400 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, March 10, 1857. 
KILLING WORMS ON LAWNS. 
In answer to a correspondent who signs himself “ H. S.,’’ 
and who inquires the best way of removing worm casts on 
lawns, you say, “You would need to try a most dangerous 
experiment, that is, to take corrosive sublimate.” I have 
always used lime water, that is, a strong solution of lime 
and water, for the purpose of bringing worms to the surface 
of the ground. Some two or three years back I watered a 
cricket ground with such a preparation, and collected two or 
three large water-potsful of worms — they came to the 
surface in thousands. My mixture consists of about two or 
three liandsful of fresh lime to a water-potful of water. 
There is, however, no danger of making the preparation 
too strong. There is nothing dangerous in this plan, it 
benefits the soil, and gets rid of all worms.—C. P. C. 
QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 
VARNISH FOR RUSTIC WOODWORK. 
“ I have had made several rustic chairs and seats for the 
garden, and I want to varnish them. They are made of 
oak limbs. Can you tell me how to make the varnish ? I 
hear there is an excellent plan afloat, and know of no one 
more likely to tell me than you.”—C. W. S. 
[For wooden rustic-work, such as flower baskets, <fcc., we 
know of no better varnish than that which is made of 41bs. 
clear Venice turpentine mixed with 5 lbs. of'oil of turpentine; 
but for seats we do not know how this composition would 
answer. It might adhere to clothes pressed upon them. 
We shall be much obliged by any information on this 
subject.] 
PILLAR ROSES. 
“ In reply to an inquiry I made last autumn respecting 
Pillar Roses you promised an article upon their treatment, 
which I have been anxiously looking for. As the season is 
rapidly drawing to a close I should feel obliged by a few 
hints on planting, Ac., and the best kinds.”—A. Z. 
[Nothing is more easy than growing them. A hole twenty 
inches deep and three feet wide, filled with two-thirds good 
turfy loam and one-third rotten dung, and raised two or three 
inches above the general level of the rest of the ground; 
also the top formed into a basin to hold water ; no pole the 
first two years, only some temporary stakes or rods placed in 
the middle of the basin, and the climbing Rose planted 
close to the stake, and tied to it as often and as fast as it 
grows to the end of the season, when the plants are to be 
cut down close to the ground, —that is the only secret. Any 
moderate Rose will grow to a pillar in time if one had the 
courage to cut it down to the ground the first two or three 
years; but the Ayrshire Roses and the Evergreens make 
pillars the fastest. Rugo is the best of the former; and 
Felicite Pcrpetuelle, Ranuncule, and Princess Maria are the 
best three Evergreens; while the Crimson Boursault is the 
only one of them fit for a grand turn out. La Biche is one 
of the best Noisettes to run fast and ripen well; and the 
Musk Cluster never fails to bloom late or early as a pillar. 
But where does “A. Z.” dwell? The whole story turns on 
that point. Our correspondence runs over the face of the 
earth, and what will do in New Zealand will not answer in 
the Isle of Skye or in the Island of Ceylon.] 
LENGTH OF PIPE FOR HEATING.—GROWING 
AGERATUMS. 
“ How many feet of four-inch piping are necessary to 
heat a stove twenty-four feet long, twelve feet wide, and 
eleven feet high, to 70° in all weathers, span-roof ? Also, 
how many feet of four-inch pipe will be required for a 
greenhouse of the same size? 
“X. Y. Z. finds some difficulty in wintering Ageralums. 
He has tried them in pits, with Verbenas, &c., where they 
damp off, though the Verbenas succeed well, and also in the 
warmest end of the greenhouse, where they seem to shrivel 
and turn ‘ white.’ The plants, in both cases, were cuttings 
taken off seedling plants, and were in perfect health at the 
beginning of the winter. Is there any peculiarity in the 
soil they require ?” 
[For the first house you would require nearly 220 feet to 
be perfectly secure without covering, &c.; but many would 
risk it with 150 feet. For the second house, from .100 to 
110 feet would do. You do not speak of your proposed 
arrangements; yet something would depend upon them. 
The Ageratum is more tender than the Verbena. We 
imagine the plants were chilled in the pits before being 
brought to the greenhouse. We have had no difficulty with 
them in a cool house seldom below 35°. Sandy loam suits 
them well.] 
HEATING A VINERY BY HOT WATER.—FERN 
RAISED FROM OLD SPORES. 
“ I purpose building a Vinery, a lea,n-to, seventy-five feet 
long by twelve feet wide in the clear, which will give me a 
rafter of fifteen feet: do you consider that a proper length ? 
How many row! of four-inch pipes shall I require to heat it 
for early forcing ? What boiler would you recommend as 
the most economical and effective ? Some tell me the saddle, 
others the tubular boiler is best. Which is most lasting, 
the cast-iron tubular or wrought-iron saddle boiler? What 
weight of coke will each consume in a week to keep the 
house, say at 65° at night, and 75° in the day, unaided by 
solar heat, when the temperature in a cold greenhouse is at 
32° ? In what time will each of these boilers raise the tem¬ 
perature in the house, say 33°, or from 32° to 65° ? 
“Will you tell me the name of the inclosed Fefn ? I 
have raised it from seed after the frond had remained in 
a book for years. I believe it came from India. An answer 
to the above will greatly oblige—A very Old Subscriber.” 
[Your house will be of good size. For moderately early 
forcing you would want three rows of pipe; for very early 
four would heat well. All boilers act well in proportion as 
they are well set, and expose a large surface to the action of 
the fire. On this account we prefer Thompson’s oblong 
retort tubular and Weeks’ upright tubular to any mere 
modification of the saddle boiler. We rather prefer cast 
iron to wrought iron, though we have had both that have 
done work equally well. We have had few casualties with 
boilers of any kind, though we have seen cast iron cracking, 
and the rivetings of wrought iron giving way. The less 
water the boiler holds, and the larger the surface it presents 
to the fire, the more powerful will be its action. Our 
memoranda do not enable us to answer your other definite 
inquiries as to the precise consumption of fuel, &c., and even if 
they did we should only mislead you, for all these matters 
vary with the weather and the state of the atmosphere. 
Do not expect that any boiler will give you heat to force such 
a house early, and cost “ a mere nothing," as is often said, 
for fuel. 
The Fern proves to be Doodia uspera, and the very first- 
rate authority to whom we submitted it adds this note : — 
“ The little frond is rather peculiar in having very short 
sori, but as the plant gets stronger it will, no doubt, assume 
the characteristic oblong sori of Doodia. I cannot say I 
have raised Ferns from old spores ; I am rather sceptical on 
this point. If living plants of Doodia aspera are in the 
garden, or neighbourhood, I should infer that the seedling 
was from recent spox-es, which, floating in the air, vegetate 
when they alight on a favourable spot.” “ A very Old Sub¬ 
scriber ” will oblige us by any information on this point.] 
PEACH-TREE PRUNING. 
“ You have had sevei’al articles on the Peach-tree prun¬ 
ing, and I think you will find the first plan spoken of, how 
people spoil trees fresh from the nursery, does not agree 
with your after remarks. Again, your illustrations would not 
assist a novice. 
“ When a tree comes from the nursery it has only straight 
branches. Are these to be shortened ? The next year it 
makes side-shoots. The young hand who wishes to learn 
from what you have said on the subject could not tell how 
