1843,] 
THE GARDENERS 
CHRONICLE. 
265 
here and there a tuft of Grass like Cocksfoot.—2. An ac- 
quaintance of mine has an island in the next barony 
(Ennis), with a pool of fresh water on it, round which the 
wild geese gather and rest; the consequence is, that more 
than half an acre is spoiled ; thatis, the grass becomes 80 
rank, that sheep will not touch it, and the sea is so rough, 
that they are the only stock which can be put upon it. 
Again, the rocks adjoining this island (the Stags), are 
covered with the gull-tribe in the breeding season; and 
yet in the autumn, when I was on them, you would only 
meet here and there with the Sea-Pink, and a species of 
Beet (maritima), which in the spring makes a nice 
Spinach, and'when grown in a garden, serves as such for 
Several years ; each plant forming a bed Gft. square, and 
increasing by the joints like the Fiorin grass. It is also met 
with at Lambay. I may say the same of Downpatrick 
Head as of the Stags. Whatever guano there may be 
upon it, is soon washed away ; and I should suppose the 
answer from your Scotch correspondents will be to the 
same effect.—R. G., Ballina. 
_ Bees.—I send you the following plan for managing Bees 
4n common straw hives, so as to obtain a portion of honey 
Without destroying these useful insects, in the hope that it 
Yaay interest some of your readers :—Put a swarm into a 
hive, having at the top a hole, closed with a large cork ; 
nail a piece of wood, 4 in. long, 3 in. wide, and in. thick, 
to one side of the lower part of the hive, cutting a hole 1} 
in. long and 4 in. high through the straw and wood. 
Attach a similar piece of wood to another straw hive, and 
Insert in the latter a tin pipe, made of half a sheet of tin, 
punched full of small holes, about 2 in. in diameter, closed 
af the bottom by a round bit of wood, and secured at the 
top toa ring of wood 2 in, in diameter inside: a cover of 
Wood, turned to fit the wooden ring, will effectually close 
the pipe, which is intended as a ventilator, and for the 
reception of a thermometer. Place the hives, with the 
Pleces of wood in contact, on aboard 3 ft. long, about lin. 
thick, and 18 in. wide, with a projection in. front for the 
ees to alight on; the board being movable, and resting 
On four posts about 2 ft. high. A slip of tin must be placed 
between the hives, to prevent the Bees from entering the 
Second hive until the first, or breeding hive, is full. A 
Canvas cover, 1 yard square, painted white, and nailed in 
front and at the back to wooden rods, should be spread 
above the hives; in this cover holes, 4 in. in diameter, 
must be cut, to correspond with the ventilator and cork 
in the top of the hives. These holes may be secured 
against wet by covers made like cones, with a heavy iron 
ring at the base, and a wooden knob at the top. The 
whole apparatus can be made by any person at the cost of 
about 8s., which will be a great saving, as Bee-boxes are 
too expensive for cottagers. In April, 1842, I fitted up, 
in the manner above described, a hive of Bees which 
swarmed in June, 1841. One swarm came off, which was 
fitted up in the same way as the parent hive. The parent 
hive was marked A, the swarm Aa. In July I allowed 
the Bees to enter the side hives by withdrawing the slips 
of tin. The communication between the hives was cut off 
in September by replacing the pieces of tin. I then 
opened doors from the side hives into the open air, placing 
over them slips of wood with a small hole in them, covered 
on the outside with a piece of tale hanging by a thread, 
This tale formed a trap-door, which the Bees could easily 
Push open in the hive as they endeavoured to escape, but 
which prevented any ingress from the outside. In a few 
‘ours all the Bees in the side or store hive of A a made 
their escape, excepting 12, which flew out when I carried 
the hive intoaroom. From this hive I obtained 16 Ibs. 
Of the best honey, free from Bee-bread or young Bees, 
Without destroying a single Bee. In the store hive of A, 
1 found that the queen was staying, and I was therefore 
Sbliged to smoke her out. I nevertheless saved her, 
although many Bees died. From A, I obtained 10 lbs, of 
‘Oney, equal in quality to that from Aa. The trap-door 
of tale was a contrivance of Mr. Nutt, the author of the 
interesting work on Bees—Wilse Brown, Egglestone, 
arnard Castle. 
Bees.—At p- 174, “P. P.’’ has stated that those who 
Write on Bees in these pages would benefit by perusing the 
Boces “Apiary” and “ Bee’ in the last edition of the 
thagy copeedia Britannica. : It appears to me, however, 
aie there are some things in the article on “ Bees’’ con- 
‘ ‘ned in that work, which Mr. Rochet, the author, ought 
ae have countenanced. For instance, when speaking 
the Be manner in which Bees collect pollen, he states, on 
i authority of Geoffroy, that “ Bees first collect a certain 
eee anty of pollen, which they knead together into a ball, 
aA Race at the middle joint of the hinder feet.” This 
fee lead one to think that the little balls were made 
fae, by the Bees before being placed on their hinder legs 
We their feet), instead of being accumulated a little at a 
re lea I have shown how this curious process is done, in 
ine pou on Bees: the discovery of it cost me many a 
cars ae Mr. R. farther observes— In order to 
a ae arge quantities at once, the Bees are sometimes 
see to roll their bodies in the flowers, and then to 
ae he pollen from them into two masses, which they 
ee Ee a as before mentioned.’ This seems like the 
carin g aS hedgehog rolling: itself amongst Apples, and 
nae nie ee pect stick tohim. The fact is, that 
BiG te teat pollen in that way. If they are dusted. 
It may be 
Neath its abdomen, which 
more points. r. R. states, from Wildman, 
t : 
hat “ Long experience has taught him, that as he turns 
up a hive, and gives some taps on the sides and bottom, 
the queen immediately appears, to know the cause of 
alarm, but soon returns again-amongst her people.” If 
this story were told to a cottager who understood Bees, 
he would probably say, ‘‘ You would rap in vain, for no 
queen would appear, to answer your call.” In giving credit 
to this story, Mr. R. betrays a want of apiarian knowledge. 
With regard to Bees closing their door-ways, the author 
mentiops, from high authority, that Bees construct a thick 
wall, which barricades the entrance, and resembles a re- 
gular fortification—indeed, they often have recourse to 
a similar contrivance for protection against pillaging 
Bees. However plausible this may be, I have no_hesita- 
tion in saying it is founded in some mistake, and that 
Mr. R. ought to have had better grounds for asserting 
that ‘‘ This single trait in their history is a sufficient re- 
futation of the theories which ascribe all their actions to the 
Operation of a blind, indiscriminating instinct, and would 
exclude every species of foresight and reflection.” To this 
Thave little to say, but must leave the reader to form an opi- 
nion about it for himself.—J. Wighton, Cossey Gardens. 
Blue Flowering Conservatory Plants.—The following 
is a list of blue flowering plants suitable for a conservatory, 
with the time of their flowering and native place: 
Mevwico: Salvia patens, Aug. to Oct.; S. polystachya, 
Oct. to Dee.; Tradescdntia pulchella, July to Aug. New 
South Wales: Comesperma gracilis, April; Solanum 
campanulatum, June ; Westringia eremicola, Sept. to 
Oct.; Scé&vola suavéolens, Aug. to Sept.; Dampiera 
stricta, June to Aug. ; Patersénia sericea, June to Aug.; 
Sdllya heterophylla, July ; S. linearis, June to Aug.; Har- 
denbérgia Comptoniana, March to June; Plagiolébum 
ilicifélium, and chorozemifélium, March to July ; Orthro- 
santhes multiflora, June to July ; Scutelldria htimilis ; June 
to July. Plectranthus incanus, July toAug. ; Dianella longi- 
folia, Aug. ; Hovea celsi, March to July ; Draceena nutans, 
July to Aug.; Conospermum capitatum, June to Aug. 
Temperate Parts of South America: Tweédia c&rulea, 
July to Aug.; T. versicolor, July to Aug. ; Passifiora 
onychina, Oct. to Dec. ; Steméddia chilensis, Aug. to Oct. : 
Sphacele campanulata, July to Aug. ; Solanum myrtifélium, 
July to Aug.; Conanthera campanulata, March ; Comme- 
lina gracilis, July; Psordlea glandulosa, May to Aug. ; 
Witheringia pinnatifida, June. N. America: Clitéria 
Mariana, Aug. ; Stokesia cydénea, Aug. ; Ruéllia biflora, 
July. Cape of Good Hope: Lobélia ceerdlea, June to 
July; Lightfootia tenella, June to July; L. Loddigésii, 
July to Aug.; Agatha coelestis, Feb. to Sept.; Aster 
fruticulosus, March to July ; A. angustifolius, May; Selago 
fasciculata, June; Cyanella capensis, July to Aug.; Aristea 
capitata, July to Aug.; Agapanthus pracox, Jan. to 
Aug; ; Statice cinérea, June; S. scabra, May to July; 
Roella filiformis, June to Sept.; E’chium pyramidatum, 
May to July; Plumbago capensis, Aug. New Spain: 
Celestina ageratoides, July to Oct.; Eryngium serratum, 
Aug.; E.comosum, Aug.; Viola Palmensis, May to July. 
Palma ; V.,arborescens, April to May, Spain ; Goldftissia 
anisophylla, June, Sy/het ; Statice arborea, Aug. to Nov.; 
Teneriffe ; Lobélia heteromalla, Feb., Dominica ; L. bego- 
nizfélia, June to July, Nepaud ; Linum Narbonense, June 
to Aug., 8. of France ; Phyteuma pinnatum, June to Aug., 
Candia ; Anagallis monelli, May to Sept., Ztaly.—J.K.C., 
Altercliffe. 
Killing Insects for the Cabinet.—I don’t see that “D. H. 
..””’ p. 174, has given me a peg whereon to hang a reply. 
His proposed plan is just as feasible as the following, 
which I offer to his serious consideration :—On bringing 
the captives home, either ‘‘in thick letter-paper” or 
otherwise, persuade them to take hold of each other’s 
hands, (their fore-legs,) and sendasmart electrical spark 
through the whole!! “As the fluid travels at a pretty 
decent pace, they will hardly have time to feel pain. In 
both cases the specimens may be a little spoiled, but that 
is of course a matter of small moment, as another trial 
may not be quite so disastrous ; and after a few are unne- 
cessarily though mercifully killed, the experimenter’s 
cabinet may chance to get supplied. Sombre-coloured 
Coleoptera may, like a duke of former days, be drowned 
in a butt of malmsey (i. e. gin or whisky, for either would 
be rather more costly than Clarence’s medium); only 
the specimens will soon become ‘“ greasy ” when placed 
in the cabinet, and require renewal. I give ‘“‘D. H. W.” 
every credit for his motive in addressing me, but to be of 
use he must try again. I suspect the Millennium wont cast 
up to-morrow morning nor be expedited by any etheréal 
receipt for killing insects, and really your useful columns 
should not be considered as a mere arena for a verbal 
tilting-match.—S, 
Vines.—I did not stop my Vines sufficiently early last 
year, and moreover, when I pruned them, I left the bear- 
ing-rods for this season too long; in consequence of which 
the lower buds this spring have broken very feebly. Finding 
that they continued weak, and my intention being in 
future to spur the Vines, I determined, in order to throw 
more strength into these weak shoots, to shorten the 
rods; and on the 5th inst., I cut off between two and three 
feet from each of the eight Vines. The Vines were in 
full Jeaf, with the branches stopped one joint above the 
blossom, and the blossom within about ten days of the 
period of its expansion. On the following morning, 
found that the Vines had borne the operation well, with 
the exception of one, which was bleeding. I applied a 
hot iron to the wound, but in about ten minutes it broke 
out again; I repeated the operation, but met with the 
same result; I tried it a third time, having a lighted 
candle anda stick of sealing-wax in readiness, and the 
ymoment the iron was removed, while the wounded part 
was still dry and warm, I dropped some sealing-wax upon 
it, and pressed it down with my finger. 1 then put some 
more wax round the wounded part, pressing it close, so 
= 
as to form a small cap, about a quarter of an inch in 
depth, upon the end of the rod. This answered com- 
pletely: not the slightest moisture again exuding. On 
the 7th, it appeared that two of the Vines had been bleed- 
ing a little in the night, but had dried up again without 
assistance. On the Sth, I found that one of the last- 
mentioned Vines had again bled a little during the night ; 
I therefore applied the hot iron and sealing-wax with the 
same success as before. The wounds are now, April 10, 
all quite dry, and the Vines are already beginning to show 
that the operation will be of great service to them. The 
Vines are five years old.—Guichenet. ‘ 
Shrivelling of Grapes.—‘* Jemsheed ” complains, at p. 
230, that his friend, by giving air to his Vinery when the 
Grapes were colouring, cording to the advice of an 
“ Old Gardener,’’ lost half his crop by shrivelling. By 
this he seems to intimate that the shrivelling was caused 
by the air given; but in this I think he is mistaken. 
I consider that it resulted, not from the agent applied, 
but from the manner of applying it. It seems to have 
been the ‘‘ Old Gardener’s ”’ opinion, that the temperature 
of the house was too high, and he consequently rec 
mended the admission of a little air, which, if done with 
judgment, might have proved beneficial; but instead of 
this, 1 presume air was admitted so freely, as immediately 
to sink the temperature to a low degree, which, chilling 
the Vines and obstructing the flow of sap, produced 
shrivelling. If “ Jemsheed,”’ after living in the neighbour- 
hood of the Equator, were transported immediately to 
Greenland, I doubt not but that he too would feel a shrivelly 
sensation.— Tyro. 
Scotch and English Farmers.—At p. 209 a_corre- 
spondent complains of the injustice done to the English 
by praising.the Scotch Farmers so much as is now done, 
which he considers is only a fashion. He produces a long 
train of circumstances which he supposes to be conclusive 
that English feyming is at least as good, if not better than 
that of Scotland.,. Into this controversy I shall not enter. 
I shall content myself, however, (after premising that, 
among all those he enumerates, he makes no allowance 
whatever for the inferiority.of the climate of Scotland 
compared with that of England, and especially of the 
counties in the south, to which he, seems principally to 
refer,) with adverting to three of the.circumstances men~ 
tioned. While he states clearly the disadyantages under 
which the English Farmer labours, he does not once ad- 
vert to the physical, and not moral, difficulty, against , 
which the Scottish Agriculturist has perpetually to con- 
tend; nor does he seem to think it any merit that the 
latter has mastered by skill and perseverance this difficult 
achievement. Yet it has been accomplished; and the 
people of Scotland—with a naturally less-productive soil 
and a smaller quantity of arable land, in proportion to the 
population—depend Jess upon foreign supplies than the 
inhabitants of England. Your correspondent also says 
that, with the exception of the Lothians and the Carse of 
Gowrie, Wheat is not cultivated in any part of Scotland ; 
but is abandoned as being unprofitable. Has he never 
heard of Stirlingshire, and of the tract of alluvial land on 
the banks of the river Forth, amounting to about 60,000 
Scottish, or 75,000 statute acres, which grows Wheat pro- 
fitably, and equal, if not superior, in quality to any grown 
in Scotland, and to much of that which is grown in Eng- 
land? The crop of last year ranged from 60 to 671bs. the 
bushel ; and upon the average of years that which was 
brought to market ranged from 60 to 65lbs. I also beg 
to state that four quarters per acre are accounted a bad 
crop; and if,in the spring, appearances indicate much 
Jess than this, it is usually ploughed down, and Barley or 
Oats substituted: that five quarters is not a good crop, 
that six is fair and fully an average, that seven is good, 
and eight superior ; but that instances are known in which 
nine have been realised. I recollect that in the year 1826 
a field of 30 acres, in the possession of Mr. Mowbray of 
2 
o 
Cambus, yielded upon the average of the 50 acres nine 
quarters and a bushel ; and some particular spots, which 
were minutely attended to at the time, yielded at the 
rate of fifteen quarters an acre. As nine quarters ana 4 
bushel over a 30 acre field is certainly a very large crop 
and the truth of it may be questioned, I deem it necessary 
to explain that Mr. Mowbray was a distiller as well as a 
farmer, and fed with his grains great numbers of cattle 
The urine of his stalls he collected (mark this), watered this 
Wheat, if I was rightly informed, with it twice during 
the season, and the consequence was the very heavy crop 
which I have mentioned. I may further observe that the 
same gentleman, the next year, treated a large field of 
grass for hay in the same manner, and he had a crop of 
three tons and a half. That such crops may become 
common I do not pretend to say. It shows, however, 
the capability of the soil. It is worthy of remark also 
that all this happened before the land was drained or sub- 
soil-ploughed. Is this amount of crop excelled even in 
the south of England, upon a field of equal extent ?—and 
yet this is neither in the Lothians nor the Carse of 
Gowrie. Not to go more minutely into this question, I 
may add that Wheat is profitably cultivated in 28 or 29 
of the 33 counties in Scotland, and that not many years 
ago Wheat was exported from Rosshire, in the North 
Highlands, to London, and commanded the top price in 
Mark-lane. Your correspondent, moreover, says, “‘ The 
Scotch Farmer may laugh at Turnips sown broadcast, as 
in the South of England ; but he should remember that, 
owing to the warmer and drier climate, they will not grow 
in drills ; and that even in Scotland last year there were 
many failures in consequence of the heat and drought.’ 
This is the first time I have heard of these failures, though 
living in the heart of Scotland, and seeing hundreds of 
farmers in the course of the season. When I mentioned 
the circumstance to several farmers, and asked if they 
