JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 4, 1881. 
114 
is light, in which with liberal treatment they succeed capitally. 
Clematises and Tropseolums require training, keeping the growths 
evenly disposed. The Clematises are now in great beauty, and never 
look so well as when trailing on stumps, rockeries, or trellises. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Stove .—Toxicophlma spectabilis deserves extensive cultivation for 
its agreeable odour, and the white flowers are produced freely in 
corymbs from the points and the axils of the leaves, not unlike an 
Ixora. It does well in pots or planted out, answering well in sandy 
peat for pots, and does not need a great amount of root space. 
Hoya bella is one of the most beautiful flowers, and for bouquets or 
buttonholes it is unrivalled. It does exceedingly well as a basket 
plant grown in sandy peat. It does not require a great deal of root 
space, care being taken not to overwater. JEschynanthus in baskets, 
or in pots placed in baskets lined with moss, must not be allowed to 
want for water, or they will probably cast their flowers, but an 
excess of water causing the soil to become sodden will have a similar 
effect. In late summer and autumn they are very effective. Gardenias 
struck in spring and grown for winter flowering should be shifted 
into 8 or 10-inch pots, not allowing them to become root-bound 
before they are shifted into the above-sized flowering pots, so as 
to have them well established before autumn. Early-flowdred 
Gloxinias should be gradually dried off, but not by withholding 
water altogether, allowing sufficient to insure a gradual rest. Early- 
sown seedlings should be given 5 or 6-inch pots, and if grown 
near the glass, with shade only from bright sun, they will make a 
fine display in early autumn. Winter-flowering Gesneras, such as 
G. exoniensis, G. zebrina, and G. zebrina splendens, should have light 
positions, so as to secure a sturdy growth, feeding them occasionally 
with weak liquid manure. All winter-flowering plants should be 
encouraged to make firm sturdy growth, exposing the plants to all 
the sun and light possible, as they require all the stored-up sap good 
cultivation can afford to flower well in the dark winter months. 
Euphorbia jacquiniseflora is naturally of a straggling habit, which in 
some measure may be obviated by stopping ; but it must not be 
practised too late, or the growth will be puny. The last stopping 
should now be given, and the plants encouraged by keeping them 
near the glass in a genial atmosphere and temperature. Afford 
liquid manure to Allamandas that have been in flower some time, 
also to Bougainvillea glabra and Clerodendron Balfourianum that 
have been rested, again placed in heat and moisture, and which are 
advancing for late flowering. 
Orchids .—The nights are now becoming colder, and any cleaning 
or repairs needed by the heating apparatus should at once be attended 
to. The East India house may range from 75° to 85° by day, with 
an average of 65° at night, the Cattleya house about 5° less. Con¬ 
tinue the same general treatmeat to the occupants of the East India 
house. Shading on the Cattleya house should be almost, if not 
entirely, dispensed with, doing so only when the sun is very bright, 
but be careful not to make a change suddenly. Cattleyas making 
their growth should receive all possible encouragement. Early- 
flowering plants have completed their growths, and should be moved 
to a cooler house, where the moisture is less and more air can be 
afforded. Dendrobiums nobile, Cambridgeanum, and many others 
should be placed where they will receive the full sun and light to 
ripen them properly. Shading will no longer be necessary for 
Calanthes Yeitchi and vestita, but they should be watered liberally 
at the roots for some weeks longer. Fumigate frequently to keep 
thrips under, and sponge the leaves of those infested with scale with 
a strong softsoap solution, and afterwards wash them with tepid clear 
rain water. 
WOODEN FOUNDATION. 
Everyone who has had anything to do, even the slightest, with 
scientific bee-keeping must be convinced of the value to bees and 
bee-masters of comb foundation. Personally I am disposed to 
endorse Messrs. Abbott’s view that, now comb foundation is so good, 
so strong and perfect, and at the same time so moderate in price, it 
is doubtful whether true economy is not best shown by not using 
combs a second time. There is something about the foundation 
that the bees appear to like, and they exclaim like the guest at 
the feast, whose silence obtained for him the character of being 
exceedingly clever till the apple dumplings were too much for 
his gravity, aDd he burst out with, “Them be the jockeys for 
me!” It appears to me that the bees express, doubtlessly in better 
grammar, similar sentiments. I placed a bar with some comb in 
one hive, and in another a bar with an inch of wax foundation in 
two pieces (part yellow, part white). In twenty-four hours I 
removed both ; the comb appeared scarcely touched by the bees, 
but the foundation was built on “all along the line ; ” and, what 
very much surprised me (a young hand and very ignorant), the 
bees had built up yellow cells on the yellow foundation and white 
on the white ! How could they tell the difference and manage 
this ? It seems to me that the midrib is the difficult point of 
manufacture to our industrious little workers, but when this is 
provided they lay on the cells at express power. 
I have seen wooden foundation vaunted as preventing sagging, 
and being stronger, &c. Accordingly I invested in some and tried 
six frames. It appeared a first-rate article, and when fitted to the 
frames the latter were certainly as strong as possible. I expected 
grand success. Great, however, was my dismay on the first time of 
opening (they were placed in different hives) to find the first pair 
that happened to be next each other glued together, the comb 
being built irregularly and attached to both wood foundations. 
The bars could not be removed without a rupture and the falling 
of a large piece of comb. Then I found much uncovered—in 
fact, if the wax had been at all interfered with, here the bees had 
left it bare, but then to make amends, and determined, as is their 
wont, to economise space, they had built out the next comb to fill 
up the space—a great evil, as the comb becomes so heavy that in 
hot weather it breaks off, and sad havoc and loss ensue. Still 
more surprising, I found that though the wax was worker cells 
on the wooden foundation, they disregarded it and built drone 
comb over, and on the irregularly built cells they set to and built 
out some pieces of perfect two-sided comb with central portion 
and cells, both sides sealed complete on one side of the wood ; in 
fact it seems to me that they are tempted by it to all sorts of 
vagaries. Of the twelve faces that these six sheets have I have 
only seen one at all even and respectable, and this was not built 
over all the face ; in fact, the bees evidently do not like some 
portions of it. I cannot recommend it, and, with the present beau¬ 
tiful wax foundation, for general purposes it appears perfectly 
unnecessary. Lastly, it seems to me to yield its contents to the 
extractor with difficulty.—Y. B. A. Z. 
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION AT 
SOU!II KENSINGTON. 
The seventh Exhibition of this Association, which opened in 
the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society on Tuesday in last 
week, has been rather conspicuous for the quantity and excellence 
of the honey than for evidences of progress amongst appliances. 
The total entries numbered 274. while the attendances have been 
on the whole satisfactory, and the interest in the subject evidently 
growing. In Class 2 the Carniolian bees were very distinct. This 
variety, though sombre in hue, should be encouraged, since they 
are good workers, not persistent swarmers, and extremely mild in 
temper. Observatory hives brought out one or two impracticable 
novelties, and we were glad to see that the mistake was not 
repeated of giving prizes where large flight space involving whole¬ 
sale death to the bees was a necessary part of the construction. 
Mr. Holland showed a pretty and ingenious observatory, which at 
present partly involves this indicated defect, which without diffi¬ 
culty he could remedy. Mr. Scott showed a hive in which the 
frames fit together, but have glass between the combs. These can 
be independently lifted for observation. In our opinion the old 
form of observatory, in which the combs are visible constantly 
and without interference, jet remains to be excelled. 
The judging of the next four classes has failed to give general 
satisfaction, and several weighty opinions are pronounced against 
it. Mr. Griffin took first honour in Class 4 for the most complete 
hive. The leading feature of his exhibit was a series of chaff- 
packed slabs which fit in between the bees and the hive side ; but 
since 1 inch of cork dust placed permanently between the hive sides 
would afford at least four times as much protection as these slabs, 
we hardly see the reason for incurring their cost and of augmenting 
the size of the hive so immensely in order to give them accommo¬ 
dation. The body is well made and the frames move on thick 
