March 13, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
217 
for a week or two longer except where the Phalaenopses are grown. 
When there is a good circulation of air in the cool house the atmosphere 
and the surroundings of the plants dry too quickly, under which con¬ 
ditions they will not thrive so well as when a cool uniform temperature 
can be maintained. The use of the blinds is the only means by which 
this can be accomplished. 
pE BEEXKEEPER 
V, 1 • | . I . , | ( . 1 . 1 . | | | | . 1 . I . f . | . I ■ [ . I . I . I . I . | ■ I . I . 
ABOUT LIGURIAN BEES. 
Last week I promised to adduce evidence in corroboration of my 
opinons on the value of Ligurian bees. I took advantage of a rather 
extended intimacy with bee-keepers to ascertain how others had 
fared, and was much surprised to find how completely my own opinion 
was borne out. I should mention that I only took into account those 
who had from three to five years’ experience at least with Ligurians, 
as I consider it takes that time to find out all their failings. I need 
not dwell at great length on the result of my inquiries. One says, 
“ We never knew what foul brood was here till a lady got some 
Ligurians from London, and it is quite a pest now.” Another writes, 
“ I have never had any satisfaction with my bees since I gave up 
keeping the old sort.” A third says, “A friend and myself paid 
£8 for two stocks of Ligurians some years ago, and we have bcth 
spent many pounds on them since, but they never did us any good, 
and neither my friend nor myself would now take them as a gift ; ” and 
so on through the whole of my correspondence. I only had two out 
of about twenty replies to my inquiries who had a word to say in 
their favour. One of these “ liked them because they were so pretty,” 
and the other because they were so easily handled by ladies ; neither, 
however, had ever obtained much surplus honey from them. 
Of course, most of the opinions obtained were those of the ordi¬ 
nary run of bee-keepers, but I must give prominence to what I learned 
from two well-known apiarians whose judgment is of the utmost 
value in deciding the question. The first is a bee-keeper who dealt in 
Ligurians for some years, and stood by them as long as he could. At 
a personal interview, and in response to my inquiry 7 , he told me “ he 
found Ligurians so delicate there was no doing any good w 7 ith them, 
and the longer he kept them the worse they got. The second is a 
gentleman w 7 ho wrote favourably of Ligurians a few years ago both 
in the British and American journals. He is well known and highly 
esteemed as an authority on all matters pertaining to bee culture, and 
this is w 7 hat he characteristically says now—“ Italians are useless with 
me, they store no surplus, and are a nuisance as robbers and plun¬ 
derers. I shall root out every skin of them from my apiary before 
the year is out.” 
Surely there is enough here to convince the most sceptical that 
something is radically wrong about these bees, that they are not suited 
to our climate, and, whatever they may do elsewhere, they fail here. 
Now if this is so, what can be more fatal to bee-keeping as a pursuit, 
both as it concerns bee-dealers and honey-producers, than to continue 
to perpetuate a constant source of mischief in pushing the sale of 
Ligurian bees? I have some valued friends in the trade who will, I 
hope, acquit me of any desire to injure their business ; nevertheless, I 
confidently 7 assert that they are doing harm to themselves as v 7 ell as 
their customers by sending out bees which can only bring discredit 
on the vendors who recommend them. Tf it were not for the fact of 
bee-dealers being as a rule non-producers of honey 7 , the failure of 
Ligurians as honey-gatherers would be as patent to them as it is to 
such of us as have tried them for honey only 7 . 
In conclusion, I would urge one or more of our prominent dealers 
to cast aside the reluctance to acknowledge the failure of Ligurians 
which seems to prevail among the trade, and cease selling foreign 
bees altogether. Let the plain truth be told about them, it’s bound 
to come out before long ; and if a good strain of the old black sort is 
cultivated, none but good queens being sent out, I venture to predict 
for the sellers an increased trade, yielding more satisfactory results to 
all concerned, while we shall inaugurate a new era in apiculture which 
will replace the present discouragement, largely 7 attributable, I make 
bold to say, to the introduction of Ligurian bees.—W. B. C., Higher 
Bebington , Cheshire. 
The article from the pen of £< W. B. C.” on page 197 is precisely 
what I have been longing to see, but feared I never should. Any¬ 
thing that can stop the inundations of Ligurian queens is to be 
welcomed, but such a straightforward matter-of-fact “clincher” is 
beyond all price. The facts are what are wanted, and there they 
are. I hope everyone who does not want to see the blacks extin¬ 
guished will do his utmost to prevent their extermination, which must 
be my excuse for troubling y r ou with this. —H. V. Edwards. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Samuel Shepperton, Prospect House, Belper.— List of Florists’ Flowers. 
Henry Bennett, Pedigree Rose Nursery, Shepperton, Middlesex.— List of 
Pedigree Seedling Roses. 
R. B. Laird & Sons, 17, South Frederick Street, Edinburgh.— List of 
Florists’ Flowers. 
W. Hean, Quick & Co., Barnstaple.— Catalogue of Clovers, Grasses, and 
Farm Seeds. 
Vilmorin-Andrieux & Cie, 4, Quai de la Megisserie, Paris.— Catalogue of 
Trees, Shrubs, and Palms. 
%* 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 subjects, and should never 
send more than two or three questions at once. All articles in¬ 
tended 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. 
Books (F. J. E.). —As an introductory work on chemistry you will find 
Roscoe’s “ Elementary Chemistry ” (Macmillan & Co.), a useful work, and 
for more advanced study Johnston & Cameron’s “ Elements of Agricultural 
Chemistry 7 and Geology ” (W. Blackwood & Sons), is the most suitable. The 
“ Handbook of British Plants,” published at this office, price 3s. Gd., post 
free 3s. 8c?., will enable you to determine wild flowers. The manual on the 
greenhouse, published at this office, price 9 d., post free 10c?., is the cheapest 
on the subject; the other work you name is also a good one. (II. 0., Brad¬ 
ford |.—The best works on Roses are those by Mr. W. Paul—namely, “ The 
Rose Garden,” 21s. ; without plates, 10s. Gd. “ Roses in Pots,” 2s.; and 
“Roses and Rose Culture,” Is. (Kent & Co.), which gives all particular 
respecting Roses indoors and out. “ The Garden Manual,” published at this 
office, price Is. Gd., post free Is. 9c?., contains practical details of general 
garden work, and “ The Greenhouse,” price 9 d., post free 10c?., also at this 
office, deals with the culture of cool-house plants. 
Seedling Conifers (E. P. C.B .).—The parcel has only just reached us as 
we are preparing for pres3. All the examples are good, some of them of 
marked excellence. For exhibiting we think they could be arranged and 
examined to greater advantage in boxes than planted out. If established in 
boxes they should be placed in them at once, and of course will need attention 
throughout the season. You would do well, however, to obtain the advice 
of the secretary on the details of exhibiting. The Asparagus seedlings are 
fairly good. 
Hippeastrum reticulatum ( Constant Subscriber). —Your plant is not a 
Lily, but an Amaryllis, and one of the most useful of the family, as, whether 
in bloom or not, it is attractive, its foliage alone rendering it an acquisition 
amongst stove plants. By repotting at once in good rough turfy peat and 
loam in equal proportions, adding a little charcoal, and growing the plants 
in a moist atmosphere till the end of August, and then withholding water so 
as to cause the foliage to shrivel a little, but not to turn yellow, they will 
bloom freely about October. The flowers are very handsome, and are sweet- 
scented. Do not overpot, but press the soil rather firmly and give abundance 
of drainage. 
Leaf Soil ( R. FI. R.). —The decayed vegetable matter, of which you have 
sent a sample, as taken from a ditch, will be useful for mixing with heavy 
loam for general potting purposes, or at least that portion taken from near 
the top, as that taken from the bottom of the ditch may probably be sour. 
No portion of the sample sent is nearly fibrous enough for Orchids. Mixed 
to the extent of from one-third to one-half with loam that does not contain 
lime, adding also sand liberally, you would have a good compost for Camel¬ 
lias. The exact quantity of the leaf mould to use can only be determined 
by the character of the loam. It is much too light to be used alone for 
Camellias. It would be excellent for spreading in the drills when planting 
early Potatoes in heavy soil. 
Wheat (J. M .).—Both the samples sent are of Wheat, No. 1 being in¬ 
ferior, No. 2 fairly good. 
Cooking Potatoes (G. S.). —There is no wmnder you have complaints of 
Potatoes being watery that are peeled at night and allowed to remain in 
water till the next day and then cooked, and we cannot understand how 
persons who enjoy good Potatoes should allow such an utterly unsound 
method of preparing them to continue. 
Plants in Vineries (Idem).— Vineries can be rendered attractive by plants 
when suitable kinds are employed that endure shade in the summer ; but to 
expect a house devoted to the culture of Lady Downe’s Grapes to be kept as 
« gay as a conservatory all the year round without impairing the keeping 
properties of the Grapes ” is unreasonable. At the same time there is no 
necessity for the Grapes to hang on the Vines “ till March,” as they can be 
cut in January and kept with their stems inserted in bottles of water in a 
