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THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Decembeb 28, 1858. 
■when, we copy nature ? And is not manure dropped on the sur¬ 
face by animals ? Some facetious opponent will say, “ How about 
cats ? ” We will give you the advantage of the small exception, 
and say it proves the rule. We know the gardener finds great 
benefit from top-dressings, and if this were only because they 
retain the moisture, straw would do as well. I have often heard 
farmers remark, that the quickest return from the employment of 
manure was obtained by dressing grass land. Now, in this case, 
it cannot be covered up. 
On mentioning this last fact to a friend, ho said, “ Ah ! but I 
put my manure on the grass in autumn, and then there is little 
chance of its being dried by sun and wind till it is good for 
nothing.” To which I replied, “ That many prefer to dress 
grass just after the hay is got off, and contend it does most good 
then.” 
Now, I would ask, what does the farmer fear to lose ? Is it 
ammonia ? If the manure is fresh, there can be no danger; and 
if it is in a decaying state, how much free ammonia will be left 
after it has been filled into a cart, thrown out, and well spread on 
the field ? But, if sun and wind are such enemies to manure, 
how is it that we pay such a large price for guano ? Doing so 
surely must be a mistake. Here is a manure deposited by birds, 
drop by drop, on a barren rock, under the burning sun of Peru, 
becoming immediately as dry as dust, and remaining so for 
hundreds of years, and yet found worth a large sum per ton, and 
paying the debt of a nation. 
Perhaps some person will be ready to say, “ But what is the use 
of proving our fears groundless in this respect ? Our practice 
of covering up our manure, if not always necessary, is decidedly 
so in the case of manuring for Turnips, in summer, when, the 
land being dry, it must be better to plough in the manure whilst 
in a moist state ; and it never can be bad practice, for if manure 
takes no harm by exposure, it can never be benefited.” 
Though I think this last observation is open to inquiry, I 
would ask, is a manure heap never made on strong land farms, 
at a great waste of time, trouble, and manure, solely from the idea 
which we are trying to prove erroneous ? How common is it to 
see manure taken out and heaped in a field, and remaining there 
for weeks and months, the black liquid running into the nearest 
ditch, because there is no time to plough it in, or the land is too 
hard and dry to be ploughed, when it might at once be spread on 
the land ; or, what is quite as bad, placed about the field in small 
heaps of a few forkfuls, so that when rain comes the goodness of 
the manure is washed out where it lies, and the next corn crop 
rendered irregular; or it becomes dry, and takes twice the trouble 
to separate and spread regularly, that it would have done when 
first thrown out of the cart. 
Upon light, sandy land, to rot manure in heaps appears a 
necessity; but I cannot think it is so on strong soils, and am 
unwilling to either make mine into heaps, or to leave it in the 
yards to be washed by every shower.—J. R. Beaeson, Chilwell, 
APPLYING SULPHUR TO THE VINE MILDEW. 
I find a great many of your correspondents are constantly 
inquiring for an effectual way of preventing the mildew on the 
Vine. The answers all agree on one point, that it must be 
sulphur—the flowers of sulphur—which must be used, to effect 
the destruction of this, hitherto considered, formidable enemy; 
but the application of it varies considerably, and methods of such 
applications are given, which must necessarily place the Vines in 
extreme peril. All methods which bring into existence the 
vapour of sulphur, enter into the category of the dangerous. 
Now, I never profess more than I know ; consequently, I must 
not talk of my experience, as regards Vines under glass. I 
belong to the plebeian class of open-wall growers ; and of the 
effects of sulphur, and its application out of doors, I can speak 
authoritatively. 
Eor six long years I had not a Grape fit to he eaten—oidium, 
or mildew, annually destroyed them. Fate led me to visit the 
horticultural neighbourhood of Baris, and there I found out the 
practice of the lowest and highest class of growers. I returned 
home, and did likewise, and was repaid by a magnificent crop of 
Grapes, perfectly free from mildew,—nay, many of my bunches 
are hanging on the Vines—under protection—on this, the 10th 
day of December, to attest to the truth of what I state. 
Not the Grapes only, but the fine, healthy, vigorous canes 
which are to yield me a crop for next season, and which look as 
though they intended to do so, show at once to the eye how 
they have luxuriated under my dry-sulphur treatment. They 
are clean, cinnamon-coloured canes, without a black spot upon 
them. 
I have already spoken of this system in my notes on Mont- 
morenci, some few months back; but, perhaps, I was not suffi¬ 
ciently explicit. It is simply this : the moment the buds burst, 
dust the Vines all over with flowers of sulphur, by means of one 
of the small French machines sold by Burgess and Key, of 
Newgate Street, who are the agents of the patentees. 
'When the Vines are in flower, repeat the operation, and a 
third time when the berries are set, and some four or five clays 
after syringe thoroughly. Select a dry day for the dusting, but, 
of course, not a windy one. A good deal of the sulphur will fall 
to the ground ; never mind, it is not wasted—it plays its part 
even there. 
I will pledge my reputation, as an enthusiastic amateur, that 
after these three dry dustings, you will not find, on nine Vines 
out of ten, sufficient of the mildew powder to cover a pea. 
Your aristocratic growers within doors, will say, “ That is all 
very well for your out-of-door growers, but what are we to do ? ” 
Let them not be hasty. A friend of mine came to me with an 
awfully long face. Ho had a good 5 cwt. of Grapes in his houses 
covered with oidium, and his gardener had given them up. V hat 
was he to do? My reply was, go and spend half-a-crown for a 
sulphur duster, unnail your Vines, powder them well, syringe 
three days after, powder again in a week, and syringe again some 
four or five days after. He had confidence in my authoritative 
tone, set to work, did it all liimself, saved his Grapes, and had a 
firBt-rate crop.—H. S. Watson, Tollington Park. 
BEES’ AND WASPS’ CELLS—BEES SECRETING 
WAX. 
Those who take an interest in bees, may have noticed a little 
discussion lately, concerning their mode of forming cells ; and 
that I objected to the theory of their being first made round, and 
then pressed into the hexagonal form. 1 did so, not only on the 
ground that there was nothing to press against, but also, and 
chiefly, from the fact that the embryo cells were triangular. I 
mentioned this in my last paper, and hinted that they might be 
made so by the aid of the ocelli in front of the heads of bees. I 
ventured the latter with some diffidence ; but 1 may safely state, 
that when once bees have begun the triangular foundations, the 
cells assume the hexagonal form as the workers proceed. And 
what is rather remarkable is, that they increase their scale about 
one-third when making the cells of drones, and reduce it again 
when forming common cells in the same comb. I am at a loss, 
however, like all others who have studied this interesting subject, 
to explain exactly how this is done. But, as bees only use their 
mouths when building cells, perhaps their mandibles serve as 
compasses, by which they add about a third to the triangular 
embryos of common cells. I need hardly repeat, that those will 
form larger hexagons, until the workers reduce the foundations 
to the common standard. 
If my views are correct, they may be also applied to the hornet 
and wasp, who make larger cells for drones and queens in the 
lower divisions of their combs. I may note, that each of these 
is formed in the same manner, as the first one, or foundation of 
the nest, made by the queen alone—that is, by fixing a prop, 
made of the scrapings of w r ood, mixed with a gummy substance, 
in the top of a cavity. Thus, the embryo of a colony of wasps is 
like a nail, with a triangular impression on its head,—being the 
nucleus of the hexagonal cells before the tiny, paper-like structure 
is covered, or takes the parachute form. 
I may have mentioned in my last paper, that the ocelli was 
very visible in front of the horuet ’3 head ; and I may now stale, 
that perhaps two impressions of it would form a hexagon. I am 
speaking from one before mo under the microscope; but, as I 
have just said, that appendage can be seen without it. 1 should 
state, too, that it fits exactly into the angles of the colls. This is 
much in favour of what I have stated respecting the ocelli being 
the instrument with which the insects form their cells. It is 
rather a curious term, and is seldom nsed by writers on bees : it 
means, however, the upper part of the insect’s mouth, or rather 
the angular part, on which their mandibles, or lips, close. These 
may be called nippers, for both bees and wasps have great power 
of cutting, or clipping with them,—especially the yellow brood, 
— even so much as to cut a hair in twain. 
Since the above was written, I find that “ A Devonshibe 
