204 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Decemeeb 28, 1858. 
I like the course my mother takes, 
She uses wondrous care, 
The oven where her bread she hakes, 
She sweetly dries them there. 
My mother knows what she’s about, 
Through many scenes she’s been, 
And when she hauls her bread pans out, 
She pokes her Curnmts in; 
And she repeats this process thrice , 
Which dries them just enough ; 
For know, they’d not be done at twice, 
Four times would make them tough : 
And every time she takes them out, 
She's sure to turn them over. 
When done, she puts them in a pot, 
Beneath a cotton cover ; 
A pitcher with a broken snout , 
Or old crack’d jar will do, 
Because they never will get out, 
They never can run through . 
—{American Country Gentleman .) 
CHEAP AND. MOST EFFECTUAL RAT-TRAP. 
My gardener is receiving letters from Ireland, Yorkshire, 
Lancashire, Kent., and Norfolk, all asking for his trap, and for 
further information as to directions for setting it. As you may 
have had similar queries addressed to you, I now send the follow¬ 
ing additional instructions, remarking first, however, that the 
drawing is so far incorrect, as it places the string (a) on the wrong 
side of the hooked peg (b) ; and that there ought to appear no 
slack string whatever, in the diagram, except the loose end just 
above the knotted part that (after going round the bridgo-peg c), 
is connected with the noose wire (f). 
Also, as the drawing now faces the reader, he would not 
imagine that the noose and tightened string (a) attached to the 
supposed bent twig, and which extends, presumedly, in a curve 
of five feet, at an angle of 45° away from the noose,—so as to keep 
the line (a) tight,—are in the same line as they ought to appear 
to be. 
I fancy your draughtsman could not have set the trap before 
he drew it, otherwise the action would have been self-apparent, 
for the prop-peg (d), is to counteract the pull of the stretched 
twine (a), which, but for such resistance to the downward direction 
of the bridge-peg (c), would, by the pull upwards, start C from 
the hook altogether.—H. Austen, Lieutenant-Colonel. 
TRADE LISTS. 
A Spring Catalogue and Amateur's Guide, for 1859 (published 
by Messrs. Sutton, of Beading), not only contains lists of the 
plants most worthy of cultivation, but much information relative 
to then - cultivation. We can recommend their New Giant Onion 
seed; for we know of a large crop, grown this year, many of 
them seventeen inches in circumference. We give similar praise 
to the General Price Current of Kitchen Garden, Flower and 
Farm Seeds, of the Plymouth Seed, Implement, and Manure 
Company. It gives lists, directions for culture, and a calendar 
of monthly operations. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Definitions [Ignoramus ).—Tlie term linings (more properly coatings) 
are masses of fermenting (lung, placed round hotbeds to increase their 
warmth. Liquid manure is guano, sheep’s dung, or other solid manure 
dissolved in water. The drainage from a stable, or house sewage, are 
liquid manures. A pH is a structure of bricks or turf, to be covered with 
glazed frames. If not heated, it is a raid pit. If you purchase the Cot¬ 
tage Gardeners’ Dictionary, you will there find these and other gardening 
terms explained. 
Ff.rn Leaves [A Young Subscriber ).—You might obtain them of Mr. 
Brocas, naturalist, 85, St. Martin’s Lane, W.C. 
Vine Cuttings and Eyes ( M.F .).—You should have told us ofyour cir¬ 
cumstances and advantages. Keep the young wood in soil neither wet nor 
dry, until you wash to plant them. If you only want a plant of each, and 
have no artificial heat, cut each shoot across at the lowest hud, pick out 
the other buds, except the two uppermost, and plant the cuttings at once, 
where you wish them to remain, just as you would do with a Currant 
cutting. When the weather gets warm, the buds will break, and roots 
will be formed. If you grow early Cucumbers, or have any such means 
of heat, cut your wood, so as to have about three quarters of an inch 
on each side of the bud ; and put these separately in a small pot of fibry, 
sandy loam, well drained, and the soil made firm about the bud, and 
covered about a quarter of an inch. I’ot into a size larger when the pot 
is full of roots. If convenient, keep under glass until the autumn, and 
plant out the following spring, or plant out after hardening-off gradually, 
about the end of June ; and shade a little at first, till the plants get used to 
the change. Vines will stand any heat, when growing, not above 65° at 
night, ahd 85° during the day. The Parsley-leaved is grown chiefly for the 
foliage. 
Mildew on Cinerarias—Vines foe Pot Culture ( S. F .). — Sulphur 
is the best remedy for mildew. You have been keeping the place too close 
and damp. Give plenty of air, and do not let the plants suffer for want of 
water. The JYest’s St. Peter's will suit your house. For pot culture, we 
prefer the Black Hamburgh and White Muscadine. If you have con¬ 
veniences, the sooner you place your eyes in a sweet bottom heat, after 
January, the moie forward will your plants be. 
Books on Gardening—Orange Tree Shedding its Leaves ( M . 0 ‘ C .). 
—Both the hooks you name are good. For a beginner, Macintosh’s is 
most explicit. “ The Gardener’s Assistant,” by Thompson, is also good, 
so far as we have seen of it, and would be the cheapest. We suspect 
your Orange trees have got into a sour, sodden state at the roots, in 
unison with a low temperature. Let them alone until February, then see 
that drainage is all right. Pick away some of the old soil, and replace 
with fibry, sandy loam, andincrease the temperature vrith a moist atmo¬ 
sphere. Next autumn beware of over watering. 
; Trees for a Vinery and Orchard-house [R. S .).—Your Black Uam- 
\ burgh, Golden Hamburgh, Frontignac, and Black Prince Vines, will force 
j very well. Muscats would also do well in the warmest end. Muscats will 
not please $ou in the second house, if—^although you let them start with¬ 
out much artificial heat—you do not give them artificial heat when in 
bloom, and swelling and ripening. Peaches and Nectarines are, perhaps, 
the easiest managed in orchard-houses; but the kinds must depend on the 
wishes of the grower, as Apricots, Cherries, Apples, Pears, and Vines, 
may all be so cultivated In pots. Alter deducting paths, you would require 
to give from four to six square feet to each plant, to enable you to do the 
plants justice. They will stand thicker when young ; but you could place 
temporary plants in the spaces, instead of having so ninny stationary 
plants. Kaspberries; Currants, and Gooseberries might be used for that 
purpose. Lists of such plants have been frequently given. 
Hot-water Trough [G. Cask).— In the first place, your trough must 
not be lower than the top of your boiler. In th'e second" place, under the 
circumstances, your trough must be water-tight all over, it that is to he 
a heating medium. What is the use of your trough, if it will not hold 
water? We presume you have a flow and return pipe for top heat; if so, 
have a flow and return pipe for bottom heat, and there will be no danger of 
overflowing. If a flow pipe for top heat would suit your purpose, bring 
the return pipe through your trough. You cannot connect the top flow 
pipe with an open trough below its level. You can have a close pipe, or 
a scries of pipes, if not below the boiler. 
IIarot Vines [Emily). —The names you ask for will be of no use to you. 
The Vines were sent by Mr. Hirers for experiments, to see which of the 
two kinds was the right Esperionc , and to ascertain the value and quality 
of newly-introduced kinds,—such as Muscat Utonetl, Early Malingre 
(said to be the earliest Grape out of doors), and Muscat St. Laurent. Get 
the two JSsperiones. Both are good for out-doors. 
Kteiuianotis floribunda ( W. H .).— Stephanotis has seeded often; hut 
your plant is not Stephanotis floribunda, the seed-pod of which is quite a 
different thing from what you describe as “like a goose’s egg;” and, 
surely, it would not seed, or even bloom, at four feet high. At twenty- 
four feet, or forty feet, it would not be a wonder to see it hanging with 
long narrow-pointed seed-pods. 
Variegated Plants — Eucharis Amazonicum [A Subscriber). —We are 
preparing a full and particular account of the more showy variegated 
plants; as, unless a list is a full and fair account of the plants, it is worse 
than useless to those who do not know the plants, and those who do need 
no list. The Eucharis Amazonicum is a most delightful stove bulb, which 
holds on all the year round, or is an evergreen. It will not do in a green¬ 
house from September to May ; hut in the summer months it will do very 
well in a greenhouse, if the paths and walls are moistened daily with a 
syringe. The kind of soil lor it, is, just the very thing they use for the 
large prize Geraniums at the shows—that is, the best turfy loam, reduced 
by twelve months' eNposure to the air, and by turning over now and then, 
with a little very rotten dung, and a little sand. But j our plant is not quite 
old enough yet for the dung, so use one-sixth part of peat instead. 
Scale on Heaths—Turning out Chrysanthemums—Pruning Roses 
( Arthur Connell).— The very best receipt for killing the scale on Heaths 
is to burn the plants, for other receipts rarely cure a Heath of that 
pest. First of all, see that the balls of the Chrysanthemum are moistened 
through and through, then turn them out of the pots in any sheltered 
place, and plant them one inch deeper than they stood in the pots. If a 
very.hard frost comes, cover tlieoi with straw. You must not use the 
same plants again. Divide them at the end of April, and make each into 
five or six pieces, or plants. Also, take cuttings for smaller plants. Do not 
prune your yellow and hybrid perpetual Hoses until February. 
Shrubs for a Town Garden ( J. IF.).—Tree Box and Aucuba Japonica 
are the two best shrubs for standing the smoke of towns; Yew and Holly 
the next best, and they can be grown as shrubs ; Privet and Cotoneastcr 
microphylla next ; then the common Syringa (Philadclphus cornnarius), 
and Guelder Hose, and the Persian and common Lilacs. The badness, the 
dryness, and the want of deep working of the soil, are the main causes 
against a great variety of trees and shrubs doing in towns. 
Hyacinths [A Country Subscriber).—Hoi enc of the works you quote 
is any authority. It is our opinion that Hyacinths and other florists’ 
bulbs might be raised in some parts of England quite as successfully as in 
Holland ; but no one has tried the experiment, much le>s have they told us 
how to proceed. We wish they would. The calendar you suggest we 
had arranged to have published as soon as that we are now publishing is 
completed, which will be in March. 
Cooking Cakdoons (J. F.). —Take the lower ends of the stalks, such as 
are firm and solid, cut them into pieces six inches long, tie them in bundles, 
and boil them until tender. Have ready a piece of butter in a frying-pan, 
in which flour and fry them. They may then be served like Asparagus, on 
a toast, with a white sauce over them. In our No. 418, you will find other 
modes of cooking Cardoons, and that number will cost you threepence. 
Seedsmen [A Constant Subscriber). —We cannot recommend any one; 
hut write to any of the first-rate seedsmen who advertise in our columns. 
