362 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 30, 1885. 
damp the surface if at all dry, sow the seed thinly either in drills or 
broadcast, and cover with a little fine soil. Protect the seedlings from 
slugs, and prick them out early in July. Campanulas or Canterbury Bella 
should also be sown now, the choicer kinds preferably in pans or boxes Jof 
fine soil, and protected with glass. Later on the seedlings may be grown 
in an open border, and any required for pot culture be lifted before frosts 
are experienced. 
Carnations and Picotees. —These are extremely useful border plants, 
and a packet of seed will yield a great number of good varieties; and 
even the single sorts, of which a few are almost certain to be included, 
find many admirers, especially in a cut state. Strong seedling plants are 
usually wonderfully floriferous, so much so that in about two seasons 
they are exhausted. It is advisable to raise a batch of plants every 
spring, and the sooner the seed is sown the better the prospect of ultimate 
success. We usually order the finest mixed of both Carnations and 
Picotees, and also a packet of Carnation GreDadin, this being a brilliant 
scarlet variety, very compact and free flowering. Sow the seed in boxes 
of fine loamy soil, and stand in a cool or only moderately warm frame. If 
shaded from bright sunshine and kept uniformly moist the seed is not 
long in germinating, the seedlings when in rough leaf being first pricked 
off in boxes of good soil, and eventually planted out where they are to 
bloom, which they will do the following summer. Pinks, including the 
popular Mrs. Sinkins, may also be raised in a similar manner. 
Ornamental Grasses. —When well grown and properly dried these 
Grasses are of great service in the decoration of rooms and for mixing 
with cut flowers during the winter months. They are also very pretty in 
a growing state. The seed may be sown thinly in patches where the 
plants are to grow, but in cold late localities it should be sown under 
glass, and about the present time in either case. Crowding must be 
avoided, or the produce will be very inferior. The sorts can either be had 
separately or in packets of twelve or twenty-four varieties. Vendors 
rarely, if ever, state the respective heights of the various sorts, the pur¬ 
chasers, therefore, frequently being puzzled as to the positions each should 
have, the result being that many of the tallest growers are placed in the 
front rows, and vice versa. For the guidance of the growers we will give 
the average heights of the principal sorts—Agrostis argentea, 1^ foot ; A. 
laxiflora, 1 foot ; A. nebulosa, 1^- foot ; A. pulchella, 1 foot; Andropogon 
giganteus, 5 feet; Anthoxanthum gracile, 1£ foot; Arundo conspicua, 
8 feet, growth and plumes somewhat similar to Gynerium argenteum 
(Pampas Grass) ; Brachypodum distachyum, 2 feet ; Briza maxima, 
2 feet; B. minima, 1 foot; Bromus brizeeformis ; Chloris radiata, 
1 foot ; Chrysurus cynosuroides, Coix lachryma, foot; Eleusine 
indica, 1 foot ; Eragrostis elegans, 1 foot ; Brian thus Bavennse, 7 feet; 
Hordeum jubatum, H foot; Lagurus ovatus, 1 foot; Panicum plicatum, 
2 feet ; Paspulum elegans, foot ; Pennisetum longistylum, 1 foot i 
Stipa pennata, 2 feet; and Setaria macrochasta, 1J foot. 
Border Annuals. —Now that the weather has become more favourable 
no time should be lost in sowing seeds of such annuals as Clakias, Col- 
linsias, Larkspurs, Tropaeolums, Mignonette, Love-lies-Bleeding, Poppies, 
Sweet Peas, Coreopsis, Linums, Convolvuluses, Scabious, Virginian Stocks, 
Cornflowers, Marigolds, Hibiscuses, Eschscholtzias, Nemophilas, Godetias, 
&c. The soil should be well broken up, the surface of the small patches 
levelled with the hand and lightly watered if at all dry, the seed then 
being sown very thinly, and only lightly covered with fine soil. Each 
patch should be marked with a peg or label, and as the seedlings appear 
look closely after the slugs or they will quickly clear them off. It may 
be necessary to trap the slugs either under heaps of Broccoli or Cabbage 
leaves, or on little heaps of bran, this rendering their destruction a 
simple matter. When the seedlings are of good size they must be freely 
thinned out, as if they are thick on the ground the flowers are certain to 
be small and the display of short duration. 
9A 
, . , . , - , - - - ; -— - -- T -,-----,- 
o) M 
Ay 
HE I 
1EE-KEEPER. 
SEASONABLE NOTES ON BEES. 
The season is undoubtedly a backward one, and so much 
the better for our chances of success both with the fruit and 
honey harvests. The cold east winds and night frosts have 
retarded the opening of the buds on shrubs and trees, and 
we may hope that as the days grow longer and the sun 
obtains more power there will be less occasion to fear the 
blighting of fruit blooms and of fruit-growers’ hopes. Bees 
steal out on sunny days and collect pollen and water, but so 
far the flowers can secrete little honey, and careful systematic 
feeding should be carried on by the bee-keeper. Let the 
bees themselves be uncovered and disturbed as little as 
possible. When necessary to ascertain the condition of a 
stock, either as to its progress or to see that there is a suffi¬ 
ciency of food, let the work be done as expeditiously as 
possible, and towards the close of a warm day. 
We are now reaping the benefit of having planted for our 
bees both flowers and shrubs. Some stout Willow noles 
driven into the ground round a pond three years ago have 
proved a constant source of pollen supply. If the sun gleams 
out for a few minutes only there is a joyful hum in the air, 
and the Willows become alive with our little workers. 
During the latter part of March and up to the present time 
we consider that the Willow blossom has yielded more pollen 
than any other trees or shrubs in our neighbourhood. Arabis, 
Primroses and Polyanthuses, Anemones, Periwinkle, Wall¬ 
flowers, and Dandelions are now in perfection, but the Bibes 
is at the present time the favourite shrub. We have quan¬ 
tities planted, and they are now masses of blossoms, and the 
bees certainly do not fail to “improve each shining hour” 
among the gay pink trusses. Gooseberries will soon be 
open, and will take the place of the Bibes as the latter fades. 
Black and Bed Currants will also soon be producing their 
pendent flowers, and the Apple trees promise a glorious dis¬ 
play. Pears and Apples are studded with fat blossom buds, 
the result of the well-ripened wood of our last almost tropical 
summer. Like ourselves, most growers must have noticed 
the quantity of flowering shoots produced by last season’s 
growth. The new wood on three out of four trees is laden 
with bloom. All these glorious feasts will soon be spread 
out for the benefit of bees and bee-master, and should the 
weather be favourable for the setting of the fruit we may 
look for a profitable harvest. Plum blossoms are expanded, 
and many Pears. Since penning the first part of this letter 
the Gooseberries have come into flower, and to-day they are 
special favourites with the bees. A few days of such weather 
as this will powerfully strengthen our hives. Through 
having a gentle but constant supply of food and water our 
bees have been quietly augmenting in numbers, and this 
warm day brings out the young bees in their thousands. 
We shall now give our attention to spreading the brood 
more confidently than we could have done during the cold 
east winds. It is marvellous to watch the effect of this 
operation when judiciously carried out. We first unseal the 
capped honey cells around the brood nest, and when these 
have been appropriated by the queen we insert one of the 
outer combs in which there is brood into the centre of the 
cluster, and in this way as the bees increase in numbers and 
the weather permits we gradually expand the nest until the 
hive is one mass of brood from end to end. This should 
bring us within measurable distance of the first great flow of 
honey, and since there will be little storage room in the body 
of the hive, supers will be readily taken possession of. Every¬ 
thing now in an apiary, if not already prepared, should be at 
once got into a state of readiness. The swarming season 
will soon be upon us ; it is wonderful how fast bees properly 
cared for up to this time increase daily. The bee-keeper 
should soon after a careful survey of his stocks make up his 
mind what system he means to carry out with each particular 
colony. He should at any rate set aside one, and that the 
best hive, for queen-raising. Some, if he wishes for increase 
of number, will be treated on the swarming system; others 
may be entirely given up to the produce of extracted honey, 
while others will be worked to supply sectional supers. This 
brings us to say a word about section racks. There are 
many kinds in the market. We find that the best in prac¬ 
tice are those which are in three separate pieces, each to 
hold seven 1 lb. sections. We like dividers made of very 
thin wood in preference either to glass or tin. The kind of 
wood referred to is such as is used for bandboxes and other 
like boxes used by milliners and drapers. Those living near 
a saw-mill could get a 3-inch plank sawn up into enough 
sheets to last a lifetime for a small charge. We have re¬ 
commended the section rack in three divisions for several 
reasons. Not nearly so much heat is lost when withdrawing 
sections if only one-third of the surface is opened at one 
time. Each division can be lifted off bodily and a quilt put 
in its place, while the sections are removed and renewed, and 
scarcely any heat will be lost. They are much more easily 
managed by beginners or timorous people than where the 
bees have access to the whole box of sections at once. But 
