102 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



ai pointed out by Dr. Thackeray must gain for itself, if 

 only fairly ami properly tried. The result of it, as Dr. 

 Thackeray states, is u that the sap, which the cut branches 

 would have exhausted, gives vigour and increased strength 

 to the trunk." And why is this the case? Because the 

 sap which nourishes the tree is not only equalised where 

 the trunk most requires it for the production of timber, 

 but the sap so produced is of the most healthy and 

 nourishing description ; since the never-failing result of 

 the principle of pruning rightly practised, is to send out 

 leaves from the lateral branches, and these, too, of a fine, 

 fall, healthy kind, and in which of course the sap is ela- 

 borated.—/^. P. X., Uallyburton. 



i- How Bees collect Pollen — Many are unacquainted with 

 the use of the balls of pollen seen on the legs of Bees, 

 as well as ignorant of the way in which they are 

 collected. Reaumur and Buffon, for instance, considered 

 them the elements from which Bees formed wax ; this 

 remains uncontradicted in a work by the latter even its 

 late as the year (821. Another author states that »' she 

 (the bee) gathers pollen from flowers with ber mouth into 

 round balls; she sticks these pellets info two hollows, 

 which are on the outside of the sume joint on her hinder 

 legs." Bees store up pollen solely as a provision for their 

 brood. Wax li secreted through the segments under their 

 bodies, but it is doubtful how ihey come by it previous to 

 that singular process. As Bees frequent plant! abound- 

 ing with wax, I imagine thut they collect it from them in 

 the same way as the Wasp does its materials from decayed 

 wood, or the Aphis, which produces the glutinous sub- 

 stance sometimes called honey-dew, that differs bat little 

 from the iscchsrinc juice the insect had previously sac d 



from the tree or plant it infested. Some considered Bees' 

 wax to be a M c creted animal soil." Amongst those 

 who held this opinion may be ranked an excellent apiarian, 

 Bonear, who was perhaps as nearly right as some scientific 

 men, when he observed that Bees might produce wax in 

 s similar w . M that produced in his own ears. It i 

 worthy of r trie that Bees have produced wax when fed 

 on honey and sugar— hence arises the belief that Bees form 

 wax from these substances. But in such cases it is difficult 

 to say what store of wax Bees might have m themselves be. 

 fore confinement. The balls on Bees' legs are accumulated 

 by the insect putting one of its fore feet, which serves as 

 a kind of brush, into a flower and then {lacing it between 

 a series of strong curved hairs on its binder legs, where 

 the pollen adheres and forms the little balls. A super- 

 ficial observer might suppose that Bees collected pollen 

 by " rolling them>elves in flowers," in a Hollyhock, for 

 instance, for in such flowers, abounding as they do with 

 pollen, they cannot avoid being dusted with it. •• Mealy 

 Bees may be seen enterin .nd issuingtrom the hive ; 

 the pollen that happens to fall from them when depositing 

 their loads discolours the combs. The colour of pollen 

 depends on the colour of it in the flowers the Bees 

 frequent Some writers say that Bees collect the greater 

 part of their pollen in the morning, but as dry weather is 



tint 



a 



most favour !e for that purpose I imagine ..... , 

 little farther in the day is more suitable for gathering it, 

 ** w *.. ZZ noney ; Loth are alike essentia] to the prosperity 

 of the colony. Much pollen or Bee-bread being often 

 found in tenantless hives is no proof to the contrary. 

 Bees live on honey, their larva? upon Bee-bread, as 

 already noticed, and they come more slowly into existence, 

 as the former falls short, owing to want of attendance and 

 lower temperature, occasioned by the Bees dying off. 

 These remarks account for Bee-hives being deserted whilst 

 they contained abundance of pollen in good preservation. 

 — J. Wight on. 



Feeding Bee*.—k Correspondent recommends feeding 



Bees with loaf-sugar, as moist sugar produces diarrhoea. 



He is quite correct as to the danger of diarrhoea being 



produced by moUt sugar, particularly by the coarser sorts, 



and as a preventive I would recommend a small lump of 



common salt being placed upon the board close to the 



entrance of each hive. This the Bees are fond of, and 



it has proved with me a certain cure for diarrhoea. 



About three years since my Bees were attacked in a most 



alarming way by that disease, and before I was aware of 



it I had lost nearly two-thirds of every hive. I then 



ordered my gardener to piste the salt as before mentioned, 



and, after one or two days, I did not lose another Bee. 



— A. F. 



Potatoes.'" The subject of Potatoes failing in coming np 

 after planting, is attributed by some to their being planted 

 in one soil for a number of years. They say that the 

 Potatoes gradually deteriorate, and lose their teg e retire 

 principle ; but this does not always occur. I have planted 

 one sort, known by the name of the Bread fruit, lor the 

 long period of twelve or fourteen years, and they are not 

 in the slightest degree altered, either in size, crop, or 

 flavour ; they are of a dry and mealy nature. There has 

 not come under my notice one root that was diseased. I 

 fully agree with Mr. Wighton, that the late sorts of Pota- 

 toes should not be planted until the lat'er end of May, or 

 the first week in June. — Herbert, Sussex. 



Campanula pyramidal is. — I either sow the seeds, or 

 pot cuttings from the old roots in leaf-mould and sandy 

 peat; as soon as they are strong enough I pot them off 

 into 60 sized pots, regularly shifting them into larger 

 sizes as the plants require them : when they have 

 gained a little strength, I give them a rich loamy soil, 

 well incorporated with a small proportion of bonedust ; 

 and at intervals supply them liberally with manure water. 

 I do not find them flower vigorously under two or three 

 years, but at that age I have had plants of both varieties, 

 nine feet high and covered witu bloom. — J. L, Snow, 

 S win ton Gardens, 



Large Pineapples. — In your accounts of large Pines, 



grew three large ones when living at Rheola, with John 

 Edwards, Esq., Neath Vale, Glamorganshire, and which 

 are noticed in the 1st part of the " Gardeners' Magazine," 

 at page 4.53, in the year 1826. The dimensions and weight 

 were as follows : — 



July 18, 18-24 — One N'ew White Providence, 1 libs. 12 cz. 



April 7, 18*26— One do., circumference 21 in>., height logins., 

 4 gill suckers, weight 1 1 lbs. 15 oz. 



April lo, i-Oi.cdo., circumference 26 ins., height 12 ins., 

 4 giil suckers, weight 1 1 lbs. 12 oz. 



The last two were taken from the mother plant, March 

 29th, 1825, and left four plants as good as those the fruit 

 was cut from. The largest was presented to his Majesty 

 George the Fourth. — Richard Dixon, Dolancothe. [We 

 remember these Pines ; but what is a Providence, with 

 four gill suckers, weighing 14 lbs. 12oz., as compared with 

 a Queen weighing 6 lbs. 11 oz., and with no gill suckers. 

 The Pine in question was, however, an enormous one 

 certainly.] 



Pits. — The accompanying is apian for pits which I am 

 about to build. My object is to have three distinct com- 

 partments of different characters, and to heat No. 3 with 

 the radiated heat from the boiler; the Melon pit with 

 hot-water gutters and a flue; and in No. 1, 1 intend having 



afr 



arne» 



Step* 

 linking 



8 A Hin. 



S teps. 



"t'JS 



m *d»tS 



Vegetable Refute for Melons. — Mr.Torbnn states, that, 

 when gardener to the late Mr. Knight, he prepared a bed 

 allow me to state that you have overlooked my father, who of Oak-leaves for Melons, 5 feet high at the back, with a 



■ 



two hot-water tanks and the continuation of the flue. This 

 arrangement, I imagine, will be found exceedingly useful 

 t) amateurs, with smell gardens like myself, and one that 

 will require as trifling an expenditure for fuel as possible. 

 I should have made my end pits at least 12 feet long, and 



the centre one 20 feet, but I am confined for space. A 



Friend to Floriculture, 



proper slope to the south. On this was placed 

 having 4 sashes, each G feet long ; it was sufficient d^' 

 to hold 15 or 18 inches of soil, allowing head-room fori? 

 plants. The soil was obtained from a meadow Wn - h 

 had been rendered fertile by being flooded from a ri 

 and was mixed with vegetable ashes in the proportion^!* 

 about 1 part in 30. The plants, which were of a k' A 

 then in repute, called the Salonica, were ridged out ea I 

 in March, end a genial heat was maintained by mea * 

 of linings. They were watered with water mixed with 

 pigeon-dung. The fruit ripened in due time, and manv 

 of them weighed between G and 7 lbs. each. Mr. Knight 

 observed that, previous to that time, he had never know 

 one of the same kind to weigh more than from 2 to 31bt 

 One of the Rock Melon, treated in the same way wj 

 also equally good. 



Season for Repotting Plants — Examining some green- 

 house plauts lately, I found that they had all made quan- 

 tities of roots round the ball of the plant, and from the 

 circumstance of these having evidently been formed after 

 the plant had ceased growing, it occurred to me that au- 

 tumn would be a better time for shifting plants than 

 spring. It is clear that these fibres had been made when 

 the plant was in a dormant state, and it is certain that unless 

 they are supplied with fresh soil, the plant will not be 





gives a check 

 to the plants. Plants in general should be shifted during 



their season of rest, for it is then they make the feeders 

 that supply them with nourishment in the spring, when 

 they begin to grow. Peach-trees and Vines clearly prote 

 the assertion to be correct, for when they are forced with- 

 out having had a due season of rest, the result is always 

 unfavourable ; this arises from their not having had time 

 to form new fibres. When leaves begin to fall off, plants 

 commence to form young rootlets, which absorb nourish- 

 ment, and from these, on the first excitement of the plant, 

 the sap ascends ; fresh roots are afterwards made to keep up 

 a supply through the season. It is necessary to keep 

 these roots as dry as possible in winter, in order to pre- 

 serve them from rotting, for if they perish the effects will 

 soon be seen on the plants. This is an objection which 

 many have to shifting greenhouse plants in the autumn ; 

 but if water is given with caution and the pots well drained^ 

 there is no danger to be apprehended.— J*. W. K, [This 

 statement is open to very considerable doubt.] 



Incombustible Thatch. — It has been proved by repeated 

 experiments, that straw saturated with a solution of lime, 

 or common whitewash, is incombustible. This fact is of 

 great importance to the rural population, especially as 

 thatch is thus not only rendered fire-proof but more 

 durable. — /. Mc /., Hillsborough. 



Melons — As some gardeners are anxious to grow Me- 

 lons early, I beg to state that after having tried the Kew 

 Cantaloupe and Carton's Early Cantaloupe, I find Cuthill's 

 Early Scarlet to be earlier than either. I cut one of these 

 here on 13th April, and another on the 27th of the same 

 month ; the latter weighed 1 lb. 15 oz., and was exhibited 

 by H. Villebois, Esq., at the Regent-street rooms in May, 

 1842. I also cut the same kind of Melon last year in the 

 second week in May, and the plants promise to do equally 

 well this season. — C. M' Gregor, Mar ham Garden, 



Edgings. — Amongst the different edgings recommended 

 I have not seen the common Heath noticed; in a dry 

 peat soil this is a very neat and convenient edging, and is 

 especially useful when Box will not grow well ; it has been 

 introduced with peat with success in the gardens of the 

 Speaker at Heckfield Lodge. — Toity. 



Potatoes. — In accordance with the directions given in 

 the Chronicle, I tried the possibility of procuring fresh 

 Potatoes in the open air in the months of March and April. 

 In this I was so successful, that, from tubers planted hi 

 July last, I had good dishes of new Potatoes on Christmas 

 day, and up to the first week in February. Of these, I 

 sent three-quarters of a peck to Norwich market, expect- 

 ing a high price would be given for such rarities, but, to 

 my disappointment, I was informed that" Sprout Potatoes 

 would not sell!" it was said, they were of too dark a 

 colour to be new Potatoes. How is this "» be remedied ? 

 they are fair as May roots, when properly boiled. — M. G. 

 [Will any of our correspondents answer this ?J 



Icehouses. — As there was much discussion on the dif- 

 ferent kinds of Icehouses last year, ask your corre- 

 spondents to give us their experience as to any they con- 

 structed. I thatched a large mass of ice in a sloping bank 

 and well drained it ; but either from the soil being damp» 

 or from some undiscovered defect in the thatching, it was 

 all melted in the early part of May. We have had no 

 account of what success your readers had in the cultiTS- 

 tion of the Courge courcelle. — Totty. 



joctettes. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

 Monday^ Feb. 5. — H. Newport, Esq., President, in the 

 chair. Messrs. Spence, J. E. Gray, Yarrell, and Water- 

 house, were announced as having been elected Vice-Pre- 

 sidents, and Mr. Newport re-elected as President. Mr. 

 Rich exhibited several species of the large Beetles of the 

 genus Goliathus : amongst them were G. Drurei, G. p<>" 

 lyphemus, and others. Mr. Bond exhibited a specimen of 

 Pontia Rapa, which was taken alive during the past month. 

 Mr. Doubleday exhibited several Lepidopterous insects 

 from Mr. Barnes' collection of North American insects, 

 and pointed out the ideutity of several forms with British 

 species, and others closely resembling British forms, 

 although specifically distinct. The President exhibited * 

 living specimen of Hyprena rostralis, which he had kept 

 in his possession since September hist, and which during 

 that period had had no food. M. Des Vignes described 



