40 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. r January is, im. 
be prolific. With the practical bee-keeper rearing queens from 
inferior mothers is always avoided, for reasons that good and 
prolific queens only are profitable. The real value of good queens 
is hard to over-estimate, while poor ones are worse than useless. 
Queens can be introduced at any time during the season, but 
more successfully during a good honey flow. Good queens are 
known by prolificness and the vigour and activity of their pro¬ 
geny, and are not limited to any particular race of bees, a 
mixture of the different races being desirable. 
On the supposition that our hives are stocked with good queens, 
and that at the end of the season we have a large crop of honey, 
the next problem is successful wintering. Several modes have 
been practised, of which many have been quite successful. Yet 
the past long cold winter has demonstrated that in the northern 
States no mode of wintering is proof against loss. Some of you 
may inquire, What is the best method of wintering ? To this I 
would say, that it is rather delicate to assert any one method as 
the best mode. I have always wintered mine in a bee-house 
made for the purpose. It is much drier than a cellar, and, so far 
as ventilation is concerned, 1 know the air reaches the bees in a 
drier and healthier state than in a cellar. 
Outdoor wintering and double-wall hives I know nothing of, 
having never tried them. I have been very successful in wintering 
so far, and so long as 1 succeed with my bee-house “ I shall let 
well enough alone.” Ventilation is, I think, of great importance 
while bees are in winter quarters, and upward ventilation is the 
most essential. In preparing for winter, quilts should never be 
laid directly on the frames, an open space over the frames is 
indispensable. 
It is the best source by which the moisture can escape and the 
heat be retained ; the bees also can have complete access across 
the frames ; the heat is evenly distributed over the brood-chamber, 
and the bees will remain on the frame, instead of clustering in 
small squads between the combs to chill and die. The above 
reasons, in my mind, are conclusive on this subject. 
In conclusion, I would say to those just embarking in the busi¬ 
ness, Acquaint yourselves with the proper wants of the bees at all 
seasons of the year, and attend to them; otherwise, better let 
them alone.—E. Pike (in American Bee Journal). 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Osborn & Sons, Fulham, London.— Catalogue of Vegetable and Flower 
Seeds. 
Sutton it Sons, Reading .—List of New Vegetables and Flowers. 
James Dickson <fe Sons, 108, Eastgate Street, Chester .—Catalogue of 
Flower and Vegetable Seeds. 
Stuart, Mein, & Allan, Kelso, N.B .—Catalogue of Vegetable and 
Flower Seeds. 
Coventry & Carstairs, 111, Grays Inn Road, W.C .—Catalogue of 
Flower and Vegetable Seeds [illustrated). 
E. Wilson Serpell, Plymouth .—Catalogue cf Flower and Vegetable 
Seeds ( illustrated ). 
*** All correspondenee 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 Poultry and Bee subjects, and 
should never send more than two or three questions at once. All 
articles intended 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 (C. D.). —Our “Greenhouse Manual,” price Of?., post free lOJrf., will 
probably suit you ; it gives a selection of the best greenhouse plants with con¬ 
cise instructions on their cultivation. (Reader'). —The price of the * Cottage 
Gardener’s Dictionary” is 6.t. 6 d., post free 7s. 2 d. (ft. B .).— The “Cottage 
Gardener’s Dictionary ” can cither be had through a bookseller or by post from 
this office at the prices above quoted. The work on Roses in pots can be had 
from the author, Mr. William Paul, The Nurseries, Waltham Cross, Herts. (A 
Scotch Gardener ).— The Irish Farmers’ Gazette is published at 23, Bachelor’s 
Walk, Dublin. As we do not see the other paper we are unable to answer your 
question. 
Stratagem Pea (G. II. B .).— This Pea has frequently been referred to 
approvingly in our columns. See pages 122,151, 207, of our last volume. Judging 
by your letter you must be either a somewhat inattentive reader or a new sub¬ 
scriber. The numbers referred to can be had from the publisher post free for 
3.pi. each, if you do not happen to possess them. 
Planting Raspberries (Allen). —Your employer is quite right when he 
says that good Raspberry canes planted now will, if not shortened, bear fruit 
the first season ; and you are quite right in representing to him that if they 
fruited the plantation may, and probably will, be permanently weakened. We 
consider the practice of non-shortening newly planted canes a penny-wise-and- 
pound-foolish system. It is, we are convinced, the initial cause of many failures, 
and the plan w« adopt and advocate is to shorten newly planted canes to about 
a foot in length. We then insure strong growths from the base and lay the 
foundation for profitable crops. 
Wood Charcoal (Dunkeld). —The sample j’ou have sent to us consists in 
a great measure of fine cinders and small particles of coal; it, in fact, resembles 
smithy dust, and contains very little pure wood charcoal. It has little or no 
manurial value, but might be mechanically beneficial in rendering adhesive soil 
more porous. We should be glad of such refuse for incorporating with heavy 
soil, but if applied to light and dry soil it would be more injurious than bene¬ 
ficial. The material would be very useful for plunging the pots of plants in 
during the summer in the open air. 
Market Gardening (J. B., Colchester).— Your letter is so vague that we 
feel unable to give a definite reply that would be satisfactory either to you or 
ourselves ; but we may say generally that a person who is not practically ac¬ 
quainted with market gardening, both as to growing vegetables and disposing 
of them, is more likely to lose than to gain by any venture he may make in that 
direction. There are many market gardeners in Essex who would give you trust¬ 
worthy information ; but you must state your wants more clearly to them than 
you have to us, or it will be impossible for them to answer you satisfactorily. 
Annnals for Spring (S. F.). —The following are hardy and suitable for 
your purpose—Silene pendula, to be sown early in August; Saponaria calabrica 
and its white variety, late August; Limnanthes Douglassi, Nemopliila insignis, 
and re 1 and white Virginian Stocks, to be sown the last week in August or the 
first week in September, according to the weather and district. The plants 
must be thinned out immediately they can be handled, so thau each stands 
separately ; if grown thickly they are made tender, if thinly they assume a 
hardy character. But the plants must not, os you suggest, be “ mixed with 
Polyanthuses.” 
Serviceable Peas (Reader). —If you sow cither Champion of England, 
5 feet, or G. F. Wilson, 4 feet, at the same time as William I., you will have an 
unbroken supply. You had better also make a sowing at the same time of 
Yeitch’s Perfection, and repeat, as you propose, sowings of this Pea as often as 
the plants from former sowings are fairly visible. You may continue this 
practice until the end of May, then sow Ne Plus Ultra until the middle of June 
for the latest use. We consider this Pea much superior to the early varieties 
for use in October and November. If you desire to try a newer Pea for sowing 
with William I. for an immediate succession you may sow Dr. Hogg, which is 
very productive and fine, growing from 2£ feet to 3 feet high, according to the 
soil and season. 
Ellam’s Early Cabbage (Inquirer ).—This is a very good variety, the 
plants being of dwarf habit and form hearts early. The distances for planting 
depend on circumstances and requirements. If we had plenty of plants and 
but limited space, and at the same time wanted all the green vegetables possible, 
we should insert the plants a foot apart in rows the same distance asunder, and 
in the spring, and before the young Cabbages touched each other, pull those 
from every alternate row and use them as greens or Coleworts, and subsequently 
remove every other plant from the rows remaining if we either required them 
or wished to have a number of Cabbages to attain their full size. In this case 
the permanent plants would stand 2 feet asunder. If you do not require 
Coleworts for early use you may insert the plants 18 inches apart in rows 2 feet 
asunder, and there permit them to form hearts; but to have good and early 
Cabbages during the ensuing season the plants ought to have been planted out 
two months since. We do not know tiie price of the book to which y T ou refer, 
as we have not seen it advertised. You can obtain the information from the 
publisher. 
Cinerarias Dying (A. D., Malting ).— You afford us no data whatever 
whereon to found a reply to your letter. Had you detailed the treatment your 
plants had received relative to the nature of the soil, the sizes of the plants and 
pots, the position in which they were grown and now occupy, and of the nature 
and quantity of the liquid manure (if any) you have applied, it might have been 
possible for us to have indicated where tiie fault is that has led to the disaster. 
We may intimate, however, that when Cinerarias are much root-bound when 
placed in the pots in which they are intended to flower, and when the potting 
is done late, the plants are very apt to die. AVe have seen many plants thus 
potted attempt to live by producing fresh roots from the stem near the surface 
of the soil, and some plants have been saved by affording suitable compost in the 
form of a top-dressing. If you can send us a plant we can probably give you a 
more definite reply. 
Grapes Shanking (IF. B. II.).— Such varieties as you name grown 
together in one house are no more liable to be affected with the disease known 
as shanking than if each variety had a house to itself. What has caused the 
disease in your case we know not, as you have not supplied us with any informa¬ 
tion relative to the condition of the Vines, the management to which they have 
been subjected, the crops they have borne, and the nature of the soil. Certainly 
we do not think the few roots that have escaped from the inside border to the 
gravel walk would have caused the evil. Shanking is usually the result of over¬ 
cropping ; it arises, too, from defective root-action. If the roots are in stagnant 
or inert soil they cannot obtain the nutriment needed by the crop, and the 
berries shank. The same results follow if the soil in a border is so dry as to 
cause the fibres to shrivel. Possibly this may be the result in your case. It is 
certain the Vines do not obtain the support they need, and when this is the 
case the effects are the same whether the Vines are planted inside or outside. 
You must either increase the root-action or decrease the weight of the crop, and 
so endeavour to restore the health of the Vines. 
Free-bearing Apples (J. IF.).—The following are suitable for a small 
garden in Yorkshire—Stirling Castle, Lord Suffield, Jolly Beggar, Betty Geeson, 
Cellini, and Ecklinville Seedling, which are culinary sorts and certain bearers. 
Irish Peach, Kerry Pippin, King of the Pippins, Cobham, Cox’s Orange Pippin, 
Winter Pearmain, Adam's Pearmain, Sykehouse Russet, and Dutch Mignonne. 
The latter nine are dessert kinds. All are healthy growers and succeed on the 
dwarf stock, hence are suitable for bunches or pyramids. Warner’s King also 
succeeds well, not being subject to disease, and bears abundantly either as a 
pyramid, espalier, or standard, and is one of the finest baking Apples in existence 
