grown. What makes the frost in this case more remarkable is that many of the gooseberries, though of a size almost fit for the first picking, and consequently much more sheltered by their own foliage, yet suffered by it; in some cases the shoulder or upper portion of the berry turning a rusty brown in most of the exposed fruit, nevertheless, the crop on the whole was a good one. Apples were more fortunate than cherries, being a few days behind them, they escaped the worst frosts; but some of those murky changes in the atmosphere, which old people call "blights," or some other cause, has reduced the abundant crop of blossom into only an average, or rather below an average crop of fruit, which, as in most other seasons, is also variable in places and in kinds too. But as apples are an important fruit crop, I will, with your leave, make their peculiarities the subject of a separate article; at the same time, I confess it appears a difficult task to explain what is often called a "blight," but I have no reason to doubt the opinion of those whose life and interest have been connected with the hardy fruit trade, and yet some fashionable gardener will, I dare say, smile at trees being pointed out to him which bear only alternate seasons, and others only if in a certain position. All this is more to be admired than despised, as science, with all its pretensions, has quite as often followed in the wake as pointed out the way. But I am straying from my subject, the object of which was to disabuse the public mind of the idea that fruit and other crops, though, perhaps, not suffering so much from adverse springs in the south of England as the north, are not entirely free from such misfortunes; but taking all in all, there is no question but that the trees here, having a better chance to mature their embryo buds the preceding year, are in a better condition to resist the changes I have above alluded to. In conclusion, allow me to say that tender wall fruits have been quite an average crop, gooseberries and currants a heavy crop, plums generally good, apples variable, filberts good, cherries next to none, and pears only good in places. Perhaps some of your readers will record what phenomenon connected with the weather and the crops occurred under their notice in different parts of the kingdom, in order that we may exchange notes.-L. M. N. EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE. GUINEA FOWLS.-For the information of "A Subscriber from No. 1," I beg to state that "Guinea fowls" are occasionally brought to this market (York) by the farmers' wives and daughters, with the common poultry, and sold at 4s, 4s 6d, to 5s per pair. I have bought them in the market at both 4s and 4s 6d the couple. The Guinea birds' eggs are brought very regularly to market here; and as they are generally preferred at table to the common barn-door fowl's eggs, they fetch a rather better price, say from 16 to 18 for a shilling, whilst the others sell at 20 to 22 for a shilling. Should your correspondent have had no experience in Guinea fowls, it may be as well to inform him that they often stray and lay their eggs some distance from home, as they are particularly partial to grass, and consequently prefer the open fields. A safer mode of attaching them to home (than buying the full-grown birds) is to set the common domestic hen with Guinea fowls' eggs; and so long as she can exercise control over the young ones she keeps them within bounds.-ANOTHER SUBSCRIBER FROM No. 1. CELERY.-You encourage us to acquaint you with our experience, however limited, in garden matters. I therefore write to say, that I am this year growing Nutt's Champion Celery, on Mr. Turner's plan (see vol. i., p. 136), and would add my humble testimony to his concerning the horizontal growth of the roots of celery plants. Before earthing-up I could not stir, even slightly with my finger, the surface-soil, without coming in contact with numbers of little roots growing perfectly horizontally, almost along the top of the soil; also, upon pulling up one or two plants that had run, their roots had scarcely gone two inches downwards, all straight to the right and left. Now this week, upon cutting away the sides of the trenches for earthing, the roots protrude in great numbers beyond the original width,-one strong long fellow that I measured reaching exactly two feet from the plant. For the future I think of increasing Mr. Turner's width of trench, and for the convenience of watering, suffering (with deference to him) the level on which the plants are set to be somewhat below the surface-level around. I have added manure on both sides of the original trenches, and have no doubt that the roots will soon be quite through it.-CLERICUS, BEDS. REMEDY FOR BEE STINGS.-I beg to give for the use of the readers of THE COTTAGE GARDENER the following remedy for bee stings, and stings of all kinds, which I have found most effectual not only on myself but also on others. But this, as every other remedy, must depend on the person stung; for I am convinced that there is no one remedy which will cure stings in everybody, for where tobacco will cure in one instance, I have known it ineffectual in another. Sweet oil I have also seen used with beneficial results on one person, while on another who has tried it it has had not the least effect; but I think the following is the most effectual of any. It was given to me by a poor person, and I give it as I received it:-Spirits of wine, oil of spike, opodeldoe, camphor, sweet spirits of nitre-one pennyworth of each. The embrocation to be well shaken before using.-W. H. W. GLADIOLUS GANDAVENSIS. — To all unacquainted with gladioluses, I would by all means advise them, if they want a cheap and good one-one that will ensure satisfaction instead of disappointment-to purchase G. Gandavensis. I had one bulb planted at the end of February; it has thrown up two strong shoots; they are four and a half feet high from the top of the pot, with twelve on one and fourteen flowers on the other, have been in bloom nearly a fortnight, and have a few more flowers to open, and are the admiration of every one. G. Cardinalis I shall not bloom; they tell me | it exceeds the other, but is difficult to bloom.-J. FRENCH. HENS EATING THEIR EGGS.-Your able correspondent, Martin Doyle (whose papers upon poultry I enjoy to read, having kept some myself a few years back), in his remarks (in July part, page 259) upon "fowls hatching," mentions the loss of several eggs from under a hen when sitting, and is doubtful in what way they were got rid of. Now I am convinced in my own mind that some hens will eat the eggs, should they get broken, and not leave a particle of any thing to tell how they have gone. With one of my hens when ! sitting I lost, upon three occasions, some of the eggs; but having two or three holes cut in the door of the fowl house, with a centre-bit, that I might see all was right with the sitting-hens without opening the door, and thus disturbing them, I caught this hen just finishing the shell of an egg; and upon examining her nest I found two gone during the night, which had no doubt been broken when she turned the eggs; and had I not seen her at the moment, nothing would have been left to tell the tale, for the nest was per fectly dry. While writing the above I have had a visit from a country relative, to whom I was mentioning the circumstance, and he quite confirms my opinion, and informed me in addition, that a hen of his had, upon hatching, destroyed several of her chickens before she could be prevented, and would have taken the lives of all had not her own been forfeited for her unmotherly propensity; this I think is a more singular case than the other. I never yet knew any animal that would not protect their young to the very last-particularly hens.-Westbourne Park Villas. TO CORRESPONDENTS. We request that no one will write to the departmental writers of THE COTTAGE GARDENER. It gives them unjustifiable trouble and expense. All communications should be addressed "To the Editor of The Cottage Gardener, 2, Amen Corner, Paternoster Row, London." WEAK VINE (A Subscriber, Croydon).—Your vine, a Black Hamboro', was in your stable-yard against a north aspect for four years, and had never borne fruit; and by cutting away from time to time all lateral shoots, excepting the two top ones, it had acquired a stem about five feet in length and measuring about an inch in circumference; clean and healthy looking. This was planted in your new greenhouse, and has progressed very indifferently during the summer, not having made a shoot two inches in length. It threw out leaves, but not larger than would and with precisely the same result, and now looks very shabby. If you cover a penny-piece, which soon died off. It then leafed a second time, have, indeed, followed the directions given in THE COTTAGE GARDENER, as to border making for the vine, then the fault must lie in some collateral circumstances. You do not say whether your vine is planted inside the house or out. It is evident the vine is "poverty struck," either through lack of moisture at certain periods or too much. Or, it may be that through a deficiency of ventilation it has been "starved to death." Remember that a north aspect in a stable-yard is not the sort of place to give healthy stamina to a vine. We must, therefore, presume that this, coupled with the severe check of removal, was quite enough to throw your unfortunate Black Hamboro' into a declining state. Were we in your case, we would purchase a good, strong, and well ripened plant from a respectable nurseryman, and plant in the end of next March, with a determination to see all matters of summer culture well carried out. STRAWBERRIES ON LIGHT-SOILED BANK (W. R. I.).—If you cannot renovate your soil and start anew, pray use the waterpot most liberally from the moment the first blossom opens until the first fruit changes colour. Cannot you apply a good coating of "mulch" on the heels of some liberal shower in May? Such applied two inches thick will be of immense service, by encouraging a host of surface fibres, and preventing a too rapid evaporation. CUCUMBER AND MELON CUTTINGS (M. F. G.).—These strike readily, but it is too late to talk about this in the end of September. An article framed expressly to meet the desires of yourself and several other correspondents will appear very shortly. We trust it will suit your case. MALT WINE, or, as one of our correspondents more aristocratically terms it, MALTESE WINE.-We have received three recipes for making this, and as we are quite unable from our own palate to decide which is best, we publish them all. MALTESE WINE, to be made in March or October.-To fourteen gallons of water add forty-six pounds of brown sugar, boil the sugar and water twenty minutes, skimming it well all the time; then pour it into a tub; when it is nearly cold, put in twelve pounds of raisins picked and chopped, and when quite cold put in two gallons of ale when it has fermented and is ready to be tunned; let it stand three or four days, stirring it every day; then put it into the cask with a pint of brandy, half a pound of sugar candy pounded, and two ounces of isinglass dissolved in a quart of the liquor. When it has quite done fermenting, bung it close up, let it stand twelve months, then bottle it. The cask should not be quite full. A Grateful Subscriber). MALT WINE. To a ten gallon cask, eight gallons of water, twentyfour pounds of good moist sugar, boil together half an hour, skimming it well all the time; put it into your tub till nearly cold; have ready two gallons of good ale when that is ready for tunning; mix it well together; work it in the tub two or three days; skim it three times a day. Then put it into your cask, with three pounds of raisins, the rind of six lemons, a little isinglass, and a bottle of brandy; let it work a week, then stop it close, and bottle it off in twelve months.-(T. Phillips). MALT WINE, OR ENGLISH MADEIRA.-To make nine gallons, take five gallons of water, and boil in it for five or ten minutes twenty-eight pounds of sugar; draw off the liquor into a convenient vessel, and allow it to cool, then mix with it six quarts each of sweet-wort and of tun; allow it to stand for three days and then put it into a barrel. Here it will work or ferment for three days or more; then bung up and keep it undisturbed for two or three months, then add three pounds of whole raisins, half a pound of candy, and one pint of brandy. In four or six months it should be bottled. Three or six months in this state and it is fit for a king; indeed, it is the best of home-made wines. (Sweet-wort, is the liquor that leaves the mash before it is boiled with the hops. Tun, is the new beer.)-(A Constant Subscriber). CHOICE PLANTS FOR A GREENHOUSE WITHOUT ARTIFICIAL HEAT (J. S. L.). We will try and do you service, but your want of artificial heat is a great drawback. ERICAS AND GOOD PLANTS FOR A GREENHOUSE (J. S.).-You will be attended to ere long. ROSES IN POTS (A Subscriber).-See what Mr. Fish has said to-day. DOUBLE SENECIO ELEGANS (A Lover of Flowers, Leeds).-This came Take some of the small up in the border, and you ask how to keep it. side shoots off close to the stem with a sharp knife; remove the lower leaves, and insert the cuttings round the side of a pot, in light sandy soil, and cover with a hand-light, or set it in a frame. In a fortnight you might give these cuttings a little bottom-heat; pot them off when struck. To make doubly sure, after taking off your cuttings, cut your plant pretty well down. In a week cut round its roots; place a pot over it at night, to save it from frost, and raise it with a ball, and transfer it to a pot in a fortnight, to be kept in a pit or greenhouse. ROSES (J. B.).-Victor Hugo and Duc de Treviso are good old, and very strong, Hybrid Chinas. The third (Emmeline), we forget just now to what section it belongs, but any of the old nursery catalogues will tell. Those strong varieties never flower well if they are much pruned, and what pruning they do require, according to Mr. Beaton's plan, should be done late in March, so as to reduce their vigour. Thin the shoots a little, and merely cut off the first few inches of the points of the strong shoots. Gladioli.-See what is said of them to-day in another page. JASMINE PHLOXES-ROSE-STOCKS (An Original Subscriber).— "1st. What is the best time and manner of pruning white and yellow Jasmine remaining upon a house? Do the young shoots grow better for not being nailed very near their tops? 2nd. Best treatment of Phloxes, white and purple, after flowering; cut down and left, or moved? Stalks burnt make good stuff for potting purposes? 3rd. In planting Stocks in November, for budding Roses upon in grass lawns, is it better to leave a small circle round them unturfed or not? If it is, could the space be properly used for Verbenas in summer? Had the Stock best be put in with a ball of its native earth, or should the roots be pruned and shook clean; are its branches immediately to be pruned close, or should that be done while the brier is still growing in the hedge ?" We insert your letter entire, with answers, both for your own private use, and for letting our readers see an excellent specimen of how letters should be written for editorial consideration. 1st. For weak Jasmines, the end of October is the best time to prune; for very strong ones, the beginning of April is best. Close pruning is best for them, as it is for all such climbers as flower on the current season's growth. The young shoots will look more graceful hanging out a little from the wall, and will flower just as well as if closely trained. 2nd. The best way is to let Phloxes alone until their leaves die off naturally, or by the frost, then the dry stalks would help to burn or char garden refuse, or be charred, which would be better "stuff" than their ashes. 3rd. It is better to leave an open space round rose stocks for the first few years, and the open space may be used for Verbenas, as you suggest; but you must make good what food they consume, otherwise the roses are robbed in open day. No native soil with rose stocks and their roots, if long and large, must be cut to within a foot of the stock, and if it were convenient they ought to be pruned now. But whoever thinks of doing that !! TROPEOLUMS FOR CONSERVATORY (W. X. W.).-Tropaeolum Lobbianum would answer in one of your tubs, and would mix with T. pentaphyllum at the top of the house; and when the latter was done flowering Lobbianum would come in to succeed it. We cannot think of another climber suitable to plant with either of these, or, indeed, with any Tropaeolum in-doors, as they grow too fast for others, and would soon smother them to death. We have seen Lophospermum trained horizontally on a wall to cover the naked spaces left by other climbers, and it answered very well indeed up to any height that was bare. STEPHANOTIS FLORIBUNDA.-F. W. T. writes to us thus :-"I have a fine plant of Stephanotis floribunda which, in a pot, never gave me any flowers, and did not grow freely. I, all in a hurry, turned it out into a bed, with bottom-heat from tanks; the bed of sandy poor soil, and not regularly made, varying-in parts sandy, in others nearly very stiff. The bed cannot be heated without heating the house, and is not more than 10 to 15 inches deep, so in cold weather it has most bottom-heat. Since the planting out it has made a great growth, and given two bunches of flowers; but it has lost many leaves, and now presents many bare branches, with several yellow leaves." Your Stephanotis is, indeed, in an awkward position; the soil is too poor for it, which with bottom-heat caused the roots to spread fast; and as soon as they reach the tanks, how do you mean to save them from being stewed to death? You cannot receive the proper effects of the tanks till the water in them is 120° at the least-heat enough to kill any root in contact with it; by all means remove the plant before you apply heat for the winter. You might cover a space of two feet or more in width across the end of the tank with boards; lay a strong rich compost over the board, and plant the Stephanotis in that with safety; indeed, that way it would surprise you in two years; and, as it flowers on the young wood made the same season, it should be pruned close in winter. DAHLIAS (T. Phillips).-Descriptive lists of these, and other superior florists' flowers of the season, will appear in a short time. STRAWBERRIES ON FRUIT BORDER (Mrs. Charles Brown).—Anything planted on a fruit border is in some degree injurious to the fruittrees, but strawberries and other strong feeding plants are especially injurious. Nevertheless, many fruit-tree borders are so planted; and, if you do the same, the strawberries will do less hurt close to the stems of the trees than if planted six feet from them. HEADING-DOWN LAURELS (Ibid).-The best time for doing this is just before they begin growing in the spring. RECIPES (J. Dawson).-We cannot give you any of the recipes you require. Toad-stools, however large in quantity, will give you very little manure in bulk. What they do yield is rich. Mix them with salt, and cover them with earth. The mixture will make a good compost for your kitchen-garden. WOOD-WORK OF GREENHOUSE (Novice).—It is quite impossible for us to give estimates. BASS'S PALE ALE (An Amateur).-Can any of our readers give "directions that can be relied on" for brewing this. Do not wean the colt until the spring. Cochineal, or Brazil Wood-chips, will give rhubarb wine a red colour; but you must try a little to ascertain the quantity required. Ten plants of rhubarb will yield you 60 lbs. of stalk at a cutting. You must not "mow" (!) the stalks down; pull off the outside ones only. Many varieties of rhubarb continue red when old. The Cottagers' Hive is twelve inches in diameter and nine inches deep, inside measure. There is no hoop round the bottom. It is the same diameter throughout. KIDNEY BEANS (D. Walker).—Yours are very like the Dwarf Early Cluster; but the seeds of this are rather darker. CALENDARS (W. Morett).-Thanks for the trouble you have taken, and if any copies of No. 104, page 410, have the Calendars headed "September," they are wrong, and October should be substituted. CABBAGE-SEED DESTROYED BY INSECTS (R. C.).—If the insect is really "similar to the mite in cheese," you cannot have thoroughly dried you seed; it has consequently decayed, and then mites come to feast upon it. Are you sure that it is not a weevil like that at page 347 of last volume? Heat your seeds to 140° for a few minutes; it will kill the insects without injuring the seeds. WEST INDIA SEEDS (J. W., M. F.).—These, and the yams, are of no value, especially as you have only a greenhouse. You could not grow anything from them. GOOSEBERRIES (0. F.).—You will find a list suited to your wants at page 391 of last volume. Of currants, the best black is the Black Naples; of reds, Knight's Large and Knight's Sweet; of whites, the Dutch White. We cannot name nurserymen. KITCHEN-GARDEN (C. M. J.).-You say, "From the end of next November until next June I shall be unable to bestow much care on the garden, and I wish to prepare it accordingly." Plant it now with potatoes and cabbages. They will only require hoeing occasionally. The cabbages will supply you with heads and sprouts through the spring and early summer, and the potatoes, if you plant Ash-leaved Kidneys, will be ready in June. HEN COOP (R. H. B.).—A good size for the coop depicted at page 192 of last volume is four feet long, three feet wide, two feet high in front, slanting down to nine inches high behind. Can you oblige us by stating at which of the seats of the Duke of Sutherland you saw the coop you mention? MEAD (Ystrad).-If made according to Mr. Payne's recipe, the longer it is kept the better it will be. The elder wine, for which a recipe is given in the same paper (Aug. 29), will keep for three years without brandy. PUMPKINS (J. Derham).-Neither of those sent by you are the true Himalayah; proving how difficult it is to keep any of the Gourd tribe free from being cross impregnated. The only slightly pear-shaped is nearest the true sort. As to "what use are they?" read what was said in our first volume about making soup from them. It is the cheapest good soup that was ever suggested. Boiled and mashed like turnips, they are also excellent. The Mammoth pumpkin is worthless. Send Mr. Beaton some of your tall blue Larkspur. HARD WATER FOR GARDEN PURPOSES (J. M. U.).—Before you use, let it stand in a tub exposed to the sun and air for a day, and mix with every ten gallons an ounce of sulphate of ammonia. OXFORD BRAWN.-Take the head of a young porker, lay it, after being split, in soak for 24 hours in salt and water; rub it well with common salt and a quarter of an ounce of saltpetre and a quarter of a pound of moist sugar; let it lie in the salting-trough three days; wash it well, and put it on to boil until the meat will come readily from the bones; cut up the meat into small pieces; season to your taste; put it all into a brawn tin, or any earthenware vessel with a flat bottom will answer as well; the tongue should be placed in the middle upright. It is much improved if four or five tongues can be had instead of one. When cold, turn it out.Mary W. BEES COLLECTING HONEY-DEW.-P. V. M. F. writes as follows:"Can Mr. Payne, or any of your readers, inform me whether they have ever actually seen bees collecting honey-dew? In the whole three years of my experience as a bee-keeper, I must confess myself never to have been eye-witness to this fact; and I am bound to say, that I am wholly incredulous as to what is called honey-dew, whether resulting from the secretions of aphids or the perspiration of leaves being collected by bees, except, perhaps, in very bad seasons when flowers yield little or no honey. I have heard the busy hum of bees, of which Dr. Bevan speaks, among the foliage of the lime or linden tree, but on close inspection, though the leaves may have been profusely covered with the sweet secretion called honey-dew, I have never detected one of the many varieties of the genus bee which throng the blossoms of the lime employed in gathering this glutinous liquid. If by chance one bee has alighted on a leaf, and thrust out its proboscis for a moment, it has been only for a moment, and it has flown off instantly, as if disgusted. I may mention that I observed oaks, beeches, elms, and a variety of other trees, covered with this dew, but in not a single instance have I detected a bee appropriating it. About the leaves of a climbing rose that was greviously affected with blight this summer, I observed several queen wasps indulging themselves, and occasionally a bee settled on its leaves, but I never observed it suck the liquid, nor has any body, with whom I am acquainted, been able to give me any certain information on the subject, though all profess to believe in honeydew." We shall be glad of answers to this. We have seen bees apparently collecting honey-dew from filberts severely affected with it last year. GRAPES CRACKING (M. D. Y.).-The cracking of fruits, whether of vines, melons, or pears, is generally caused by the want of a uniformly moderate amount of moisture in the soil. We think it probable that some mulching applied during any dry period when the grapes are about completing their first swelling, and this well watered on, may probably stay the cracking. If, however, you can prove that stagnated moisture is the cause, the remedy is obvious-thorough drain the subsoil, and raise the roots. Your naming "light gravelly soil," however, inclines us to the former opinion. You surely have got a wrong sort; probably a Black Frontignan or a West's St. Peter's. We would graft a Muscadine and a Hambro' or two next May on your tree. FRUIT FOR EAST WORCESTERSHIRE (J. M.).-Your aspect being rather inferior, we dare not suggest tender fruits. For pears, we would take one Jargonnelle, one Dunmore, one Maria Louise, one Winter Neilis, one Glout Morceau, one Josephine de Malines. In plums, you may take one Greengage and one Golden Drop. Do not improve all the old elm soil in common; make stations with your first soil and mellowed pond mud. CUCUMBERS IN WINTER (Clericus).-Your gardener supplies your table with cucumbers from the rafters or trellis of a stove, from June to September, and he can do so with an ordinary hotbed, with much less trouble to himself, even if he begins in the middle or end of March. The frame may be taken away entirely the beginning of June; and should any roots of the cucumbers be visible round where the frame stood, let them be covered up with a little earth and nothing more will be needed but a little water now and then; stopping and pegging down occasionally. The frame towards the middle of August may be employed again upon a little bottom-heat for raising either seedlings or cuttings of cucumbers for winter growth, so as to be provided with some good stocky plants to plant out in your stove, either in large pots or boxes towards the middle or end of September, to run up the trellis under the glass, which will supply your table during the winter and early spring months. The Syon House variety is considered the best for winter growth. If you look to page 38, of vol. iv., you will see Mr. Errington's plan of a cucumber stove. will write upon the winter culture. He PIG-STYE (A Constant Reader).-We cannot give estimates. Get two carpenters to send you in estimates and plans, and take that which you think cheapest and best. CUTTING-BACK PORTUGAL LAURELS (Eugenia).-About next April,│ a little earlier or a little later, you may cut back your Portugal Laurel, being guided by the commencement of its growth. Cut back just as it begins to grow. PLANTING MUSHROOMS IN PASTURE (A Farmer and Gardener).—It is not improbable that if in April or May you were to insert fragments of spawn in the soil beneath the turf, that during the summer the spawn might spread, and increase your produce in the autumn. Try the experiment and let us know the result. EARLY VARIETIES OF POTATO (A Country Curate).—If you refer to Mr. Duncan Hair's advertisement in our last number, you will see where you can obtain Martin's Early Seedling; and for Rylott's Flour Ball apply to Mr. Turner, Neepsend, Sheffield. Cold, wet, heavy loam will not grow potatoes of the best flavour at any time, but we should not hesitate to plant there early in November. We know your district thoroughly, and could tell anecdotes of the Wigborough, Tolshunt Darcy, and Mersea cultivators, that would make you laugh, until the echo reverberated from Layer Marvey Tower. Your objections to early varieties is not valid, because many early ripeners are among our best keeping potatoes. We never grow a late ripening sort, yet we have potatoes until the new ones come again. DAMSON WINE (An Old Subscriber).-Can any one of our readers furnish a recipe for this. PETUNIAS FROM SEED (T. M. W.).—Read the paragraph again. We say, "seedling petunias do never improve in shape or colour by cultivation." Nor do they; if they are bad at first they remain bad. BLUE LARKSPUR (H. K.).—The party to whom you sent in a letter says, "Please to say for me, many, many thanks for having thought of me in your affliction. I, too, have been through the same furnace, and can say, with gratitude, that it is good for us that we have been in trouble." Thanks also for the note about Couve Tronchuda, which we will print. MOSSY FORMATION ON SWEET BRIER (B. White).-This is very common, as well as on the Dog rose and other roses. It is caused by a Gall fly (Rhodites Rose) depositing her eggs in a bud, and the wounds caused by the grubs, each inhabiting its own cell within, produces, in a mode unaccounted for, the mossy ball known as the Rose Bedeguar which was once used in medicine. CHARRED RUBBISH (A. C., Hereford).—This put alone upon your "stiff soil" will be highly beneficial. If you are about to plant cabbages on the part manured with it, pour a few gallons of gas ammoniacal liquor over it just before spreading and digging,-say a gallon of the liquor to every two bushels of the charred rubbish. DISFIGURED WALL (One Constant Reader).—Can any of our readers say how a wall can be rendered of a uniform colour, suitable for a rose garden, that is now disfigured by the whitewash where an outbuilding formerly stood? MUSCATEL GRAPE (B. C.).—The Grizzly, White, and Black Frontignans are all of the Muscatel class. They are called Muscateller in Germany. You can obtain them of any respectable nurseryman. Strawberries forced, and then turned out into a border trimmed and watered in dry weather, often produce a crop of fruit in autumn. All flowers are bad on a vine border; see what we have said to-day about strawberries on a fruit border; the same observations apply to your case. WORK ON FARMING (B. M. J.).-Stephens's Book of The Farm will suit. Read also Cobbett's Cottage Economy. NAMES OF PLANTS (Carrig Cathol).-The little blue annual (1) is Brachycome iberidifolia. 2. The mere tip of a shoot! we cannot detect. Send us a flower. (G. C. S.).-Your ferns, 1, 12, and 13, are Polypodium vulgare. 2. Pteris hastata. 3 and 4. Scolopendrium officinarum. 5. Asplenium adiantum nigrum. 6 and 10. Aspidium aculeatum. 7, 9, and 11. Aspidium Filix-mas. 8. Asplenium trichomanes. 14. Adiantum cuneatum. Some one, whose letter we have mislaid, has sent us a single specimen of a fern; it is Asplenium adiantum nigrum, or Black Spleenwort. LONDON: Printed by HARRY WOOLDRIDGE, Winchester High-street, in the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and Published by WILLIAM SOMERVILLE ORR, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish of Christ Church, City of London.-October 10th, 1850. On the 25th of October, 1822, died JAMES SOWERBY, at his residence near the Asylum, Lambeth, in the sixty-sixth year of his age-a man whose memory will survive as long as taste and science delight in English Botany. Mr. Sowerby was, in his early years, a teacher of drawing and a portrait painter. In the first of these employments he was required especially to instruct in the graceful and difficult accomplishment of flower painting, and his skill in this soon attracted the notice of contemporary botanists. Mr. Sowerby's practice as a miniature painter aided him to attain excellence in delineating the portraits of plants, for success in both depends equally upon delicacy of touch and a happy appreciation of minute characteristics. Sir James Edward Smith, the President of the Linnean Society, employed him to illustrate some of his works, and this confirmed Mr. Sowerby's resolution to enter upon that department of art for the illustration of science in which he subsequently became so eminent. His first work on the subject was published in 1789, entitled, A Botanical Drawing Book, or an easy introduction to drawing flowers according to Nature, a volume which we strongly recommend to all our readers who have a propensity to flower painting; for we can assure them that one of the greatest trials the politeness of a man of science has to endure, is the inspection of pictures which certainly are not infractions of the second commandment being like nothing on this earth, nor in the waters under the earth. To pourtray the petals, leaves and stems of a plant, is to please the eye only; but to copy also correctly the parts essential to be known in arranging it scientifically adds to its beauty, and is to render the same picture more valuable, because useful as a hotanical illustration. In 1791 Mr. Sowerby published The Florist's Delight, being portraits of flowers, with botanical descriptions; this, however, did not meet with encouragement; and in 1797 he commenced publishing in parts, and in 1803 completed in three volumes folio, his Figures of English Fungi, or Mushrooms, accompanied by botanical descriptions. During this time, and throughout the remainder of his life, he was employed very extensively by other authors to furnish drawings to illus. trate their works, and we may remark that his graphic skill was employed upon minerals as well as upon plants. His great work, however, is English Botany, which extended to thirty-six volumes, containing 2592 coloured figures of native plants, the descriptions of which are from the pen Chrysalis. If the vines in gardens are examined in April and May, this moth will be seen sitting on the branches; it is most readily observed if the branch is beaten with a stick, when the insect flies out, and soon settles on it again. The female at that season lays her eggs singly on the twigs or buds of the vine, from which the young are hatched at the time when the blossom-buds are unfolded. These caterpillars fasten several blossombuds together by means of whitish threads, and eat off the inner parts of the blossoms. When they have finished one part of the bunch of blossoms they proceed to another part, and do the same till the whole bunch is as if covered by a spider's web. The longer the blossom-buds remain small, the greater number of them will be required for the food of the caterpillar; therefore, the devastations of this insect will be most felt in cold wet springs. Instances have occurred of trellises, though rich in blossom, not having produced a single ripe bunch of grapes, all having fallen a prey to these caterpillars, of Sir. J. E. Smith, and which is far superior to any other work hitherto 4, Male Moth; 4 a, Female; 4 b, Caterpillar; 4 c, Eggs; 4d and 4 e, published illustrative of the British Flora. It has been well observed of periodical works like this, that they serve as immediate and imperishable records of species which never afterwards lose a place in systems of natural history, while they remain as standards of reference, and lighten the work for future labourers. We believe that many a tolerable botanist and still more collectors have been made by these works. We so think because we know that many a mind delighting in knowledge is rendered ardent in the attempt to gather together illustrations of nature, when they have the ready means of acquiring their name, history and properties. It is not much above fifty years, says the author we have alluded to, since a work of this kind appeared among us; and the diffusion of a taste for the study of nature has, to our certain knowledge, at least kept pace with that appearance. Formerly, the rarest plant bloomed for its master alone, but now no sooner does a blossom expand than its portrait is dis tributed not only over this country, but in a short period reaches the abode of every botanist and cultivator of choice plants. The reference to a drawing enables the inhabitant of Petersburgh and New York to acquire the plant he requires from a nurseryman in London, while formerly a name without an illustration had long proved a source of confusion and imposition. If we refer back even only to the early volumes of the Botanical Magazine, and compare their portraits of plants with those now published in the Gardeners' Magazine of Botany-one of the most beautifully illustrated periodicals ever published-we shall thence learn to appreciate the progress made in this department of the fine arts-a progress mainly promoted by Mr. Sowerby. The lesson he taught had an influence not confined to Europe; and the remembrance of the pleasing impression still survives which was made upon us when we witnessed the native artists copying flowers for Dr. Wallich at the Botanical Garden of Calcutta. The vividness of their colouring, and their minute accuracy, were lessons which might be regarded advantageously by all flower painters. The even tenour of the days of a man devoted to science and the fine arts rarely offers salient points for the biographer, and Mr. Sowerby was not one of the rare exceptions. He was a Fellow of the Linnæan and Geological Societies; collected a museum rich in specimens connected with their pursuits, and was worthily liberal in throwing open its door to the student. Men like him rarely die wealthy; but, whether he was an exception or not, we hope that his family will find an extensive sale for the English Botany, which they are reissuing at a price much below that at which it was originally published. METEOROLOGY OF THE WEEK.-From observations made at Chiswick during the last twenty-three years, the average highest and lowest temperatures of these days are 58.3° and 41.20, respectively. The greatest heat, 72°, occurred in several years; and greatest cold, 20°, on the 21st in 1842. On 81 days rain fell, and 80 days were fine. INSECTS.-A correspondent on the coast of Hampshire having complained that" all through the summer the buds and branches of his outdoor grapes have been disfigured by a caterpillar and its web," we applied No. CVII., VOL. V. When fully grown, the little caterpillar measures three or four lines, is dirty green, and beset with whitish minute warts, from which arise stiff hairs; the head and first segment of the body are yellowish brown, the six fore-feet blackish, and the others the same colour as the body. They enter the pupa state towards the end of June, and appear as moths twelve days afterwards. Pupation takes place either in the cocoon or in a curled up leaf. The pupa is brown, with rough points. The moth is three or four lines long, and, with the wings extended, six lines broad. The head is yellowish brown; the antennae, which are half as long as the whole insect, are black and annulated. The upper wings appear marbled with rust-colour and blueish grey, having two incomplete cross bands of the latter colour, or whitish, in the middle of the first of which, towards the centre, is a dark rusty dot. The second band has several dots and streaks of the same colour, placed irregularly; and a confused whitish mark which springs from four pair of little hooks, on the anterior edge; the space between the innermost pair is very dark. The under wings are white, with brownish veins and snow-white fringes. The caterpillars of the second generation of this moth appear towards the end of August and beginning of September, from the eggs of the first. These are also found on the bunches of grapes, but they do less damage, as the berries are then of considerable size. The caterpillar penetrates into them, and feeds on their unripe pulp. When a berry is so much consumed that it begins to wither, its caterpillar spins a round, hollow passage, which forms a bridge for its passage into another grape. Four or five grapes are sufficient, in general, for the nourishment of one caterpillar; but in rainy weather the mischief extends to a greater number, because those the caterpillars have begun to devour soon rot, and the infection spreads to those near. The fully grown caterpillar then leaves the bunch of grapes, to undergo pupation either at the root of the vine or in some other suitable place. The pupae of the second generation remain in this state throughout the winter, and it is not till April of the next year that the moths are developed from them. RENEWING, from page 4, our consideration of the horticultural uses of CARBONATE OF AMMONIA, we may commence by laying down this general rule:-Never apply an ammoniacal or other stimulating manure to the roots of plants except when they are growing strongly. We include all liquid manures within this rule, and to apply such manures to the wounded roots of newly-planted vegetables, or to sickly plants already sinking beneath the ordinary stimulus of light, is so contrary to common sense, to say nothing of universal experience, that it only requires to be pointed out to be appreciated. We quite agree with Mr. Beaton in his dread of re commending the use of any salt (and carbonate of ammonia is one in chemical classification), because we have witnessed such fatal consequences from their ignorant and thoughtless employment. Thus, we once knew a man who planted his potatoes by aid of the dibble, and who abused us for not explaining that the salt we recommended was not to be put into the holes along with the sets! All saline manures require to be used with the greatest caution, and in a very diluted, or weakened, form. Thus carbonate of ammonia should never be used stronger than half an ounce to a gallon of water. If gas ammoniacal liquor is used, a pint of it to a gallon of water is a good proportion. Thus weakened it is a powerful manure, and may be applied at any time to all growing plants cultivated for their leaves; but to those cultivated for their flowers or fruit, not until after the appearance of the blossom buds. We need only remind our readers, to enforce the importance of carbonate of ammonia as a manure, that all the dungs they employ are rich, that is, a small quantity is efficacious, just in proportion to the abundance of ammonia they contain. Guano, night soil, fatting pigs' and pigeons' dung, are powerful, and abound in ammonia, just in the order we have enumerated them. Of its We have seen the carbonate of ammonia employed, greatly to the increase of their vigour and productiveness, upon cabbages, rhubarb, and asparagus. effects on other crops we have the following evidence:Mr. Paynter, of Bos Kenna, in Cornwall, has given the result of an experiment made with the water on a piece of barley land: "A quarter of an acre was taken in the middle of a field of rather close soil in a granite district. The land was of average quality. The gas water was distributed over the quarter acre by a contrivance resembling that of a common watering-cart, and at the rate of about 400 gallons to the acre. About a week before seed-time, the rest of the field was manured in the usual way. The difference both in colour and vigour of the barley plant was so strikingly in favour of the part manured by the gas water, that persons passing within view of the field almost invariably came to inquire about the cause. The yield also was superior, as well as the after pasture-the field having been laid down with the barley." The London Horticultural Society instituted experiments upon manures for the improvement of lawns, and the conclusion arrived at was extremely in favour of gas liquor, when compared with other manures.-(Johnson's Gardener's Almanack.) The following are the results of experiments made by Mr. Wilson, of Largs (county of Ayr), in 1841, and commu. nicated by him to the Philosophical Society in Glasgow. A piece of three-years-old pasture, of uniform quality, was Concurrent testimony with this is given by a gentleman residing in Monmouthshire, who says "In the beginning of April I watered half a clay-land meadow, of five acres, with ammoniacal liquor, diluted with five times the quantity of clear pond water. In three days, I perceived that all the moss, and many of the finer blades of grass, close to the ground, were destroyed. The bulk of the herbage, however, appeared to be unaffected; but in a week's time there was a decided improvement in the portion manured; and, from that time to this, there has been an increased quantity and a very improved quality of grass. Its colour is darker than the other. Any stock prefer grazing on that side of the meadow. In the last week in May, I mixed one part ammoniacal liquor with ten of liquid manure from an open cesspool, which receives all the rain-water and drainage from my fold and dwelling-house, and watered the half of a second meadow. The effect is extraordinary, the herbage is much improved and thickened, the colour a healthy dark green, and the growth materially accelerated. There is double the quantity as compared with the unma nured portion. The cattle, sheep, and horses, prefer the former. Had my cesspool been a covered one, I think one part to ten would have been too strong; but I am this week building an enclosed tank, and intend making other experiments."(Gardener's Chronicle, 1842 and 1843.) Nor are these the only witnesses to the same purpose, for Mr. Cotton, of Hildersham Hall, near Cambridge, has also found it highly beneficial to grass; and another gentleman, in Dorsetshire, who tried gas liquor on his meadow, states, that "It was applied in May, and wherever the water-cart passed with the ammoniacal liquor, its course could be traced by the darker green of the grass." The carbonate of ammonia is also useful to the cultivator in other ways than when applied to the roots of plants. Thus, it offers also to the farmer and the gardener a powerful remedy against one of their greatest enemies, the louse or green-fly (APHIS), which attacks their pea, bean, and other crops so destructively. I have found it equally effective in destroying the black louse (APHIS CERASI), which is occasionally so injurious to the Morello cherry. Dr. Lindley states (Gardener's Chronicle, 1843, page 477), that it has lately been ascertained by Mr. George Gordon, the Superintendent of the Hardy Department in the Garden of the Horticultural Society, that the ammoniacal liquor of the gas works, diluted with water, is a certain remedy for the green-fly, which has been so unusually abundant during He has found that although gas the present year. water in its undiluted state burns foliage whenever it touches it, yet that plants do not suffer from it when considerably weakened with water. It appears that when the London gas liquor is mixed |