April 9, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
297 
To reduce the strain on the Vines allow them to rest at night, for how¬ 
ever easy it is to maintain a night temperature of 70°, a few degrees less 
with a little air will be more beneficial, especially when the roots are 
active. Carefully fertilise every bunch, and if there be a deficiency of 
pollen employ that of Hamburgh?. 
Late Houses .—Take advantage of sun heat to push on Vines of Lady 
Downe’s and other winter varieties, as these cannot be over-ripened if 
they are to keep in good condition for some months after they are re¬ 
moved from the Vines. Admit air early on fine mornings, it is the only 
way to escape scorched foliage and secure thick leathery foliage. Allow 
the temperature to rise to 80° with plenty of moisture, and close in time 
for it to rise to 90° from sun heat on fine afternoons. Until the Grapes 
flower a night temperature of 60° is sufficient, then raise it 5° in order to 
increase the length of the bunches and facilitate the setting of the fruit. 
Late Grapes succeed best when planted inside the house with the roots 
passing into outside borders. These should be elevated so that water 
will drain from them, and mulch them well, taking care to insure abund¬ 
ance of moisture by exposure to all the rain that falls from the time the 
Grapes are cut in January until the succeeding crop is ripe in the Sep¬ 
tember following. If dry weather prevails during the summer artificial 
watering must be resorted to, and if well drained the natural rainfall 
should be supplemented by a good soaking after the Grapes are thinned, 
and again before they take the last swelling for ripening. These water¬ 
ings will not of course be necessary if the rainfall is unusually heavy 
about those periods, and if the Vines need a stimulant give liquid manure. 
It is imperative that late Grapes be artificially impregnated, and for this 
purpose a camel’s-hair brush is the best, as drawing it across the stigmas 
completely removes the glutinous substance, which if left undisturbed 
prevents the berries setting. 
LateHamburghs .—Growth is now commencing, and where there is likely 
to be any irregularity from the Vines being young, depress the cane3 below 
the horizontal line of the base, and keep them in that position until the 
lower buds have started and the shoots are a couple of inches long, when 
the Vines may be secured in position. The inside borders will need 
thorough soakings with tepid water or liquid manure as a stimulant or 
otherwise may be required, repeating it if necessary, as it is essential the 
borders he thoroughly moist. Artificial heat will only be necessary to 
prevent the temperature falling below 50° at night, and during the day 
an advance above 65° must not be allowed without a free circulation of 
air. Close for the day at 65°, and gently syringing the Vines and house 
in the afternoon will afford sufficient moisture for the present. A close 
moist atmosphere has a tendency to. make the growth long-jointed and 
the foliage flabby, which should be guarded against by early and free 
ventilation, depending on sun heat at a more advanced stage for accele¬ 
rating the growth of the Vines and swelling the crop. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Hpaerises .—All plants that have flowered may be cut close back, so 
that they may be started into growth without delay. If any plants have 
become bare at the base they may be subjected to hard pruning, and in 
a short time they will commence growth and make useful flowering plants 
for another year. After pruning place the plants in a structure where 
they can be kept warm, and the night temperature about 50°. Syringe 
these plants twice daily during fine weather, and close the house in which 
they are placed early in the afternoon. When the growths are about 
2 inches long the plants will be ready for repotting if they require it, and 
must have more air to harden them before they are placed in a cold frame. 
The earliest plants are in active growth and ready for potting. Small 
shifts only should be given, and the roots must be inj ured as little as 
possible ; in fact, the old roots must not be disturbed more than removing 
the drainage from the base. The pots must be carefully drained, and the 
soil pressed firmly round the roots. Keep the plants close for at least 
a fortnight after potting, and syringe them freely to avoid watering 
at their roots for as long a period as possible after potting. For some 
time after this operation very careful watering is needed, or they will 
fail to root freely into the new soil. A little shade for two or three 
weeks after potting during bright sunshine may he given. Good fibry 
peat and coarse sand form the most suitable compost. 
Heaths .—Erica hyemalis, E. autumnalis, and others that flowered 
early in the autumn, if well treated since will have started freely into 
growth, and should be transferred at once into larger pots if they need 
this attention. Give small shifts only, pot firmly, and use the same soil 
as advised for Epacrises. After potting place the plants in cold frames, 
keeping them somewhat close until they have commenced rooting afresh. 
E. autumnalis, however, much dislikes anything approaching a con¬ 
fined atmosphere, and if subjected to it soon becomes a prey to mildew. 
After the plants have commenced rooting freely ventilation should be 
given liberally to insure a firm sturdy growth. The leading shoots, if 
they show any signs of being crowded, must be thinned, for it is better to 
have six, eight, or more, according to the size of the plants, strong and 
profusely flowered, than double the number in a weak state. Young 
stock in 2 or 3-inch pots must be placed in 5 and 6-inch pots, and after¬ 
wards stood in cold frames and treated the same as cut-back plants. E. 
melanthera, that has just flowered, will bear the same treatment as 
Epacrbes after being cut back until they have fairly started into growth. 
E. Willmoreana should be cut back at once and started into growth 
by being kept close until they are starting. Unless the growth is 
advanced moderately early in the season it is impossible to ripen the 
wood sufficiently for flowering well, especially in the northern parts of 
the country. 
Hardmooded Heaths .—Plants that need repotting must be attended 
to at once before the sun has too much power, and the necessary tying 
and training may be brought to a close as early as possible. Any plants 
that are newly potted must be shaded from the sun, or the moisture will 
be evaporated from the soil too rapidly, and prove very trying to the 
plants. During bright sunshine and drying winds the house in which 
they are growing must be kept close and shaded in preference to ad¬ 
mitting air. Tbe p'ants can he placed on dry stages, but upon some 
moisture-holding material. Abundance of air may be given to the 
general stock whenever favourable, and those required for late flowering 
cannot well be kept too cool; they must also be shaded from the sun, or 
they will be brought on too rapidly. 
Cytisus —After flowering these plants may be cut back and placed 
in a cold house until they break again into growth. Young plants in 
3 inch pots, required for purposes of decoration in 5 and 6-inch 
pots another year, may be potted in those sizes at once and placed in 
cold frames. Syringe the plants once or twice daily, and keep the 
frame close until they are rooting and growing freely, when abundance 
of air must be given, and the plants grown as cool as possible. These 
are very useful plants for decorative purposes in small pots, because they 
can be grown to a flowering size quickly. A batch of cuttings should 
be rooted annually for this purpose either in the autumn or spring. 
Cuttings will root freely now if inserted in sandy soil and covered with a 
bellglass, and afterwards stood in an intermediate house where they can 
be shaded from the sun. These plants grow freely in a compost of good 
fibry loam, one-3eventh of decayed manure, and sufficient sand to keep 
the soil open. 
gj a 
■i - r - 1- ■ ■ i -1 - ----- » i - 
6 ) 
V //$ 
J t V 
H 
r t 
b: 
fata 1 
E/MrJ 
pi 
K 
R. 
SEASONABLE NOTES ON BEES. 
With the month of April the bee-master’s work com¬ 
mences in earnest. Those who took our advice, and, excepting 
in cases of necessity, left their bees as quiet and undisturbed 
as possible during the treacherous month of March, did 
well. It has as usual been a trying time for the bees, more 
especially for those in which an undue and unnatural excite¬ 
ment had been from any cause brought about. Bright sun¬ 
shine accompanied by chilling north and east winds has 
thinned the ranks much more than a long spell of frosty 
and dull weather would have done. 
One correspondent to this Journal asked some time back 
how “ P. H. P. ” could prevent the presence of quantities of 
brood in his hives from Christmas onwards. We cannot, nor 
would we try to stop the natural augmentation of our stocks 
in the late winter and early spring months. What we spoke 
against in a former letter was the abnormal condition of 
many stocks in March, brought about by injudicious stimu¬ 
lation, and entirely by artificial means. Our advice has 
been to assist Nature, not to set up an absolutely unnatural 
condition. Like all other good things, the system of stimu¬ 
lative feeding may be abused instead of being carefully used. 
We have always written against what to us seems the folly of 
raising stocks to swarming power in March, long before there 
is sufficient natural income to support them, and weeks 
before they can be of profit to their owners. It is only in 
very few much-favoured localities that there is any great flow 
of honey before June. May supers from fruit blossoms are 
of course obtainable in the midst of the great fruit-growing 
districts of Kent and Herefordshire, but over the greater 
part of the United Kingdom the fruit blossom honey is only 
sufficient to give the bees the means of existence. This is a 
fact, unless in the hands of skilful bee keepers the bees are 
so managed in moveable-comb hives that, by giving them 
stores of artificial food, by spreading the brood, by con¬ 
tracting the body of the hive, the bees are crowded into the 
super just as the fruit blossoms open. But we never yet saw 
a cottager with the ordinary skep get supers in April. 
However, the time has now come when every bee-keeper 
who wishes to get the most out of his bees should carefully, 
systematically, and regularly feed them—carefully, so as not 
to bring about the destruction of his hives, for food given 
carelessly would tend to that effect. Food should be given 
in the evening and taken off in the morning if the day be 
fine. It should be so given that bees from other than the 
fed hive cannot get at the food. The name of “ feeders ” is 
legion, and the poor man with a few bar-frame or other 
