326 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 11, 18S3 
colonies, Ins only chance of carrying any through the winter is to 
unite the bees of the lightest hives to those of the heaviest, and to 
feed up to 20 lbs. weight rapidly and at once, if the bees will take it; 
otherwise to put barleysugar or candy-cake over the feeding hole, 
with a warm covering over the food early in the new year. There is 
danger ahead even should weather permit the bees to store sufficient 
syrup. Should such cold weather set in as to prevent the bees from 
sealing up the stores, the presence of a quantity of liquid food in 
hives is liable through fermentation to cause dysentery later on, when 
the bees feed on the unwholesome food. But if the weather be mild 
there is yet time for the syrup to be sealed over. A little of the 
solution of salycilic acid added to the food will greatly assist in pre¬ 
serving it pure and wholesome. There are some bee-keepers who are 
advocating the use of candy-cake or meal-cake alone to carry bees 
through the winter. We would rather move carefully in this experi¬ 
ment. Our strongest stocks have often been those fed up on syrup 
he previous autumn, and assisted in spring with farinaceous food. 
We much doubt whether candy-cake would remain the whole winter 
in a sufficiently dry and hard condition to be safe in the hive in close 
proximity to the clustering bees.—P. Id. P. 
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 (R. .If.).—Our “Garden Manual” contains concise instructions on 
the cultivation of all kinds of hardy fruits in the open air, its price by post 
being Is. 9 d. Pearson’s “ Orchard Houses,” which will be useful to you, can 
also be had from this office, price Is. 7 \d. Mr. Rivers publishes useful works 
of the kind you indicate, and of which particulars can be had by writing to 
Sawbridgworth, Herts. All the subjects you mention are treated of in the 
Journal of Horticulture. 
Heating Melon Pit (J. T. 8 .).—Por a pit 8 feet wide and the same in 
height at the back two 4-inch pipes will be sufficient for the production of 
late Melons, the flow pipe to be conducted along the front of the pit for top 
heat, the return in a chamber below the bed. You would not act unwisely 
by leaving a couple of sliding shutters in the wall, so that a portion of the 
heat from the return pipe could pass into the house if needed. The depth 
of soil depends very much on its texture and the attention given in watering ; 
but a foo t in depth in a bed 2 feet or 2£ feet wide we should find ample for 
supporting the plants and crops. The plants must first be placed on hillocks, 
adding more soil from time to time as the roots protrude, until the whole is 
made level and firm. 
Fixing Hot-Water Pipes (Idem). —For celerity and simplicity there is no 
plan to equal that of using indiarubber rings. One of these is placed on 
the end of a pipe and pushed into the socket of the other. The joint is 
then watertight; but for insuring stability the joints should be completed 
with Portland cement—that is, assuming the pipes are to be permanently 
fixed. Considering their durability the rings are not expensive. You can 
ascertain the price from an ironmonger. 
Vine Wood (Idem). —The portion you have sent is weak but fairly well 
ripened, and the eyes are prominent. Such wood can only produce small 
bunches, but the berries may be of good size and quality. You had better 
not prune too closely. Please send fresh examples of Ferns, and if possible 
with fructification, and we will endeavour to give the names. 
Mildew on Roses (S. Carlisle ).—Only three weeks ago we published the 
following in answer to a correspondent, but you do not appear to have 
observed it :—“ Try mixing the sulphur in a solution of soft soap and apply 
with a syringe ; if this fails try Ewing’s mildew composition. Mr. Bardney 
prevents mildew attacking Peach trees and Roses by syringing with a solu¬ 
tion of soft soap made as follows :—A lump of soft soap (about 2 tbs. or so) 
is placed in a saucepan and boiled for twenty minutes ; this is placed in a 
large pot and mixed with five or six gallons of water. About half a pint of 
this solution is placed in an ordinary large watering-can full of water, and 
used every time the trees and Roses are syringed. Not a vestige of mildew 
is seen on the foliage, and the water does not injure the petals of the Roses. 
See also what Mr. Bardney says on page 269 in our issue of the 27th ult.” 
Two ounces of soft soap will be sufficient in a gallon of water, and as much 
sulphur may be added as will make a mixture of the consistency of thin 
cream. 
Heating Small Greenhouse (G. S.). — We have no doubt that the method 
shown in your sketch will answer very well, provided the return pipes are 
nowhere lower than the bottom of the boiler. It will be essential to have 
an air pipe at the highest point of the pip:s, and a feed pipe to enter near 
the bottom of the boiler. You will find methods of heating small green¬ 
houses in our advertising columns, all of which are good, and we are quite 
unable to recommend any one of them as the best for your particular case. 
You can obtain particulars from the makers and judge for yourself, as the 
question of cost can only be determined by purchasers. 
Propagating Evergreens ( G. Edwards). —The present is the time for 
inserting cuttings of evergreens. Select short-jointed and firm growths of 
the present year, severing them with a heel of the last year’s wood, and 
after trimming off the leaves insert the cuttings two-thirds of their depth 
in gritty or sandy soil. The best plan is to dig trenches, as if for Box 
edging, a foot apart, placing the cuttings in them 6 or 8 inches asunder, 
levelling in the soil and treading it firmly about them as the work proceeds. 
The evergreens you name are very liable to be destroyed by rabbits. 
Common Rhododendrons are better where these animals abound, and 
seedlings can be purchased cheaply. Hollies are useful, and are raised 
both by cuttings and from seed. Young succulent growths of evergreens 
are of no use for the purpose in question, as not one in a hundred of such 
cuttings will emit roots. 
Planting and Manuring Red Currants (Antwerp). —If nothing is to be 
grown on the land but the Currants, and the plants be small, undoubtedly it 
will be better only to apply the manure where the roots will find it, adding more 
as needed ; but we should imagine that a better plan would be to manure the 
whole land, and raise some other crop between the bushes till the latter 
gained strength and dimensions to fill the whole ground. If your subsoil be 
free, and water does not stand long after rain, putting in drains will not be 
necessary; but if the soil is heavy and water does not pass away readily, 
then by all means drain. If the grass land be worked in the way you 
mention, and be liberally manured, success with Magnum Bonum Potatoes 
is not only possible but very probable. 
Planting Vines (Idem). —Not knowing the circumstances of your case we 
are not in a position to give a categorical reply to your questions. If the 
Vines were planted in a good border and the canes trained thinly to a wall 
having a southern aspect so that the canes would mature, we can see no 
objection to your carrying out your project in building a house over them ; 
but if they must be planted in the open, to be afterwards covered with a 
span-roofed house, they would be liable to so many vicissitudes, such as 
laceration by the wind and a sunless season preventing the wood ripening, 
and also to injury in erecting the house, or at least they would obstruct the 
workmen, and so render the building more costly. Taking all this into- 
consideration there is risk of your losing more than you would gain in 
carrying out your plan, and under such circumstances we should hesitate in 
adopting it. 
“ Spiregeponecia and Francois Abeculator ” (II. S. P .).—It is possible 
that the plants you refer to under the above names may be Spiraea japonica 
and Francoa appendiculata. If that be the case the following methods of 
culture will suit them. The Spiraea is best grown in a pot in a cool house 
or frame, employing substantial loam and leaf soil with a little manure and 
occasional supplies of liquid manure when growth is advancing. If the 
plants are stored in a cool frame they can be introduced at intervals to the 
forcing house and obtained in bloom much earlier than usual, a supply being 
maintained over a long period by this means. They may also be planted 
in good soil in the open garden, and taken up and potted as required. The 
Francoa can be either grown in the border or in pots like the former in a cool 
house, where its flowers prove very useful. Good turfy loam, not too heavy, 
with sand and leaf soil in moderate proportions, form a suitable compost. 
Orange Trees Unhealthy (Inquirer, Ireland ).—An application of lime 
water would not have the good effect you anticipate. Defective root-action 
is the chief cause of the unsatisfactory condition of the trees, and undoubtedly 
it would be better if you could prevent the temperature of the house falling 
so low in the winter. You can do little to them now, but may improve them 
in the spring, and in the meantime avoid overwatering. As soon as signs of 
fresh growth are apparent we should dig out the soil from the tubs quite to 
the bottom, and remove it as near to the stems as possible without materially 
disturbing, or at least not injuring, the roots. We have seen much more than 
half the soil thus removed, and by adding fresh, such as turfy loam and a 
liberal admixture of crushed charcoal, bones and wood ashes, the roots being 
carefully placed in this, and the whole made as firm as the soil not removed, 
water being judiciously applied, and old trees were made young again. It 
does not at all follow if the roots are few and the tubs large that they should 
be filled at once with soil; but the soil may be supported with a wall of 
turves several inches from the sides of the tubs, precisely on the principle of 
making a Vine border in sections. By adopting this plan and keeping the 
plants as warm as possible in the spring, syringing freely in fine weather, 
and keeping the foliage scrupulously clean, the trees will improve. The 
surface soil immediately round the stem should also be removed, and all dead 
and dying branches cut out; indeed, as soon as roots take possession of 
the fresh soil rather close pruning would result in stronger and healthier 
growths. 
Vine Manure (Kirby ).—With not a word about the kind of soil you have, 
how and when you made up your border, and the manner of manuring io 
since, we are not in a position to say whether the mixture you name would 
be of any benefit or not. In making up Vine borders it is usual to add bone, 
and it is usual afterwards to feed with liquid manure made from guano. If 
you have done as other good Grape-growers do it may well be doubted if 
your mixture would do the slightest good. But if you have never given any 
bones, never used manure rich in phosphate, and especially if your soil is 
naturally poor, it might do good. You can hardly go wrong in forking in 
the lime you name, and, if manure is needed, bone ash and bone meal are 
among the most valuable phosphates. If lime is plentifully present in the 
soil, as it will be if you carry out your programme, the “dissolved bones” 
will no sooner be added than they will csase to be “dissolved,” and, as the 
other phosphates will be cheaper, and, in your case, equally effective, you 
may save that item. But 42 lbs. of phosphate to 2 lbs. of potash salts is an 
unequal proportion of ingredients, especially if you consider that Vine* want 
more potash than phosphate. Of course we cannot gues* whether your soil 
is rich or poor in potash, or indeed anything else ; but we should mix Ihe 
