THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, February 24, 1857. 359 
followed out, as the stones must be removed, and this 
can only be done by hand ; but in this neighbourhood 
the stones are generally hard, and sell freely enough for 
road making, and in some cases the labour of trenching 
is paid for by the stones, the labourer doing the work for 
them, or the proprietor selling them for such a sum as 
repays the labour; but in these cases it often happens 
that more stones are taken out than is necessary for the 
welfare of after crops. This has led some landlords to 
prohibit stones being gathered off at all. Nevertheless, 
where trenching is done, and large, unwieldy stones are 
found within eighteen inches of the surface, they ought 
to be removed. Generally speaking every stone larger 
than half a brick is in the way of the spade or plough, 
and ought to be taken out, and many even smaller ; but I 
question very much if stones the size of road metal ever 
do harm, and very often do good; therefore let them 
remain on the ground. 
Of the cost of trenching hard and stony ground it 
would be difficult to say; but here the price is about 1 s. per 
rod, or .£8 per acre, for a depth of twenty inches, which 
more often means eighteen, and which is deep enough 
for ail purposes. Stones are paid for extra at the rate 
of from 6d. to Is. per load of a cubic yard, and the more 
stones the better for both master and man ; but generally 
from 60 to 120 loads per acre is a good yield for the 
most stony ground. When a greater depth is done, 
and stones are the object searched for, the above 
quantities are multiplied; but I am speaking of land 
which has been under cultivation for years, but which 
it is proposed to improve. In this case the stones may 
be said to pay for themselves, leaving the other work to 
be repaid by the improved crops, &c. 
How far the above information may assist our worthy- 
intentioned correspondent it is impossible for me to say. 
One thing, certainly, is worth doing. The expense of 
an acre or two would at least be a trial, and in many 
cases, I should almost think in all of them, the outlay 
would be remunerative. Draining, of which so much 
has been said, is equally expensive, and it is questionable 
whether the improvement be more permanent than in 
trenching, besides which there is the laudable exercise 
of a public benefaction, which, if it returned only the 
bare money expended, is yet of some value. The greatest 
improvements are often losing concerns to the original 
inventors; but the public sympathy or gratitude often 
does justice to their memory, if not to themselves. If 
the man who can make “ two blades of grass or two 
ears of corn grow on the place where only one grew be¬ 
fore is of more real use to mankind than the whole race 
of politicians,” the individual who by a judicious outlay 
can accomplish this on some of our light, inferior soils 
is assuredly entitled to be classed as a public benefactor, 
I and it behoves all well-meaning men to assist in this good 
work. I hope to hear of others forwarding the results of 
similar trenching undertakings done in their respective 
neighbourhoods; for though the above is doue very 
extensively here, it is generally the preparation for Hops 
or fruit, but afterwards passes into ordinary tillage, and 
other ground in like manner is broken up. In this way 
much of the half-barren-looking tract of hilly ground 
called Cox Heath has been brought into cultivation within 
the last forty years, and vigorous fruit orchards, Hop gar¬ 
dens, and thriving hedges occupy the place where stunted 
furze, Heaths, and other plants dragged out a wretched 
existence, with numbers of bare, stony spots, and where, 
some half century ago, a military camp of observation 
was formed to repel that invasion we were then threatened 
with from our now better-disposed neighbours across 
the channel. That ground so uninviting as this should 
have undergone the ordeal of trenching and improving 
will, I trust, be an encouraging example to others having 
that work half done; for there is little doubt but that, if 
the whole of England was cultivated as well as certain 
parts of it, the annual produce would be increased one- 
third, and though local circumstances forbid a universal 
mode of dealing with land, and no district whatever has 
arrived at that state of perfect tillage which admits of 
no further advance, there is much to be learnt from 
an interchange of ideas and practice. I therefore invite 
others to report the mode and result of trenching 
ground on an extensive scale in their respective districts, 
as well for the benefit of the public at large as for 
the public-spirited gentleman whose inquiries the above 
remarks are intended to answer. J. Robson. 
BEES DYING LEAVING HONEY. 
Having waited to see if any apiarian would give an opinion 
on Mr. M'Lellan’s hypothesis on the cause of the death of 
bees in winter leaving honey in the hive, and not seeing any 
answer, I have taken the liberty to relate the following 
circumstance, which decided my opinion on the subject, as 
I previously had taken the same view of the case as Mr. M‘L. 
On a beautiful day, two winters ago, a neighbour of mine 
informed me that his bees were swarming. On going to 
him, there were the bees in the air just as if they were 
swarming. On looking about we saw a small cluster of 
bees on a bit of celery, when, on taking them up, we dis¬ 
covered the queen. We then saw the reason of the bees 
leaving the hive. We then put the queen on the board 
opposite the mouth of the hive, when we saw that she was 
scarcely able to crawl, and evidently in a dying state. I 
then mentioned to my neighbour what I had long suspected, 
and we agreed to watch the case. 
In a fortnight from that day we examined the hive, and 
found there was scarcely a teacupful of bees alive in it. We let 
the hive remain in its place till March, when they were all 
dead, and on running the honey found there were 14 lbs. 
left in the hive. I think this fact pretty conclusive as to 
the cause of bees dying in winter; for, be it remembered, 
we saw the bees in the air by thousands. 
Last summer I had two hives swarm at once on the same 
Raspberry bush, and were all mixed together. I parted 
them, and sold one hive, and have the other now, and both 
have done well. If you think the way it was done would 
interest your readers, as I often learn something from The 
Cottage Gardener, I should be happy to communicate it. 
—Charles Berger. 
[We shall be obliged by the details.—E d. C. G.] 
FLOWERS IN THE LONDON SQUARES. 
Great credit is due to Mr. Broome, of the Temple Gardens, 
for his persevering attempts to introduce something like 
gardening into the London squares. Speaking generally, 
their condition is anything but creditable to those residing 
in their neighbourhood. One suggestion I venture to make: 
—If it is really the case that nothing worth looking at will 
grow in London smoke, what is there to prevent the oc¬ 
cupants of the houses that overlook the existing miserable 
plots from subscribing to obtain of a contracting nurseryman 
a sufficient supply of potted plants, which, plunged in the 
ground when ready to bloom, would very much alter the 
appearance of things for the better? Supposing the neces¬ 
sary funds were forthcoming, which they certainly ought to 
be, there might be a very respectable floral show from 
March to November in each year. 
1. There would be the spring bulbs, that at any rate would 
grow, and which, if annually renewed and judiciously 
selected, would well repay their cost. 
2. A collection of showy annuals, a few good kinds in 
liberal quantity, raised in pots, and grown thinly and strongly 
to succeed the bulbs. 
3. A collection of the ordinary bedding plants to follow 
the annuals, decided colours being chosen; and, 
4. Chrysanthemums, forwarded in the open ground at the 
nursery, and raised with good balls for planting out when 
just ready to burst into bloom. 
It would, of course, be the business of the square gar¬ 
dener to give water when required, remove dead leaves, &c. 
—A. C., Chelmsford. 
