June 8, 1882. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
477 
advised in the case of the early crop of Figs. If the trees in pots 
which were forced early be weakly, remove the second crop of fruit 
entirely. If necessary top-dress with fresh manure, and water with 
guano or liquid manure. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Orchids .—Examine the collection, and any plants that have made 
vigorous growth and have filled their pots with roots should now be 
potted. Many plants grown in pots or pans attach the roots so firmly 
to the pot that it is impossible to turn them out without injury to the 
plants. The best plan in such cases is to take a pot two sizes larger 
and carefully place the one containing the plant into it, working in a 
few crocks and sphagnum. Where baskets are used and the plant 
has become too large it is better to carefully remove the roots from 
the wood with a thin knife and employ a new basket. Care must be 
taken not to overpot, as Orchids do not require large pots nor yet a 
great mass of soil to root into. East India plants that do not require 
shifting should be top-dressed with fresh sphagnum. If the repotting 
be carefully done the plants will not receive any check. Examine the 
blocks of wood, and if any are decayed employ new ones, as by doing 
it at this season the plants will have time to make new roots before 
the close of the growing season. It is necessary to have the foliage 
dry at least once a day, and the house must be properly ventilated, so 
that the leaves become dry about the middle of the day ; but great 
care will be required to prevent a current of cold air coming in con¬ 
tact with the plants, this being more necessary now than later in the 
season, when their growth will be approaching maturity. The leaves 
now being full of sap any check to the growth is likely to produce 
disease. The ventilators should be so arranged that the air may bo 
made to pass over the hot-water pipes. Examine the roots of the 
plants, and if any disease be noticed cut away any diseased parts and 
apply a little quicklime, and by keeping the plant a little drier than 
usual for a few days it will generally recover and grow out of it. 
Where Phalsenopsis are grown in pots or baskets very little moss 
should be employed ; the roots delight to cling to the outside, and 
by syringing the surface of the moss and pots frequently the roots 
will be induced to grow more rapidly, and with less risk of decaying 
than when grown in a mass of wet moss. Dendrochilum filiforme 
reqaires a good supply of water now the spikes are showing. Epi- 
dendrums need a well-ventilated and light position. Plants of 
Calanthe vestita that have filled their pots with roots will be bene¬ 
fited by a shift into a larger size, employing leaf soil and well- 
decayed manure, or, if not desirable to shift them, give weak liquid 
manure at every alternate watering, syringing freely every morning 
and afternoon. They require very little shade, and must be kept 
free from scale. Dendrobiums should receive liberal treatment to 
enable them to make strong growth. Odontoglossums will require 
constant attention, ventilating early in the morning, so as to keep a 
cool temperature and a pure atmosphere. Copious supplies of water 
are needed by these plants at the roots, and frequent syringing. 
Masdevallias do very well placed in a cool north pit for the next 
two or three months, as when kept in too warm a house they be¬ 
come drawn and weakly and rarely produce any flowers ; they require 
plenty of water at their roots, and the leaves need to be frequently 
sponged to keep down thrips. 
Greenhouse .—Hardwooded plants should immediately after flower¬ 
ing have the seed vessels removed, as nothing taxes the energies of 
the plant so seriously as the formation of seed. In removing the 
seeds from Acrophyllums a small sharp pair of scissors should be 
employed, so as not to injure the points of the shoots. The plants 
after the removal of the seed vessels will be much benefited by 
syringing with tepid water, and if any are infested with scale they 
should be dressed with an insecticide. Partial immersion or syring¬ 
ing is of no use ; every part must be thoroughly wetted, and it must 
be applied warm (90°) so as to free the plants of the glutinous matter 
which the insects deposit. Any plants so treated should be ex¬ 
amined again in the course of three or four days, and if there be any 
insects that have survived the first application it should be repeated. 
Azaleas are much subject to injury from insects, particularly thrips 
and red spider, which if allowed to become thoroughly established 
upon the plants, do them so much injury that more than one season’s 
careful treatment is required to restore them to good condition. 
Plants that require larger pots should be attended to as soon as they 
have recovered from the effects of the flowering and have their roots 
growing. Although Azaleas will thrive for years in smaller pots 
than most other hardwooded plants, young specimens should not be 
cramped at the roots, or they rarely form fine examples. In potting 
the new soil must be made quite as firm as the old, or the water will 
pass through it, leaving the soil round the roots dry. Fibrous peat 
with about a sixth of sand is a suitable material for potting. Shade 
for a few days after potting, and keep the house close and moist. 
Camellias. —Late-flowered plants now making growth may, if the 
pots are well filled with roots, be given clear liquid manure until the 
buds are set. Those that flowered early, and were at once started 
into growth so as to have them in flower by October, have now set 
their buds, and must at once be removed to a cooler house, one with 
a north aspect being most suitable, or a well-ventilated structure 
shaded from powerful sun. 
Pelargoniums not yet in flower must be carefully examined, and 
if aphides be present fumigate at once. Assist those flowering with 
liquid manure, also those stopped some time ago for later bloom, which, 
having the pots filled 'with roots, should have weak liquid manure 
liberally. Zonal Pelargoniums may be treated similarly, likewise 
Tuberous-rooted Begonias advanced for flowering. 
Specimens of Richardia (Calla) rethiopica that have flowered and 
have a number of suckers should be divided, potting the latter in 
4 or 5-inch pots, and encourage them to make growth a few weeks, 
and afterwards be planted out in very rich soil; or they may at once 
be placed outdoors, and if liberally treated with liquid manure they 
will make strong plants by autumn. 
Chrysanthemums must now be transferred into them flowering pots, 
good turfy loam w r ith a fifth of decayed manure and a sprinkling of 
bone meal being a suitable compost. Good drainage is essential, as 
the plants require liberal supplies of moisture. 
SWARMING. 
Taking the country through, I think it will be found that 
swarming is later this year than usual. The causes of this are 
two—first, that owing to the cessation of breeding in early autumn 
last year, many of the bees arrived at old age in the spring months 
and died, thus thinning the populations of hives much before 
breeding this season had well begun ; and secondly, the season 
itself has not been a good one for honey, stimulating and encou¬ 
raging bees in their woik of multiplication. The dwindling of 
hives is caused by the loss of bees faster than young ones are bred 
to take their places, and this has been general this season, hence 
many will swarm late. After the death of all the old race 
dwindling ceases, and then every day’s batch of brood adds to 
the numerical strength of hives. As the weather becomes warmer 
bees sit wider, cover greater hatches of brood, and are better able 
to attend to the work of nursing. In ordinary seasons healthy 
young bees make wonderful progress, and rise rapidly in April 
and May. In many cases the swarming point is reached before 
bee-masters are prepared for it. Honey-gathering as well as 
brood-rearing hasten bees on to swarming. Every pound of honey 
stored in a hive drives the bees downwards and tends to this. 
Hot weather and honey-gathering also greatly increase the incli¬ 
nation for swarming, and many hives send off colonies before they 
are quite prepared to do so before their hives are full, and cases 
of swarming have been known to take place on the day that eggs 
were set in royal cells. In colder weather and in seasons of 
scarcity of honey bees are not so apt to swarm. They seem to 
hesitate and linger, and will even cluster for weeks outside their 
hives. And this should not be w r ondered at. The weather is so 
discouraging to them at such times that they make no preparations 
for colonising and setting eggs in royal cells. It is not a super¬ 
abundance of bees clustering outside a hive or a number of drones 
inside that will induce bees to swarm in the absence of suitable 
weather. Bees place eggs in royal cells before swarming, but if 
the weather becomes discouraging for some days the bees may 
abandon the idea of swarming and destroy the brood in royal 
