September 28,1882. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . 303 
filled up again, ramming well down, removing the surface soil from 
the trench to the stem, supplying fresh material and making firm. 
When the fruit is all gathered in the late houses the next object is to 
get the wood thoroughly ripened, which is best effected by removing 
the shoots that have borne fruit, cutting them out to a successional 
shoot at the base, and thinning out the shoots where they are too 
crowded. 
Figs .—Trees in pots for early forcing must at once be attended to. 
If needful a shift into larger pots may be given ; but as it is usually 
desirable to confine the trees to the same size pots, a few inches 
should be removed from the base when the trees are turned, cutting 
back the roots and re-arranging the drainage, which should be 
efficient; replace the soil removed with fresh fibrous loam having a 
slight admixture of road scrapings or old mortar rubbish, ramming 
hard ; remove the surface soil, and replace with fresh material. 
Water thoroughly, and place where they can be well exposed to air 
without being subjected to heavy rains or frost. 
Fig trees planted out should be kept drier at the roots, and be freely 
ventilated. When the second crop is gathered keep the house cool 
and dry, ventilating fully except when frost prevails. Any trees 
not ripening the wood freely should have a circulation of dry warm 
air secured to them by day, keeping them dry at the roots, but not 
extremely so; and when the leaves give indications of falling root- 
pruning or partial lifting should be resorted to. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Stove .—The earliest and strongest Poinsettias should now be placed 
in the stove at a temperature of 60° to G5°, attending well to with 
weak liquid manure. The remainder of the plants should be kept in 
a temperature of about 55°, being careful in watering, for if over¬ 
done in that respect they will lose the roots and the bracts will be 
poor. These plants will form a successional batch to the first lot. 
Euphorbia jacquiniasflora must not be kept in a lower temperature 
than 50°, and not be overwatered, or the roots will perish and the 
flowering be indifferent. Sericographis Ghiesbreghtiana must be 
placed in a light position, and when in flower will stand in a conser¬ 
vatory for some time. A few plants of Plumbago coccinea superba 
and P. rosea should be placed at the coolest end of the stove to 
succeed the earliest-flowering plants ; similar remarks applying to 
other winter-flowering plants, so as to maintain a succession of bloom. 
Nepenthes .—These are fine for decorative purposes, and should be 
grown by those having a stove. To insure their forming plenty of 
fine pitchers they should be grown near to the glass, and only have 
shade to prevent scorching. Good fibrous peat, with a fourth of 
potsherds and a sixth of chopped sphagnum, adding a sprinkling of 
charcoal, the drainage being very liberal, will suit them well. 
Although the spring is the time to pot them, now is the time to 
procure plants, as the growth being matured they suffer nothing in 
transit. Keep them near the glass through the winter, and pot in 
spring, 6 or 7-inch pots being large enough. Plants that have become 
tall should be cut down to within a foot or so of the pot, and 
remove the eyes from the upper part of the stem down to three of 
the lowest, but leaving all the leaves entire; and when the eyes 
left have broken and grown somewhat the upper part can be removed- 
The ripe part of the tops cut off will make cuttings. Cut into lengths 
of two joints each, leaving a portion of leaf to the upper joint) 
inserting them in cocoa-nut fibre refuse and sand in a case or cover¬ 
ing with a bellglass, and keeping close and moist, greater part 
will be rooted by spring. The tops or soft portion are of no use 
for cuttings. 
Ny mphaea caerulea, N. cyanea, N. dentata, N. Devoniana, and N. 
rubra, flowering over a lengthened period, are very interesting ; the 
flowers, in addition to being beautiful on the plants, are useful for 
cutting. A tank of a few feet square and of a depth of 3 feet, with 
a foot of good loam at the bottom and the remainder water, will suit 
them. Dracaenas, Palms, and other ornamental-foliage plants em¬ 
ployed in conservatories, must be returned to the stove before the 
foliage suffers from the cold, or they will be irreparably injured; 
similar remarks applying to flowering plants, such as Dipladenias, 
Ixoras, Allamandas, Bougainvilleas, Clerodendron Balfourianum, Ste- 
phanotis, &c., being careful not to keep them too moist or too warm 
and close when returned to the stove, or the probability is they will 
be excited into fresh growth. 
Ixoras that have yet flowers to open should be carefully treated, 
not syringing them, as their flowers will be very valuable. Alla¬ 
mandas may continue flowering for months to come without injury 
to the next season’s bloom, but water should be given in diminished 
quantity so as to prevent sappy growth. Our planted-out specimens 
of A. nobilis, A. cathartica, and A. Hendersoni are never out of 
bloom, a portion of the plants being cut back at different periods so 
as to insure a continuity of bloom. Rondeletias will afford flowers 
for some time longer, and should be treated similarly. 
Roman Hyacinths potted some weeks ago along with double 
Roman and Paper White Narcissus will have rooted and should be 
placed near the glass, in order to keep them as dwarf as possible, and 
not be brought on too quickly, a temperature of 55° to G5° being 
suitable. 
Ferns having for the most part completed their growth will need 
considerably less moisture both at the roots and in the atmosphere, 
but should not be kept too dry or thrips will appear, and should be 
eradicated where they exist by moderate fumigation on two or three 
consecutive evenings. Plants of Adiantum cuneatum, &c., wanted 
to give fronds early for cutting, or the plants for decoration, should 
be somewhat dried off, and be given a rest for a few weeks in a tem¬ 
perature of about 50°, afterwards placing in heat and moisture to 
encourage growth, and when mature gradually harden them. Plants 
so treated are far more enduring for decoration or cutting than those 
taken direct from a warm moist atmosphere to a cool and dry one. 
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BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.—No. 6. 
SWARMING VERSUS NON-SWARMING. 
Experience and close observation strengthen our conviction 
that the swarming system of managing bees is better and more 
profitable, healthier and more natural, than the non-swarming 
system. In unfavourable seasons for honey-gathering the non¬ 
system is better because less expensive than the other. This was 
fully stated in our last letter on this subject, in which it was said 
that in investigations of this kind many points should be noticed 
—viz., large and small hives, good and bad seasons, early and 
late localities, spring and autumn flowers. By noticing these 
points briefly we shall cross, but not cover, the whole field of 
inquiry before us. 
1st, Large and small hives. By common consent the supe¬ 
riority of large hives is admitted. The most advanced bee-keepers 
are using them. Some ten or twelve years ago some teachers 
said they were a delusion and a snare. Be this as it may, large 
hives in good seasons yield the largest swarms, gather most honey, 
and give the largest returns. Smaller hives yield proportionately 
large first swarms, but their second swarms and turnouts are very 
small and comparatively worthless, and they never yield a large 
return in honey. In good and bad seasons, and in early and late 
localities, large hives are advantageous. In bad seasons small 
and weakly hives suffer most. 
2nd, Good and bad seasons. In good seasons the swarming 
system of management is incomparably the best and most pro¬ 
fitable. In such seasons we have had records of notable and re¬ 
markable success by management on the non-swarming principle, 
and such records we like to read and rehearse, though in most 
instances they are solitary. Just a few hives here and there, well 
managed and kept from swarming, yield to their masters extra¬ 
ordinary results. But the actual and almost unavoidable loss of 
swarms in good seasons, if managed on the non-swarming prin¬ 
ciple, is disastrous and discouraging. The stories of lost swarms 
from such apiaries are seldom told. In good seasons we take, and 
advise others to take, all the first swarms that can be had in May 
and June. As apiarians gain experience and better understand 
the natural habits or history of bees, they take broader views of 
swarming, and advantageously use it in various ways which they 
never thought about before. Hives that swarm in May are empty 
of brood in three weeks after swarming. Their queens have not 
begun to lay. By driving the bees out of them into empty hives, 
and putting swarms into them, the later swarms are made equal to 
