IRISH GARDENING. 



63 



Notes from Glasnevin. 



Greenhouse Rhododendrons. 



During the past two months the Camelia House at 

 Glasnevin has not only been extremely bright with blue 

 cinerarias (from Glasnevin saved seed), primulas, 

 cyclamen, carnations, hippeastrums, daftodils, &c., &c., 

 but also with the indoor rhododendrons, which have 

 played if not as bright a part, certainly an interesting 

 one. IVIany will have gone out of flower by the time 

 these notes are in print, but the rightly called " Beauty 

 of Tremough," close to the entrance door, will still be 

 open. This hybrid was raised by Mr. Gill, gardener to 

 Mr. Shilson, of Tremough, who raised many other good 

 hybrids. Rhododendrons belong to a genus in which 

 crosses are easily made, but patience is required, as it 

 sometimes takes from twelve to fifteen years to see the 

 result of one's work. On the other hand, crosses made 

 with ciliatum, a Himalayan species, do not take as long, 

 as the species itself will flower in three or four years 

 from seed. R. Edgeivorthii is a very sv.-eetly-scented 

 species from the Himalayas, and two or three flowers 

 will scent a whole room. Hybridists have found that 

 this species will only cross one way — that is, it will only 

 serve as a pollen parent. These, as well as the patience 

 required, are some of the trials met with in crossing. 



Rhododendrons and azaleas have now been united 

 into one genus, the difference being in rhododendrons 

 having ten stamens and azaleas only five. Rhododen- 

 dron anthers dehisce by means pores, and the pollen of 

 is held by a sticky substance usually in the form of 

 threads. The following are some of the good hybrids; — 

 Purity, large, white, waxy flowers ; Countess of Had- 

 dington, pink ; Fosterianum, a cross between veitchi- 

 anum and Edgeworthii ; Princess Alice, sesterianum, 

 and many others. Among- the species we have veitchi- 

 anum, from Burma, Bot. iVIag., 4,992 ; Ciliocalyx, from 

 China, Bot. Mag., 7,782; Ciliatum, from the Himalayas, 

 Bot. Mag., 4,648. Microscopical study of the leaves 

 alone of rhododendrons would, to any one interested, 

 give the keenest enjoyment. Under the microscope we 

 can see some covered with brown scales, others with 

 silver scales, and again we have some looking like a 

 collection of crystals in all conceivable shapes and sizes. 

 To the naked eye, too, these leaves are of interest, 

 being varied in size, colour, texture, and under surface. 



R. M. Pollock. 



8^^ ^* ^^ 



Orchids. 



The orchids at Glasnevin have been particularly 

 bright throughout March, and are still worth a special 

 visit on their own account. The collection is a most 

 valuable and comprehensive one, many plants having 

 been figured for the Botanical Magazine- Among the 

 rarities is the giant Eidopliiella pcctersiana, now in its 

 full glory, and one must acknowledge that the plant is 

 worthy of all praise bestowed upon it. From a rambling 

 rootstock arise erect, sword-shaped leaves a yard in 

 length, while the flower stem is nearly four feet long. The 

 raceme bears eighteen expanded flow-ers, which are a 

 bright, rosy purple, with a diameter of 3 '4 inches each ; 

 the lip has three stout ribs, or raised points, on the 

 upper surface, and towards the centre are more slender 

 ones of a golden colour. The Eulophiella is a native of 

 Madagascar, and was first flowered in cultivation by 

 Mr. Peeters, of St. Giles, near Brussels, being sent to 

 him by Mr. Mocoris. 



Cypripedium, or Phragntopedihan Hndlcyanuni, is a 

 native of British Guiana ; possibly a plant more interest- 

 ing to a specialist than to the ordinary observer, for the 

 curiously striped flowers are rather small in comparison 

 to the size of the plant. But the specimen is a remark- 

 ably good one ; the large, bright green leaves denote 



vigorous health, while three flower stems arise, the 

 tallest of which is 5^^ feet high ; each item is covered 

 by brownish, glandular hairs. 



Cxlogyne laivivnceana is a comparatively new plant, 

 and was discovered by Mr. W. Micholitz when collect- 

 ing in Annam for Messrs. Sander. Sir Trevor Lawrence, 

 Bart., was first to flower it in March, 1905, when it also 

 received the R. H. S. award of merit. The sepals are 

 greenish-yellow and lanceolate, while the petals are 

 still narrower. The lip is b\' far the most showy part 

 of the flower ; it is three lobed, the side lobes being 

 erect and the front lobe recurved, white, with a yellow 

 tinge ; the disc is marbled, with varying shades of 

 light and rich brown, with three fimbriated keels to the 

 base. : 



There are many other showy orchids which make an 

 attractive group, such as the Dcndroblunis, Oncidiiinis, 

 and some particularly good forms of Cattlcya iriana 

 and C. schrwdera'. C. F. Ball. 



^* ^5^ ^^ 



Bee-keeping. 



By T. MAGUIRE, The Orchard, Enniskillen, 



WITH April the bee-keeper's year begins. Stocks 

 may now be examined on a favourable day to 

 see how they have come through the winter, to 

 discover if any are very weak or queenless. In order 

 that they may be united with their more fortunate 

 neighbours, preparation should be made to give the hives 

 a spring cleaning and painting, and to overhaul things 

 generally. For spring cleaning, a spare hive is useful ; 

 each hive can be cleaned and painted, and a stock trans- 

 ferred into it in rotation until all have been treated. 

 The hives should be washed out thoroughly with izal or 

 carbolic solution ; if the latter, some time will be required 

 to allow the smell to dissipate. 



Feeding for stimulation may now be started. Use 

 syrup made from cane sugar, ,^ lbs. to each quart of 

 water, adding six drops izal to each pound of sugar. 

 Give each stock a glass ever}- evening, warmed to blood 

 heat. If pollen be scarce in the neighbourhood give 

 some pea flour, either in candy or by dusting into the 

 combs near the brood. Bees cannot rear brood without 

 pollen or its substitute 



Brood-spreading is a very risky operation in in- 

 experienced hands. Beginners reading about it in 

 the text-books are apt to overdo it in their eagerness to 

 build up their stocks. At first brood spreading should 

 merely consist in moving one of the outside combs of 

 brood into the centre of the cluster, uncapping any 

 honey that may be on the comb. An empty comb, or a 

 sheet of foundation, should on no account be given in 

 the centre of the cluster until the chamber is packed 

 with bees ; otherwise there is great danger of chilling 

 the brood. Feeding, to keep up the heat and excite- 

 ment, should always be practised when spreading the 

 brood. 



Skeps intended for transfer should now be fed every 

 evening to get them into condition for setting up on 

 frames by the end of this month or beginning of the 

 next. Transfer should not be attempted until the skep 

 is quite packed with bees. Take out the top plug, or 

 cut a hole for feeding purposes, and put on a feeder. In 

 the absence of regulation feeders, a jam-pot filled with 

 syrup, having a piece of muslin tied over the mouth, and 

 inverted over the hole, will answer. 



In manupulating, always choose a fine day, and dis- 

 turb the stock as little as possible. Bees are very prone 

 to maltreat or even kill the queen when aroused at un- 

 seasonable times during the spring. Excessive snioking 

 and subduing with carbolic is injurious, and quite un- 

 necessary. For the average stock, all that is required 

 is a whiff" of the pipe or cigarette, if the operator proceeds 



