342 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 23, 1885. 
posing nothing new. All these things are in daily operation, except for 
home-produced honey ; it is even appliel io foreign honey, or it could not 
be imported. I may add that I never doubted the shares would all be 
taken up, as the scheme has been announced so widely. 
It is absurd for the Honey Company to talk about “ supply and 
demand ” and “ market prices.” Whoever heard of a “ market ” con¬ 
sisting of a multitude of sellers and only one buyer, and that buyer ex¬ 
pecting all bee-keepers to send their produce from all parts of England, 
Scotland, or Ireland to him carriage paid to be distributed again ? it 
would be absurd for sellers in out-of-the-way places to expect to get more 
than 2d. per lb., notwithstanding Dr. Walker’s assertion that a “ small ” 
profit on honey will ruturn a handsome one on capital. I extract the 
following from the British Bee Journal for March 15th :—“ Bee-keepers 
of the future will have no difficulty in disposing of their honey, though 
they must not expect to get so much per pound for large quantities as for 
small,” when selling to the Honey Company. These are the words of its 
Chairman, and if this is a specimen of its business capacity it does not 
augur much for the prospects of profit. Any lad after being two weeks in 
a wholesale grocery would treat the writer of such with contempt. The 
very life of the wholesale trade consists in buying in large quantities and 
selling in smaller ones. If they buy small lots at the same rate as large 
ones they are practically working for nothing, as each small parcel re¬ 
quires the same trouble, booking, and correspondence as a large one, and 
this is why wholesale dealers cannot buy British honey in small lots. 
But to seriously propose giving more per lb. for a small parcel than for 
a large one requires no comment, and is only in accordance with their 
other notions.—A Hallamshire Bee-keeper. 
THE NATIONAL BEE-KEEPERS’ UNION. 
I read in your last i=sue a letter from “A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper,” in 
which he spoke o: the promoters of a National Bee-keepers’ Union, and 
their singleness of purpose. Will he let us know who these promoters 
are ? Why do they keep in the background ? Are they ashamed of their 
names being made public ? I see that the Editor of the Bee Journal has 
offered to publish a list of their names if one were sent to him, but no 
such list has yet appeared, so I conclude that none has been sent.— 
A Staffordshire Bee-keeper. 
HIVE WITHOUT CROSS-STICKS. 
I have a large Pettigrew skep, 16 by 12 ins., which in very early spring 
was only half full of comb, but is now nearly, and will soon be quite full. 
There are no cross-sticks in it to support the combs, and I desire to 
know if there is any danger, the combs being new, of their breaking 
down if the hive is inverted for artificial sw;rming early in May if ready. 
—A. Y, Z, 
[Prepare a few paper cushions about 3 inches long, an inch or so 
broad, and about half an inch thick. After the hive is inverted take a 
carbolised sheet of brown paper, and lay it flat upon the combs to drive 
back the bees. Notv push the cushions between the combs, which will 
keep them in their places and prevent their swaying and breaking. Fold 
the paper, or fill the little envelope so that the cushions will be springy. 
Be. careful and turn the hive when inverting upon the side towards 
which the ends of the combs rest. If carefully manipulated there is not 
likely to be any collapse of combs, unless the day is very warm, when 
manipulation should be carried on in the shade.] 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
James Cocker & Sons, Sunnypark, Aberdeen .—Catalogue of Spring 
Flowers for 1885. 
Continental Horticultural Company (J. Linden), Ghent, Belgium.— 
Catalogue of Plants for 1885 ( Illustrated ). 
Bruant, Poitiers, Vienne, France .—Catalogue of Plants. 
Barr & Son, 12 and 13, King Street, Covent Garden .—Catalogue of 
Daffodils ( illustrated). 
*** All correspondence should be directed either to “The Editor ” 
or to “ The Publisher.” Letters addressed to Dr. Hogg or 
members of the staff often remain unopened unavoidably. We 
request that no one will write privately to any of our correspon¬ 
dents, as doing so subjects them to unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions relat¬ 
ing to Gardening and those on Bee subjecls, and should never 
send more than two or three questions at once. All articles in- 
ended for insertion should be written on one side of the paper 
only. We cannot reply to questions through the post, and we 
do not undertake to return rejected communications. 
Address (T. T.). —Your letter has been forwarded in accordance with 
your wish. 
Rhubarb (J. W., Pershore). — Rhubarb is certainly not a fruit, the 
portions used for culinary purposes being the fleshy leafstalks. It is 
admissible in a collection of vegetables, and is usually shown in that way 
when there are no classes devoted to it. 
Blight in House ( E. C., Malmesbury ).—The specimen enclosed has upon 
it examples of a Coccus or scale, which is too immature to be specifically 
named, but the leaves also bear traces of a fungoid growth, perhaps due to 
the insect attack, or it may be unhealthiness from some other cause which 
has favoured the spread of the scale amongst your plants. Those not too 
tender to bear such treatment should be cleaned with a solution of softsoap, 
to which some tobacco water has been added, or with a weak solution of 
paraffin. But it is possible, from the description you give, that the green¬ 
house is so far infested that the only remedy really effectual will be the 
removal of the plants and a subsequent fumigation of the house with 
sulphur. 
Native Guano ( E. S.). —If you cannot accept the evidence of gardeners 
of such standing as Mr. Smith of Mentmore, we can only advise you to try 
the manure for yourself. All fertilisers have not the same effect on soils 
differing in character. A manure may suit one soil admirably, and yours 
not so well. Doronicum austriacum is distinct from D. caucasicum, and is 
named in several works upon hardy plants. Hebeclinium ianthinum is 
sometimes seen under the names Eupatorium and Conoclinium. It belongs 
to the natural order Compositse. 
Soil for Chrysanthemums ( Cambridge). —Cocoa-nut fibre and cocoa-nut 
fibre refuse are two different materials, the former being practically worthless 
for potting purposes; the latter, which resembles soft brown mahogany 
sawdust, being very useful, but we should not use it for Chrysanthemums 
after shifting them from the small pots unless the soil were very heavy 
indeed. For protecting the drainage a layer of fibrous turf with the soil 
particles knocked out, then sprinkled with soot, is much better than the fibre 
refuse. Cannot you get some manure sufficiently dried and decayed for 
rubbing through a sieve of an inch or three-quarter-inch mesh ? If you can 
we advise you to use it instead of the fibre refuse. If the loam is heavy 
also add a little wood ashes. It should be turfy, and if inclined to be poor 
soak it with strong liquid manure and let it get moderately dry before 
using. If you have potted the plants you need not fear the fibre refuse will 
induce fungus growth to do injury, but it has not the sustaining power 
requisite for supporting the plants. The compost may consist of a seventh 
part of decayed manure, a pound of bonemeal to half a bushel of soil, with 
nearly a 5-inch potful of soot and half a peck of wood ashes if the loam is 
very strong. 
Perpetuating Cinerarias (E. F., Hackney). — Only really superior 
varieties are worth saving and increasing by offsets, as seedling plants 
grow so much more freely. For producing strong offsets the plants should 
be cut down as soon as their beauty is over, as if left to ripen all the seed 
that forms this often exhausts them. A cool frame is a suitable position 
for the cut-down plants, fro3t of course being excluded, and not an insect 
must be allowed on the young growths that start from the roots. For en¬ 
couraging the suckers to root an inch or two of the old soil is removed from 
the pots and fresh rich compost added and kept regularly moist. We have 
often planted Cinerarias out in June in rich soil in a shaded border rather 
deeply, and they have produced a vigorous lot of offsets, which have formed 
compact flowering plants for the following spring. Tho suckers, as to 
potting, watering, and shifting, require the same treatment as plants raised 
from seed. 
Early-forced Peach Trees Failing (G. M .).—It is difficult to account 
for the failure, and we can fully sympathise with you, as we had a similar 
difficulty a few years ago. The trees were healthy, and were subjected to 
the same treatment as during the years they produced satisfactory results, 
yet the fruit fell as yours have done when the size of horse beans. We 
bore this two seasons, and then determined to kill or cure. In early 
September we removed the whole of the soil down to the roots, having pre¬ 
viously shaded and closed the house. The roots were then lifted, com¬ 
mencing at the point most distant from the stem, and as they were laid 
bare and on one side they were covered with wet mats. In this way the 
whole of the roots were lifted except for a space of about 18 inches round 
the stem, where only the soil was picked out without injuring the small 
roots or fibres. The drainage was found perfect, otherwise it would have 
been taken out and renewed. We cut under the stem to sever any roots 
going straight down but found none. About a sixth of lime rubbish was 
mixed with the soil, and it was raised to within a foot of the intended level, 
then the roots were laid out, some of the strongest cut away, and the soil 
| worked in amongst the others, half the roots being disposed of in the first 
i layer, which occupied about 6 inches depth. The remainder of the roots were 
• similarly arranged in the top 6 inches of soil and made firm. A thorough 
soaking of tepid water was then given, and the surface mulched with a 
couple of inches thickness of short manure. The house was kept rather 
close, still shaded and syringed, and the foliage which had become limp and 
hanging recovered in the course of a few days, when it was seen that the 
roots were starting afresh. The shading was removed and ventilation given 
by degrees, so that in a fortnight the trees could bear full exposure and 
ventilation. The foliage came off freely, and no buds even of Noblesse 
were lost. The set next year was very full, we believe every blossom set 
and swelled a fruit, which were left too long, as we were afraid the majority 
would fall before they reached the size of Walnuts. They had to be 
removed by pecks, and not a fruit fell in stoning. This lasted for about 
three years, when the trees did not swell the set fruits as we wished, and not 
waiting for another failure the trees were lifted again, with the best results, 
and subsequently we lifted them every third year; indeed we find they 
were lifted four times in a dozen years, therefore our advice to those having 
Peach trees in an unsatisfactory fruiting state is to lift with care and 
judgment as soon as the wood is firm, and it will be productive of great 
good, the effect being certain and immediate. 
