being so liable to damp off. And this rule applies to a great number of similar woody stove plants. If a cultivator has not a good propagating-house, with all its conveniences of heat, moisture, shades, bell and handglasses, and plenty of time to attend to all the regular shading, watering, wiping of glasses, &c., he had better, generally, choose his cuttings of such a state of woodripeness as to ensure a strike, though he has to wait a few weeks longer before his cuttings put forth roots. Generally, the best time for planting cuttings is in the early part of the year, in order that they may be rooted in time to receive at least two shifts from the cuttingpot before the growing season is over. This gives them time to become well-established woody plants before winter, with its dark damp days, sets in, which, if it found them in a soft green state, might destroy them. Prepare, then, the cutting-pots and bell-glasses, compost and sand, as near this time of the year as circumstances will admit. The compost we have described this week will suit most kinds of cuttings to root into; but to prevent the decomposing power in the compost from acting upon the young and tender cutting, an inch deep of pure white sand is indispensable. Proceed, then, in the way we have often described, and still press upon the attention of those desirous to increase their plants, that is, first drain the cutting-pot in a more careful manner than is done in merely repotting established plants. Place first a large piece of broken potsherd over the hole at the bottom of the pot, prop it up on one side with a very thin piece of blue slate, or thin potsherd, then place an inch, or rather less, of potsherds upon the large one, and upon them about half an inch of still smaller broken potsherds; upon them place a thin layers of moss or of the fibrous siftings of peat, then one to prevent the finer particles of the compost being washed down by frequent waterings amongst the drainage, which would soon choke up the drainage, cause the soil to become sour, and bring disease and death amongst the cuttings, even after they had put forth roots. This most important operation (in the art of striking cuttings) being well and duly performed, then fill in the compost to within one inch of the top, shake it gently down, and smooth the surface with a circular piece of wood. Then place upon it an inch of fine pure silver sand, filling the pot quite level with the rim, give a gentle watering, which will give a smoothness and firmness to the sand, rendering it in a fit state to receive and hold fast the cuttings. It may then stand on one side till the cuttings are taken off and prepared. If a bell-glass is used, the pot should be of such a size as to allow the glass to rest upon the sand just within the rim of the pot, and should now be fitted to it, pressing it down so as to leave a mark which will serve as a guide within which to put the cuttings. Preparing the Cuttings.-In the case of the Calliandras, take them off, bearing in mind the above remarks on the age of the wood; above all things do not make them too large. It may be laid down as a rule almost without exception, that the smaller the cutting, the more surely and quickly it will root; and more especially this rule applies to such small twiggy shoots as those of Calliandra; coarser growing, such as Clerodendrums; or more softwooded plants, such as Gloxinias, may have their cuttings made a little larger; but all others should be made as small as possible. One inch, or one and a half inch, with a very few leaves at the top will be quite large enough. Make as many cuttings ready at once as will fill one pot, put them in pretty close to and within the mark made by the rim of the bell-glass, incline the leaves inwards so that they may not touch the glass when it is put on, that the moisture which condenses on the inside of the glass may not wet the leaves, and so cause them prematurely to decay; put the cuttings in with a small smooth stick, one made of ivory is the best; press the sand to the bottom of each cutting, and do not allow the cuttings to be very close to each other; for if one happens to decay suddenly it might infect its neighbours, and thus cause destruction to the whole crop. Fill up the holes with a little dry sand, give then a gentle watering, and allow them to become a little dry before the glass is finally fixed upon them. If you have the convenience of a barkpit, however small, within the propagating-house, plunge the cuttings in it quite up to the rim of the pot, smoothing the bark close to it by patting it down with a small piece of wood. The cuttings are now in the best possible state and condition. The care necessary will be to shade them from bright sunshine, or even strong light, for a few days, or, perhaps, weeks will be necessary, till they root. They must be examined daily, and all decaying leaves or dying cuttings removed as soon as they occur. The glasses should be wiped quite dry at least every other day; should the sand become dry, it must have a supply of water; but the glasses must then be kept off for an hour to allow the leaves and the surface of the sand to become moderately dry. Early in the morning is the best time for this watering to be done: With this minute and daily care it may be expected the cuttings will most of them grow. When they begin to show signs of growth, the glasses should be left off for two hours every morning, and if they appear to bear this exposure well, they should be examined to see if roots are formed. This may be performed either by gently raising one of the most promising, or by lifting the pot out of the bark, turning it carefully upside down, giving it a gentle blow on the edge of the potting-bench, and then catching the ball in the hand so as not to break it. If there appear plenty of roots they may be divided at once, and potted singly into 23-inch pots, and placed under hand-glasses till new roots are formed; shading and watering regularly. After this gradually inure them to bear the full air and light, and then remove them into the stove, placing them on a shelf near to the glass. Summer Culture-From April to September inclusive the heat should be by day 65° to 75°; by night 55° to 60°. Air must be given to keep the temperature to within a few degrees of these points. Pot in March, and if the plants are young, again in June. Young plants place in a cold pit or frame from July to the end of August, or the middle of September, if the season is fine. We have found stove plants, at least all that will bear it, to be greatly benefited by being planted out in a sheltered sunny border during summer, taking them up and potting early in September. One beautiful stove plant, the Hindsia longiflora, and the variety alba, we never could get to form dwarf handsome bushes by any other means than planting out; and it is a practice we strongly recommend for a number of otherwise difficult-to-manage stove plants. Winter Culture. Having got summer over, and a good growth upon the plant, another less congenial season approaches; but if rightly managed during its progress it will be found equally as beneficial to stove plants as it is to our hardy shrubs out of doors. This is the season when we must induce our hothouse plants to go to rest. Calliandras, especially, require it. If they lose the greater part of their leaves, so much the better; they will then require a careful pruning. All coarse strong shoots should be shortened in, and very small twiggy ones cut out entirely. This will strengthen the remainder, and it is from the shoots made towards spring that the flowers are produced. As we mentioned above, they are now, in March, in flower at Kew, and the flower-buds appear amongst and along with the young shoots; the pruning, then, ought to be performed in the early part of the winter; the month of December, we say, is the best month to do it, because then the plants are, or ought to be, in a dormant state. During this season but little water must be given, and a lower temperature manure; the glasses should be raised in sufficient time -the maximum 60°, the minimum 50°. T. APPLEBY. FLORISTS' FLOWERS. ALL this class of plants will now require constant attention. Auriculas and Polyanthuses will now be showing bloom, and should have plenty of water at the roots, and abundance of air. They will not need shading as yet. Carnations and Picotees require to be finished potting into their blooming-pots, and sheltered from heavy rains, sleet, cold cutting winds, and frosts. Chrysanthemums, propagate by cuttings. Dahlias, continue to propagate. Cuttings that are rooted should be potted, and placed in a warm sheltered frame to grow stout and strong. Hyacinths, in pots for exhibition, should be in a forward state; give plenty of air, and place sticks to support the bloom; water freely, and every third time with liquid manure. Pansies, attend to by top-dressing both the beds and pots with old decayed manure; shelter from severe cutting winds and heavy rains. Pinks, top-dress also. Ranunculuses, shelter, tread firmly the soil about them if not already done. Tulips must still be carefully protected from heavy rains, late frosts, and sleet. T. APPLEBY. THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. ROUTINE WORK.-Persevere with general cropping. If there are any cabbage-plants amongst the crop to be found starting into bloom, clear them at once away, and make up the deficiency with other plants; make also another small planting, and sow for coleworts. Cauliflowers, growing under hand-glasses, should be encouraged by the occasional application of tepid liquid to prevent the plants ftom getting, in the least degree, cramped. Plant out in succession, and make another sowing. Where ground is infested with the maggot, it is an excellent preventive, previous to planting, to dip the roots into a mixture of soap-suds and chimney-soot. Sow carrots in full crop, also red and white beet, borage, and basil; as well as borecole, Egyptian, and other kales, Brussels sprouts and saroys. Sow the Purple Cape, White Cape, Grange's White, and Walcheren brocolies; and see that enough of capsicums, chillies, tomatoes, &c., are sown and pricked off. Make, too, a sowing of Ridge cucumbers, horse-radish, and sea-kale. Jerusalem artichoke planting should be finished, and a beginning made in thinning the small suckers from the strong Globe artichokes. A planting of strong suckers may also now be made. Parsley, both curled and Hamburg, should be sown in full crops, also salsafy and scorzonera. Sow the New Zealand spinach in heat; prick off in due time a few plants, and get them strong by shifting into larger pots, so that they may be in good condition by May Day for turning out under hand-glasses or a little bottom heat. Sow celery in full crop on a gentle bottom heat, and prick a sufficiency of early-sown plants. Sow chervil a little and often; save for seed a portion of the most curled which has stood the winter. Thin out the crowns of the sea-kale which has been forced; apply liquid manure to the early out-of doors rhubarb. If onions have not been alr ady sown, they should be attended to forthwith. Early potatoes, under glasses, which have nearly made their growth, should be kept pretty dry, neither applying water or allowing any quantity of rain to fall on them. Apply liquid manure to old mushroom-beds ; keep cold draughts from those in bearing, and place the summer-bed in a shady situation. JAMES BARNES. MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. ALLOTMENT FARMING FOR APRIL. "THE hand of the diligent maketh rich ""-a fact, if noto-be in very truth effected by perseverance, let us exhort all rious in the days of Solomon, how much more so in these times, when, from the severity of competition in this densely peopled island, almost all real advances in position are accomplished by skill, or labour, or both. The labourer is no exception to this rule; for labour competes with labour, as skill with skill; and although a lounging and dilatory person may manage to get into the lowest grade of employment for a great portion of the year, at a miserable pittance, yet how different the condition of such a man when compared to an industrious and careful cottager or allottee who thoroughly cultivates his plot of ground. Well may philanthropy point to an extension of the allotment system as a radical cure for no small portion of the evils,-social, moral, and industrial,-with which this kingdom is constantly afflicted or threatened; a kingdom, too, presenting the strange anomaly of the very opposite extremes of riches and poverty. To excite the allotment holder to increased diligence, we would simply tax his memory for a moment by asking him to recollect how many of the truly industrious and obliging amongst his compeers he ever met with begging his bread, or driven into the lowest class of unprofitable drudgery? "I have been young, and now am old; yet never saw I the righteous forsaken, or his seed begging bread." Thus spake the Psalmist in his day; and by such, coupled with the constant and unvarying phase of the question, as presented in these, and indeed all other, times, it is sufficiently manifest that our great Creator has indissolubly coupled industry and propriety of conduct with success, and idleness and dissoluteness-twin brothers-with want and woe. Now, then, whilst the spring is young, and so much may cottiers, or others who may look over these papers, to buckle on their armour, and to take the field in good earnest; we are assured that the majority will know of themselves that such labours will be amply repaid. "Take time by the forelock," is an old and somewhat trite saying; and since the days "O' lang syne," the month of April has been accounted the busiest month in the whole year, to the farmer and the gardener. The first question we would ask every small gardener or farmer is-Have you thoroughly decided on a general policy or scheme of cropping? If not, you must do so forthwith. A good scheme of cropping is something like a geographical puzzle, one part removed or altered will derange all the rest. Economy of both manure and labour are hitched on this very point. Indecision will spoil a well-laid plot; and as our clever fellow-workman, Mr. Barnes, has observed, will throw things into a "pretty muddle." We are not of those who revere cut and dry rules, where liberty of action can be guided by a good common-sense view of affairs. Two allotment-men, holding plots in common, are not obliged to crop by an universal, and, as it were, stereotyped system. Every man should consider his wants: those who have large families, have to cater, in the first place, for many a craving stomach, the youthful possessors of which not unfrequently importune the parent after the manner of young birds in the nest. Now, although we would fain induce cottiers, who are lucky enough to hold a nice garden, and who have few or no children, to try and make some cash out of their plots, we are willing to concede that the craving stomachs of the youngsters have a prior claim. Nevertheless, if any cottager can find out a scheme whereby to bring in some hard dollars, as a Yankee would say, by a, To return, then, to our point. We will suppose that our small holder has thoroughly digested such matter, and proceed to cultural processes peculiar to the season. PREPARATION OF ROOT GROUND.-First of all potatoes. We are decidedly of opinion, as heretofore observed, that the potato disease is on the wane; we dare not say extirpated. The steadily progressive character of the restoration, however, through the country generally, is, in our opinion, sufficient to warrant a much increased amount of confidence in this general favourite; still second only to wheat as to the wants of the poor man. We may suppose that these are all planted by this period, and we may just remind our readers that if the early ones should be inclined to thrust their heads through the soil at the end of April, a little loose soil should be instantly drawn over them. We do not deem it safe to permit them to remain above the surface until the second week in May, unless some covering be furnished them. Moreover, it is by no means the case that the earliest above ground are the first in the market. We hold it good policy to get the potato at work, and full of root, as early as possible below the surface; such being the case, and no check from late frosts, they will grow with immense rapidity after the middle of May. We have found it a capital plan to drop a hill of new sawdust over each set, just as it is emerging from the soil. This protects without impeding the progress of the young shoot. ashes may be added to the mass, at least to the extent of half its bulk. This compost must of course be got in with the seed, and it may be introduced with rapidity by an active person, indeed, as fast he can walk. Such plans we have tried for years, and would farmers practice it, they would seldom fail. They, however, scarcely understand the power possessed by what scientific men term humus; or, in other words, the black and fine residue of the dung-heap, the rubbish-yard, or the wood-pile. Nothing so speedily promotes quick germination and rapid growth whilst the plant is young. Turnips, to remain where sown, may be got in from the early part of April until the end. These to transplant after other crops, mnst be regulated by the period at which their predecessors are cleared off. CARROTS.-We have before written repeatedly about the Early Horn; come we now to the larger kinds, as the Altringham Surrey, &c. Trench deeply, and introduce what manure is necessary in the lower part of the trench; we would have none nearer the surface than six inches, and none deeper than fifteen. Means must, therefore, be taken to blend the manure with the bottom spit, for the old way of paring the manure to the very bottom we entirely disagree with as a waste of property. Deep sandy soils are fittest for carrot culture; we have, however, known very good crops from adhesive soils where means had been taken to ameliorate them, and mellow dressings added. We consider carrots safer from the grub when sown late, say from the middle of April until the early part of May. Some able persons recommend spirits of tar as an antidote to the fly; it may be sprinkled over sawdust, and the sawdust sowed with the seed. Sow in drills about twelve to fourteen inches apart, and single out finally to about four inches. PARSNIPS.-These, of course, are sown; more about cultural matters in our next. ONIONS.-We have little to add to our last advice. Those who have not rolled them, had better do so when the beds are quite dry. Advice about the onion grub in next month's paper. JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES.—If not planted, plant immediately. Moderately manured, and in rows of thirty inches; moderate sized sets planted whole, one foot apart in the row. PEASE. A good row or two of the Blue Prussian, or Green Imperial, may be sown for the Cottager's last crop, in the first week of April; later than this will scarcely prove profitable. BEANS (broad).-A few more of the Broad Windsor or Green Long Pod may be planted immediately, in a halfshaded situation, on cool soil. We do not recommended them, however, for profit. RUNNERS.-Nothing more useful to the cottager. These should be planted in the middle of April, not later. There are many ways of cultivating these. Being ornamental, they may decorate the cottage porch, festoon around its windows, hide unsightly buildings, cover brick walls, palings, &c. As to mere utility, they are as well in a row, highly manured and dug deep. Their sticks need not be more than four feet high; but in that event, their heads must be pinched off just before they reach the top of the sticks; and topping must be repeated through the season if necessary. Runners should be well watered in dry weather. DWARF KIDNEY BEANS.-Not so profitable or so good as the former; these do best in warm nooks or slopes. The Dun-coloured and Negro are the best. In rows, two feet apart; the beans four inches asunder; planted middle of April. MANGOLD WURTZEL.-The ground must be forthwith prepared (if such is not done) by deep digging, and a liberal manuring; and if salt can be procured, let it be remembered that this plant is partial to it. The salt and soot mixture, so often recommended, would, doubtless, be of great service, in addition to a little manure. Mangold is not a remunerative crop in very poor soils; in those rich and deep with high culture, it is, perhaps, second to none in bulk and quality combined. Sow from the tenth to the twentieth of April, in rows of from twenty to twenty-six inches, according to the power of the soil; the plants being singled, finally, to a distance of ten to fourteen inches. Of course, the above advice is intended to apply to parallel rows. We always soak our seed in water for twelve hours previous to sowing. THE SWEDE TURNIP.-It need scarcely be observed, that a very high degree of culture is requisite for all the turnip family; and the prime secret with the Swede, in order to avoid the fly, is to apply a little extra stimulus in the drill with the seed; the plant, to be safe, must grow with rapidity. Farmers use guano and finely ground bone to accomplish this; but for an allotment man we would recommend a mixture. For this purpose soot, very old mellow and powdery manure, leaf-soil, very old tan, &c., are eligible. CUCUMBERS AND THE VEGETABLE MARROW.-In a warm Let a heap be formed on an in-door floor previous to use, and much sheltered corner, exposed fully to the sun, dig the bulk regulated by the quantity requisite, adding the out a trench three feet wide, and one foot below the ground soot last. The soot need not constitute above one-sixth level; scrape together all the green weeds, long grass, or part, and if a handful or two of good Peruvian Guano can other waste herbage, and fill the trench to the ground level; be added, it will amply repay; or if the plot be small, the then place some manure, three or four barrowfuls, in a cottager will find it good practice to apply the guano in a flattened ridge, two feet above the ground, and soil the whole liquid state with the water pot, just after the plant has over slightly at first. Make stations to sow the seed, two emerged from the soil. If he practice the latter, two ounces feet apart, by forming a hollow for greater depth of soil; to a gallon of water is amply sufficient. The soot mixture this fill with rich mellow soil, and drop a few seeds in each must be thoroughly mixed, and almost any quantity of wood-patch. Slope a few poles over the whole, touching the soil PARSLEY.-Sow a little directly; sprinkle some soot on the ground before digging. TURNIPS (Early Dutch.)-Sow a few directly on any spare and poor plot. at back, but elevated at front; and get some old carpet, mat, or other covering, and lay it on the poles, night and day, for awhile, suffering the front to extend as far as the bed, or nearly so. THE VARIOUS GREENS.-A little cabbage, as advised in our last, every month. If broccolis are required, sow Hammond's White Cape and Walcheren now, and in the end of the month; and Monmouth, Winter Imperial, and late White Russian, in the second week. Green kale sow directly; also Brussels sprouts and Savoys. The Green kale is most profitable, being so safe a crop; the Brussels sprouts on good soil are very useful, and will stand the hardest winter. We have said nothing about lettuces, spinach, &c., having so often remarked on these before. We do trust that most of our allotment friends begin to understand the drift of all these little things, as what we term stolen crops. We always hold it a paramount duty to keep the cottager's attention well directed to his root crops; these must constitute the chief staple of his cottage, his cowshed and his pigsty. ROBERT ERRINGTON. HARDY BORDER FLOWERS. DICTAMNUS.-There are two species of this genus, the red and the white. There is but very little other specific difference between these two plants, but that of colour; indeed, the one was, by many authorities, I believe, only considered a variety of the other. Both plants were introduced into this country in the year 1596, and both are natives of Germany. Any rich garden soil suits them; but all the better if a little peat be mixed with it. I always make it a rule, when I receive a new plant, whether from the nursery or a chimp (a rooted cutting) from a friend, to plant it well; that is, to well work the natural soil, and add to it a good portion of peat, turfy loam, and leaf-mould, all well worked up together. This will suit almost any hardy border flower; and, whether the plant be a rapid increaser or not, I take the first opportunity to obtain from it a chimp, so as to have at least a second plant in my possession. Of course this depends upon its beauty or rarity. Now, if these two beautiful young ash-tree-leaved-like plants are planted out in an open situation in a border prepared as I have before mentioned, they might remain in that same spot for twenty years, and I do not know how much longer, if not root-injured at the time the borders are dressed off; but a little top-dressing of the above-directed mixture, at this time every year, would be very beneficial; and the lover of these beauties is well repaid for such care by the scent imparted by merely drawing their large, long lemon-scented spikes of flowers through the hand. Strong, well-treated, established plants grow from two and a half to three and a half feet high from the ground to the tip of the large spikes of flowers. The plant being a slow increaser is one reason why it is not more common. It can be propagated by division of its crowns, which should be done with a little care. Any small bit with a root to it will make a plant. It flowers from the end of May to the end of July; and even its dry glandular capsules are eagerly sought after for their pleasing scent. I say the plants may remain in the same situation for twenty years, because we have two plants, one of the white and one of the red, which have stood in the same spots for the last eighteen years, and noble specimens they are at this time; and during the past years I have taken four or five portions from each; and should I have the pleasure to watch over them for another eighteen years, fifty to one if I should ever take them up or disturb their box-tree-like-looking roots. Their botanical names are D. Fraxinella (Red Flaxinella), and D. Albus (White Flaxinella). VERBASCUMS are the plants I shall next make a few notes upon. They are a large family, the majority of which are showy biennials, both of the exotic and our indigenous kinds, and would look very showy if planted out at proper distances, in autumn or early spring, among trees and shrubs in plantations. They are most of them yellow-flowered. We have only one perennial kind in England; but there are four or five exotic perennial kinds that are worth keeping among our hardy border flowers, and once planted may remain in the same spot for several years. Any rich garden soil suits them. They have large fleshy roots, which should not be injured at the time the borders are being dressed. The perennials are readily increased by division. This family of plants, especially the perennial species, have one very great enemy in a very pretty caterpillar. These hearty feeders will very soon eat away all the herbage of the plant, and destroy all its beauty for the season, before one is aware of it, unless closely watched. Of course this caterpillar should be destroyed as soon as seen. Its parent is a moth called the Cucullia verbaci. (See THE COTTAGE GARDENER, ii. 81.) The very best of these perennial Verbascums is V. Phaniceum (Purple Verbascum, or Mullein). This one in particular I have tried in many ways to grow for exhibiting at the Horticultural Shows; and as I never could lift the plant. from the border into pot in full bloom without injury, the best way I ever hit upon was to plant good strong plants in 9-inch pots, in November, in a mixture of turfy loam, peat, and leaf-mould, plunging pot and all in the open border, and when the shoots were up from six to nine inches high, the following season I just pinched out the tips. This caused them to put out strong laterals so as to have a bushy plant. In this way I have succeeded, and shown beautiful specimens of this deep purple flowering species. It flowers from the middle of May to the end of June, or longer, because, in a rich soil, if the old or principal flower-stems are kept cut away, it continues putting up others in succession to the end of the summer. On the whole, it is a very neat and choice plant, not so often seen as it deserves to be. It grows about three feet high. V. PUNICEUM (Light-red V., or Mullein). This is a stronger and much coarser-looking plant, growing from two and a half to three feet high, and a profuse bloomer. It continues putting up flower-stems most of the summer months, when the advanced should be continually cut away, and attention paid to tying up the young shoots. Its flowers are of a cheerful lilac colour. V. FERRUGINEUM (Rusty V., or Mullein).-This species rises from three and a half to four feet high. It is an inte resting-looking plant, and in flower most of the summer months, if planted in a rich soil; producing rusty-brown flowers. V. CUPREUM (Copper-coloured V., or Mullein).—This is closely allied to the last; but the flowers are rather more orange-coloured, and the plant is a much freer grower. It reaches from two and a half to three feet high. T. WEAVER. THE APIARIAN'S CALENDAR.-APRIL. By J. H. Payne, Esq., Author of " The Bee-keeper's Guide." YOUNG BEES.-The population of every healthy stock of bees is now rapidly increasing, and numbers of young ones may be seen upon every sunny day crowding the entrances of the hives to exercise their wings for the first time, which they may be observed to do with the greatest caution, running from side to side of the alighting board, before venturing to fly; the imperfect nymphs, also, are strewed upon the alighting board of some hives during the night, to be carried away by the bees as soon as the hour of labour commences ; this circumstance also indicates a rapidly increasing popula tion. A very large quantity of food is consumed by the young bees while in the larva or maggot state, which draws very heavily upon the store of the food of the hive, which at present (March) can be very little augmented except by the careful hand of the Apiarian; it, therefore, behoves him to look very attentively to all his weak stocks, and more especially to swarms of the last year, and to let them have a regular supply of food; and for those who like but little trouble in feeding, dry barley sugar is unquestionably the best mode in which it can be administered; it may be given either at the top or bottom of the hive, for it does not, like liquid food, attract robbers to the hives that are supplied with it. BURIED BEES.-I am now anxiously waiting the report of our friends who have buried their stocks for the winter. The time, I suppose, has now fully arrived for their disinterment, and I hope, through the pages of THE COTTAGE GARDENER, to learn the result of their experiments. I received an account, a few days since, of a late second swarm which, in September, weighed only three pounds, including honey, bees, and comb, and which is now in the most healthy state possible, carrying home pollen as actively, if not more so, than any other stock in the apiary, and to my astonishment it has never had food of any kind administered either in the autumn or the spring; but I have strongly recommended its proprietor to lose no time in supplying it, for if carefully fed it will become a first-rate stock, and without that attention I should say it must die. I hope that I have already said enough upon the advantage of having a supply of hives, glasses, boxes, &c., equal to the demand of the coming season, to induce every apiarian to supply himself without further delay. QUEEN WASPS.-The time has again arrived for the destruction of these insects; for by destroying one only, a nest, perhaps of thirty thousand wasps, will be prevented coming into existence, robbing our bees and destroying our fruit. A considerable reward is offered for them in some places; I have heard of as much as sixpence each during the months ORNAMENTING A CIRCULAR POND. IN the 125th number vol. v. of THE COTTAGE GARDENER, among the notices to correspondents, I read, "A large, Circular Pond in a flower garden, which is to have a fountain in the centre, has a margin of grass four feet wide all round, then a gravel walk of six feet; now this pond looks cheerless in winter. What can be introduced round, to give it warmth in winter? The border is too narrow for Rhododendrons, and rockwork is objected to." Then our worthy Editor says, "Can any of our readers give a good suggestion?" And I think he is no bad judge, for the question is rather paradoxical. The fact is, it is driving one into a corner, when I learn that the turf is too narrow for small shrubs, and rockwork is objected to, and yet wish to give it a warm, cheerful appearance in winter. For grass and rockwork are two such adjuncts to water, that no art can separate them with any beneficial effect. Yet, I will submit a plan of a pond, with a gravel walk and mixed flower borders, interspersed with small shrubs round it; and if our friend can gather such a sufficiency of ideas, as will be applicable to the case in point, I shall feel most happy to think I have assisted in helping him out of his difficulty. Gravel In the plan before us, the size of the pond is determined by the length of the beds and width of the open spaces which surround it. Now to commence operations, I will say that I want to make four small beds, to have three small shrubs in each. Two feet apart, and one foot at each end from the edge of the bed, would be none too much for shrubs of very moderate growth; and that will make the beds six feet long, and then there must be a grass verge one foot wide, which will make eight feet; well, then, in my calculation, I shall put it down seven feet for the beds, and seven for the open spaces; eight times seven are fifty-sixdivide by three; the circumference of fifty-six feet is eighteen feet, eight inches in diameter, then deduct four feet from that, to allow for a border of grass two feet wide all round, and that will make the pond fourteen feet, eight inches in diameter (I know there are fractions, but this is near enough to answer my purpose), and this I call a very small one. But for it to be in proportion, and in good keeping with the other parts of the garden, the grounds ought to be of some extent to admit of a pond, even of this size, with its appurtenances thereto. Now, without knowing exactly what the size of our friend's pond is, I apprehend that the size of my intended one is about the same as his; and I will tell you why, the margin of grass four feet, and the gravel walk six, makes a broad band, encircling the pond, ten feet wide. The alterations I propose, according to my annexed plan, is all done in the same space; thus the margin of grass two feet, semi-circular beds three feet wide, grass verge one foot, and the gravel walk four feet, ten feet in all, thereby proving the practicability of the same, should our friend approve of my suggestions. The D of March and April; and, perhaps, where fruit is largely grown and bees are kept, it may not be ill-spent money. I am afraid that after this unusually mild season (winter it cannot be called), they will be very numerous; still, their increase depends more upon a mild genial spring, than upon the severity or mildness of the winter, for when snugly hybernated the cold has no effect upon them. GUIDE-COMBS.-I would recommend guide-combs being fixed in glasses of every kind that are to be placed either on hives or boxes. The bees are induced thereby to commence working in them sooner than they otherwise would do, and it must always be remembered that simply putting on a glass, a box, or a small hive, will not prevent swarming, except the bees commence working in it, which a small piece of comb fixed at the top induces them to do more readily. straight walks are six feet wide, the four beds marked A, B C, D, are intended as mixed flower borders, interspersed with evergreen shrubs; the figures in the four small beds round the pond, allude to the twelve small shrubs, which I recommend for variety, and having a cheerful appearance in winter. 1 Silver Edged Box 2 Common Holly 3 Accuba Japonica 4 Arbutus 5 Savin 6 Golden Edged Box 7 Sweet Bay 8 Silver Edged Holly 9 Common Box 10 Golden Edged Holly 11 Arbor Vitæ 12 Laurestinus Many of these, in a good situation, will attain a large growth. But by selecting, in the first instance, small plants of compact growth, and then, in after-management, by a little judicious pruning, they may be kept within the required compass for a very long time. It would be useless to attempt Rhododendrons, Kalmias, and many, other American shrubs, without making up the beds with peat. I should like to know, through the medium of THE COTTAGE GARDENER, what decision our friend comes to in this matter. GEO. HASKER, Ball's Pond, Islington. TREES SUITABLE FOR PARK SCENERY. It being now well known that THE COTTAGE GARDENER is read by many classes of readers, as well as the amateur and humble cottager, a few remarks on the judicious selection of trees proper to plant, singly or in groups, in the |