100 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[Feb. 17. 





S r:s iYMSiz 1 M3ES£5S35is5S 



them previous to placing 



infallible way of uniting swarms. The proper time to do 

 it is about sunset. But be sure never to do anything with 

 Bees when you are perspiring, the odour of perspiration 

 being peculiaily offensive to them. ' ; 



Almost everybody knows how to kill Bees. A pit is 

 dug, one edge of which is undermined, in order that the 

 ignited rag, previously dipped in melted brimstone, may 

 not be extinguished when the Bees begin to fall ; the hive 

 5s placed over the pit, and the soil is thrown round it to 

 lceep in the smoke. Some people seem to think that it 

 is cruel to kill Bees in this manner, but I contend that it 

 is as cruel to kill a bullock to get beef, or knock a calf on 

 the head to get milk, as it is to kill Bees to obtain honey. 

 The taking of Honey and Wax.— Various systems are 

 adopted to take honev from the combs. Some cut the 

 comb piecemeal, and put it into a bag, which is hung 

 up before the tire ; s"me take the lids off the cells, and 

 cause the honey to run through a cloth ; and some squeeze 

 the honey out of the comb with the hand. The last is the 

 most speedy way— one man beinir nble to take from myes, 

 squeeze, and run through a bag, 150 lbs. in one day. I hat 

 the combs may not contain b ool when you take the 

 honey, it is advisable, in many cases, to kill the queens 

 three weeks before you massacre the Bees. Swarms will 

 probably issue on or about the 18th day from that on 

 •which the queens were killed, but let them go— they are 

 Talueless— the season is over. Wax is made like drip- 

 ping. The combs are boiled in water till all the wax is 

 on the top, when it is ladled into a bag, which is placed 

 on a board in a large tub, and then pressed hard with a 

 small wooden roller. It is boiled again in clean water 

 and put in n. ilk-pans, where it congeals and forms cakes. 

 The'boiling wax may also be run through a hair sieve. 



The Enemies and Diseases of Bees.— Sees themselves 

 are their greatest enemies; they are very apt, particularly 

 in the mouth of September, to rob one another. In the 

 month of September, a mouth-piece, that i>, a bit of wood 

 with a hole therein large enough to allow the Bees to drag 

 out their dead, and small enough to keep out mice, which 

 are also enemies, should be fixed in the door of every hive. 

 The entrance to the castle is therewith more easily guarded. 

 Still, if one hive be invaded by the Bees of another hive 

 belonging to yourself, the invaders ought to be removed 

 to a distance for a week or two ; but if the invaders do 

 Dot belong to yourself the invaded hive ought to be 

 removed. There are only two diseases of Bees that merit 

 notice in a concise article like this. One of these is 

 caused by back -gone broods, the other by watery honey. 

 The limits which circumscribe my remarks forbid my 

 enlarging on them. Bees never thrive well where there is 

 a back-gone brood ; indeed, its unpleasant odour some- 

 times causes the Bees to leave the hive. In rainy or 

 dull summers Bees are apt to collect honey before the 

 flowers are quite, dry. In winter this honey becomes sour 

 and poisons them. I knew a man who gave 20/. for 20 

 stock-hives in autumn. Before the spring following they 

 all died but three, one of which was in an unhealthy 

 condition. Notwithstanding this great misfortune, he 

 realised 20/. from the produce of the three during the first 

 year, and it is thought increased his stock of hives a little. 

 Sngar and water are the best remedy. In autumn, straw 

 covers should be put on hives, to protect them against the 

 inclemency of the weather. When snow is on the ground 

 the doors of hives ought to be kept shut ; the Bees 

 being apt to come out when the snow is melting, into 

 which they fall and die.— A. Pettigrew, Wrotham Park, 

 Middlesex. 



THE SPRING MANAGEMENT OF HALF-HARDY 

 PLANTS INTENDED FOR MASSES OR 

 GENERAL DECORATION. 



It so happens with the majority of gardeners as well as 

 amateurs, that, through a deficiency of glass, one frame or 

 pit must play in its season many parts. Now, it is very 

 necessary to know how to economise in these matters. It 

 is comparatively easy to produce everything in its season 

 in first-rate establishments, where, instead of there being 

 a want of glass, there is a pit or pits always at liberty. 

 But to make a little glass go a long way, and in some 

 degree to endeavour to compete with more complete esta- 

 blishments, requires considerable knowledge of first prin- 

 ciples, and a clever application of them. At this season, 

 those who are placed in the last predicament, are some- 

 times puzzled to know how to discharge the winter 

 tenantry of frames, wanted for early Cucumbers, Melons, 

 Potatoes, Carrots, &c, with as little injury as possible to 

 these delicate tribes. I will, therefore, detail my mode of 

 accomplishing this, which I have found very success- 

 ful: — [n the first place, a most material point is to take 

 care that the various cuttings, &c. intended for flower- 

 garden decoration are struck early and well established in 

 their store-pots before the winter sets in, as in the event 

 of their being propagated late, they will require to be 

 watered late in the season ; and here lays one of the prime 



serrets in the affair. 



Flower-garden stuff of the above description I take care 

 to get into their store-pots by the beginning of September : 

 my mode of potting stores is this : — After a few very rough 

 crocks in the bottom, I place a layer of clean riddled 

 rou*h old tan to within four inches of the top of the pot ; 

 the stores are placed immediately on the tan, and the pots 

 are filled up with a compost, of which one- half is strong 

 or stiff loam in a rough state. Now, this stiff loam is well 

 known to be very retentive of moisture ; and when the 

 stores lay hold of this soil firmly, there will be no occasion 

 or watering ; they will stand any amount of drought all 

 through the winter in very low temperature. The plants 

 will, perhaps, flag a little at times, but this is in favour of 



principle of acclimatising, and abundance of air at all 

 times, excepting during hard frosts, is all that is wanted ; 

 only keep to these principles, and frost will have less 

 effect In the first or second week of February, I begin 

 to prepare for removing them ; and the first thing to be 

 done is to inure the plants for a week or so, previously to 

 a lower temperature, viz., to a little frost ; this is done by 

 refraining from night coverings on evenings which promise 

 a small amount of frost j for, by this time, if they have 

 not been petted, they will endure a little frost, observing 

 that when the weather is very hard, viz., sunny days with 

 intense frost at night, not to uncover in the day ; do not 

 let them see the sun by any means J let them remain at 

 re*t. The same principle applies to Lettuce, Cauliflower, 



Sic, of course in frames. 



This preparation completed, I throw out a trench on 

 the north side of a wall, before my Morello Cherries : 

 the trench is from 2 to 3 feet deep, and 3 feet wide at 

 bottom, sloping to 3 feet 9 inches at top ; the plants are 

 lowered into the bottom of the trench about the second 

 week of Februarv, or perhaps the third, according as the 

 frames are wanted— observing to take out some of the 

 very tender kinds, or those liable to canker, as also any 

 kinds from which it may be necessary to propagate ; the 

 latter' being placed in heat to excite young wood for cut- 

 tings, and the former set on shelves in a cool greenhouse 



or Peach-house. . 



These cool pits have straw mats for covers, which are 

 made by me from old hacked-out lights, by merely placing 

 new and good straw transversely across the bars, and 

 then tyeing down three laths or strips of wood longitu- 

 dinally, from one extremity of the sash to the other ; 

 these hold the straw firmly in its place. This kind of 

 straw hurdle is very economical and efficient, as two men 

 can make a dozen in a day, and they do to cover Lettuce, 

 Salads, &C, at various periods of the year. 



The only management the plants require in their new 

 habitation is to keep the straw hurdles closed down for a 

 couple of days at first, or partially tilted, and to let them 

 occasional^ remain on through very cutting winds, ob- 

 serving to close them down always at night, unless in very 



mild weather. . . 



Towards the end of February they may receive their 

 first watering, taking care to give it but sparingly, and 

 very seldom, until they begin to grow, when they may be 

 potted off singly for masses. It is astonishing to witness 

 the progress they make after coming from these cold pits, 

 and getting into warmer habitations, as they never obtain 

 a glimpse of sunshine in the cold pits. 



Much mischief arises to various plants in frames from 

 sudden vicissitudes of weather, especially that of warm 

 sunny days during intense frost. I make it a rule with 

 plants that will stand a little frost, such as Cauliflowers, 

 Lettuces, &c, to get them frozen tolerably hard whenever 

 frost occurs, after they have become hardened (say 

 through December and January), and then to cover them 

 up close with straw, which I never remove while I can 

 keep them frozen ; indeed it must not be removed sud- 

 denly when a thaw takes place. Darkness has no preju- 

 dicial effect on them while they can be kept frozen. I 

 have had them in this state for three weeks at a time, 

 with no injury therefrom.— Robert Errington. [Excel- 

 lent advice.] 



A KNOWLEDGE OF PRINCIPLES ESSENTIAL 

 TO THE BEST CULTIVATION.— No. II. 



( Continued from page 84.) 



In the process of shifting, whether it be a single and 

 accumulative one or repeated shiftings, it should be re- 

 membered that the amount of soil to which any plant is 

 subjected should in all cases bear a strict proportion to 

 the intervening period between the process of shifting and 

 the season of bloom. For instance, Fuchsia tricolor is 

 well known, beyond most varieties, by its premature dis- 

 position to form flower-buds, consequently (unless it 

 manifests an exuberant primary growth) it should be 

 excited earlier than others, in order to secure a longer 

 period of growth previous to its season of flowering. A 

 second instance occurs in Fuchsia conspicua arborea (of 

 a noble and distinct habit), much larger in its growth, and 

 later in the formation of its bloom, but not less certain 

 and profuse when its maturity is attained. Thus, two 

 extremely opposite-habited plants are equally fertile under 

 their essential conditions of growth, and hence the error 

 of applying one rule to both. 



Other instances might be adduced to show that the 

 most luxuriant growth, of which some plants are capable, 

 is the only direct and certain mode of attaining fertility — 

 as, for instance : — Costus Nepaulensis, and Acacia Ker- 

 mesina, (the former with white blossoms, enveloped with 

 crimson sheathes ; the latter with an elongating spike of 

 elegant crimson tassel-like flowers) both beautiful stove 

 plants, totally dissimilar in structure as well as in the 

 soils essential for their growth, but each requiring a 

 luxuriant annual development of growth to ensure a 

 perfect bloom. 



Many objections will, doubtless, be made to an exuberant 

 growth, as being unfavourable to fertility. Other con- 

 ditions being favourable, I would still urge that the highest 

 capability of plants is generally involved in their most 

 extensive and luxuriant form of growth. An objector 

 would add, " restrict the proportions and cramp the 

 energies of a plant, and I am sure to obtain a certain 

 extent of bloom." I would rather say, where the highest 

 effects are sought for, H provide the means for its perfect 

 growth prior to the season of bloom ; encourage Nature 

 to mature its legitimate proportions, and you will ensuie 

 a uniform and perfect result." 



Apart from the highest known vigour of any given 

 plant, it appears impossible to ascertain what are its capa- 

 bilities of fertility. I would say to a cultivator, show me 

 what you deem the most perfect extent of growth in any 

 given plant, and I will define the average excellencies of 

 the same under every other condition of growth. Can 

 there exist any doubt that if the knowledge of any tribe of 

 plants, say Heaths, Pelargoniums, or Pine-apples, should 

 lead to a larger and more perfect growth, that such an 

 advancement will not lead to the attainment of a greater 

 extent of perfect bloom and larger fruit?— Verily not. 

 As every plant is capable of a certain extent of growth 

 under the most favourable circumstances, it may be 

 assumed, that a system of cultivation, equal to a perfect 

 growth, is essential, and antecedent to a perfect develop- 

 ment of bloom. ' 



That there should often exist a striking difference in the 

 application of principles to the operations of art, is far 

 from surprising, when the differences connected with pro- 

 fessional experience are duly considered, as well as the 

 counteracting influences which a defective education often 

 exerts over men's capacity or taste. How often have 

 early impressions formed habits of preference, until 

 tyrannical custom has become confirmed prejudice. How 

 often have facts proved impotent, until reason has 

 asserted its right to question the opinions of others, and 

 to ascertain the truths upon which such opinions are 



founded. 



These remarks have, in part, been suggested by those 

 of a Correspondent at p. 892 (1843) where an objection 

 is made to the principle that is involved in that mode of 

 cultivation which says, that "plants the most difficult to 

 rear should be removed at once from the cutting or seed- 

 pot to the one in which they are to be exhibited as speci- 

 mens." To all such criticisms I answer that I have no 

 objection to the method which the correspondent alluded 

 to prefers in his own case, namely, to " have a plant 

 thoroughly established in a small pot before it be removed 

 to a larger one," provided that such a rule is not substi- 

 tuted for the principle upon which my statement is founded, 

 and upon the correct application of which the highest 

 effects of cultivation depend. I will even add that a gar- 

 dener may be justified in giving a second shift prior to the 

 final one, if such a process is more compatible with his 

 skill, or with the means at his disposal for maintaining a 

 course of treatment sufficient to produce the requisite 

 effect. But any rule which seeks by a repetition of causes 

 for an effect which Nature would produce by the imme- 

 diate application of one, I do not consider entitled to 

 the name of a principle— which is a fundamental law of 

 Nature. If, for instance, one gardener considers the 

 establishment of a plant in a small (>0 of essential import- 

 ance previous to its removal to a 16 or 12, another may 

 insist upon a further shift to a large GO or 48 before 

 removal to a 12 or 8, and thus each would claim for his 

 rule an importance which can only be conceded to a 



principle. w\ • 



Principles are to be learned, not improved. Their 

 apparent impracticability and variance with general prac- 

 tice in no respect lessens their value, which is determined 

 by their truth, and not (necessarily) by their application, 

 — William Wood, Pine- Apple Place. 



(To be continued.) 





FAMILIAR BOTANY. 

 Morphology. — No. III. 



"Le Sphinx n'est plus assis sur le senil de notre temple 1 

 Pour jamais les secrets s'ouvrent a tous les yeux." 



Although sound physiology refuses to sanction, la 

 their full extent, the views entertained by Linnseus, and 

 notwithstanding that it teaches us to know that the pro- 

 cess of anticipation is imaginary, yet it is impossible not 

 to admire the farsightedness of that great man, which 

 enabled him to perceive the general nature of the great 

 truths with which the Morphologist is now familiar. His 

 contemporaries, however, in general were so wholly desti- 

 tute of a philosophical spirit, that they were unable to ap- 

 preciate the value of his speculations. For them a flower 

 was a flower, a fruit a fruit, and a leaf a leaf. They were 

 contented with the barren knowledge that such 0T &* n * 

 existed, and it did not enter the imagination of the dull 

 school which Linnaeus founded to inquire on what plan 

 they were constructed or by what means the wondrous 

 variety,*so eminently conspicuous in the vegetable king- 

 dom, was provided. Occupied with counting the stamens 

 and pistils of n flower, they never considered the general 

 laws of organisation worthy of their study. There was, 

 however, one great exception. , 



Dr. Caspar Frederick Wolff, a Prussian physician, ana 

 one of the Professors in the University of St. P* lcrs " 

 burgh, described, in the year 1768,* the manner in whicn 

 the parts of plants are formed out of leaves, with so much 

 accuracy that modern investigations have done little more 

 than confirm his views. " A man," said Wolff, " ran&t 

 be very dull who cannot perceive that in some plants the 

 calyx is but slightly different from the leaves, and is m 

 fact nothing more than a collection of many small and 

 imperfect leaves. Many of those [annual plants wbicti 

 have composite flowers show this very clearly, for yon 

 have in those instances leaves becoming smaller and more 

 imperfect as they rise up the stem, until at last tuos , 

 which are highest of all become extremely small, are 

 closely clustered together, constitute the segments of tM 

 calyx, and in their mass form, in fact, the calyx itseii. 

 The seed-vessel in like manner is plainly formed of leaves, 

 with this difference only, that the leaves which are mere ly 

 collected together to form a calyx, are in the seed-vesse 

 glued together. This is proved not only by the ™P sl T 

 of many plants which , when they are ripe, gpln^ intojP 



• Novi Commentani Academtse Scientiarum Imperials Fe 

 politanae, vol. xii., p. 403. 



