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THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, March 27, I860. 
TIFFANY SHELTERS FOR PLANTS AND BLOSSOMS—PROLIFIC BEES. 
One-eighth of an inch to a foot. 
As I consider it to be the duty of every reader of a publication 
devoted to giving information, to add his or her mite of intelli¬ 
gence, I beg to bring under your notice a novel and valuable 
application of tiffany. 
My neighbour, Mr. John Standish, last year enclosed a piece 
of ground 90 feet by 60 feet, with Larch poles standing 7 feet 
out of the ground, and about 10 feet apart. On these were 
nailed laths 19 inches from each other. The tiffany was pulled 
tight and tacked on the laths, a piece of common list being first 
put on where the tacks went, in order that the tiffany might not 
tear away, nor be cut by the heads of the tacks. The lower half 
of the sides (31 feet) was tacked down in the same manner as the 
roof. The upper balf was covered with a stouter kind, and 
tacked on to wooden rollers, so that this part could be rolled up 
or let dowm. The whole place underneath was laid out in beds, 
and was certainly a most agreeable promenade, even when out¬ 
side the north-east wind blew as if it intended to ruin all the 
barbers in creation. Mr. Standish has proved tiffany to resist 14° 
of frost. I would advise all who wish for a cheap, and, at the same 
time, useful protectionfor plants,to make a Standish-tiffany-house. 
In order that your readers may calculate for themselves the 
cost, let me say tiffany is 38 inches wide, price 5 s. to 6s. per 
piece of 20 yards long; and as for the wood, the lightest pos¬ 
sible frame that will stand together, will hold up tiffany. The 
appearance of the houses is as good as glass. At the distance of 
100 yards it is difficult to say which is which. 
I am not a professional gardener, only an amateur, but I can 
quote my neighbour’s words. He wanted “ a place for harden¬ 
ing off plants taken out of the propagating-house—tiffany was 
just the thing.” Again, “ I placed many different sorts of plants 
under tiffany last summer, and without a single exception they 
have done better than ever they did under glass.” “The Tea 
Roses remained under it all the winter.” “ I can say tiffany is 
one of the best and cheapest materials for many gardening pur¬ 
poses.” “ By making screens we shall ripen fruit that has never 
been properly ripened in the open air.” Many more wonders 
does he add. Perhaps one of your clever correspondents, a man 
who understands the matter better than I do, will come to Bag- 
shot, and if he takes the “proper season” he will not regret the 
visit, even if there were no tiffany-house to see. 
Those who wish to know more on this subject I shall be 
most happy to aid in my humble way; for my neighbour is 
as big in heart as he is in body ; nothing pleases him so much 
as giving a helping hand. So if I get a learned question down 
the lane, I go with “ If you please, Mr. Standish, will you tell 
me ?" Ac. 
I have not sent you a long account of his house and screens, 
but enclose sketches which are likely to answer all that is wanted. 
The house may be a lean-to or pitch. The ventilation-is effected 
by flaps going the whole length of the house on one side, and arc 
raised by a cord and pulley. 
Now for a word on bees. We have many about here, and one 
man last year had a hive which threw off' six swarms or casts. 
Thus A we will call the stock hive and out came B. In two or 
three weeks B sent out C, A sent D* and E, C stent out F, and 
E sent out G, which has stood the whole winter, the others 
were murdered. Old hands tell me bee-houses are very bad 
things, the cottagers who have built them soon pull them down. 
“ The bees never do any good in them.” So says Mr, Payne, in 
* Which flew away. 
“ Bee-Keeping for the Many.” Mr. Taylor recommends houses. 
Mr. Payne says wooden hives are apt 1o give dysentery to bees 
unless well ventilated. This I find too true, though Mr. Taylor 
says not a word on this subjeet. 
Where can we buy hives at a fair price? Mr. Neighbour ad¬ 
vertises a cottager's hive price one guinea and a half. A bar 
straw hive might be sold for 5s., and a Taylor’s amateur’s bar 
hive for 7s. 6 d., and then give a fair profit to the maker. When 
will M. Hermann’s book on the Ligurian bees be published ? 
