370 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 3, 1883. 
many a useful lesson may now be learnt. Blossom of Peaches 
and Nectarines that will not set fruit often shrivels and dis¬ 
appears so quickly and entirely that a careless observer may 
fancy there has been none when there has been plenty. Lord 
Napier Nectarine is so losing almost every flower this year, while 
Balgowan and Violette Hative close to it in the same aspect are 
setting a full crop of fruit. 
Trees which have been grafted must have all shoots removed as 
they appear below the scion, and where clay has been used it 
should be moistened if cracks appear, and the cracks promptly 
closed. Watch the progress of the scion growth, and remove the 
binding material as soon as you have clear evidence that stock 
and scion are united, and fasten the scion to some suitable support 
to prevent its being blown out by wind. 
We are about to plant a bed of Alpine Strawberries for autumn 
fruiting upon a border of rich soil that has been recently dug. 
Strong plants will be used a foot apart, and careful attention 
will be given to watering should dry weather follow the planting ; 
and after they are established a slight mulching of rough leaf 
soil will be put among them to keep out drought in the hottest 
summer months. 
THE FLOWER GARDEN AND PLEASURE GROUND. 
Solving Annuals in the Open Borders. —Ground that was roughly 
dug during the winter will now, thanks to the most acceptable 
rain, be in excellent condition for seed-sowing. Much depends 
upon the state of the ground. Many of the seeds being small—the 
seedlings forming very delicate roots—require to be sown on well- 
broken-up soil, and to be lightly covered with more of the fine 
soil. It is not advisable to bring to the surface any bad working 
soil; forks, therefore, should be used to thoroughly reduce the 
spits of soil to a suitable condition for sowing. Ground that has 
not been for some time exposed to the pulverising influences of 
frosts, winds, and rain should be broken up as finely as possible ; 
and in many cases it will be found advisable to surface it with sifted 
soil from the compost yard, and to cover the seeds with more or 
the same kind. Where the plants are or can be grown in lines 
the seeds should be sown in drills, as this admits of hoeings latef 
on. As the majority of annuals are grown on mixed borders, the 
seeds in this case should be sown in patches about 10 inches across, 
hollows being formed with the hand, the seed to be lightly covered 
with soil and marked with a peg. A few plants in every instance 
will prove more satisfactory than the crowded patches too often 
to be seen. Therefore sow thinly ; and before they become crowded, 
and when too large to be preyed upon by slugs, freely thin out 
the seedlings, transplanting some of these to where blanks occur. 
Mignonette, Love-lies-bleeding, Candytuft, Godetias, Esch- 
scholtzias, Chrysanthemums, Scabious, Gdnotheras, Senecio, Mari¬ 
golds, Clarkias, Calliopsis, Helichrysums, Poppies, Saponarias, 
and other hardy and half-hardy annuals all branch freely, and 
if grown thinly will continue to produce superior blooms much 
longer than where crowded. In addition to the above, Sweet Peas, 
Collinsias, Hibiscuses, Larkspurs, Limnanthes, Clintonia, Malope, 
Nemophilas, Salpiglossis, Virginian Stocks, Tropoeolums, Con¬ 
volvuluses, Scarlet Runner Beans, and other popular kinds should 
now be sown. Slugs being so very destructive among the delicate 
seedlings, traps should be set for them at once. They will con¬ 
gregate under hollowed-out Potatoes, in little heaps of bran, under 
slates and tiles or Cabbage leaves, and should be collected and 
destroyed every morning. We do not venture to sow extra choice 
varieties of any of the above annuals in the open ground, pre¬ 
ferring to sow thinly in boxes of fine soil, and these being stood 
in a warm open position, covered with glass or otherwise protected 
and darkened, germinate readily. They are planted out in most 
cases when about 2 or 3 inches high. African and French Mari¬ 
golds, Tagetes, Asters, Stocks, Zinnias, Everlastings, choice 
Poppies, and ornamental Grasses may yet be sown under glass, 
either in boxes or on beds of fine soil, and will quickly grow to a 
good size for planting out. The same remarks apply to Ricinuses 
and Japanese Maize, using 5-inch pots for the former and a 
smaller size for the latter. Both will be found highly ornamental, 
and if disposed among smaller kinds of bedding plants will tend 
to eke out the latter where scarce. 
Propagating and Treatment of Bedding Plants. —Alternanthera 
cuttings are now very plentiful, and we contrive to strike the 
requisite number of plants at one time. A shallow hotbed for 
several frames is formed, over this being disposed about 3 inches 
of fine sandy soil. The cuttings are dibbled in about 2 inches 
apart each way, are watered in, and the frames kept close and 
shaded when necessary till the cuttings are rooted, which they 
quickly are. The plants are encouraged to grow rapidly, and 
early in June they meet all round, and are hardened and planted 
out before the end of the month. Where smaller quantities are 
required they may be struck thickly in boxes, placed in a brisk heat, 
and transplanted in other boxes when many of the hardier kinds 
are shifted into cooler quarters. Shallow boxes are best for Alter- 
nantheras. Where the stock is still too small Verbenas, Ageratums, 
Heliotropes, Iresines, Coleuses, Mesembryanthemums, Koniga, and 
Pelargoniums may yet be struck, and Lobelias divided. Calceo¬ 
larias, Lobelias, Ageratums, Verbenas, Gazanias, Pyrethrums, 
Marguerites, if bedded out rather thickly in rough protected 
frames, and in good soil resting on a hard bottom, will form 
strong plants, which may easily be transplanted with a good ball 
of soil attached to the roots at bedding-out time. Pelargoniums 
do not move so well, but we find spring-struck cuttings do well 
under this treatment. The boxes thus liberated are available for 
Iresines and Coleuses, and these do not require a great depth of 
soil. Mesembryanthemums are best potted singly in 2-inch pots. 
i ■ I - i . I . |-r Mj 
Mi 
HE BEE-KEEPER. 1 
THE ART OF BEE-KEEPING.—No. 10. 
{Continued from page 2SG.') 
THE ART OF SUPERING. 
Doing the right thing at the right time is the key to success in 
hee-keeping as in other pursuits. This is specially true when we 
come to require the use of supers. Several conditions must be con¬ 
jointly favourable before any success can be depended on. In the 
first place the hive must have a crowded population, and in the 
second place there must be abundance of honey in the flowers and 
suitable weather in which to gather it. The former condition may 
frequently be reached weeks before the latter can be expected. For 
example, in a district where Clover blooming about the 15th June 
is known to be the main source of honey, hives may be ready for 
swarming before the end of May. In such cases it will generally 
be found the wiser course to divide by artificial swarming, and by 
the liberal use of comb foundation have both the old and young 
stocks still fit for supering before the Clover harvest opens ; other¬ 
wise, there will he some difficulty in preventing swarming at a later 
dite, and supers put on prematurely will be often found to be spoiled 
by brood. 
Should the favourable condition as to population not be reached 
till nearer the time of the honey flow, a super may be placed on 
the hive after an inspection of the brood combs. Should royal ce'Is 
bo found on the latter they should all be removed. The addition of 
the super will at once relieve the sense of overcrowding, and give 
the bees useful employment in drawing out the guides of foundation 
with which the super is supposed to be furnished. To rouse the 
bees to activity, and almost compel them at once to enter the super, 
every inch of sealed honey in the brood combs should also he 
uncapped. This will further afford the queen additional space for 
egg-laying in the body of the hive. 
Should the flow of honey arrive before the stock is strong enough 
for supering great care must be exercised. The addition of a super 
in such a case may go far to hinder the desired condition, and prove 
the adage 11 the more hurry the worse speed;” for it will tend to 
cool the brood nest, contract the cluster, and compel more bees to 
stay at home for nursing purposes. The tendency would then be 
towards filling up the brood combs with honey to the subsequent 
curtailment of brood-rearing. Such a stock might thus be thrown 
so far back as not to enter the superstill the short honey season was 
almost gone. In such circumstances the advantages of the bar-frame 
system come to our help. We should at once proceed to strengthen 
the stock in question by giving it frames of hatching brood from 
other stocks able to spare them, or even from stocks weaker than 
itself, though of course we should leave the latter as mere nuclei 
not to be supered. Or, if we have no other stock from which to 
draw supplies of brood, we should contract the brood nest of the 
stock in question sufficiently to crowd the bees into a small super— 
say of a single row of sections. In a few days more room may 
gradually be given both in the brood nest and supers. Indeed, 
where increase of stocks is no object we should rather join all 
our hives two and two than lose the chance of getting supers during 
the short honey season. 
The happy sight of enormous populations now at last eagerly 
storing their gatherings in tiers of supers may now be reasonably 
supposed to gladden the bee-keeper’s heart. But a new source of 
trouble arises. The very excess of population he lately longed for 
threatens to mar his hopes by developing the instinct for swarming. 
To prevent this, at least for a time, is now his great concern. To 
