THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, February 24, 1857. 369 
root, and pot in sandy loam in very small pots, and give 
very little water for a long time. There is no fear of them.] 
DRIVING ANTS FROM A LAWN. 
“ Information is requested respecting the management of 
a Lawn, which, for the last few summers, has been infested 
by ants. If not stopped in their progress they will soon 
have entire possession, as large patches are now completely 
riddled through by them. Any useful suggestion on the 
subject will be most thankfully received by C. T.” 
[Ants are not difficult to get rid of on lawns if they do 
not lodge in or under old walls or trees, especially if you 
begin early in the spring, before they begin to breed for the 
season. Soot water will most certainly drive them away 
from any open piece of grass, but not kill them, as we our¬ 
selves have proved over and over again. They cannot bear 
the smell of soot; but in water it cannot be used so. strong 
as to get them off all at once; it must be applied once a 
week or" ten days through April, or earlier in some years 
when March is mild and dry. Soot water is, moreover, a 
good dressing for any lawn; worms do not half like it. 
A handful of fresh soot in a gallon of water, and well stirred, 
is the receipt, and we may add that it ought to be applied 
with a rose watering-pot in dry weather. Once we used it 
all through April and the best part of May before we were en¬ 
tirely clear of the ants. Three years since a neighbour, who 
was tormented by them for years, discovered that they took 
up their quarters in a hollow Oak tree at one end of the 
garden. At the end of February, 1854, his gardener stopped 
up all the holes round the tree but one, and put brimstone 
matches to that one, and they were all dead in a few hours, 
and none have come since.] 
BERBERIS ASIATICA. 
“Will you allow me to ask whether you or any of your 
readers can inform me where, and at what price, I can 
procure plants of the Berberis Asiatica , as I am anxious to 
make a hedge upon the plan recommended in a late number 
of The Cottage Gardener ? In this neighbourhood I 
cannot meet with a single plant.”—H. S. H. 
[We have done all that we could to introduce Berberis 
Asicitica as a hedge plant, and for light soils it is far superior 
to “ quick” for farm hedges; but then there is no one to teach 
young farmers, of to unteacli old ones, the absurdity and all 
the absolute nonsense about the Berberis mildewing corn. 
A gentleman, who had taken second degrees at Cambridge 
not long since, has ordered all the Berberis in his garden to 
be rooted out, because his Verbenas had the mildew two years 
running ! There are above 2000 Berberis of kinds, including 
100 Asiatica, in the Experimental Garden, and no mildew 
will come near any of the plants in the garden ! We shall 
soon be supplied with Berberis Asiatica , at least, from New 
Zealand seeds. It is the best hedge plant out there, and 
some settlers from Devonshire have bespoke all the English 
seeds of last season’s crop, and in a few more years we 
shall have it back by sacks and bushels, and have it reared 
like Larch and Scotch Firs, and sold cheaper than either. 
We saw it quoted this winter at twelve shillings a hundred; 
but we forget where, or if the size of the plants was given. 
A London first-class nurseryman could find it for any one. 
Those who have any to sell should advertise. There is a 
demand for it.] 
RENOVATING A LAWN.—DWARF EVERGREENS. 
“ I have a lawn in a town garden which is patchy in places 
too small to mend with turf. 
“1. What is the best way and time to sow seed, par¬ 
ticularly as to covering the seed securely; and where can 
good seed be got ? 
“ 2. Can anything be done to thicken the growth of the 
grass and remove Worm casts? A rich dressing does not 
answer, of course. 
“3. Can you give me the names of a few dwarf, compact, 
hardy -flowering, of otherwise ornamental evergreens, Conifers, 
or Heaths, for the fro)\t row of a shrubbery? One or two 
new things, if to be depended on.”—H. S. 
[1. Towards the end of February is a very good time to 
renovate a lawn, and the best way to do it is thisFirst 
have it swept most thoroughly when it is quite dry ; next 
morning have it rolled most completely ; and on the third 
morning, after rolling, mow it to a “ close shave” all over; 
then sweep off the grass if you do not use a mowing 
machine, and then the lawn is ready for a good seeding; 
and the best seed-growers or sellers advertise in our 
columns, and you must pick out for yourself. Tell 
the seedsman; if your lawn is of sandy soil, or of clay, 
or between; if it is high, or low, or middling; shaded, 
sheltered, or much exposed; and, above all things, tell 
him in what part of the kingdoms of the earth it is situ¬ 
ated, and also the extent to be sown over, and he will then 
know to an ounce how to mix the seeds for you, and the 
right quantity of the mixture. Sow that quantity the day 
you mow , and cover in the seeds with prepared soil or com¬ 
post if you can ; and if not, cover it with common soil 
from the borders or quarters in the garden, rake off the 
stones and clods very carefully, and roll atjain two or three 
times in dry weather. 
2. To get rid of all the worms in one or two days you 
would need to try a most dangerous experiment, that is, to 
take corrosive sublimate, a deadly poison ; and if in powder, 
put a tablespoonful of it in fifteen gallons of water; with 
that water the lawn as you would a bed of Carrots; and evefy 
worm in it, if it only smells the poison, will come out on the 
grass before your face, and those that are poisoned you 
must sweep off, and bury. 
3. In most places the following evergreens are suitable 
for the front of shrubberies :— Erica herbacea, two kinds, 
one of the dwarfest and earliest-flowering of shrubs, and may 
hang out on the grass; Daphne chevrum, ditto, and the 
sweetest of all flowers in June. It must have very sandy 
soil; but it does pretty well in peat. Erica vagrans, two sorts, 
is the next best kind to do with little or no peat, and in 
almost all situations; and Erica stricta will do on a dry 
bottom without peat if the soil is light. The rest of the 
hardy Heaths must have peat in nine places out of ten. Coni¬ 
fers are altogether unsuited for the front of shrubberies. An¬ 
dromeda arborea is a fine front plant, but will not do without 
peat. Laurestinus multiflorus , as it is called, is the best kind 
for the very front row, as it keeps so dwarf and stiff; it is 
the kind which the French make little pot standards of. 
Then Aucuba, and two kinds of Peirnettya , ciliaris and mucro- 
natu .] 
KITCHEN- GARDEN SEEDS FOR GIVEN SPACES. 
“ M. H.,” a lady whose case is, doubtless, like that of 
many others, has inquired if the following quantities of seed 
be sufficient for the spaces allotted :— 
1 pint of Early Pea,s for a row of 20 yards in length. 
1 pint of Early Broad Beans, ditto 36 „ 
1 pint of Kidney Beans, ditto 26 „ 
1 pint of Marrowfat Peas, ditto 32 „ 
1 oz. of Carrot or Parsnip for .. 15 square yards. 
1 oz. of Turnip for. 11 „ 
2 oz. or 3 oz. Radish for spring for 4 ,, 
1^ oz. ditto for autumn for .... 4 ,, 
£ oz. of Cabbage or Broccoli, <fee. 4 * y, 
1 oz. Onion seed for . 15 „ 
[Simple as the above may seem, it is ho easy matter to 
give an opinion that will suit all cases, for some grounds 
require double the quantity of seed that others do; and in 
autumn, winter, or very early spring it is always best to sow 
double the quantity of seed that would suffice under more 
favourable circumstances. For instance, a pint of early Peas 
may sow 20 yards in March oi 1 April, but iff November a 
quart is not too much ; 1 pint of Broad Beans will certainly 
not go further than .18 yards unless very thin; the Kidney 
Beans will go farther; and Marrowfat Peas, being sown 
at a better season than the early ones usually are, will 
go farther, 18 yards is far enough for a pint, and many 
would sow thicker : it is better to give more room between 
the rows than pinch the seed. Carrot seed ought generally to 
be sown thicker than Parsnip, but the quantities stated will 
do. More Onion seed may, however, be sown, as they are 
often wanted in a young state. The Turnip Vvill do ; but it 
is better to reverse the Radish, 'and sow most Seed ih the 
