May 1,1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
853 
Syrians and Palestines indiscriminately both “ Holy Lands ” and 
“ Syrians.” The editor of the American Bee Journal for April 2nd, 
page 218, ignores Palestines, and says all bees in America have come 
blacks, Italians, Cyprians, and Syrians, and no one seems able to tell 
any of the three races from Italians except when they sting, and this 
appears now to be their test for purity. Again, every bee-keeper there 
thinks there are no black bees in Italy, whilst as a matter of fact there 
are few others. Mr. S. Stutterd (one of the translators of Dzierzon’s 
“ Rational Bee-keeping,”) writes in the British Bee Journal for April 
15th, page 140, that he has not been able to see a single Ligurian bee, 
even in Liguria itself, all being the ordinary black kind. What 
Ligurians (?) we get come from near the Alps, both in Switzerland and 
Italy, so give another instance of misnaming bees in America. Apis 
dorsata is known as “ the great bee of Jarna,” so Mr. Benton went to 
Jarna to get some, and found they did not exist there, but found them 
in Ceylon, thousands of miles away. 
In reference to the letter of “ A. Tyke ” (page 293), I may state that 
the £20 profit on one hybrid stock of Syrians was made by the editor 
of the British Bee Journal, and will be found at page 127, vol. ix., and 
was made from swarms and honey only, and did not include a single 
Bueen. sold or P r i ze obtained on honey in twelve 2 lb. sections. The 
“£7 ’ is a misprint, and should have been printed “seven”—viz., one 
stock increased seven, or one to eight, and is to be partly found in the 
Journal above named, page 145, vol. ix. The writer speaks of them as 
Syrians, but I have no difficulty in recognising them as “ hybrids ” from 
his account. 
No doubt more information and hints as to management on these 
bees would be both interesting and profitable, and if space could be 
found I might try to do justice to the subject, quoting the experiences 
of some of the bee-keepers in Europe and America, as well as giving my 
own. When handled on a sunshiny day without smoke or jar the pure 
Syrians are tamer than the gentlest Ligurians. It must not be under¬ 
stood that I wish to condemn the blacks, nothing of the kind, they have 
stood their ground well, and are very good bees. My object is to 
improve them. Ligurians will not do it, the cross being vicious and 
addicted to robbing, and I think it is unreasonable to expect to improve 
a good bee with a worse. 
I am obliged for information regarding the Blythe—or “ Bligh ” 
should it not be ?—competition. The rules do not provide for any dis¬ 
tinction being made between the different races or cross of bees, though 
as “A, T.” says, all are eligible simply as bees, therefore a young queen 
meeting with an undesirable mate could not be replaced by one which 
had, and so the different bees cannot be tested under the rules as at 
present drawn up. 
I wish “J. P. S.” on page 314 had taken a little care to try to 
understand the peculiarities of his Cyprians ; for although I have not 
had sufficient experience with them yet to warrant me in giving an 
opinion, I do not think, however, they are as bad as some would make 
it out. All these eastern bees must be studied and managed according 
to their peculiarities. You might just as well expect to handle a black 
stock without smoke as Cyprians; and Syrians with it. “J. P. S.,” I 
should think, is confounding Syrians with Palestines from reading the 
American bee papers. If he will take the trouble to get a pure queen 
from Mount Lebanon, and have as many daughters reared from her 
mated with black drones as he can find strong stocks for, give them 
plenty of room and food to breed early in the spring, he will have 
plenty of supers filled from the Clover. To compare their working, 
storing, or wintering qualities with any other bees is like comparing 
Apples with Crabs. My favourites so far are the true Syrians from the 
Lebanan as sent by Mr. Frank Benton, who introduced them to bee¬ 
keepers, and is, I believe, the only exporter of them. Just to show the 
superior qualities of the first cross with blacks, in spring I shall find 
them very strong. I crowd them up, give them one or two quarts of 
thick syrup all at once (not a quarter pint of thin syrup every night 
through one pin-hole), which they quickly convert into brood, and by the 
time Apples are in bloom and all Nature looks gay they will have 
14 square feet or 76,000 young brood, with twice that number of 
hatched-out bees. As they fill the frames solid with brood and keep it 
all in one compact mass there is no extracting from brood combs. 
I get a large early harvest (mostly my best) and could if I wished have 
three full stocks for the Clover, and all with less trouble than is usually 
bestowed on one, which is a great consideration even if I have pro¬ 
portionally no more honey.— Hallamshire, 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
James Yeitch & Sons, Chelsea.— Catalogues of New Plants for 1884 (Illus¬ 
trated ), and Bedding Plants. 
%* 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. 
Royal Botanic Society’s Schedules (.4 Reader). —These can be obtained 
on application to Mr. Coomber, Royal Botanic Gardens, Regent’s Park, 
London, N.W., if there are any remaining for distribution. 
Fruit Growers (J. C., Barnsley). —The subject on which you have written 
shall have our consideration. 
Seedling Primrose (J. IF.).—The flower, which was much withered, 
appears to be distinct and the variety worthy of preservation. Its pecu¬ 
liarity consists in the serration of the segments, giving the flowers a fringed 
appearance like the best varieties of Primula sinensis. 
Preserving Dahlia Tubers (A. Gardiner). —Some of the Pompon and 
single varieties, especially when the plants are small, produce such small 
tubers that they are very liable to shrivel during the winter if kept too dry ; 
at the same time, if they are too wet they will decay, while of course they 
must be kept from frost. There is no better plan of preserving tubers 
dug from the ground than to first dry them and then place them in boxes, 
covering the roots and crowns to the depth of an inch or two with a mixture 
of cocoa-nut fibre refuse and sawdust as nearly dry as possible, short of being 
“ dry as dust,” and keeping the boxes in a temperature between 40° and 50°. 
The reply to your question was in type last week, but crowded out in making 
up the pages. 
Abroma augusta (L. TJ. G.). —In the paragraph on page 324 the specific 
name of the above plaDt was misprinted angusta, as you correctly observe, 
but your opinion that augusta means smooth is totally inaccurate. Consult 
a Latin dictionary. If you read the note again you will see that you have 
misunderstood the statement in reference to this matter. 
Allium neapolitanum (C. TJ., Brixton ).—This plant was figured in our 
issue of May 31st, 1883, page 451, and with it were given some cultural and 
descriptive notes. It is a native of south Europe, and though hardy in most 
parts of southern England, requires a warm border or cool house to insure 
its safety and success. In pots it thrives very well, needing a light, mode¬ 
rately rich, loamy compost, and plenty of drainage. Large quantities of the 
flowers are imported from the continent early in the season, and find a ready 
sale in the London markets. 
Dioscorea Battatas (Pen and Ink). —This, the Chinese Yam, is, we pre¬ 
sume, the kind to which you refer. We have grown it successfully in a 
sheltered garden in a southern county, and produced an abundant supply of 
tubers, but they were not enjoyed by many palates. The tubers were started in 
pots in a light moderately heated pit, much after the manner of starting Dahlias, 
and the Yams when established and growing freely were planted in a trench 
in which decayed vegetable matter, such as leaf soil, with which a little wood 
ashes were incorporated. Stakes were placed for the plants, up which they 
found their way after the manner of Convolvuluses. Fine weather in June 
was chosen for planting, the tubers being placed in pots towards the end of 
April or early in May. Medium-sized whole tubers were chosen for planting, 
but the larger tubers no doubt might have been cut and planted in portions ; 
we, however, did not try them, as we had always plenty of whole tubers. 
The other subject you mention shall have full consideration. 
Recommending Garden Requisites (Financier). —It is quite impossible 
that we can do anything so invidious as to recommend the “ best and most 
useful ” article of any kind where there a-e so many that are equally good, 
but which may vary slightly in their action under particular circumstances. 
You can obtain lists of testimonials from vendors who advertise in our 
columns, and after a careful perusal of them you will not be very likely to 
err in the choice you may make. If we were to recommend the products of 
any firm as the best we should practically condemn all others unjustly, and 
this no one can properly expect us to do. 
Cineraria maritima (H. E .).— Your plants are attacked by one of the leaf¬ 
mining insects, which it is extremely difficult to destroy without injuring 
the plants. We advise you to pick off all the worst leaves and burn them, 
and then proceed experimentally with a mixture of petroleum and water. 
We have seen the maggot in the leaves of Celery killed by syringing the 
plants with such mixture at the rate of 2 ozs. of the oil to a gallon of soapy 
water, and this did not injure the foliage; it was applied, however, in the 
evening, and the plants were shaded from the sun the next day. Had it 
been applied during a sunny day the plants would probably have been in¬ 
jured. We should try only half the quantity of petroleum at first for the 
Cinerarias, and note its effects on a few plants, before syringing them all. 
The oil and water must be incorporated as much as possible by violent 
agitation, as, if allowed to stand, the former will naturally float on the top. 
It mixes better in a solution of softsoap than in pure water. 
Vine Laterals (E. S .).—You say the laterals on the original stem of your 
Madresfield Court Vine are only from 6 inches to 9 inches long, and showing 
bunches, but do not say how long the growths are on the other rods, which 
we presume are satisfactory. There is nothing remarkable in the bunches 
showing on laterals 6 inches long. Their mere length is of no moment, but 
their strength or weakness is a point of importance, and some of them may 
not be strong enough to carry the bunches that are showing. One bunch to 
each strong lateral is sufficient; and if the canes are short-jointed, and the 
laterals consequently close together, some of them should be removed. A 
suitable distance for them is about 15 inches apart along each side of the 
rods, as then the foliage has space for development; but if the growths are 
closer together it has not, and without good foliage you cannot have good 
Grapes. You say you find young canes produce the best bunches. This i3 
generally the case, and does not this circumstance supply the answer relative 
