f>0 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, OCTOBint 26, 1858. 
of my experiment, which is, as far as it goes, somewhat in favour 
of the seven-bar hive. 
I have never seen the “ greater concentration of heat in winter ” 
claimed as belonging to the eight-bar hive ; in fact, I am quite of 
opinion, as I before stated, “ that heat appears better concentrated 
in the seren-bar box, which on that account would seem better 
adapted for breeding than broad and shallow boxes.” 
lie also misunderstands me on another point. I should be 
very sorry to commit myself, by saying that bees would always 
follow a given plan under the same circumstances. I merely stated 
their general practice as far as it had come under my observation. 
Our greatest difference appears to be with regard to the best 
dimensions for seven-bar hives ; but even on this point I am in 
doubt. Are Mr. Tegetmeier’s boxes 12 inches, or 111 inches 
square ? If they are twelve inches square, as we must infer from 
the wording of his letter, he has altogether departed from the size 
prescribed by Mr. Golding, whose authority ho quotes. If only 
11| inches, he appears to have experienced the inconvenience from 
supernumary combs, which first drew my attention to the subject. 
The last part of Mr. Tegetmeier’s letter has much interested me. 
He therein describes the manner in which he stocked an ob¬ 
servatory hive, which happens to be the identical mode adopted 
by myself in 1852, and continued yearly for stocking a unicomb 
hive, constructed with moveable bars for the purpose. Will Mr. 
Tegetmeier kindly state, if his observatory hive is also unicomb, 
and, by so doing, oblige— A Devonshire Bee-keeper ? 
Universality op Grass.—How deliciously sleeps the grass 
in the moonlight, and how joyfully it laughs in the radiance of 
the sun. There is no place which it will not beautify. It climbs 
up the steep mountain passes which are inaccessible to man, and 
forms ledges of green amid the rivings of the crags : it leaps down 
between steep shelving precipices, and there fastens its slender 
roots in the dry crevices which the earthquakes had rent long 
ago, and into which the water trickles when the sunbeams strike 
the hoary snows above. There it leaps and twines in the morn¬ 
ing light, and flings its sweet, sweet laughing greenness to the 
sun ; there it creeps and climbs about the mazes of the solitude, 
and weaves its fairy tassels with the wind. It beautifies even that 
spot, and spreads over the sightless visage of death and darkness 
the serene beauty of a summer smile, flinging its green lustre on 
the bold granite, and perfuming the lips of morning as she stoops 
from heaven to kiss the green things of the earth It makes a 
moist and yielding carpet over the whole earth, on which the im¬ 
petuous may pass with harried tread, or the feet of beauty linger. 
— Hibberd's Brambles and Bay Leaves. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Ref.-K eepino ( Apprentice Apiarian). — We recommend you to grain 
what information you can, as to hives, and management of bees generally, 
from some of the numerous publications on the subject, as has often been 
urged to beginners, in The Cottage Gardener. No general rules can be 
laid down for all localities; and, especially as respects hives, the purse 
must often enter into the calculation. The plainer and least complicated 
of these will, most likely, answer your purpose, whether of straw or wood. 
The great point is convenience, arid good protection from cold and damp. 
We are not fond of straw coverings, as vermin And secure lodgings therein. 
We have seen straw hives coated with cement, but are inclined to prefer 
some kind of moveable cover,—as a box to drop loosely over the hive, and 
sufficiently thick to keep the wet from penetrating. Still better, is a 
wooden house, boarded up in front, with doors opening at the back, in 
which the hives may be ranged,—the bees working through openings 
opposite to the hives. Or a spare room in a dwelling, or outhouse, is .often 
eligible, a shelf being fixed, with a hole through the wall, in com¬ 
munication with each hive. 
Book on Botany (J. Sanderland ).—Every science, profession, andtradc, 
has a language of its own ; and, before you can learn either the one or the 
other, you must acquaint yourself with the language peculiar to the 
pursuit you intend to follow. And so it is with the study of botany. 
Procure “ llenfrev’s Rudiments of Botany,” published by Van Voorst, 
and then you will be better able to interpret more advanced works. 
Names op Fruits—Exhausted Lawn (A Constant Header). —Your 
Apple is Gloria Mutuli , aild the Pear Buchesse d’Angoulcme. Your turf 
is exhausted, and may be easily renewed by proper treatment. Give it a 
good top-dressing, but not with road scrapings or horse droppings. Get 
some well-rotted stable or farmyard manure, or the remains of old hotbeds. 
Mix that well up together with mould, or road scrapings, and top dress 
your lawn with it note, or any time next month. In spring, procure a 
mixture of grasses from any of the seedsmen advertising in our pages, 
composed of the following ingredients :— Yellow Oat Grass, lib.; Crested 
Doystail, Gibs.; Meadow Fescue , 3lbs.; Sheep's Fescue , 2 lbs.; Perennial 
Bye Grass, 10 lbs. ; Wood Meadtne Grass, 2 lbs.; White Dutch Clover, 
4 lbs. This is sufficient to sow an acre, so you can get the quantity you 
think requisite to dress your ground. After you har e sown it, harrow it 
in with a bush harrow, and then run your roller over it. 
IT ildtav in Grapes (A very old Surrey Subscribe r).—We know of no 
effectual remedy for the mildew but flowers of sulphur, and this remedy 
is effectual, if properly applied. We have seen long-neglected mildew 
completely removed, by putting each hunch into a plateful of the sulphur 
and having every berry rubbed between the thumb and fingers. Tho 
vigour of the Vines should he sustained with liquid manure. Mildew 
occnrs totally irrespective of the gardener. No skill can prevent its 
occurrence. Do not give your Violets liquid manure, as they are pro¬ 
mising well. Thanks for your suggestions, which shall he well considered. 
Keeping Pears (Rev. J. Buckham ).—You will never succeed in keeping 
Pears in wooden drawers : they are sure to shrivel. The best method of 
keeping small quantities, is, to procure some large earthenware pans, glazed 
inside, and to cover them, leaving an apertm o sufficient to allow the exhala¬ 
tions from the fruit to pass off'. In the absence of a regular fruit-room, 
you will find this the best way. Keep the pans in a cool, dry place ; never 
wipe the fruit except before serving for dessert; and when the Pears 
begin to ripen, bring a few at a time into a warm room three or four days 
before eating them. 
Book on Boses (J. Webb ).—Rivers’ “ Rose Amateur’s Guide,” pub¬ 
lished by Longman and Co., will suit yon exactly. 
Pitching an Aquarium (A Six Years Subscriber ).— We do not think 
that pitch, used to render a box water-tight, would injure the aqnatie 
animals confined in it. To remove any effluvium, let water stand in it for 
a day or two, and throw that water away before you pour in that wherein 
the aquatics arc to live. 
Woodi.ice and Earwios (Preston)'. — We have repeatedly given di¬ 
rections for trapping them, and there is no new discovery upon the point. 
Rottles of beer and sugar lure wasps and flies, but not woodlicc. Dig along 
the base of your stone wall, and see if you cannot destroy them there. 
Diantuus and Seediing Geranium (Z. I'.).—You had better send us 
the Dianthus again next year, when it is in perfection. It is a great 
mistake for people to keep things till past their best, and then ask a public 
opinion on them. Is it a perennial ! Send it next time with all particulars. 
Your Geranium is very pretty. 
Size of a Potting Bench (Auburn). — Nothing is more handy about a 
place than a nice potting bench, in a comfortable, dry, warm shed. Make 
it as long as you possibly can, to bold ever so many plants after potting, 
before they must be removed. Two feet six inches to two feet nine or ten 
inches is the proper height for a middle-sized gardener; but for those with 
very long, lanky legs, or with very short, stumpy, bowed legs, the height 
must be more or less. For the master or mistress, the height of the dining- 
table is tlio best rule, and any width from two to three feet will do. We ' 
prefer a capacious potting bench. 
Ferns for a Glass Case—Vines in Pots (7?. S. T.).—Adiantum pr- 
datum, A. cuneatum, A. formosum, Asplonium rlteneum, A. Trichomonas, 
Gymnogramma leptophylla, and Lycopodium Tlelveticum. If you mean to 
keep your ten-feet length of Vine rods, you had better thin’out pretty 
well two-thirds of the smaller buds, which will cause the others to come 
stronger. Your rods are not extra strong, hut, if well ripened, they will 
produce fruit. When you commence, twist the rod round a few sticks, to 
cause the buds to break regularly. The Frontiynan and the Hamburgh 
will be best for the first. Let the plants rest as long as possible before 
starting them. Give them increased temperature gradually, beginning at 
45°, rising in ten days to 50°, and, in twenty more, to 00°, keeping them 
there until the buds are all broke and growing freely. If you can give 
them bottom heat, 5° more than that, all along, they will thaffk you for it. 
See previous volumes. 
The Chaptat, Grape (A Subscriber, Bewdlcy ).— It will do in a green¬ 
house, and you can have either the Black Hamburgh, Sweetwater, or Mus¬ 
cadine, besides. 
Clematis (Tee.matcr). — Clematis montana, a hardy, ornamental, and 
rampant species will suit you. 
Rustic Work ( Jr. S. S.) —There is no hook giving directions for making 
it. Our correspondent will he obliged by information whelher the wood 
should he barked, and how (he joints arc to be made, so as to he strong, 
and yet not very visible. 
Silver Sand (A Country Subscriber). — This is a very pure silicions 
sand, and, therefore, does not ealte when wetted. Some’ sand deposited 
by the side of streams is nearly equal to it. Sea sand, if thoroughly 
deprived of salt, by repeated washings, is also nearly as good for potting 
purposes. Leave the leader of your C'cdnis dcodara tmeonfined. For- 
sythia riridissima is hardy about London, and to the south of it, hut even 
there it is benefited by being trained against a wall facing some point of 
flic south. If you refer to our indexes, you will find move than one such 
list as you require. 
Pruning Conifers (S. Firings). —Early spring is the time for doing- this. 
Tobacco Buying ( W. R.). —Cut down the plants close to the ground, 
and dry them gradually, but thoroughly. Then press them tightly into a 
tub or box, and keep them thus in a dry place. Tobacco thus made answers 
well for fumigating. 
Borage (A. Darlington Subscriber). —In favourable situations it grows 
three feet high. If sown now, the plants will bloom next June, and continue 
in succession for about six weeks. Salvia nemorosa, and Melilotus 
leucantha, are good bee flowers. 
Admitting Air (L. R. Lucas ).— Never directly upon the plants. 
Mineral Destroyer of Snails. — J. B. C. wishes to know what is this 
destructive mineral mentioned in “ Chambers’s Journal.” We will give an 
account of it next week. 
Names of Fiivits.— In a package received hv the North Western Bailway 
Company, without a note accompanying it. The direction card, “ Vote for 
the Hon. P. P. Bouverie.” 2. Sam Young. 3. Parsnip Apple. 4. Eycwood. ! 
G. Doyennf Blanc. 7. Achan. 8. Lamb Abbey Pearmain. 9. Flemish 
Beauty. (G. I'.).—1. Flemish Beauty. 2. Beurre Diel. 3. Glout Morceau. 
4. Napoleon. 5. Beauty of Kent. G. Golden Winter Pearmain. 7. , 
lTormeiul Pearmain. 8. Kentish Fillbaskct. (A. A.). — 2. Blenheim 
Pippin. 3. Yorkshire Greening. 4. Kentish Fillbaskct. 5. Winter 
Greening (French Crab). 0. Golden Rcinettc (?). 7. Napoliion. 9. Beurre 
