged little moth, known scientifically under 
the name of Colcophora GryphipcnmUa, and which construct for them¬ 
selves flattened moveable eases open at each end, within which they reside, 
andundeigo their transformations. Shaip eyes and neat lingers are the 
best mode of eradication in their present state. If you let them turn to 
moths, you must then look sharply after them on the leaves and stems, or 
your next year’s shoots will be damaged considerably.—W. 
Geometric Garden {An ignorant Countr)/ Citrate). —The question is 
not so much what to plant in such beds as yours, but what you have to plant 
in them. Convolvuluses, and the Canary-bird Tropreoluin, are the best 
climbers for these blocks. A mixture of Geraniums, Verbenas, Calceo¬ 
larias, Petunias, and Fuchsias near the bottom, is best for the blocks. Two 
rows of Tom Thumb, and two rows of Calceolarias, for each of the longest 
beds; and Verbenas, white and purple, for the two end beds, would look 
well— say Purple King and Mont Blanc. 
Nitro-Phosphatk {G.T. IT -, Leeds ).—This manure is a mixture of 
super-phosphate of lime, and any animal substance containing much 
nitrogen. Blood is much employed for the purpose. Fish oils, sprats, &c., 
might ho used. The cost must depend upon circumstances of w liicli we can 
know' nothing. 
Cottage Gardener’s Dictionary. {T. A. K .).—An Appendix is needed 
to this, bringing the lists of plants, &c. down to the present time. The 
copyright of that work does not belong to us, so we can only suggest what 
is needed. 
Names of Plants {E. M. M.'.. —Your orchid is Dcndrobiam Picrardi 
latifolium. {A six-years' Cornish Subscriber). —Yours is the snowy Medlar, 
/ Imelanchier botryupturn, a native of North America. 
POULTRY AND BEE-KEEPER’S CHRONICLE. 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
May 23th and 26tli. Beverley. See., Francis Calvert, Surgeon, &c. 
Entries close May 3rd. 
June 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, 1359. Bath and West op England. At Barnstaple, 
Devon. Director , S. Pitman, Esq., lluurwell Lodge, Taunton. Entries 
close May 1st. 
June Oth, 7th, and 8th, 1859. Glasgow. See., Itobert M'Cowan, 17, Gordon 
Street, Glasgow. 
July 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th. Sheffield. Wilson Overend, Chairman. 
Entries close the 15th of June. 
October 11th, 12th, and 13th. Worcestershire. See., Geo. Griffiths, 
7, St. Swithin Street, Worcester. 
MANAGEMENT OF EARLY CHICKENS. 
If April be—as April mostly is—showery, and cold at times, 
the chickens will he likely to suffer from damp, and from change 
of temperature. A few words on the subject may save lives, and 
may answer queries in anticipation. Birds hatched in January 
and February will he out now on their grass runs, and will no 
longer have that constant superintendence and feeding they had 
when younger. Keep the liens still under the rips. They may 
be let out with their chickens when the weather is dry, and the 
sun is out. Even then they must be put under again at evening, 
and the rip should be covered up at night with sacking, matting, 
or carpet. When the mornings are very frosty, it is not advisable 
to let the chicliens out, if they are on grass, till the frost is dried 
off. If they are on gravel, they may he let out at daybreak. 
The covering up is not the only warmth that is desirable; you 
must feed generously, give them milk to drink, give them a little 
bread and ale night and morning, and the knuckle of a cooked 
leg or shoulder of mutton, chopped very fine. Let their oatmeal 
be mixed with warm water, and given warm. Feed them often. 
Watch early chickens narrowly. You will see those that 
promise for exhibition birds at summer Shows. Take care of 
them, and help them along. Remove all that have any capital 
defect of comb or claw, orthat are hump-backed or crooked. Feed 
them well for table or market; hut do not let them take up 
ground or place that will pay better for the elect of the brood. 
Be merciless in killing those poor little abortions that too 
often monopolise care for which they con make no return. It 
always makes us cross to seo three or four of these with broken 
or crooked breasts, legs that form a good letter K> or heads that 
are always looking round a corner, and to be told how long they 
lived in doors, how they were reared by- hand, and how their 
miserable existence had been prolonged. 
FOWLS SUFFERING FROM CATARRH Oil 
COLD. 
“ Some of my Spanish hens have a disease upon them that I 
cannot grapple with, it is a wheezing, or gurgling, in the throat, 
with a slight discharge from the nostrils. As soon as their door is 
opened you can hear them, as if their throats were almost choked 
up. If you will inform mo how to treat them, you will confer a 
great boon and be entitled to my sincere thanks.”—J. B. 
[Y’our Spanish fowls ai-e all suffering from severe cold. In any 
other breed, we should say it was incipient roup ; hut Spanish are 
not subject to that disease. It is caused by sudden and great 
changes of temperature, and the cure is stimulating food. Give 
them stale bread, soaked in strong beer, twice per day. There is 
no doubt of their recovery ; but if recovery proceed slowly, give 
them Bally’s pills.] 
APIARIAN NOTES.—No. I. 
APEIL. 
I AM not aware how it may be with our apiarian friends in 
other localities, but here I never remember such a season as the 
present. During the fourteen years that I have been a bee¬ 
keeper, never at this time have I known bees in so prosperous a 
condition. I have nine hives, all of which arc extremely forward. 
In box-liive No. 7, the bees have, throughout the winter, shown 
themselves as crowded among the combs at the back as at any 
time during the summer; and, for many weeks, the internal heat 
has been so great as to cause a roaring which lias been frequently- 
heard fifty yards oil’, 
