282 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 27, 188J 
Strawberries in Pots. — Autumn Fruiters. —Plants that are ripening 
their fruits should have a warm sunny aspect, standing them on boards 
or slates in a “ plant-protector ” or span-roofed frame, with sufficient 
space between them to admit of a free circulation of air, which is 
essential to prevent damping and enhance the flavour of the fruit. Water 
should be given the plants when necessary early in the forenoon, so as to 
allow of the moisture drying up before nightfall. If the weather be dull 
the plants must have a light airy position in a house where artificial heat 
can be applied to cause a circulation of air, as a stagnant atmosphere is 
almost certain to result in the fruit damping off. All the plants in¬ 
tended to fruit in November and continue the supply to Christmas 
must be housed, and have the fruits thinned, feeding with clear liquid 
manure. 
Plants for Early Forcing. —The early plants of such' kinds as 
Black Prince, Yicomtesse Hericart de Thury, and La Grosse Sucree to be 
started in November should, if the weather prove very wet, be protected 
with lights ; but there must not be any attempt at closeness, as warmth 
and moisture when the pots are full of roots, the foliage ripened, and 
the crowns fully developed, are likely to cause a premature starting of 
the plants into growth. Under no circumstances must the soil be allowed 
to become dry. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Slum and Fancy Pelargoniums. —These plants, in whatever stage they 
may be, must from this time have a position in a light airy house as close 
to the glass as possible, where the night temperature will not fall 
below 45°. The early batch, if young plants and well established in 
3-inch pots, should without delay be placed in others 2 or 3 inches larger. 
If done at once they will be well established again before winter, and 
can in consequence be kept in better condition when the days are short 
and dark than if they had a mass of soil about them in which their roots 
had not penetrated. In potting drain the pots liberally, and make the 
soil as firm as possible, which insures dwarf sturdy specimens. If the 
points of the plants have not been pinched out do it at once. The late 
batch of old plants have been retained and have only just commenced 
growth, shake them out and repot them, placing them again in as small 
pots as possible. Intermediate batches if they need it should be shifted 
from the small pots in which they have been rooted. These plants must 
not be syringed after this date except on very fine days, and then early, 
so that the foliage will be thoroughly dry before night. In order to have 
good clean unspotted foliage careful watering must be practised. 
Mignonette. —Plants trained upon trellises must have a light airy 
position from the present time, where they can be kept safe from early 
frosts. If these plants have been well attended to the early ones wiil 
have covered their trellises. Give them a little Standen’s manure at 
intervals of about a month, and occasionally clear soot water. Keep 
their growths well tied down as they advance, and remove all flowers 
directly they are seen. If a few plants are required to come into bloom 
remove the flowers from the points of all the shoots, or pinch them, and 
then allow them to come forward ; by this means a regular head of bloom 
is produced, and the plants will be much appreciated in the conservatory 
towards the end of November. Those growing in G-inch pots and still 
outside must be placed in a cold frame, which will be all the protection 
needed for some time. The lights should be well tilted at night when 
mild, and drawn off during the day when favourable. Watering must 
be carefully regulated in whatever stage the plants may be. The soil 
must not be saturated, and, on the other hand, should never be allowed 
to suffer by the want of it, or the foliage soon turns yellow and the 
growths become hard. If a frame can be spared place it without delay 
over the batch sown on the open border and just commencing to show 
bloom. This batch gives but little trouble, and will yield abundance of 
flowers for cutting this autumn. Not only do they require protection 
from frost, but from heavy rains, or they soon grow weak and straggling. 
Cinerarias and Calceolarias. —If these plants require potting it must 
be done at once. The latest batches should now be out of pans and 
placed in pots, so that they become well established before they require 
to be moved from cold frames. The earliest of the former will have 
their flower stems advancing rapidly, and will be found most service¬ 
able during November and up to Christmas, especially blue varieties, 
a colour which is comparatively scarce during those months. Give 
weak liquid manure and clear soot water alternately every time water 
is needed. The earliest batches of the latter must not suffer by the 
want of root-room, or their growth will soon be brought to a standstill 
and the plants be attacked by aphides. Dispense with shading, and 
give them a lighter position than they have needed up to the present 
time. 
East Lothian and Intel mediate Stocks. —Young plants, either pricked 
out of the seed pans or boxes into others a further distance apart, or 
placed in small pots and stood outside, will now be ready for 4-inch pots. 
Place one good crock at the base of the pot for drainage, and over it a 
little decayed manure, and then pot the plants firmly in good loam, a 
little manure, and sand. They can be stood outside again after potting 
for a few weeks longer. We have ours arranged where a mat or other 
protecting material can be thrown over them in case of frost. They 
are not injured by a slight frost, but it is preferable not to subject them 
to it. Where cold frames are plentiful they can be placed in them 
ready for protection, but the lights should remain off. Plants of this 
description should not be “ coddled,” at the same time they deserve 
every care. 
HIVE-CONSTRUCTION, HONEY-PRODUCINCt, AND 
PRACTICAL MANAGEMENT OF BEES.—No. 3. 
A well-constructed bee hive to fulfil all the requirements 
of the present day must be a very different article to the frame 
hive of our early experience. When we commenced bee-keeping: 
the Woodbury hive was generally accepted as the best for all 
purposes, and our first stock of bees was put into a home-made 
one constructed after the well-known description in “Manuals 
for the Many.” Of course it had the defects of the time—rabbets, 
notches, space above the frames, floor board projecting up into 
the hive body, wood n crown board, and the inevitable window 
at the back, with a rebate of a quaiter-inch between the hive 
sides and the glass. This latter feature was an improvement (?) 
of our own, and formed a beautiful space 8 inches by 4^ deep, 
which was each year filled with comb and honey, to be admired 
by friends and blessed (?) by our unfortunate selves when it came 
to removing the frames and cutting away the superfluous comb 
from between the ends and the glass. We had no “smokers’* 
in those days, and manipulating with bees was a very different 
affair from what it now is. We, however, endeavoured to keep 
pace wi h the times, and as each step in the improvement of 
bee hives was made public we took advantage of it, till at last 
our original hive had its faults gradually “ improved ” away, and 
held an honourable place in our apiary for many years, with 
distance pins, quilts, and all the rest of it. 
When Mr. Pettigrew’s book first appeared we were much im¬ 
pressed with his method of management as therein described, 
and being always open to conviction gave it, as we think, a fair 
trial side by side with bar-brame hives for about six years ; the 
result was that our straw skeps were eventually discarded. 
The apiarian whose mind is bent on improvement and who- 
has plenty of o portunities for practice is bound to find out the 
shortcomings in any hive he is in the habit of working. We 
have kept bees as a home pastime for seventeen years, usually 
working from twenty to forty stocks, and have endeavoured 
during that time to make our hobby a profitable one. We have 
realised in one year over £5 from one stock, so we know all 
about that phase of the subject. Our views on the folly of 
attempting to make a living out of bee-farming for honey in this 
country have already been stated, but we have managed all 
through to make our bee3 pay and leave a fair return for the 
labour. Our place of business has been for many years a sort of 
rendezvous for numerous bee-keeping friends, and to the best of 
our ability we have acted as general adviser to all comers in 
matters relating to bee culture. These personal details may 
savour of egotism, but they are recorded here simply to show 
that our experience has been wide and varied—not confined to 
our own apiary, but it has enabled us to see how things are 
managed by the ordinary amateur, and thus, we hope, adding 
some little weight to anything we have to say on the subject. 
So much is written now-a clays on bee-keeping by young 
enthusiasts of perhaps two or thi-ee years’ experience who are 
“ going to do ” such wonders, or by scientific bee-keepers who 
teach others how to obtain results never achievtd by themselves, 
that it is misleading to a degree sometimes for those who read, 
and then tack their faith on words written by gentlemen, who, as: 
W. S. Gilbert says, “mean well, but they do’n't know.” 
We have kept our bees in skeps large and small, have used 
frame hives with large frames and small ones, and the result of 
all we could leaim concerning the merits and demerits of such 
is that the skep system is to the advanced bee-keeper a thing of 
the past, that the bar-frame hive is the ne plus ultra of apicul¬ 
ture, and that large frames have so many disadvantages in 
practice in comparison with small ones that we have been for 
some time gradually weeding out all large-frame hives and sub¬ 
stituting shallow frames. 
About ten years ago we first tried the Carr-Stewarton hive, 
and were much pleased with it in some respects, but the double 
boxes of which the stock hive consists were a great drawback 
to its general usefulness. If the bees were wintered in both 
boxes the combs in the lower one were always more or less 
mouldy before the winter was over in spite of every care in. 
ventilation. They were also very favourable receptacles for 
moths, because as the bees clustered in the upper box a great 
portion of the time, the lower frames were at the mercy of every 
insect pest which chose to take possession. We afterwards 
tiied the plan of wintering them in one box only, and this was a. 
