THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, March 10, 1857. 403 
fermenting manure would have forced Cucumbers at Christmas I If, how¬ 
ever, it was cool enough for Lettuces, we should fancy it was not too hot for 
Vines. The appearance your Sweetwater. s- presented would lead to the 
idea either that the roots were burned or enervated by too much heat. 
When the roots are near the surface, and forcing is commenced early, 
we approve of a little heat in the border, say from 60° to 70°, and the 
border to he gently heated before forcing commences inside ; hut half 
of the material will do that which you speak of. When the roots are deep, 
say two feet in general, the exclusion of frost will be sufficient. The 
want of having the wood ripened last autumn is the great cause of your 
disappointment this season. If the wood is not matured and hardened the 
buds will yield shoots without fruit. We do not know what means you 
took to ripen the wood, and failed; but this should have been a matter 
of importance. The soaked and sodden condition of the border is much 
against you, and, by drainage and coverings to throw off' the water, this 
should have been avoided. If the description of the rich material of the 
border is correct, then we have little faith in dung or leaves half decayed 
being added to it. Working in a lot of sandy loam, and old lime 
rubbish, and broken bricks will do it more good. It is always against 
early forcing to commence with a wet border, and some cheap contrivance 
must be used to prevent it. The Vines you mention have all of them 
their admirers; but we do not know Akbar Khan, nor yet the White 
Lombardy, unless it be identical with the White Hamburgh or the Por¬ 
tugal. The West’s St. Peter’s will not, in general, break so soon as the 
Hamburgh. If we do not meet the case entirely write again. If your 
border is so wet you had better at once dig a deep drain in front of it, 
and even make holes in it. We are reluctant to say more unless we 
knew more. 
Various [M. F.)—Impntiens Jerdonia. Whenever this gives signs of 
going to rest by casting its flowers and leaves, let it gradually become 
drier, and keep it in a temperature of from 45° to 55°. As soon as it 
begins to break increase the temperature, and also the watering. It will 
then rejoice in a temperature of from 60° to 70°. When the young 
shoots are an inch in length they strike freely placed in sandy soil, under 
a bell-glass, in a hotbed. As the plant is going to rest, little tit bits, 
like pseudo-bulbs or Orchids, often cluster near tl:e collar of the plant, 
and these, treated as cuttings in heat, will soon make nice plants. 
Open, rich soil suits it well. When resting, the roots must not be quite 
dry.— Desfuntuinia spinosa. This is propagated by small pieces of 
the young shoots getting a little firm at the base, inserted in sand under 
a bell-glass, and treated with a close place and a little extra heat to a 
greenhouse. It grows freely in peat and loam. You hare treated it 
quite right, and until you get a shrub we would advise keeping it in the 
greenhouse, though strong plants may alternately do very well in good 
situations out of doors. See a memorandum of it in No. 322.— Eugenia 
Ugni. This is just as easily propagated and grown as a Myrtle. Little 
pieces of young wood getting firm at their base strike freely under a bell- 
glass in sandy soil, or even in a shady place, under a handlight, in 
summer. Free loam grows it well; and as it fruits in a young state it is 
likely to be in demand. We have seen quantities of it killed not far north 
of London, and would advise you to treat your plant as a hardy green¬ 
house one until it was well established, and you had got more of it, 
when it might go against a south wall. 
Moving a Conifer eighteen feet high (A. J.). —Your tree can 
be moved, but it should be by some experienced person. In the first 
place, a good hole should be made ready to receive it some two feet 
deep and five feet in diameter. If the natural soil be not a favourable 
one it should be made so by bringing in good soil and taking away the 
bad ; then take up the turf round the tree some six feet all round, care¬ 
fully putting it away ; then commence opening a deep trench some two 
feet and a half to three feet all round from the trunk of the tree ; continue 
this until you have worked right under the tree so as to secure good roots 
and a good ball of earth with them ; then, with plenty of strength, move it 
with much care not to injure the roots. Move it with as much earth as 
possible to its new situation, and as soon as planted devise some good 
method of staking it at once, to prevent the wind blowing it about ; then 
the hole on the lawn should be solidly filled up, and the turf all made 
good, and it will take no hurt. From the little bit sent we judge it to 
be the common upright Cedar, Cupressus sempervirens. 
Planting Flower-garden Plan ( J. Milne).—We never do what 
you require; and we could not plant your design on the geometric 
system, because it is drawn on a wrong principle; the corresponding 
ends are cut ojf from the centre by two-feet borders across the plan. 
The plan is too small to have these two cross borders in grass, and if 
they are filled with flowers they will spoil the whole effect of a very 
pretty garden. 
Primula Sinensis [Amateur). —Of Primula Sinensis marginata the 
flower should be of good substance, round, and prettily notched or 
fringed round the margin of the corolla. It should be called fimbriata 
instead of marginata. P. Nepalensis we know nothing about. Your 
llovea is Hovea rosmarini/olia. 
Names of Plants, &c. (A Kentish Subscriber ).— The specimens are 
too small for us to detect any but Oxalis versicolor (white arid red). Why 
did you not number the specimens ? You may repot now your Cypri- 
pediurn insigne. [James Lawson). —Your Fern is Adiantum pubescens, 
and not uncommon. 
A PLEA FOR BANTAMS. 
The four chief classes of these lovely and useful little 
things are Black, White, Laced, and Game. The Black are 
the hardiest and best winter layers; the White the most 
ornamental; the Laced the most showy ; and the Game the 
best sitters and the finest. My remarks upon them will be 
divided into four heads, namely, Usefulness, Beauty, Charac¬ 
teristics , and Points in the Breeds. Relative to the first point, 
Bantams require very little food. I have always found my 
Bantams thrive on one pint of barley for seven per diem. 
Well, this grain would only serve about a couple of great 
voracious Cochins, and they would even then require more. 
My Bantams, after eating this food in the morning, forage 
for themselves all the rest of the day. Then I find that 
Bantams will lay as regularly as other fowls, on an average, 
five eggs per week; and the eggs really were of a tolerable 
size—three formed an ample breakfast. They take up little 
room, too—a very little shed, warm and water-tight, holds 
them; and a yard nine feet square afforded twelve Bantams 
ample exercise; at least, though they might have had a 
large run if they chose, they never tried it. 
Then Bantams are splendid sitters and mothers. I have 
hens that have hatched thirteen eggs thrice a year; and, to 
sum up, their food for seven costs about 6^d. per week. 
Now for their Beauty; yet what need I say ? In the 
country, where they have a nice green lawn to contrast with 
their feathers, what fowls are lovelier than White Bantams? 
In smoky London what fowls are prettier than Black 
Bantams ? In the lady’s pet poultry-yard what fowls har¬ 
monise better with beautiful structures than Gold-laced or 
Silver-laced Bantams? and, in the little poultry-yard, what 
fowls look prouder or more beautiful than the haughty 
Game Bantam cock and his half dozen handsome, sym¬ 
metrical hens ? None. 
I have something more to say; and-now for their Charac¬ 
teristic Points in Breeding. The chief points in the Black 
Bantams are perfect absence of coloured feathers in plumage 
(red feathers a dreadful fault), erect carriage, head nearly 
touching the tail in cock, large comb and wattles, black legs, 
wings carried jauntily, and tiny size. 
White Bantams should have pure white plumage, erect 
gait, good comb and tail, short legs, small head, and weigh 
not more than lib. in the cock, and fib. in the hens. 
The Gold and Silver-laced should have the ground colour 
of the plumage yellow or silver, as the case may be, and 
the feathers should be tipped all round the edges with a thin 
black rim. Some Laced Bautams, however, have merely the 
tip of the feather touched with black. Their legs should 
be blue, toe-nails white ; and they should have square tails 
with no sickle feathers, and red, thick rose-combs. The 
wings should droop till they brush the ground, and the bird 
should strut proudly. 
Game Bantams should be Game fowls in miniature, and 
should be dubbed and have a short beak, long neck, heart- 
shaped body, and a fine arched tail, with long, curved feathers. 
The fine flowing tail is a great point in this breed. Duck- 
wings and Black-breasted Reds letch the most money—of 
course they must be of tiny size. 
I must apologise for trespassing on the space of your 
delightful paper ; but I hope you will insert these remarks, 
as I have a great wish to see the “ Bautams ” discussed in 
your pages; and that you will insert this, and that Bautams 
may flourish, is the sincere wish of—A Wiltshire Poultry 
Keeper. 
[Pray trespass thus very often.—E d. C. G.] 
THE .SINGLE COCHIN-CHINA COCK CLASS AT 
LIVERPOOL 
If exhibitors will call in question the decision of the 
Judges (a hazardous, if not a very futile experiment on 
most occasions) they should at least be sure of their 
premises in doing so, otherwise the charge recoils upon 
themselves, the fallacy is laid bare, and pique and dis¬ 
appointment stand convicted. 
Your correspondent, “ Consistency,” writing assuredly 
under a misnomer, does not seem to understand that class C 
at the Liverpool Exhibition was a class for single Cochin 
cocks of all colours. He imagines, if we may judge from 
his observations, that it was a class for the competition of 
Partridge Cochin cocks strictly so called; and, under this 
impression, he contrasts disparagingly pen 323, a very old 
Partridge cock, who had the honour to be “ highly com¬ 
mended,” with pen 325, “ a remarkably fine cockerel, to 
