THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN May 25, 1858. 
My endeavours to make the apparatus answer have been 
most patient, and I have not spared the slightest expense in 
trying to the patent. Very kind, you will say! 
When I bought the apparatus, I was led to expect that its 
j expense wpuld be- very trifling, and its. success certain. 
That it should have resulted in so great an expense, and de¬ 
struction of my plants, you can well imagine to be one of the 
greatest annoyances to one so fond of flowers as I am, and 
preparing them, as I intended, for show. 
If you can assist me in this matter, I shall esteem it a 
favour.— Will. Worth, Burnt Ash Villas , Lee, Kent. 
[We do not know the apparatus, nor any one that does. 
No gas-heating is secure from injuring plants, unless there is 
an ample arrangement for carrying all the results from the 
burnt gas into the open air.— Ed.] 
DEES AND COCOONS, 
In these days of inquiry, when so much has been written 
on bees, one might expect to find old errors corrected in new 
editions ; some of them, however, still appear. For instance, 
in the fourth edition of an excellent book, lately published, 
is the following :—“ The larvce then assume the nymph, or 
pupa form, and spin themselves a film, or cocoon, the nurses 
immediately after sealing them up with a substance which 
Huber calls wax.” This is backed by the following note :— 
“ See c Observations on Natural History of Bees, by Francis 
Huber,’ new edition, London, 1841. An invaluable work to 
the scientific apiarian.” It requires but a slight acquaintance 
with entomology to know, that it is the grub which spins 
cocoons, and not the chrysalis ; this having but little power 
of motion. We may note that, perhaps it is only soft chry¬ 
salises that are protected by cocoons ; also that the larvce of 
all insects that are bred in combs, like those of bees, have 
none, the cells affording sufficient protection. 
As this is rather an important matter, being connected with 
the general belief of even some of our best apiarians, namely, 
that the coatings of the cells are the cocoons spun and left by 
the insects, what we have said may be doubted. We, how¬ 
ever, further reply, as we once did to Dr. Bevan, whose name 
every bee-keeper should respect, on this subject. How can 
the larvce of bees, which are so tight in the cells, having 
power only to move then 1 heads, turn, and spin round them¬ 
selves !- To say more would be superfluous, except that the 
larvce of bees, like those of wasps and hornets, close the 
mouths of then’ cells with a thready-like substance, before 
they assume the pupa form, and are sealed up by the bees 
with a waxy mixture, in the same manner as those of humble 
bees. We give this, however, with some diffidence; for we 
never observed the larvae of bees in the act of closing their 
cells; though we have often seen those of wasps and hornets. 
We may note, that these do not cease from their operations, 
even when their combs are in one’s hand, while the brood of 
bees are more sensitive of cold; likewise, that the former 
make a crackling sound, caused by the motion of their heads 
on the edges of the pupa cells. The fact, that those of bees 
! are of wax, may account for no such noise being heard in a 
| beehive.— J. Wighton. 
PIPES INSTEAD OF BRICK FLUES. 
In your number of April 27tli, a correspondent, “ W. O. D.” 
in speaking of flue pipes and brick flues, seems to recommend 
flues near fireplaces, because of the pipes cracking. I do not 
wonder at all at his failure. If “ W. O. D.” had procured 
from some pipemaker some unglazed fire-clay pipes, made on 
purpose, he would never have complained of the pipes crack¬ 
ing. I have made some, which have been in use for some 
time in a manufactory, and have kept a large building, say 
ninety feet by thirty feet, and fifteen feet high, at a tempera¬ 
ture of 70° during frost, with only ninety feet of eight-inch 
bore pipe, made of fire clay one inch and a half thick ; and I 
i have never found them to crack, without they are allowed to 
1 get to red heat; then, of course, the expansion on the inside 
is great, and the cold air in the building prevents the out- 
I side to expand in the same degree; but for the purpose of a 
greenhouse, or hothouse, well made fire-clay pipes will never 
crack, and they retain the heat so very long, which is another 
great advantage over any other. The best cement to make 
the joints with is well-beaten mortar, with very little sand in 
it.^H. L. E. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Painted Pots (//. S.). —Gardeners long thought that painted, or 
hard-burnt, pots were detrimental to plants. Of course, you mean 
painted outside—not inside. We do not now think that they are at all 
injurious, provided that drainage and a suitable compost are attended 
to. Buds fall from Fuchsias from two opposite causes—decaying and 
unhealthy roots, amid nasty sour, morass-like, undrained soil; and 
from the soil and roots being too dry, though half an inch of the 
surface soil may be wet enough. Bing the pot with your knuckles : if it 
emits a very dull, heavy sound, it is too wet, and wants drainage; if a 
clear sound, it is too dry. 
Grubs at Strawberry Boots (T. G. D.). —know of no remedy 
except scraping the earth away from round the stools, and destroying 
any marauder found there. 
Super-Phosphate of Lime (V. M .).—This may be used beneficially 
as a liquid manure in the kitchen and flower gardens. One pound to 
ten gallons will be strong enough. 
Bees {K. I*.).— Buy the kind of hive you prefer, and get the keeper 
of bees nearest to you to put a May swarm into it. Ten shillings is the 
usual price for a swarm. 
Names of Plants ( B. .S'.).—Your plants are as follow:—1. Cistus 
ladaniferns. 2. Fuonymus verrucosus. 3. Myosotis Azorica. 4. 
Lonicera tartarica, var. rubra. 5. Cv/pressus, in the way of Goveniana ; 
but we are not quite certain from the small bit sent. 6. Metrosideros 
saligna. (I. N.).—Halesia tet rapt era, or Snowdrop Tree. (.7. T, Sin¬ 
clair ).—The seed is of Tagctcspatula, or French Marigold; the plant 
accompanying it is Cineraria amelloides, a hardy greenhouse plant, 
much used now for bedding. (A Young Hand at Ferns). —1. Foly- 
podium vulgare, true, and not the variety serratum. 2. Asplenium 
Adiantum-nigrum. 3. Ceterach officinanm. (S. J. S.).—Tillandsia 
stricta, a rather rare stove plant. 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
May 2Gtli, 27th, and 28th. Birmingham (Summer). Secs., Messrs. 
Titterton andCattell, 26, Worcester Street. .Entries close May 10th. 
June 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Bath and West of England. Sec., Mr. 
John Kingsbury, Hammet Street, Taunton. 
June 9th and 10th. Beverley and East Biding of Yorkshire. 
Sec., W. W. Boulton, Beverley, Yorkshire. Entries close on the 1st 
of June. 
June 28th, 29th, and 30th, and July 1st. Sheffiet.'U. See., Wm, Henry 
Dawson, Sheffield. 
July 8th. Prescot. Sec., Mr. James Beesley. 
August 7tfi, 9th, 10th, and 11th. Crystal Palace (Summer Show). 
Entries close July 10th. Sec.., W. Houghton. 
August 18th. Airedale. Hon. Secs., J. Wilkinson and T. Booth, 
Shipley. 
October 7th and 8tli. Worcestershire. Sec., Mr. G. Griffiths, 7, 
St. Swithin’s Lane, Worcester. Entries close September 23. 
November 29th and 30th, December 1st and 2nd. Birmingham. Sec., 
Mr. J. Morgan, Entries close November 1st. 
December 17th and 18th. Halifax Fancy Pigeon Show. Sec., Mr, 
II, Holdswortli, Woolshops, Halifax. 
January 8th, 10th, 11th, and 12th, 1839. Crystal Palace (Winter 
Show). Sec,, W. Houghton. 
N.B .—Secretaries will oblige us by sending early copies of their lists. 
OLLA PODEIDA. 
We have observed, that hens lay smaller eggs in cold 
weather than in hot. Will some one please to tell us why it is. 
Are the red worms, that cause the gapes in chickens, identi¬ 
cal with those that are found in stagnant water, especially such 
as remain at the bottoms of butts and tubs? Will some of 
our amateurs, who have the opportunity of microscopic 
examination, give our readers the result of a leisure half-hour. 
Who, that has been in the habit of looking over the ad¬ 
vertisements in the Times and other papers, has not admired 
the pertinacity with which Mary W edlake adhered to the im¬ 
portant question, “ Do you bruise your oats yet ? ” We ask 
again and again, “ Do you still over-feed your fowls ? ” You 
say you do not; we say you do, and, we assure you, you will be 
gainers every way, if you reduce the food given by one-third. 
We could name a hundred cures, as wonderful as those per¬ 
formed on the Earl of Aldborough, and the Raiah of Travan- 
core, by Holloway’s Pills and Ointment; and, in each case, the 
