310 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
r April 13, 1882. 
across and secured to the trellis. If there he any trace of red spider 
employ an insecticide at once. 
In the house started early in the year the fruit will soon be stoning, 
and as this considerably taxes the energies of the trees, and is a 
cause of the fruit dropping during that process when the crop is too 
heavy, it will be advisable to examine the trees and remove the 
smallest of those in excess of the intended crop ; and it may be men¬ 
tioned that one fruit to every square foot of trellis covered by the 
trees is a sufficient crop to insure fruit of good size and quality. 
Attend to tying-in the young shoots as they advance, and regulate 
them so as not to be too crowded, as by giving the young shoots 
plenty of room the fruit attains better colour, and stronger and 
better ripened wood is secured for another season. During the 
stoning process the temperature by artificial means should not 
exceed C0° to 65°, and 70° to 75° from sun heat, ventilating freely 
upon all favourable occasions. 
In succession and late houses the routine will be the disbudding 
and regulating the shoots., stopping those retained to attract the sap 
to the fruit at two or three joints of growth, and laterals to one 
leaf, tying-in when necessary, being careful not to do so too tightly. 
Keep all insect pests in check, fumigating upon the first appearance 
of aphides, and syringing daily. Mildew, if it appears, should be 
subdued by dusting the affected parts with flowers of sulphur. Lose 
no opportunity of ventilating freely, but avoid sudden fluctuations 
of temperature and cold draughts. See that there is no deficiency 
of moisture in the borders, giving when necessary thorough supplies 
of water, and assist weakly trees with liquid manure, or a little 
guano may be sprinkled on the borders and washed in. 
Cherry House .—The roots of the trees being confined to the inside 
border, a good soaking of water should be given whenever any is 
necessary, and with the trees heavily laden with fruit, and not in a 
vigorous condition, liquid manure will be highly beneficial. If not 
already done there should not be any further delay in mulching the 
border with 2 or 3 inches thickness of short manure. Artificial heat 
will only be necessary to maintain a night temperature of 45° and 
50° in the daytime, allowing 5° more when the weather is mild, 
ventilating freely above 50°. Keep a sharp look-out for grubs, and 
if aphides abound fumigate the house on two or three calm evenings, 
being careful to have the foliage dry. Do not allow the black aphides 
to obtain a hold on the young growths, or it will spoil the appearance 
of the Cherries when ripe. The trees should be syringed twice every 
day, and the surface of the borders kept constantly moist. As soon 
as the shoots have made four or five joints’ growth, pinch out the 
points of all that are intended to form spurs, carefully heeling in at 
the base those required for furnishing the trees. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Stove .—Amaryllises now making growth should be assisted with 
weak liquid manure, and although they do not require much root 
space, if kept too much cramped they do not make such strong 
growths as when more liberally treated, a 7-inch pot being suitable 
for the largest bulbs ; and in potting the roots should be disturbed 
as little as possible, good yellow fibrous loam being most suitable. 
The plants must have a light position, so as to keep the foliage sturdy. 
In a too dry atmosphere, or if too dry at the roots, they are subject 
to red spider, and the leaves must be sponged with an insecticide. 
Young plants of Eucharis amazonica should be shifted into larger 
pots as these become filled with roots, as the stronger the plants be¬ 
come the more freely they flower and the finer are the blooms. Plants 
in free growth should be assisted with liquid manure. Young Gar¬ 
denias grown for next season’s bloom should be kept clear of mealy 
bug and scale, every encouragement being given to secure a vigorous 
growth; and as they are best in small pots, say 8-inch, they should 
be shifted accordingly, being careful not to overpot, and to assist 
growth, when the roots have taken to the soil, with liquid manure. 
Gloxinias producing their flowers should be kept near the glass. 
Hoya bella and H. Paxtoni advancing for flower should be placed at 
the driest part of the house, where they will remain in good condi¬ 
tion much longer, and be more endurable for bouquets. 
Palms are'growing strongly, and must have plenty of water at the 
roots, or they will lose colour ; and as they can be grown with less 
root space than most plants of large size, they must never lack water 
at the roots, being kept free of insects and shaded. 
Give plants of Clerodendron fallax, C. fragrans, and C. Ksempferi 
a light situation to keep them short-jointed and sturdy, and a 
moderately warm situation is needed. Turfy light loam with a little 
leaf soil suits them, and they must not be overpotted. 
Cuttings of Aphelandras, Allamandas, iEschynanthus, Gardenias, 
Hoyas, Ixoras, Hibiscus, Tabernsemontana, Ac., inserted some weeks 
back are rooted and must be at once potted singly, or if inserted in 
small pots they should be shifted into larger before they become 
much matted at the roots. Insert more cuttings of Euphorbia 
jacquiniteflora, potting off those previously struck into 3-inch pots, as 
these plants make fewer roots than most stove plants, and must 
never be overpotted. Remove the points of the shoots to induce them 
to produce several shoots. Tuify loam with a little well-decayed 
manure and a sixth of sand suits them. Poinsettias kept dry should 
now be cut back to a few inches from the pot, placing them in a grow, 
ing temperature, where they will break preparatory to repotting or 
affording a batch of cuttings. Ixoras are showing their trusses of 
bloom, and any that are required to flower later than the usual time 
should be placed at the coolest end of the stove or in some other 
structure, but they must not be kept in a temperature much less than 
5° from the temperature in which they have been growing, or the 
flowers are likely to fall. 
Ib 6 
Ihe bee-keeper. I 
BEE-KEEPING TO ADVANTAGE. 
It struck me when I read the wish of “ J. B. S., Warwickshire,” 
that I might help him by giving some of my experience, which 
will be no worse for having appeared in the “ Belfast News 
Letter.” The letter is a simple one, but I am sure it will be 
acceptable to the inexperienced. “ J. B. S.” is right when he 
says that many articles are above him, for plain teaching is 
required by beginners.— Comber, Co. Down. 
Since I began to manage bees on the modern bar-frame system I 
have discovered the cause of many failures. One very frequent cause 
of misfortune is the loss of queens ; the queen goes out in search of a 
mate, and she may never return. This colony at once dwindles away. 
The bees cannot manufacture a queen, as they have neither eggs nor 
grubs. In a bar-frame hive the intelligent bee-keeper can at once 
remedy this by giving the queenless bees a comb out of another hive 
containing eggs and brood. The bees at once will build “ royal cells,” 
and produce a queen or more in less than sixteen days, which, if she 
gets safely mated, will soon be at the head of a prosperous colony. 
It is hard to find out these things in a straw skep, whereas in a bar- 
frame all that is to do is to take out a few frames at any time, see the 
queen if she is there and laying, and if not the above can be done at 
once. 
Wea,k swarms are of very little service, scarce able to do for them¬ 
selves without sparing anything to their master. Strong ones for 
profit, and pleasure too. Strong hives can be made artificially by 
moderate feeding in autumn and spring. 
Bees are very wise, for when honey ceases to come in the queen 
ceases to lay, as she comes to the conclusion that she need not bring 
young bees forward when there is no food for them. My hives are as 
full of young bees and brood as they were in July. The following is 
my plan—I procure the best sugar, and make it into syrup by putting 
six pints of water to 7 tbs. of sugar ; boil for ten minutes. This I 
give to the bees in pickle bottles, which have muslin tied over their 
mouths, and put them into a hole at the top of the hive. The bees suck 
it through as they need it, which is constantly while there is any in 
the bottle, and seal it up for winter use. The queen, believing there 
are “ good times,” again commences to lay, producing a fine lot of 
bees for early spring work, so that by May I have my hives full, and 
ready either to swarm or gather honey and fill “ supers.” Most 
people will admit that there is something practical in all this. For 
is it not a grand thing to have our bees ready for honey-gathering 
when the honey is ready for them, and not be “ looking for the 
ladle when the broth is in the fire ? ” 
As bees are not always disposed to swarm at our time, artificial 
swarming can be resorted to, and is very simple and advantageous. 
This artificial swarming is a complete answer to men in business, 
from home all day, who say they would like to keep bees but would 
lose them in their absence. To make an artificial swarm from a 
straw skep : They are ready when they begin to be numerous around 
the hive or cluster around the entrance hole, so that any good day 
they can be given a good puff of smoke, the skep being inverted, with 
