528 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. f December 8, 1881. 
honey dis'rict under skilful culture and active management -would 
be about £400 per annum. What would the expenses per annum 
amount to ? 
Kent, 2 j. per hive, odd . £25 
Carriage o£ bives . 5 
Bee-keepers’ wages—six months . Ctl 
Feeding, 4s. per hive . 40 
Sundries and assistance . 20 
Interest on outlay of capital . 20 
Deterioration of hives and furniture . 10 
Cover for hives . 7 
£187 
Thus we see that according to the above estimates the profit 
would be only £213, or rather more than £1 per hive. The esti¬ 
mates of expenses and income is made to the best of my judgment, 
taking of course one year with another. In contemplating a com¬ 
mencement in bee-farming it is well to look every difficulty fairly 
and fully in the face. The estimates are made on the supposition 
that the bee-farmer pays for every item of expense, that he does 
nothing at all but balance his books at the end of the harvest. If 
any bee-farmer does his own work the expenses or -wages of a 
manager (£60) would be saved annually, and if the owner of the 
hives had a gaiden of his own in the midst of good pasture, part of 
the expenses of rent would be saved. Mr. Raitt has wisely sug¬ 
gested that persons ignorant of bee-keeping and wishful to make a 
commencement on a large scale should begin in a small way and 
continue managing a few hives till they well understand the art 
and practice ot bee-keeping. Those who cun afford to serve an 
apprenticeship of six months duration to a successful man in a large 
apiary should do so before they make a large venture. An active 
man would learn more in six months in a large apiary well managed 
by a competent teacher than he would learn in six years of self- 
etfort and experience in his own garden. Far more can be seen in 
a garden of fifty hives than in one of five hives, and experienced 
men have short and easy ways of doing work. 
In choosing a district for bee-farming the pasture should be con¬ 
sidered. lloney flowers should abound. Fruit trees’ blossom in 
April and May yield much excellent honey. White Clover, field 
Beans and field Mustard, Sycamore and Lime trees’ blossom in 
June and July v ield much honey. Heather in August comes in 
last. . An abundance of these plants makes any district in Great 
Britain and Ireland a good one for bee-keeping; and it is advan¬ 
tageous for the sale of hmey and honeycomb to be near a large 
town or wealthy people, but this should not be considered a sine 
qua non. 
It a lee-farmer has to depend wholly or almost wholly upon a 
servant managing a large apiary, great difficulty will be found in 
finding an able and trustworthy man. There are competent bee¬ 
keepers now-a-days, and every year many men are becoming expeit 
in Lee-keeping, but it is difficult to find such open to engage them¬ 
selves to others tor this work. In all such enterprises far more than 
I can here mention depends on the ability and faithfulness of the 
manager, bar more than half the losses and lailures in bee-keeping 
are caused by incompetency and inattention. If 1 were engaging a 
man to manage my Lees I would offer a fair salary and 10 per cent, 
bonus on all sales. He would thus have an interest in the concern. 
I believe that good men are cheap at any pi ice, and incompetent 
men not worth much anywhere. 
One point in bee-keeping or bee-farming I have not noticed in 
this letter—viz., that of selling stocks and swarms. But this point 
should not be forgotten. In large apiaries stocks and swarms can 
be bought, and in bad seasons it is advantageous to sell as many as 
possible. By selling ten or twenty stocks in such seasons the expense 
ot feeding is met, and thus there is less loss. I know a gentleman in 
Lancashire who keeps bees for sale, not for honey. He deals in 
Ligurians, and states that he sells £200 worth annually. If his 
sta ernents are correct the £200 come from bee-fanciers, not from 
bee-farmers. An outlay of capital on expensive bees and hives 
are not on the lines of economical and profitable management.— 
A. Pettiguew, Bowden. 
P-8.—In my estimate of salary for a bee-keeper I have been 
liberal in allowing £60 for six months’ service; but it should be 
remembered as bees require no attention, or very little indeed from 
the beginning of October till April—six months, he would have to 
seek other work during the winter months.—A. F. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
James Walker, High Street, Skipton .—Catalogue of Seeds. 
Putz & Roes, Erfurt, Prussia (Otto Putz, Great Russell Street, 
London ).—Annual Trade Seed List. 
William Etherington, Swanscombe, Kent .—List of Chrysanthemums. 
*** All correspondense should be directed either to “The Editor" 
or to “ The Publisher.” 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 Poultry and Bee subjects, and 
should never send more than two or three questions at once. All 
articles intended 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. 
Disqualifying Chrysanthemums (C. F.). — The two flowers received 
under the name of “ Ferventa ” we think are Sceur Melainie, which belongs to the 
hybrid section, and is most valuable for decorative purposes. It is not a Pompon, 
and there is no occasion for exhibiting doubtful varieties in small collections. 
Moss on Lawn (J. Freeman). —Your lawn probably requires draining 
As you have tried wood ashes and they have failed we can only advise you 
comb as much of the moss from the lawn as possible with a flue-toothed rake, 
and then give it a dressing of lime at the rate of 2 pecks, or nearly so, to the rod 
of 3oJ square yards, and sprinkle over it some fresh soil. Give also a dressing of 
soot in the spring, on a rainy day if possible, making the surface quite black. 
If these measures fail, then we should dig up the ground, drain it, and sow 
thickly a suitable mixture of fine lawn seeds. 
Grnbs in Cyclamen (E. C). —Your plant has been attacked by the grub 
or larva of a small beetle, one of the weevils, apparently that of the grooved 
weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus), which is partial to bulbous and succulent 
plants. This feeds during the winter and spring, the beetle coming out in 
April or May according to the season, when it deposits eggs, and should be 
looked for arouud the stems of plants where it has already done damage. It is 
seldom tlmt a plant which has been badly attacked by the grub can recover, 
but some have advised giving clear lime water to destroy the grubs while 
young ; but this is ouly of benefit before they have buried themselves in the 
conns. 
Pear Tree Unhealthy (F. J.). —The branches dying suggests that the 
roots of the tree are in wet or ungenial soil, and the wood does not ripen. 
If this is so you might probably improve the tree by lifting and placing the 
roots in fresh loam, adding at the same time some calcareous matter, such as 
old mortar rubbish. A mixture of wood ashes would also be beneficial. If we 
have not indicated the cause of the unsatisfactory state of the tree—that is. if 
it is apparently in good soil, and still the branches die, we should uproot it and 
plant a young tree, as it is never wise to graft on a diseased stock. Train the 
Vine rod on a level with the wires of the roof; in fact, secure it to them about 
6 inches from the front glass, or where convenient. 
Sowing Lapageria Seed (G. S. X.). —Sow the seeds as soon as they are 
gathered from the plant in a light compost, the greater part being peat, and 
place the pots in a temperature of 60° to 65°, keeping the soil regularly moist. 
Many seedlings have been raised, the result of a cross between the red and 
white varieties, but the majority of them have proved worthless. Sow the Palm 
seeds in loamy soil, about half covering them, placing on the surface a layer of 
moss, which keep moist, in a temperature of 65° to 70°. 
Mushrooms in Cucumber House (Lynn).—A s you “ know the spawn 
was good ” we suspect the soil of the bed was unsuitable by being either too 
light, too wet, or too dry, or the heat of the bed was not suitable. On this 
point you give us no information, neither do you mention the temperature of 
the house. The bed should be about 70° and the house about 60°, ami if the bed 
is covered with hay it will not be necessary to cover the glass. Regularity of 
moisture in the bed is indispensable, You bad better remove the soil and make 
a bed of horse droppings ; a layer 6 inches thick will do under your circum¬ 
stances. This bed must neither be wet nor dry, but of a healthy medium 
which is easily attainable. If the spawn is inserted in this, and a temperature 
of 75° is maintained fora fortnight, good spawn will“ run,” and a heat of 70 c to 65° 
will then suffice. The soil removed may be spread on the bed if it is good, 
made moderately moist and very firm, the whole being covered with lmy. 
Perhaps, however, your failure is not so complete as you think, and you had 
better wait a week longer before you disturb the bed. 
Species and Genera (Northampton).— The question “Are all Palms or all 
Orchids of one species ? ” is obviously absurd, aud scarcely requires an answer. 
The plants known as Palms and Orchids form two large families or natural 
orders, each including a great number of species arranged under their respective 
geuera. A species is ordinarily considered as containing all the individuals 
descended from one original plant or animal, and therefore agreeing among 
themselves in certain characters, which also distinguish them from other similar 
groups of individuals. But in the course of time the variations are so great that 
it often becomes difficult to assign the exact limits to a species, as the characters 
seem t > merge gradually into each other, thus rendering the definition to some 
extent arbitrary. A genus is simply a group of species agreeing in their leading 
characters, genera being grouped under the terms tribes, sub-orders, and orders. 
Thus, to give an example from one of the families named by you, the Palms. 
Chamaerops Fortunei is a species ; Cliamaerops is a genus included by some bota¬ 
nists in the tribe Coryplieie, and this in ttie natural order Palime. A variety is 
a sub-division of a species including individuals that agree in some unimportant 
characters, such as the colour of the flowers, which are not considered sufficient 
to entitle them to specific rank. 
Mealy Bug on Coleuses (Park Hill). —"We know of no remedy for ex¬ 
tirpating tin's pest without at the same time staining the foliage, except care¬ 
fully washing the plants with pure water, using a sponge aud pointed stick or 
an old toothbrush for dislodging the insects. A quicker way of destroying 
them would probably be to wash them or syringe them forcibly with a warm 
solution of softsoap, made by dissolving one or two ounces of softsoap in a 
