Kovember 13, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
449 
four hours. The trer s will need syringing regularly with tepid water 
two or three times a day, and moisture must he secured by night through 
damping the paths about 9 p.m., when external conditions favour tbe 
rapid escape or condensation of moisture at this variable season. A 
little fire heat will, even where fermenting materials are employed, he 
necessary in cold weather; hut it ought not to he used until necessary to 
prevent the temperature falling below 50°. 
Strawberries in Pots. —An early hatch of some approved variety 
will need to be started in gentle heat towards the end of the month with 
a view to obtaining early fruits, which, if started at the time indicated, 
will generally be ripe about the middle of February. We find La Grosse 
Sucree and Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury the best for early forcing. The 
drainage should be examined and rectified where it is out of order, and 
the surface soil removed or a top-dressing given of horse droppings and a 
little bonemeal, or some Amies’, Clay’s, or Standen’s manure, giving 
about a thimbleful to each plant. Into this the plant will push surface 
roofs and the plants be much invigorated. In the absence of a Straw¬ 
berry house a Peach house that will accommodate the plants near to the 
glass, and started early in December, will he a suitable structure to bring 
forward the first batch or an early vinery. The house, presuming a 
Strawberry house to be at command, should only he closed for the first 
fortnight after the plants are brought in, and if sun heat is taken advan¬ 
tage of early in the afternoon the night temperature will not fall much 
below 50°, which should be tbe temperature aimed at in the early stage 
of forcing, and ought not to be exceeded by artificial means until the 
plants are fairly in growth. Autumn fruiters hearing fruit at the present 
time will require to be spariugly watered, and have abundant ventilation 
on all favourable occasions. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Forcing House. —Where plants have to be forced into bloom in large 
quantities for cutting and conservatory decoration a house must be pre¬ 
pared without further delay. The glass and woodwork should be thoroughly 
washed—the former outside as well as inside—so that every ray of light 
that can be admitted will reach the plants. The walls should be lime- 
washed ; in fact, every particle of the house must be thoroughly cleaned. 
For this purpose a house should be selected in which a hotbed of leaves 
can be prepared, for the moist genial heat derived from them is very much 
more beneficial to the plants than the dry heat thrown off by hotwater 
pipes. It is surprising bow much m'^re readily various plants commence 
activity when placed upon or plunged amongst leaves than what they do 
when stood upon the surface of ashes or gravel, and the temperature of 
the house maintained by fire heat. Oak or Beech leaves for this purpose 
are decidedly the best, for they retain heat much longer than those of any 
other kind. When the bed is made the leaves mu^t not be saturated by 
heavy rains, but should be stored for the purpose as dry as possible. The 
heat derived from the leaves will be ample for exciting the plants to 
be forced into activity, for nothing is gained by subjecting such plants as 
axe generally forced to high temperatures at first. On the other hand, 
failures more frequently result from this than any other cause. 
Lily of the Valley. —Those plants that were assisted by heat and 
moisture to make their growth early in the season will have been at rest for 
some time. These, if introduced into a heated structure where the tempera¬ 
ture ranges about 65°, will come forward rapidly into fiower. 'I'he p ts 
containing the plants may, if practicable, be plunged amongst leaves or 
cocoa-nut fibre, and their crowns excluded from the light wbeie bottom 
heat can be maintained at 89 to 85°. 
Imported Single Crowns. —These can he obtained now, and are largely 
used for early forcing, but they will not come forward into bloom so 
readily as home-prown plants. They are invaluable for succeeding them, 
and can be had in bloom without very much trouble by Christmas. The 
crowns may be potted, placing about twelve or fourteen in each 5-inch 
pot, or thickly together in jians or boxes of leaf mould or cocoa-nut fibre. 
The tw'o latter we practise for early work, as the crowns come forward at 
first irregularly, and it is very difficult to obtain good potfuls without 
they are made up. When required entirely for cutting this is decidedly 
the best plan that can he adopted. 
Strong bottom heat is necessary to start these single crowns early in 
the case. A good place for plunging them is a close propagat ng frame. 
Whether they are in pots or boxes they should not be introduced into heat 
directly they arrive, for if they are it is questionable if ever they will 
start into growth. They should be stood outside for a time, and if ex¬ 
posed to frost before they are placed in frames aU the better, for they will 
start to throw up then' flow'ers more freely afterwards. 
Biclytva spectaMlis. —Imported roots of this easily forced ,^plant can 
now he obtained, and may be potted in good soil in 5 and 6-inch pot.°. 
Home-grown roots are as good as those that are imported from the Con¬ 
tinent annually, provided they have been prepared for the purpose. When 
the stock is grown at home the finest crowns only should be selected, and 
the smallest replanted for the following year’s supply. Care must be 
taken that the roots are planted in a sheltered warm position, for they 
start into growth early in the season, and are very liable to be injured by 
spring frosts. When the roots are grown for forcing the plants must be 
protected by mats from frost, or they will be only poor crowns when the 
time for lifting arrives. 
THE FLOWER GARDEN AND PLEASURE GROUND. 
Flower Beds. —In some of the warmest parts of the country many of 
Ihese were, up to November, looking remarkably gay. Zonal Pelargoniums, 
Calceolarias, Lobelias, and similar summer bedding plants be ng yet in 
full boom. Unfortunately this gay appearance has prevented those in 
charge getting the beds cleared and replanted with the winter plants 
before wet and unfavourable weather sets in. All beds to be replanted 
ought at once to be cleared, manured if necessary, dug, and refilled as 
fast as possible, and before the soil becomes saturated. Other beds that 
are looking shabby, and which will not be planted during the winlor, 
should be cleaned, and later on, when the leaves are all off the trees, be 
roughly dug up. If these have not been manured for some time it is 
advisable to dig in some rough manure or half-rotten leave?. The rougher 
the ground is laid up the better will it break down when the time arrives 
for planting, and the soil cannot well be too fine for the purpose. Leaf 
soil is, perhaps, the best material for either mixing with the soil or for 
surface dressing; consequently, instead of wheeling all the old hotbed 
material, and which, perhaps, consists principally of decaying leaves, into 
the kitchen garden, a good heap should be reierved for the flower garden, 
and turned once or twice during the winter. List spring we used plenty 
of this material in the beds planted with Verbenas, Begonias, and 
Calceolarias, and during the whole of the hot and dry summer experi¬ 
enced they continued to grow and bloom surprisingly well. 
Cannas, Dahlias, and Gladioli. —The roots of the two former should 
be lifted before a severe frost occurs, and after they have dried somewhat 
be stored away in either a light cellar, loft, or shed, where they can be 
heavily covered with some kind of protecting material in case of severe 
frosts. In order to prevent shrivelling or dry rot, the roots should he 
covered with nearly dry soil, sand, leaf soil, or cocoa-nut fibre, and 
they should be occauonally examined, and any decaying portioas be cut 
away. Many store them under the stages in greenhouses, but here there 
is generally too much moisture to suit them, and the Dahlias, especially 
when in such positions, are apt to start into growth much too soon, and 
they would do far better in the Potato shed. The tops of the Cannas should 
be roughly cut away to within 6 inches of the roots, the same length 
being left on the Dahlia stems, and to these should the labels be strongly 
tied. Gladioli corms should have their tops shortened, and then be laid 
thinly in shallow boxes and placed on dry sunny shelves for a few days to 
harvest properly. They may either be stored in dry sand or in drawers, 
but must be protected from severe frosts. The commoner sorts of the 
Brenchleyensis type and Colvillei varieties may usually be safely left in 
the ground, and in a few years form strong groups. 
Autumn Propagation of Roses. —As a rule, Roses on their own roots 
are of the greatest value, being more vigorous and durable than those 
worked on the Manetti stock in particular. No time should he lost before 
the cuttings are inserted, as so much depends upon their forming a callus 
before the warm spring weather stimulates top growth. The long well- 
ripened growths that dwarf Roses are in the habit of throwing up are 
suitable for the purpose, and if some of these long shoots can he procured 
from the standards so much the better. Cut them into lengths of from 
10 to 12 inches, cutting to a joint and cleanly at the biggest end. Before 
they have becjme dry, or in the least shrivelled, plant them in the 
open ground, which has previously been dressed with short manure or 
leaf soil and deeply dug. The cutting may be dibbled in to about half 
their depth, taking care that they touch the bottoms of the holes; or 
trenches may be drawn out with the spade, and the cuttings laid in and 
firmly covered with the soil. Supposing the cuttings are strong and well 
ripened, many of them will grow into strong flowering plants next summer, 
and therefore they should not be put in very thickly. The rows may well 
be placed about 2 feet apart, and the cuttings 9 inches asunder, every 
other plant being removed during the following planting season. They 
will not strike root satisfactorily in loose ground, and for this reason the 
ground about them should be occasionally trampled. 
DIFFICULTIES IN UNITING AND HIVING 
SWARMS. 
In my article of August 7th, page 131,1 mentioned the uncer¬ 
tainty in some circumstances, after hiving a swarm, of having 
them perfectly secured, part or whole of them being liable to 
leave, which a correspondent, “W. G.,” thinks not quite com¬ 
plete. I will therefore endeavour to supply that deficiency re¬ 
garding bees leaving their hives after being hived, as well as the 
difficulty of inducing two swarms to join peaceably. 
First as regarding bees swarming. It is a mistaken idea that 
much room will prevent swarming. Smallness of hive, causing 
ovei’crow’ding, is but one of the many causes of bees swarming. 
It is quite a common occurrence for bees to swarm from hives 
larger than their needs require and not full of comb; yet the 
only means we can use to prevent swarming is to give adiitional 
room, further secured by the presence of a young, fertile, and 
prolific cjueen, which in the absence of drone or ragged combs 
intervening, and I may add interchanged combs, for the purpose 
of spreading the brood—an objectionable, certainly questionable, 
proceeding. As a rule swarming does not readily take place 
unless when the honey season is so prolonged as to task the 
queen more than nature can fulfil. This is what we see when 
our bees are at the Heather. Then the bees, dissatisfied with 
