318 
editor’s table. 
left open, the bees obtained admission, and entering 
the closet under the door, removed the whole of the 
honey. The cells of wax were left entire, and the 
honey was conveyed to the central division of the hive, 
where it was safely deposited in the course of the day. 
It is evident that spies must have been employed to 
observe where the honey was placed, and that as soon 
as the information was communicated to the hive, the 
swarm took this vigorous measure for the recovery of 
the stolen property. It is remarkable that they should 
have succeeded so completely and in so short a time, 
since the closet was entirely dark, and they could only 
enter by a crevice under the door. 
Gardeners’ Chronicle.— Flowering the Paulovnia 
Imperialis. —The flowers of this tree are deliciously 
sweet, and are produced freely on very young plants, 
if forced for that purpose. The conditions to be at¬ 
tended to are—to keep the plants under-potted—to 
force them slowly in a cool stove, early vinery, or for¬ 
cing-house, beginning early in the spring; by midsum¬ 
mer they will have finished their growth, have begun 
to show their flower-buds, and to cast their leaves; 
they will then require less water, and in six weeks or 
two months the flowers will begin to expand, and the 
plants, of course, will be brought into the conservatory, 
where they will take up little room, as they may be 
set anywhere, only leaving their heads of flowers free 
above other plants which surround them. Now, we 
can easily see that with a good stock of these plants, 
we may have some of them in flower for the conserva¬ 
tory all the winter and most of the spring months, by 
introducing a few plants into a forcing-house once a 
month, from January to May, and if at first the suc¬ 
cession comes in faster than we wish, the plants may 
be set out-of-doors in a cool frame, to keep them back, 
as under this culture, the young wood will become 
perfectly ripened, and the tree rendered much more 
hardy. But, as Mr. Brewster, Mrs. Wray’s successful 
gardener remarks, “ If you allow these plants large pot- 
room, you are only laying the foundation for that great 
superstructure of wood and foliage which can only be 
ripened in a more favorable climate than ours ; and 
unless you get the wood well ripened, you must be con¬ 
tent with large leaves only.” Last year I kept one of 
our plants of Paulovnia in the stove until it was quite 
ripe, then inured it by degrees to the open air, and by 
the beginning of July had it planted out in an exposed 
situation in the pleasure-ground, giving it no protec¬ 
tion in winter ; early in May it was in leaf, and about 
four feet high; after a few weeks a strong sucker 
came up from the collar; I cut down the old plant to 
this sucker early in June last, and now the sucker has 
formed a little tree about 10 feet high, with immensely 
large rhubarb-like leaves. Might not the Catalpa 
syringeefolia be treated like paulovnia for the sake of 
its large, trumpet-like flowers, which are produced in 
abundance in the neighborhood of London and farther 
south, but are seldom to be met with in colder parts of 
the country ? 
Blisters in the Leaves of Peach-Trees. —A wash of 
sulphur, soot, and lime, applied to peach-trees in spring, 
does not prevent the leaves from blistering. This dis¬ 
ease is occasioned by cold. Ammoniacal liquor, dilu¬ 
ted with 10 or 12 parts of water, will kill the aphis 
which infests peach, nectarine, and other fruit-trees. 
The ants do not feed on these insects until the latter 
are either dead or sickly, and then they carry them off 
the tree. It is undex*stood that it is the sweet exuda¬ 
tion from the aphides which tempts the ants. 
Budding Rhododendrons. —Mr. Beaton, in his “ Cal¬ 
endar of Operations” for Sept. 30, mentions the suc¬ 
cess of an experiment in budding rhododendrons in the 
open air, and also that a young English lady has out¬ 
stripped the very best of gardeners in this operation ; 
but I beg to inform him that it has been practised here 
with great success for many years, and we have now 
standards with large fine heads from buds ; also a 
quantity of buds which have been inserted this season, 
that have taken well. It will, without doubt, be a 
great acquisition to gardening, as flower-buds are gen¬ 
erally formed on the first season’s growth.— H. G. Y., 
Dorking. 
New and superior System of Potting Plants. —Take a 
16 or 12-sized pot, place three inches of bottom drain¬ 
age, and fill up with pieces of peat from one to four 
inches square ; fill the interstices with the fibrous sift¬ 
ings of peat, and pieces of crocks, till the pot is qiftite 
full; then plant a seedling or struck cutting of heath 
of similar habit, give very little water till the little 
plant shoots freely ; and in this treatment is contained 
the only secret in growing fine specimens. 
mitov’s STaMe, 
Familiar Letters on Chemistry, and its Relation 
to Commerce, Physiology, and Agriculture; by Justus 
Leibig, edited by John Gardner, M. D., 180pp. 18 mo.; 
price, bound, 25 cts., stitched in paper covers, 12| cts.: 
D. Appleton & Co., 200 Broadway. The same, 53 pp. 
octavo, J. Winchester, New World press, 30 Ann st.; 
price 6| cents. The same, octavo, in a uniform edi¬ 
tion with the other works of Leibig, James M. Camp¬ 
bell, Philadelphia ; Saxton & Miles, 205 Broadway, N. 
Y.; price 12| cts. The announcement of three editions 
of Leibig’s Letters, as above, is enough to show the im¬ 
mense popularity of his works. What we have found 
time to read of his Letters, we like much ; they abound 
with valuable information, and should be faithfully pe¬ 
rused by all who are desirous of information upon the 
subjects of which they treat. 
Hovey & Co.’s Descriptive Catalogue of Roses, 
cultivated and for sale at the Cambridge Nurseries, Cam¬ 
bridge, near Boston, Mass., for the autumn of 1843 and 
spring of 1844. The above list is very extensive, con¬ 
taining names, description, prices, &c., of the greatest 
favorite of flowers, &c., and can be had upon applica¬ 
tion to Messrs. Hovey & Co., of Merchants’ Row, Bos¬ 
ton. 
Applied Chemistry in Manufactures, Arts, and Do¬ 
mestic Economy, edited by E. A. Parnell, with engra¬ 
vings on wood, in monthly Nos., octavo ; price 25 cts. 
The Encyclopedia of Chemistry, Theoretical and 
Practical; presenting a complete and extended view 
of the present state of chemical science; by James C. 
Booth, and Martin H. Boyle, with numerous engravings, 
in monthly Nos., octavo; price 25 cents. Both of the 
above works are published by Carey & Hart, of Phila¬ 
delphia, and for sale by Saxton & Miles of this city. 
The editors are professors and lecturers on chemistry, 
and we have no doubt will give the public able and 
satisfactory works on this important science, and such 
as may safely be referred to as containing the latest and 
best information. 
The Silk Question Settled, being a Report of the 
proceedings of the late Silk Convention held in this 
city, and the documents submitted to it, is in press, and 
will soon be out, published by Saxton & Miles, 205 
Broadway, in a pamphlet of about 120 pages, as an 
American Agriculturist extra, and uniform with it. 
We shall speak of this able report more at length here¬ 
after. 
A Silk Manual is also about to be published under 
the auspices of the American Institute ; it being a prize 
essay. 
