128 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 9, 1883. 
taking away all super honey, there be not sufficient store re¬ 
maining, syrup should be given to make up the requisite amount, 
after which the bees should be prepared for wintering. A few 
words as to the methods we adopt for putting our bees com¬ 
fortably to rest must be left until another letter.—P. H. P. 
BEE AND HONEY SHOW AT OLDHAM. 
Exhibitions like this are very unusual. The Corporation of Oldham 
have just opened a grand building in the centre of the town, which has 
cost £10,000, and in it are now having a Fine Art and Industrial Exhi¬ 
bition, opened by Sir John Lubbock on the 1st of August. It appears 
that the Corporation resolved to have a Bee Show in connection with 
those of industry and art, and employed Mr. Pettigrew of Bowdon to 
furnish the exhibits, and they charge 2d. for admission to the bee room. 
The exhibits are interesting, but badly hung—much too high. The 
two principal exhibits are two large black boards with letters that read 
“ God Save the Queen ” on one board, and “ Fine Art Exhibition ” on 
the other. The letters are distinctly formed in pure white wax by the 
bees, and is considered a marvellous achievement by all who examine it. 
Such work has been seen at one other Show only—viz., the great horti¬ 
cultural one at the Manchester Botanical Gardens two years ago. The 
black boards are hung on opposite walls in the bee room at Oldham, the 
supers ol various forms and sizes are placed on a shelf on one side of the 
room, and five observatory hives are placed on the other. In the bee 
room all is evidently for exhibition, not for competition. The Show is, 
we believe, to remain open three months. 
PAPER ROOFING. 
I shall be glad if any of your readers can give the receipt for 
making paper roofing. I think I saw it some time since in the Journal 
of Horticulture. I would also like to know where it can be purchased, 
and if it is considered suitable for covering bar-frame hives, I mean for 
covering the wood. I have four hives I have made from instructions 
that have appeared in the Journal, from which I have gathered many 
valuable hints.— Sutton. 
All correspondence should be directed either to “ The Editor ” 
or to “ The Publisher. 1 ' 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 (TF. G., Sligo). —The following are works of permanent value, and 
likely to be useful for reference in your library :—Thompson’s “ Gardener's 
Assistant,” Hogg’s “Fruit Manual,” Johnson’s “Cottage Gardener’s Dic¬ 
tionary,” Brown’s “Forester,” Morton’s “ Cyclopaedia of Agriculture,” Mr. 
B. S. Williams’ works on stove and greenhouse plants, Orchids, and Ferns ; 
and Mr. F. W. Burbidge’s “ Propagation and Improvement of Plants.” 
These works can be obtained through a bookseller, who will inform you 
of their price. The collection will probably somewhat exceed the amount 
you name. 
Grubs in Strawberry Bed (A. TF.).—The insects sent are the grubs or 
larvae of one of the crane-flies, or “daddy-longlegs,” seemingly the species 
called Tipula paludosa. An extensive list of applications has been suggested 
for the destruction of these grubs, which lurk at the roots of a variety of 
plants, though specially partial to the Cruciferm. Their vitality, however, 
is so strong that any compound which will kill them is almost certain to 
injure the plants. As it appears your bed is already ruined, the only measures 
you can adopt would be those likely to check any further appearance. The 
thorough breaking-up of the soil, and the free application of gas-lime or rich 
manure, which the insects dislike, and attention to drainage, may be recom¬ 
mended. It is a curious circumstance that while some of the grubs you 
forward are nearly adult, others are very small, and therefore must represent 
a different brood. 
Black Bryony, Tanrus communis (Bromesden). —This conspicuous plant, 
of which you sent shoots, is a member of the Yam family, the Dioscoreacese, 
which is chiefly tropical; the Black Bryony is, however, well known in 
English hedgerows and throughout Europe generally, The tuberous roots 
contain a_ viscid acrid juice, which was at one time used for plaisters, and 
such are even now used occasionally in country districts to restore the 
colour of the skin when bruised. The fruits steeped in gin are recommended 
as a remedy for chilblains, while the young shoots are eaten in Greece like 
Asparagus, which they are said to resemble. There is more or less of an 
acrid principle in the whole of the plant, and it would certainly be exceed¬ 
ingly unwise to eat the fruits. 
Sunday Work in Gardens (G. A. B .).—Your letter has been attentively 
read, and the subject of it well considered. We are convinced that its 
publication would not be of service either to yourself or to any other 
gardener, old or young. The majority of young gardeners are attentive 
to their duties, but all are not alike in this respect. Head gardeners also 
vary in the mode of discharging their duties, and your reproaches as applied 
generally are not well founded. Work must be done in gardens on Sundays, 
and those men who are not willing to do it will never excel. At the same 
time it should be, and we believe usually is, reduced to a minimum. Even 
then it must often be more or less exhausting to the man in charge, since 
he often has the work of two or three men to do in watering, syringing-, 
shading, and ventilating, and he must endeavour to do it. It is proverbial 
that much injury has been done in gardens by the young men in charge 
rising late on Sunday morning. If it is part of a young man’s duty to 
attend to vineries, for instance, at 5 A.M. he must be there at the time, and 
he has no right to retort that the head gardener is not seen for some hours 
later. If a head gardener has a suspicion that his assistants are negligent, 
then it is his duty to ascertain the facts of the case by being in the houses 
before them, and if he finds the neglect general then his furthur duty would 
be to discharge them. Undoubtedly an under gardener must “do as the 
head gardener wants,” and if a young man cannot do this his plain duty is 
to resign. You will recognise the truth of this when you have had another 
twenty years of experience, and we hope long before, for your letter indi¬ 
cates that you either are or will be a good and attentive gardener. 
Voles (.7. N. F .).—You are not alone in your want of knowledge of these 
animals, as others have sought for information as well as yourself. Field 
vole (Arvicola agrestis), is the name of the short-tailed field or meadow 
mouse ; a species which subsists exclusively on vegetable productions ; and 
being, like the rest of the rat tribe, extremely prolific, multiplies occasionally 
to such a degree, even in this country, as to become the most injurious of our 
wild quadrupeds. “ After having followed the labours of the reaper, and 
taken their share of the harvest,” the field voles, says Mr. Bell, “ attack the 
newly-sown fields, burrowing beneath the surface, and robbing the husband¬ 
man of his next year’s crop, and at length, retreating to the woods and 
plantations, commit such devastations on the young trees as would scarcely 
be credible were not the evidence too certain to be doubted. In the years- 
1813 and 1814 these ravages were so great in the New Forest and the Forest of 
Dean, as to create considerable alarm lest the whole of the young trees in 
those extensive woods should be destroyed by them.” A timely and 
assiduous attention to restraining the increase of this pernicious species, by 
the aid of terriers, ferrets, and traps, is imperative on those who have the 
charge of young plantations ; but when the numbers of the field vole have 
surpassed the usual bounds, then it is recommended to dig holes about a foot 
in depth and the same in diameter, taking care to make them much wider 
at the bottom than at the top, so that the animal once in cannot easily get 
out again. In holes of this kind, Mr. Jesse states that at least 30,000 field 
voles were caught in the course of three or four months in Dean Forest 
plantations, that number having been counted out and paid for by the 
proper officers of the forest. 
Lawn Tennis Ground ( F. G .).—The following particulars on this subject 
were published in this Journal a short time since from a Liverpool correspon¬ 
dent :—“ A full-sized court for four players is 26 yards long by 12 yards wide. 
As much play takes place at the extreme ends or “ back lines ” of the court, a 
considerable margin is required at each end ; the total length of the tennis- 
ground should therefore, if practicable, be not less than 33 or 34 yards. My 
own tennis ground is at present only 18 yards wide, but it would be prefer¬ 
able to have it considerably wider than this, so as to allow of the position 
of the court being moved a little one way or the other, and thus obviate 
wearing out the ground unduly. It is generally a good plan to have a little 
drainage material laid under the turf, so that the ground will not be so 
liable to play “ dead ” after rain. If a wire fencing about 6 feet high is 
placed at each extreme end of the ground, and a lower fencing about 3 feet 
high running along each side, this will be found to save a great amount of 
superfluous muscular exercise in “ fielding ” the balls. If neatly put up 
and painted dark green this wire fencing does not appear too prominent- 
in the grounds. The ground should be as nearly level as possible, as uphill 
or downhill playing is undesirable.” After repeating the above regulations, 
another correspondent observed :—“ It is much better if the ground is kept 
a little higher in the centre, say 4 or 5 inches, so that when a heavy rain 
occurs much of it passes off to the sides and ends, and the ground is quicker 
dry and fit to play upon sooner than when made perfectly level, and the 
greater part of the rain having sunk into the ground. It is very essential 
to have a firm surface ; and for this reason, where the soil is clay or is wet, 
it is a good plan, after having levelled and consolidated the ground, to 
spread about an inch of clean coal ashes over it before laying down the 
turf. In addition to this it should be previously well drained. On light 
dry soils less trouble is necessary to have a fair tennis lawn ; indeed, it may 
be played for “ home practice ” on any lawn where there is a little less 
room than is required for full-sized courts, and although it is not quite 
level.” 
Zonals for Winter Flowering (Idem ).—There are now so many hand¬ 
some varieties of these to select from that it is easy to form a very fine 
collection, which will afford a supply of flowers during many months. The 
following twelve, selected from the great collection of Messrs. H. Cannell 
and Sons, Swanley, are especially recommended for the purpose you name : — 
Favourite, Mr. Teesdale, Edith George, Crimson Gem, P. N. Fraser , Ferdinand 
Kauffer, Kate Farmer, Imogene, Eurydice, Eureka, Mrs. Miller, and Mrs. 
Moore. 
Names of Fruit (7. Cope). —An individual berry of one variety and two 
berries of another, with no intimation as to the shape of the bunches and 
time of ripening, are quite insufficient for anyone to determine with accuracy 
the names of Grapes. We can only say that in the crackling nature of the 
