23 i 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



filled with mo*t beautiful honey as clear as crystal ; but 

 by the end of September tii^ whole of the honey was 

 taken out of them and deport, d in the centre hive, and 

 the whole of the bers retired to their winter quarters, 

 leaving the corfl** for use dating the present msftaoti. 1 

 then close 1 tip the otftar entrance to the aside- box, audit 

 bas remained shut during the winter. The combs >ij>j>e;ir 

 to be in very tine condition tor heiug re-tilled with honey • 

 Bees have hitherto borne the Character of being indus- 

 trious, and th** in Jofent of the ho man rase have often been 

 urged to folio* thft example Off the 4 * busy bee, " and I 

 have no wish to detract from the very meritorious and 

 untiring labours ot the«e interes?i;i< insects during the 

 time allotted for their daily labour, which I tirmly believe 

 does not exceed tfix hours, e%en in the very finest Unin- 

 terrupted sunshine or |tteasatft weather, in every way 

 suitable for their iask»*. I have come to this conclusion 

 from repeated observation, that in proportion to the 

 number leaving the centre hive or side box, at the early 

 hour of five o'clock in the morning, nearly an equal 

 number came in to the side box to repose at 11 o'clock 

 a. rn., and those that left at later hours in the morning, 

 ceased from their field labour- at intervals of about six 

 hours daring the d*v. Tin. that had returned from 

 labour could easily be distinguished from the others that 

 had not bern out, as the former occupied particular po- 

 sitions until tho>e that were asleep awakened, and 

 vacated their places to go on duty, and then the other 

 might be seen lakmg up their positions, and in a short 

 time after i were fast asleep. It is worthy of notice, 

 that although bees only work in the fields hix hours a day 

 under the most favourable circumstances, they all ta! 

 their turn of duty, both by night and by day, to protect 

 the hives, and the sentries at the entrance are relieved 

 with as grent regularity as in military life. There are 

 also several that never work themselves, hut appear to 

 take regular rounds 10 ascertain that the others are faith- 

 fully performing their duties, and the whole government 

 and system of a hive is the DBOSt perfect that can be 

 imagined, and were the traits of character in these in- 

 sects, which I in -me I have perceived, recorded, they 

 ■would be rejected as incredible; however, they have 

 afforded me great amusement, and I am satisfied with the 



result of my observations. 



I am now fully convinced that the clustering of bees 

 outside the entrance of hives, is no loss whatever to bee- 

 keepers, as has been supposed, the clustering being a 

 natural state of repose, which they cannot enjoy within 

 the hive, in consequence of the state of the weather at 

 the time making the temperature of the interior too 

 warm for them. On this account I am decidedly against 

 adopting any means 10 assist them in ventilating their 

 hives from the top or sides, as they can regulate the tem- 

 perature with the greatest nicety, and if they should on 

 any particular occasion suffer from too great hear, it is 

 better they should do so than interfere with their ar- 

 rangements, as they soon show their displeasure with 

 plans of which they do not approve, by closing up with 

 propolis all ventilators except those at the bottom or 

 entrance of the hive. In closing the details of these Eu- 

 ropean Humming birds, as I may term them, owing to 

 many of their habits, I would observe, that I have never 

 narrowed the mouth of my hive during the two last 

 winters, and during the same period I left the interior 

 communication with the side-box open to its fullest ex- 

 tent. I have never fed them in any shape whatever, as 

 they have ample stores of honey in the centre hive, 

 which is made of straw twelve inches deep and fourteen 

 inches dhmeter inside. The side boxes are eight inches 

 square iuside, and ten inches deep. As a proof of the 

 number, health, and strength of my bees, I may mention 

 that during several of the mild days in the early part of 

 February, ot the present year, the perspiration from them 

 was running out at the entrance, in the same manner as 

 it appeared to do in May, last year. They have now 

 commenced their spring campaign, and during several 

 days of the present month of March, hundreds have 

 come home from the fields, well loaded with pollen, and 

 I have not observed oue perish of the cold, which is often 

 the case at this season of the year. I had not an oppor- 

 tunity of trying to make artificial swarms last year, a- 

 my bees did not form combs in the side box, which I 

 consider essential for success, until after the season ot 

 swarming was past.— John Grant, Editor of the Army 

 and Navy Register ; Woohvich, March, 1844. 



Home Correspondence. 



Spot on the Pelargonium — Having taken much plea- 

 sure in the culture of the Pelargonium for some years, 

 and having suffered a little from the appearance of a spot 

 upon the leaves during the last two years, I have been 

 most anxious to discover the cause of this disease. 

 Last autumn, when I cut the plants down, I re- 

 moved every leaf, placed them in a cold frame, where 

 they broke well, with no appearance of the disease ; they 

 were then repotted in loam, leaf-mould, and sand, and 

 placed in the greenhouse on a stage 3 feet from the 

 glass- The winter being mild, little fire was needed. In 

 .March they were repotted, the large plants in 12s, in 

 loam, leaf-mould, cow-dung three years' old, and a little 

 aand. Having a small house where nothing else is 

 grown, they had abundance of air given them on all occa- 

 sions ; aad to guard against boisterous winds, I nailed a 

 piece of cheese-cloth, a yard wide, over the top of the 

 house, which I find most useful, not only in checking the 

 ■wind, but also in keeping out dust, smut, and in the sum- 

 mer, bees. They were very strong plants, and showed a 

 fine head of bloom. The spring being very warm, and 

 our Show not taking place until the 11th of June, I kept 

 them as cool as possible, drawing an awning of cheese- 



| cloth tfW the house from 10 o'clock until 2. Every 

 other night they were syringed freely, and the awning the 

 following morning drawn down until the leaves were 

 quite dry; thinking that the spot might be caused by the 

 sun coming upon them when wet, and scorching them. 

 Twice a-week, alter they had shown bloom, they were 

 watered with liquid manure made of sheep's-dung. All 

 went on we.l until the thst week in May, when the spot 

 made its partial appearance ; and on this oecaj-ioo, the 

 day having been very hot, 1 used the syringe at night 

 very freely, and left the front windows a little 

 open ; the next day 1 perceived the appearance 

 of the spot on the most succulent leaves of one 

 or two plants, and those the most luxuriant in growth. 

 I at once concluded that my previous opinion of its 

 arising from over-watering and damp was correct, and it 

 was founded on the following case: — Last autumn I had 

 a large plant of the Dropmore Scarlet in fine health, 

 which flowered all the winter. In March it was cut 

 down, to supply cuttings for bedding out, and placed 

 under the stage, not much shaded, and removed out of 

 the way of drippings from pots overhead. The ends of 

 the shoots were touched with quick lime, which imme- 

 diately checks all bleeding. It was kept dry for a few 

 days, and then watered ; nut breaking freely, it was well 

 syringed, and received a good deal of moisture. It broke 

 from 12 eyes, and every leaf was covered with the spot. 

 I removed them all, put the plant in a dry place on the 

 stage, and the next growth of leaves was perfectly free 

 from spot. I have no doubt the disease was caused by 

 over-watering aud damp : if it was the soil, the plant 

 would have been diseased the previous \ear. Since the 

 appearance of the spot, I have ceased syringing, and 

 given less water, and it has not spread or appeared 



upon the other plants. — An Old Subscriber. 



Another correspondent, signing himself J. W., states 

 that early last May he placed some of his best plants in 

 B common garden-frame, to retard their flowering. They 

 were placed on coal ashes and kept as cool as possible, 

 and in a short time they were completely spotted. About 

 the middle or end of June the plants were cleaned and 

 plaosjd in a Vinery, where they had plenty of air, and were 

 dry. In due time they recovered, and flowered beautifully. 

 Our correspondent imagines that it was not the soil, but 

 the cold and wet they were subject to in the frame that 

 caused the spot, as May and June last year were cold, 

 wet months ; and he writes that plants growing in the 

 same soil, but in a greenhouse, were not at all infected 

 with the spot. He remarks that this year, out of a collec- 

 tion of 500, there is not a spot amongst them, and they are 



in all situations, from the conservatory to the open air. 



Mr, Parker, of Elm Grove, Roehampton, writes as fol- 

 lows : — ** I conceive that spot is occasioned by sudden 

 transitions of heat and cold, and not by the soil, as is 

 generally supposed ; for instance, last September was 

 very hot, and the early part of October was very cold, 

 consequently, the plants received a sudden check. When 

 my plants were housed for the winter, I picked off all the 

 infected leaves, and kept the temperature of the house at 

 from 45° to 50°, by fire heat. The plants were syringed 

 on fine days early in the afternoon, so as to allow the 

 leaves to get dry before night, and air was freely admitted 

 early in the morning. This treatment soon induced the 

 plants to assume a healthy appearance, and they have 

 been perfectly free from spot ever since. They have been 

 re-potted in the same kind of soil that they were growing 

 in last autumn ; therefore, if the soil caused the spot, it 

 would have re-appeared before this time. A friend had 

 Pelargoniums very much infected with this disease ; 

 the cause of which I attribute to cold and damp, as 

 his plants were removed about the latter end of Fe- 

 bruary, from the house where they had been growing 



all the winter, into cold damp pits." " I have 



lately built," says a fourth correspondent, u a green- 

 house exclusively for Pelargoniums, with a low roof and 

 a stage raised up well to the glass. It is heated on Mr. 

 Rendle's tank system, and up to April the plants were 

 progressing rapidly. A quantity of Dahlias put in to 

 force were placed over the tank and plunged in a bed of 

 sand, which was kept moist, and had usually from 5 to 

 6 gallons of water poured on it everyday. I keep up 

 fires at night to force the Pelargoniums into flower. The 

 greenfly having made its appearance, I tried, for the sake 

 of experiment, syringing with an infusion of quassia, in 

 the proportion of £ lb. to a gallon of water. I continued 

 to syringe them with this for three or four evenings, 

 closing up the house early. In about a week afterwards 

 the plants looked very sickly, and have continued un- 

 healthy ever since ; they have nearly lost all their leaves, 

 and those that remain are blotched all over, similar to 

 those 1 have sent for your inspection. I wish to know 

 whether this is the effect of the quassia, or whether it is 

 caused by the dampness of the house, owing to the eva- 

 poration from the sand, together with the syringing, or 

 from some other cause. The house was shutevery even- 

 ing, and in the morning the plants were quite wet, owing 

 to the water becoming condensed on the roof and fall- 

 ing back on the plants ; but this was the case before the 

 change took place as well as after.— C. K. C. [This is 

 a case of spot ; and seems to be explained by the valuable 

 observations of an " Old Subscriber." The quassia had 

 nothing to do with it.] 



Chicory. — On reading your Leader and correspond- 

 ent's remarks on the article of Chicory, I could not 

 resist a smile ; for really, to a person unacquainted with 

 the article, it would appear a direct road to fortune. I 

 ve been for the last two or three years communicating 

 with several members of the Government relative to the 

 article, and at last, after the many thousands— nay, I 

 may truly say, hundreds of thousands— the revenue bas 



v 



[May 25 



been deprived of bv it, I have the imri-f. , 

 the present Chancellor of the fcrd^SSSA? 

 used for adulteration, to the loss thereof If .° ^ 

 only used as generally understood, as an addition 1 * U 

 provement, as some poor tastes have it thesfnff ° r , Ift " 

 tolerated ; but when it is well known th?thu^ U 

 tons of low pulse (damaged by fire and w t ^ ° f 

 other way to which it is liable) are made into H t* J 

 Powder, and fifty other matters are all n,,d- imn ^ 

 by the addition of a tithe of the real article to t> * 

 imposition on our poorer classes, who, f rom i'lV"? 

 practices of adulteration, generally get hut a small n 

 uon of their hard earnings, how will it be po^blfT, 

 coffee is to be a leading art.cle for the benefit of tk 

 revenue, to permit its cultivation ? No : the Chancen 

 has found, after giving France that benefit many vein 

 to the serious loss of the revenue, that it nmt'nowk 

 stopped; and depend upon it, it will ere long he treated 

 as tobacco— others most grow it, and we get it oulv b 

 pnying a heavy duty. So great a hold has this spurioZ 

 matter taken of the consumer, that a genuine article of 

 low quality is unsaleable. — A nil- Adulteration. pOu 

 correspondent could hardly have used a stronger argj 

 ment against his own views, than the admission in the 

 last paragraph that Chicory has taken a great hold of 

 the consumer. That shows, conclusively, that Chicorr 

 improves the quality of coffee— as indeed is notorious 

 We submit, with much deference, that there is a 

 wide difference between mixture for the sake of rating 

 quality, and adulteration f>r purposes of fraud. French 

 coffee is celebrated for its excellence. Would the French 

 give up mixing it with Chicory ? We suspect not.] 

 Bees. — I have taken lately a glass of honey weighing 

 £ lbs. (glass included). Before putting on the glass, I 



5 * - . — „. 



laid a sheet of white paper over the top of the hiveTcroe 

 of Nutt's), cutting a hole for the passage ; by which 

 means there was scarcely any adhesion to the wooden 

 top. My Bees would have swarmed on the 10th, had I 

 not opened a side-box. I find the drawers under Nutt'i 

 hives of the greatest inconvenience. I opened one by 

 accident, and found it full of Bees, mostly dead, having 

 forced their way by the tin covering. I have now pasted 

 them up; as a means of feeding, they are perfectly use- 

 less, as I never found the Bees could get back into their 

 hive from them. — Phin, near Wrotham, Kent. 



Bee-flowers. — Some time ago, a correspondent denied 

 the correctness of my statement as regards the Polyan- 

 thus being a bee-flower. The Polyanthus is almost the 

 first spring plant in bloom, consequently, the bees, it 

 may be, are under the necessity of making use of it; 

 afterwards, when flowers get plentiful, they may prefer 

 others. I only speak of it as an early bee-flower, for 

 the truth of which I can vouch, having seen thousands 

 of bees on it from ray hives, and often been very much in 

 danger of being stung when gathering the flowers ; I 

 therefore again deliberately state, that the Polyanthus 

 tribe are valuable earlv bee-flowers. The following is a 

 list of flowers to which bees are particularly partial : 



Canterbury Bells. 



"Wallflowers. 



Roses. 



Mignonette. 



Brassicas. 



Sweet William. 



Columbine. 



Pinks. 



Asperula. 



Penstemons. 



Grape Hyacinth, 



Marigolds. 

 E choHzia. 



China Asters. 

 Dahlias, and 

 Marvel of Peru 



Borage. 

 Lilies. 

 Beans. 

 Stocks. 



— A piles. 



Heating.— On reading the article of your correspond- 

 ent " Dion," in a late Number, I thought I would send 

 the accompanying plan, which I have had in ^.Jj* 

 nearly two years past. It is on a small scale, and chiefly 

 used for the purpose of having hot water at command to 

 mix with cold for my Vines. My grapehouse is heated 

 with a brick flue ; the fire-place is about three feet from 

 the front wall; a cast iron pipe, about two inches in diame- 

 ter, is carried through r- v ^ 



this front wall to the .—^J 



fireplace, thus ; the W^ 



two open ends of the /■ . 



pipe are introduced into a wooden tank, about two 

 long, four feet wide, and eighteen inches deep. i Qls 



EARTH 



kept filled with water, which will boil in about ha 

 hour after the fire is lighted, as here is a cons tan 

 lation through the pipe into the tank. Indeed, it i 4 ^ 

 a stream out of the top end of the pipe, 1*» 8 h 



covered with a large piece of board ( sla J e wo , uld ahnllt ne 

 better) on which rests a frame made of wood, b do ^ 

 foot deep, and filled with earth, which is aiway ^ ^ 

 enough to strike cuttings or raise seeds m ; *>» ^ 



well attended, it gets too hot, owing to the nnw ^ 

 the tank. I imagine if I had an iron teuk ™ ced at 

 length of the house, this small bit of pipe mt ™ fficien tly 

 one end would keep the whole body of water s ^ .^ 

 warm, to throw out a good heat from the iron ^ top 

 the house, and if covered with slate, the earti LV [To 

 could be kept at an equal temperature.— 1- * 



be sure it would.] . . feet by 



Asparagus.— I have an Asparagus bed, WU"* ^.^ 



five feet, on which I put one cwt. of salt, about in of 



of March, last year, and also this year. T*e * cJ . 



crop, both with regard to size and number, » ^ 

 traordinary; I intend to continue the one cwt. 

 for this bed every March. — /. S. K. 



