64 



IRISH GARDEXIXG. 



good, large onions the manure should have been 

 properly made, and be of good character. A dressing 

 of soot and lime is beneficial, as are also wood ashes 

 and bonemeal. To grow exhibition bulbs, if bonemeal 

 and wood ashes are not to be had, some chemicals must 

 be substituted. -Apply superphosphate, 3 parts to i part 

 muriate of potash at the rate of about one pound to four 

 or five square yards. Distribute evenly, and lightly fork 

 in. When the plants are re-established, or about in the 

 course of a month, watering with a solution of sulphate 

 of ammonia, half an ounce to a gallon of water, will 

 hasten and increase development. 



Celery.— It is an advantage to have celer>- trenches 

 made in advance of planting-out-time. To grow e.xtra 

 large heads for early use, the plants require to be planted 

 early. They also want a sufficient width of trench that 

 will contain plenty of manure. The distance between the 

 trenches should be four feet, and the trenches mav be 

 quite two feet wide and about fourteen inches deep. 

 When the trench is opened the soil below should be 

 forked fine ; on this a layer of five or six inches of 

 decomposed farmyard manure is spread. On the 

 surface of the manure a layer of rich compost should 

 then be shovelled. The spaces between the trenches 

 can be utilised by growing lettuce and radishes thereon. 



The Herbaceous Border. 



By Frank Htnso.v. 



SO W seeds of Ten Week stock, aster, verbena, 

 ageratum and other half-hardy annuals as soon as 

 possible, in gentle heat, in pit or frame. .\s soon 

 as seedlings have germinated give air and light to keep 

 the seedlings sturdy. When they have made rough 

 leaves transplant about three inches apart into cool 

 frames or boxes ; keep 

 them close and shaded 

 for a few days until they 

 have taken root ; then 

 keep them close to glass, 

 and give plenty of air 

 during the day time. 

 Sow sweet pea and sun- 

 flower seeds at the back 

 of the border. .-Vll seeds 

 of hardy annuals can be 

 sown this month. Sow 

 seeds in patches ; they 

 can be thinned out later 

 on. 



Start dahlia tubers at 

 once ; plant gladioli in 

 clumps in vacant spots, the larger the clumps the better 

 the effect they will give. Violets should be taken up and 

 the best runners selected to plant again ; keep them 

 well shaded and watered, if necessary, until they are 

 established. 



Cuttings of phlox and .Michaelmas daisies can be 

 struck this month. Select cuttings from four to five 

 inches in length, put three or four cuttings into four inch 

 pots. Place in gentle heat until they have taken root ; 

 harden off gradually. These will make nice plants for 

 the following season. 



Fr.\xk Hudson. 



Bee-Keeping. 



By T. Magiire, The Orchard. Enniskillen. 



WITH the warmth of .\pril the energies of both 

 bees and bee-keepers begin to awaken. The 

 enthusiastic novice has been reading up the bee 

 books during the winter, and he now knows exactiv how 

 to treat his stocks so as to bring them up to prodigious 

 strength before the honey flow. He is bursting with 

 impatience to get at them ; his fingers are itching to 

 get hold of the frames, to see if the queen is all right, 

 to " spread the brood " in such a way as to bustle her 

 up to laying unprecedented quantities of eggs, and he 

 probably has several new ideas of his own calculated 

 to enable him to have sections ready for sale before 

 other people, not so well up in the business, have put 

 them on. There is hardly any hobby so enthusiasticallv 

 ridden as bee-keeping, especially for the first couple of 

 seasons. Beginners ■s^ill keep fussing and fiddling at 

 their pets. The heroism of braving the stings of the 

 ferocious insects appeals to them. Thev love to show 

 their friends how easily the said ferocious insects can 

 be subdued. The queen is trotted out on all possible 

 occasions, and subduing and controlling and brood- 

 spreading are the order of the day. And then thev 

 wonder how on earth it comes that the neighbour, who 

 knows so little about bees and perhaps cares less, can 

 have his stocks in roaring form, whilst they, with all 

 their anxious care and fuss, should have stocks which 

 seem to grow smaller rather than otherwise. The 

 explanation is simple. The neighbour leaves his bees 

 alone. He probably neglected — perhaps forgot— to take 

 off that last crate of sections in the autumn, and allowed 

 his bees to shift for themselves. Bees rather like shift- 

 ing for themselves, provided they have a decent hive 

 and plenty of stores. The enthusiast may think he can 

 arrange their combs better than thev can, but he is 

 mistaken ; the bees know most about iL They have a 

 place for the honey, a place for the pollen, and a place 

 for the brood- Disarrange that and it is like putting 

 the piano in the coal cellar and the bed in the pantry. 

 How the poor things would swear sometimes if they 

 only knew how I No wonder swarms will go off to 

 the hollow of a tree or the hole in a roof to get rid of 

 that meddling bee-man with his confounded smoker and 

 his carbolic cloth. The moral is — leave your bees alone 

 until the weather is sufficiently «arm to play tricks with 

 them, and even then leave them alone as much as vou 

 can. If they require feeding of course they must get it. 

 Feed only in the warm weather if possible, and make 

 no attempt at forcing the pace until May comes in. 

 Brood-spreading in cool weather is certain to throw the 

 stock back. Most beginners start stimulating too early. 

 There is no necessity for early stocks unless to catch the 

 fruit bloom. The hawthorn does not come in till 

 June, and even then only yields honey in verv' hot 

 weather. The clover, the mainstay of the Irish bee- 

 keeper in general, does not begin till the end of June, 

 and stocks can be worked up for it by beginning to 

 stimulate on the first of May. May is the month to 

 feed. Old hands can operate so as to secure early 

 stocks. Beginners will do much better to leave all that 

 to the bees. 



