216 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[August 25, 1888. 



The Apiary. 



The question agitating many is whether it is pro- 

 fitable to keep bees, or to take arms against a sea of 

 troubles (to wit a soaking summer), and by sulphur- 

 ing end them — that, is, the bees. As the rain 

 poured down pitilessly day after day I was led to 

 these thoughts, but still I did not harbour them 

 long, remembering that a season like the present 

 seems to come about once in nine years ; and 

 though the eight intervening seasons are only about 

 half of them of much account, yet, taking all things 

 into account, bee-keeping is profitable if [pursued 

 industriously and intelligently; and he who knows 

 how to transfer his accounts to the folio of a ledger 

 will soon find that the balance keeps on the encourag- 

 ing side of the said ledger. 



After this preamble, and hefore proceeding, I 

 must just say, " Feed, feed, feed ! " If it does not 

 pay to feed bees, it certainly does not pay to starve 

 them, leaving humanity out of the question. A 

 very pretty little glass section comes to me from 

 Swanwick, Alfreton. It is made of glass every- 

 where, except that the pieces of glass are ingeniously 

 fastened on little pieces of wood. The wood acts 

 as a non-conductor, and so the greatest objection 

 to glass supers — the loss of heat— is obviated. 

 The foundation is cleverly fastened in, and 

 the honeycomb, when completed in these sections, 

 would look very nice at a show or on the dinner- 

 table. Honey ought to fetch a good price this 

 season. Of course the bees are getting in a little 

 now, but in my own apiary the bees will require it 

 themselves, and it will be fortunate if they get 

 enough for themselves. However, I am thankful 

 that my hives are not to be seen floating down a 

 river, as some people's haycocks were a little while 

 ago. It is always a good thing to let the bees have 

 a nice quiet time before winter sets in, and as the 

 bees are now getting in a little it would be advisable 

 to let them alone while the weather is fairly warm, 

 say, till the end of August. But after that matters 

 had better not be delayed, and hives must be 

 examined to see, first, if the queen is all right ; and 

 second, if they have enough to eat. They ought, at 

 least, to have 20 lb. of sealed honey, and 25 lb. is 

 not too much of a stretch of generosity. I hear Mr. 

 Hooker has brought out a new work on bee3. It 

 has not yet found its way to my study table, but 

 when it does I shall read, mark, and learn it, as I 

 know he is a beekeeper of great experience. Bee. 



Entomology. 



THE DEVIL'S COACH-HORSE, OR FOETID 

 ROVE BEETLE. 

 In the Gardeners' Chronicle for November 5, 1842, 

 was published an article by Mr. Curtis (" Ruricola ") 

 on an insect which is commonly known by the first 

 of these well-known names, whilst the writer pre- 

 ferred to give it the second name quoted above, 

 accompanied by a very characteristic woodcut, which 

 we here reproduce (fig. 2G, lower portion). It is scienti- 

 fically known as Ocypus or Goerius olens, and is by no 

 means a rare insect, and deserves, notwithstanding its 

 savage appearance, protection by the gardener, instead 

 of its ordinary fate of being trodden upon and destroyed 

 when found running about the garden walks, or 

 when turned up by the spade. Its jet-black colour, 

 bold appearance when showing its pugnacious charac- 

 ter, raised upon its outstretched legs, with its sickle- 

 shaped jaws widely opened, and its tail turned 

 upwards over its back, terminated by two small white 

 tubercles, which it protrudes, adding to its curious 

 demeanour, which are omitted in the figure given by 

 "Ruricola." The outline figure on the lower right side 

 of the woodcut (fig. 26) represents the under side of 

 the head of the insect, armed on each side with a strong 

 bristle (2). The strong horny jaws or mandibles are 

 represented at 3, the feelers or palpi of the lower 

 jaws and lower lip are shown at 4, and the antenna; 



at 5. Gcedartius figured one of these insects, and 

 gave two very characteristic figures of the larva;, 

 noticing in his quaint style the voracity of both. 

 Swammerdam also mentions the Staphylinus (to 

 which Linnean genus the insect belongs), adding 

 that it seems to be of a middle nature between the 

 beetle and the Scolopendra, and it can very quickly 

 kill earthworms with its teeth, and afterwards suck 

 them. 



At the end of last June we received a note from 

 a correspondent respecting a centipede-like insect 

 1 inch or so long, which attacked a worm 4 or 5 inches 

 long, tearing it so that it speedily died. The 

 description given of the insect satisfactorily showed 

 it to be the larva of the Goerius olens, being about 

 l-6th or l-8th of an inch thick towards the head, 

 and tapering to the tail, being about IJ inch long. 



In the accompanying woodcut (fig. 26) we have re- 

 presented the larva of the Goerius olens of the natural 

 size, the small detached figure showing the position of 

 the groups of eyelets (ocelli), of which there are two, 

 each containing four small ones. The middle figure 

 represents the under side of the head of the larva;, 

 given in order to show the comparison of the parts 

 of the mouth with those of the perfect beetle repre- 

 sented by " Ruricola." The mandibles (a) are very 

 sharp at the tips, the inner edge wanting the horny 

 small teeth of the imago ; the palpi of the lower jaws 

 (c) arise from an elongated basal piece, which is 

 attached by means of several pieces soldered to the 

 under side of the skull, whilst the lower lip (d) is 

 composed of several pieces, and is terminated by a 

 slender porrected point, with two short lateral palpi 

 arising from a dilated piece or labium. The antenna; 

 are shown at b, and one is entirely detached, and re- 

 presented on the upper left-hand side of the woodcut. 

 The body of the larva is long, and gradually decreases 

 in width to the extremity ; it is comparatively soft 

 and fleshy, and clothed with numerous fine hairs. 

 It is terminated by a short deflexed tubular joint, 

 which serves as a seventh leg, and which is defended 

 at the sides by two long slender setose two-jointed 

 filaments, as shown in the right-hand figure. 

 Although this larva is as voracious it is by no means 

 so ferocious-looking as the perfect insect. 



" Ruricola " describes the habit of the perfect 

 insect, especially noticing that one which he had 

 placed under a tumbler killed and had eaten six 

 earwigs in an hour and a half. /. 0. W. 



Ornamental Trees. — Park trees will require atten- 

 tion to see that broken branches are cut off and 

 removed, as well as such as have been browsed by 

 stock, are trimmed up neatly. A. D. Webster, Hot- 

 wood, " 



Forestry. 



Planting Pkeparations. — During the month of 

 August, when but few special operations demand 

 the attention of the forester, every effort should be 

 made to push forward the preparations of land to be 

 planted during the autumn and winter, attention 

 to drainage taking the precedence of other opera- 

 tions, this being followed up by fencing and pitting. 

 Upon clay soils summer and autumn operation are 

 most beneficial, but the amount of good connected 

 with such timely work, even on light sandy land, is 

 everywhere discernible. Pitting at least should 

 never, unless under very peculiar circumstances, be 

 delayed until the planting season, for the ameliorating 

 effects of frost, sun, heat, and air leave the generality 

 of soils in the best condition for planting. 



The Nursery. — A sharp outlook must now be kept 

 on Coniferous trees for insects and their larva. 

 Usually about this time these pests begin their 

 depredations, and, what is most provoking, they 

 usually choose the leading shoots for their boring 

 operations. Eew Conifers come amiss to these 

 boring beetles, even the Corsican Pine, which was 

 once considered to be insect-proof, being destroyed 

 in large numbers in plantations where they are freely 

 mixed up with Scotch, Austrian, and Weymouth 

 Pines. 



Recently grafted trees should be examined, and 

 the ties slackened, or wholly removed, as may be 

 found necessary. Remove all superfluous twigs from 

 the stems of young hardwoods, and buds and shoots 

 from the stocks of grafted trees and shrubs. I have 

 found it necessary to lighten the heads of many 

 hardwood trees during the present season, their 

 growth being out of all proportion to the size of the 

 stems. To young and recently planted specimens 

 we are now directly referring. 



Fruits Under Glass. 



Peaches. — Assuming that growth on the trees in 

 the early house has ceased for some time, the wood 

 is hard and brown, and the buds plump, let no time 

 be lost in removing all superflous growth, and place 

 the bearing wood under the best conditions for 

 getting thorough exposure to the sun. Syringe the 

 trees heavily every afternoon, and see that the state 

 of the soil is right as regards moisture. Where 

 heavy syringing is going on, the border often 

 appears to be wet on the surface, while the soil 

 about the roots is in a too dry condition. 



Succession Houses. — Trees from which the fruits 

 are cleared must have every attention, especially in 

 such a cold sunless season as the present. Remove 

 every shoot which is not required, and let the fruit- 

 ing wood of next year be trained thinly over the 

 trellises. Six to 8 inches is not too far apart if the 

 length of the foliage be taken into consideration, 

 which on healthy trees will run to 8 in length. If 

 the wood be still green and sappy, a little heat in the 

 apparatus will do much to thoroughly mature it. 

 Syringe daily to keep red-spider in check, and attend 

 to the watering of the borders. Where the trees are 

 aged, weak manure-water will be of benefit. 



Late Houses. — In the absence of sun-heat, it will 

 be advantageous to afford a little fire-heat, making 

 the pipes merely warm, and afford abundance of 

 air. Where the fruits are colouring, the trees 

 should not have any water at the roots, and syring- 

 ing should be discontinued. Late Peach trees 

 swelling their fruit will also be benefited by artificial 

 warmth, as the thermometer sinks sometimes to 39 u 

 during the night; fully expose the fruit, and keep 

 the young shoots closely tied in. Syringe on all 

 favourable occasions, except during cold days, espe- 

 cially if the house be unheated. A. cool and moist 

 condition of the air in a house favours the appear- 

 ance of mildew. 



Figs. — The earliest trees for forcing next season 

 should now be in a forward state of maturity ; there- 

 fore give every attention to watering and syringing 

 the plants until the foliage falls naturally. The trees, 

 when the wood is matured, may be stood out-of- 

 doors in a sunny sheltered situation, until the first 

 appearance of frost, keepingthem clear of the ground 

 by placing a brick under each corner of the tub. 

 To succession trees maturing their second crop of 

 fruit, weak stimulants may be afforded ; the syringe 

 must not be too freely used or the fruit will be 

 liable to split prematurely. Maintain a good circu- 

 lation of warm air in the house. Remove all weak 

 useless growth, also any fruits which show upon the 

 shoots. W. M. Baittie, Luton Hoo Gardens. 



The Kitchen Garden. 



Cauxiflowebs. — Seed should now be sown on a 

 warm border, the young plants to be removed later 

 to handlights and cold frames to stand the winter. 

 Most gardeners are anxious to have Cauliflowers 

 ready in spring as soon as the Broccolis are over. 

 In doing this I find no difficulty when I grow Gilbert's 

 Victoria Broccoli for the latest successional variety, 

 with Early London Cauliflower to succeed this. As 

 a later crop it is well to employ the variety called 

 Asiatic Cauliflower. Autumn Giant (sown now) 

 will succeed this one, but in some seasons it is very 

 apt to go blind in the spring after planting out : ir» 

 others it produces capital heads. To follow this 

 Eclipse and Autumn Giant, both sown in spring, 

 carry on the season until Veitch's Self-protecting 

 Autumn Broccoli is ready, which is followed in due 

 course by the varieties recommended in previous 

 numbers. 



Lettuces. — The main supply for early spring use 

 should now be sown, and for this purpose" none are 

 so good as the old Bath or Brown Cos for use in 

 private gardens. Some market growers and others 

 object to the colour of this variety, and prefer Hick's 

 Hardy White. It is well to sow a little of Paris 

 Market or Perfect Gem Cabbage Lettuce at the 

 same time as the above. They are often ready for 

 use much earlier in the spring, and also take up 



