458 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 31, 1883. 
year or first four months of tenancy. This ground has been gone 
over before, but I go over it again merely to let the readers of the 
Joumal know that my convictions and practice remain unaltered 
amid the reported discoveries of scientific apiculture. 
So far as present appearances go we are, I think, likely to have 
a good harvest of honey this year. March was very unfavourable, 
and cast the bees back very much. At the end of the month they 
were much worse and of less value than they were at its com¬ 
mencement ; but April and May have been better, and some of 
the strongest hives in our neighbourhood reached the swarming 
point at the Queen’s birthday. I had one swarm on the 24th, 
another on the 26th of May, and some were before mine. The 
Apple and Sycamore trees are not yet out of blossom, and Clover, 
Beans, Limes, and Heather—all excellent honey plants—are yet 
to come into flower, giving encouragement to hope for an abimdant 
harvest of honey this year. 
I am sure that apiarians will leam by experience, and bee 
culture will advance and become more popular and profitable ; and 
the more popular and profitable it becomes the more easy and 
pleasant it is to the bee-master.—A. Pettigkew. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
E. G. Henderson & Son, Muida Vale, London.— Catalogue of Soft- 
wooded Plants. 
John Laing & Co., Forest Hill.— Catalogue of New Plants and 
Tuberous Begonias. 
mmmmtwm 
TO CORRESPONDENTS.) 
%* All correspondence 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. 
Books (D. Lever). —As a “ compact and inexpensive work on general 
gardening,” we know of no better volume than our “ Garden Manual,” price 
Is. Gd., post free, 1 j. 9d. (G. I ).).—Mr. Iggulden’s pamphet on the Tomato 
will give you the requisite information, and can be had post free from this 
office, price Is. Id. 
Duke of Buccleuch Grape (E. P. TV., Dublin).—It neither the remarks 
on page 399, nor those in answer to “ H. S.” in the next column are sufficiently 
clear, please state as perspicuously as possible exactly what you desire to know, 
and we will endeavour to supply the information. 
Lawn Mower Defective (. Master and Gardeners).— Perhaps the plate 
requires grinding as well as the knives. The part of the lawn that is damp will 
probably need mowing twice as often as the other portion. “Ordinary smiths 
and engineers ” vary in competency like other men. We can only answer letters 
that arrive on Wednesday in the briefest possible manner, if at all. 
Carpet Bedding (II. D.).— Write to Mr. Graham, Garden Superintendent, 
Hampton Court Palace, Kingston-on-Thames, and he will, we think, be able to 
send you a treatise that will give you the requisite information. We are not 
certain about the price, but we think it is a shilling. 
Vine Leaf (J. C., Nutbourne).—We received your letter containing a Vine 
leaf to which you make no reference, and there was no insect to which you ask 
our attention. We unfolded the leaf carefully and made a close search for an 
insect, but without avail. You either omitted to enclose it or it was pulverised 
in transit through the post. 
Inarching Vines (E. D. Moss).— We have no means of knowing the cause 
of your failure, but is the result probably of some defect in splicing. However, 
as the attacked Vines are in pots, you can now inarch their young growths to 
the corresponding growths of the stock Vines. You will find the process suffi¬ 
ciently detailed in another column, and if you follow the instructions there 
given you will succeed in effecting your object. 
Manure for Mushrooms (II. F. S.).— It is not essential that the manure 
for Mushroom beds should be gathered from those stables where Wheat straw 
exclusively is used for litter, but Barley straw decays more quickly. Many per¬ 
sons grow Mushrooms without using any straw at all, but simply horse droppings, 
yet a considerable quantity of decaying straw is advantageous. 
Cytisuses (C. P. L .).—The gall-like nodosities you have sent are, we think, 
the result of the plants having long been much root-bound, being simply an 
enlargement of the roots in that form by the resistance they met with to their 
further extension. A similar result follows with Dracaenas and some other 
plants that have long been root-bound. As you have repotted the plants we 
apprehend they will thrive satisfactorily under good treatment, but it would 
have been better if they had been repotted before. 
Pansies (Gratehj ).—We presume the flowers you have sent are seedling* that 
have been raised in your garden. The}' are excellent border varieties, many of 
them of great size and good substance. They are also bright and diversified in 
colours, and generally above the average merit of blooms that are sent to us as 
the produce of purchased seed, though they are not better than those that have 
been forwarded by Mr. Hawley and referred to last week. They lack the pro¬ 
perties that constitute good florists’ flowers, inasmuch as the colours of your 
flowers “run,” and the lacing is not clearly defined. Yet, notwithstanding, they 
are highly effective and have been well grown. 
Removing Dendrobium nobile Pseudo-bulb3 (.Agent). — Some 
growers have advocated removing the old pseudo-bulbs, but we have found it 
disadvantageous in the majority of cases, and it is rarely practised except as an 
experiment. It is probable that the plants derive some degree of support from 
these old pseudo-bulbs, as other Orchids of this description do, and we have 
seen plants which have made comparative weak growth after such pseudo-bulbs 
had been removed, proving that they had suffered in some way. The plants do 
not require repotting every year unless they are increasing in size very rapidly, 
and the best time to pot them is when the growth is commencing. 
Caterpillar on Pear (Diseased Leaves). —This is the caterpillar of the 
mottled umber moth, Hybernia defoliaria, which feeds on Oak, Blackthorn, 
Whitethorn, and various trees, occasionally upon the Apple, Pear, and Plum in 
orchards. The peculiar appearance in the leaves noticed by you arises from the 
effects of the sunshine upon foliage ■which has been partially gnawed by the 
caterpillars. It is easy to shake the caterpillars off the branches or twigs, or to 
pick them off; but they seldom appear upon fruit trees in any numbers to be 
injurious. As the eggs are laid upon the bark very early in the spring they may 
be sometimes detected and removed when other insects are being sought after. 
Syringe the trees with a solution of hellebore, prepared as described in answer 
to a correspondent on page 393 in our issue of the 10th inst. 
Packing Grapes at Clovenfords (Inquirer). — Mr. Thomson has 
favoured us with the following information on this subject :—“ In reply to 
inquiries about the way we pack our Grapes for market, I have to say that our 
baskets have no lids, that they are just filled and set, four in the bottom of a 
box, then a division-board is let in over them, but not touching them. Gn this 
four more baskets are set and the lid let down and locked, the lid not touching 
the Grapes either. We have a special arrangement with the railway, by which 
our boxes are placed in an express van, and never turned over or shaken till our 
agent in London gets them out of the van into a spring conveyance he sends to 
meet them. This system of packing would never suit where all the railway 
arrangements named cannot be effected." 
Duke of Buccleuch Grape at Clovenfords (H. S.). —The Vines ®f 
the Duke are placed 6 feet apart, the variety being on its own roots, and there 
are from three to five rods from each main stem. Mr. Thomson cuts out as much 
old wood as possible every year and lays in new. This Grape fruits best on the 
last year’s long rod—that is, a rod from 3 feet to 6 feet long. Grand crops of it 
are showing this year, as always on the above system. The great secret is to 
have the young wood well ripened by exposure to plenty of light and air. Treat¬ 
ment the reverse of this has led to failure. It is a most vigorous grower, and on 
this account it especially needs to have its wood well ripened. If the roots are 
outside some tarpaulin or such-like should be laid on the border to throw off the 
summer rains and prevent the cracking of the berries. This is the teaching of 
Mr. Thomson, and is founded on his successful practice. 
Commercial Fruit Culture ( C. II. Van P., Antwerp).— There are no 
doubt men in England quite competent to cultivate all you require—trustworthy 
intelligent men of irreproachable character ; but the only method we can suggest 
for securing applications is to fully advertise your wants. We suspect a com¬ 
petent man would expect a reasonable fixed salary, and we have no doubt he 
would not be satisfied without endeavouring strenuously to ears it. We quite 
understand what you want, and believe such men as you require are procurable 
in England at the present time. The best of them, however, would no doubt 
desire to inspect your establishment and determine for themselves the prospect 
of success before entering on an engagement; and in England it is customary 
for gentlemen to defray the travelling expenses of men whom they invite, 
whether they are afterwards engaged or not. A written agreement duly signed 
in such a case as this would be desirable in the interests of both parties. 
Pelargonium Leaves Diseased (T. B. Jesmond). —The leaves indicate 
that the plants have received a very serious check, which amounted at the time 
to an almost total cessation of root-action. They will not readily recover until 
some of the old soil is removed and the roots are placed in contact with fresh 
compost. This, with genial weather, will promote fresh growth. When plants 
are removed from the moist atmosphere of a warm house and placed in a frame 
exposed to drying winds and sun, the moisture is extracted front the leaves 
faster than it is supplied by the roots, which have been checked by the cold, 
and the foliage necessarily turns brown and shrivels. Had the plants been 
shaded for a time when placed in a lower temperature and drier atmosphere 
they would now be in better condition. 
Wasps on Cotoneaster (II. £.).—They are wasps, not hornet3, that 
you have sent, and which “for more than a week have infested in great 
numbers a Cotoneaster growing up the house, and which is now in bloom. 
They are not seen upon any other of the flowering shrubs, but many have been 
found under the coverings of the bee-hives.” We were not aware that wasp3 
had such a great partiality for the Cotoneaster, but we know they have for bee¬ 
hives, and are great robbers where the bees are too few and weak to successfully 
defend their home. By closely watching and following the wasps towards 
evening their nests can be found and destroyed by pouring tar into them. This 
should be done at night, and the holes stopped up with soil. 
Training Melons (Doubtful). —You have done quite right so far in top¬ 
ping the plants and securing the requisite number of growths for covering the 
bed. These, you say, have grown 6 or 8 inches, and you are advised to top them 
again ; but you hesitate doing so on the ground of too many growths resulting 
and overcrowding the foliage. It is a healthy sign when young gardeners think 
for themselves, and are able to advance a valid reason for the course they adopt. 
Let the growths extend until they reach within a foot or so of the sides of the 
frame, then nip off their points. These main growths should be quite a foot 
apart, as the laterals they will produce after topping will be more than suffi¬ 
cient for filling the frame, and after the requisite number of fruits are set you 
may remove the superfluous growths entirely. The fruit-bearing laterals should 
have the point removed at a leaf beyond the fruit, even before that leaf is larger 
than a sixpence. Melons should be pruned throughout the season with the 
finger and thumb, and thus overcrowding be prevented; this being far better 
than allowing a thicket of growths and then removing large quantities at a 
time, injuring the principal leaves in the process, and consequently impairing 
the size and quality of the fruit. 
