170 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 21, 1890. 
and I got well laughed at for my assertion. Mr. Benton and 
myself had been working for a long time jointly trying to solve the 
mailing problem, and we discussed the so-called “ good candy ” 
invented by Mr. Scholz, consisting of granulated sugar and honey 
mixed, the idea being that the honey stuck to the sugar from.which 
the bees licked it. Mr. Root used very fine sugar so as to have 
more surface for the honey to adhere to, but the bees never ate 
any of the sugar, and provision had to be arranged for the sugar 
to get out of the cage on a long journey. I urged on Mr. Benton 
to make up a food of my candy crushed and then stuck together 
again by means of honey, when, I told him, the bees would eat all 
before them. He did not believe they would do so, but still he 
thought that sugar ground as fine as flour would give more “ sur¬ 
face.” He tried it and found the bees ate both sugar and honey. 
This caused quite a sensation when a queen with a score of worker 
bees were sent in a dry pine box on a twenty-five-days journey 
without water. 
I do not claim, and never did claim, to have been the first to 
feed bees on candy, but what I do claim is the discovery that bees 
can eat and live on dry sugar alone, “ provided,” as I have stated 
above, “ the grains are small enough.” Most people think that 
baked lump sugar is really dry, and therefore an utter absurdity tQ 
suppose that animal life can be sustained by it without water, 
while, as a matter of fact, such sugar is 50 per cent, water, and 
only 1 per cent, more water will make very soft—too soft for mail¬ 
ing purposes ; therefore the matter is not so absurd as it seems. 
Mr. Benton used a three-hole cage in 1880 very similar to the one 
he uses now, with a bottle of water at one end, the bees in the 
centre one, and the other filled with candy, but the two are totally 
distinct.—A Hallamshire Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Dicksons (Limited), Chester.— Catalogue of Butch and other Bul¬ 
bous Flower Roots. 
Sutton & Sons, Reading.— Highly Illustrated Bulb Catalogue. 
Van Meerbeek & Co., Hillegom, Holland.— Catalogue of Butch 
Bulbs. 
Geo. Bunyard & Co., The Old Nurseries, Maidstone.— Catalogue of 
Strawberries and Summer Fruits. 
G. E. Eliott, Huddersfield.— Catalogue of Flower Roots, Roses, fyc. 
E. P. Dixon & Sons, Hull.— Catalogxie of Bulbous and other Flower 
Roots. 
J. R. Pearson & Sons, Chilwell, Notts.— Catalogue of Butch Bulbs 
and other Flowering Roots. 
Wm. Clibran & Son, 10 and 12, Market Street, Manchester, and 
■Oldfield Nurseries, Altrincham.— Autumn Bulb Catalogue. 
John Watkins, Pomona Farm, Hereford.— Bescriptive List of 
Strawberries. 
J. H. Krelage, 17 to 27, Kleinen, Houtweg, Haarlem, Holland.— 
■Catalogue of Butch Flower Roots. 
Richard Gilbert, High Park Gardens, Stamford,— Catalogue of 
Strawberries. 
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 correspondents, as doing so subjects them to 
unjustifiable trouble and expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions 
relating to Gardening and those on 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 communica¬ 
tions. 
Begonia Carrierl (J". F. S .~).—It is not uncommon for seedlings 
of this floriferous Begonia to produce rosy-tinted flowers. The flower 
you enclosed in the letter was, as might be expected, spoiled in the post. 
Show Prizes (A. TV).—You requested us to insert the date of 
your Show, and we inserted it. We said nothing about either open or 
local classes, and the matter you send and describe as a “ correction ” is 
really an addition, and undoubtedly an advertisement. The charge 
for its insertion can be furnished by the publisher if you wish the 
announcement to appear. 
Crapes discoloured (TF. J.f —The discoloration of the fruit has 
been caused by the temperature of the house having fallen too low at 
night on one or two occasions, and the consequent coldness of the 
berries has been followed by a deposition of moisture on them from the 
atmosphere in the form of dew. Then the house having become too 
hot on some morning before air was admitted, the ventilators were 
opened too widely at once, and the sudden evaporation from the fruit 
injured the cuticle. The berries have had a narrow escape of being 
scalded and spoiled. 
Sudden Death of Gooseberry Trees (G. C., Morpeth ).—We 
cannot possibly account for the sudden collapse of the young trees, but 
publish your remarks in case any of our readers can offer a solution of 
the problem. They are well rooted, presumably, from cuttings inserted 
last autumn. You say—“I could see nothing wrong with them on 
Saturday, and this morning (Monday) there are a number of them all 
withered, and the bark at the roots is quite rotten.” Sunday, it appears, 
therefore was the fatal day, and we suspect the cause of the misfortune 
must be sought for locally. 
IVXelons Splitting at the Stem (72. H.~). —When the fruit com¬ 
mences ripening there is almost invariably a separation of the cuticle at 
the base of the stalk, and if the fruit remains too long uncut, and 
there is much moisture in the atmosphere, decay ensues. Also if the 
plants are grown in too rich soil, and the night temperature falls too 
low, the atmosphere being at the same time moist, the fruit will often 
split and decay instead of ripening. You should have described the 
conditions under which the plants are grown, the temperature main¬ 
tained, and the system of ventilation adopted. You can still do so if 
you desire further information. 
Truit Values (Idem'). — We have not the slightest objection to your 
writing on the subject, and asking for some closer approximation to 
actual prices of Peaches, though you admit that the quotations referred 
to are in “ close accord with those of other authorities.” No doubt that 
is so, because they are obtained on the spot by persons who have been 
accustomed to estimate the value of fruit for many years, and who do 
not seize on special samples and from these publish inflated prices. 
The market returns of live stock are not founded on extraordinary prices 
obtained for extraordinary animals, or they would be misleading, but 
fair representative values are given, and it is the same with fruit. No 
doubt the prices with which you have been furnished would be given 
for fruit that had won high honours at an important exhibition ; and if 
your fruit is of that high value it will realise the amount named, not 
otherwise, as you will find if you send a consignment. The prices you 
quote are very much further from !i an approximation to actual prices ” 
than those which are published by disinterested authorities. Of this 
we have no doubt whatever. The fruiterer who has given you his 
prices can only deal in the highest class fruit, and this only forms an 
infinitessimal proportion of the bulk sent to market. 
Tecoma radicans (G. R. A.).—It is difficult to ascertain when 
this beautiful deciduous climber was introduced to this country from 
North America, its native place of growth. It was evidently cultivated 
in this country by Parkinson in 1G40, as he has described it minutely, 
adding, “ This never bore flower with mee, nor any other that hath it in 
our country that I could heare of.” From that we may infer it could 
not have been long and generally cultivated, as the plant blooms freely 
enough when a few years old and the wood is well ripened. It used to 
be called Bignonia radicans, but was transferred to Tecoma, the differ¬ 
ence in the genera consisting chiefly in the partition of the fruit. Plants 
are raised from cuttings and layers in the autumn, and grow luxuriantly 
in rich soil, but firm growth in firm soil containing chalk is promotive 
of flowering. It would flower with you in a hot sunny position, such as 
trained to a south wall, and the growths thinly disposed and matured. 
It is popularly known as the Ash-leaved Trumpet Flower. 
Summer Pruning- Pear Trees ( B ., CorJt). —Provided three good 
leaves are left on the cut-back shoots, and the trees are not very 
luxuriant in growth, the whole of the buds will not push, but the top 
one will, and perhaps the second. They have been cut back too closely, 
and it would have been better to have left five or six joints, then cutting 
them back to three in September. Your gardener should read the 
Journal of Horticulture attentively, and if he is in doubt how to 
proceed in any matter, to write for information before going too far. 
If the Pear trees are young and robust it might be advisable to drive 
down a spade and cut some of the roots at a third part distant from the 
stem that the trees are in height; but if they only make moderate 
growth, we do not think you need be under any apprehension of the 
base buds starting into growth this year. 
Idly of the Valley (C. B. C.).— You could scarcely expect many 
flowers this year from a bed planted last season with growing, not 
flowering, crowns, and especially as the soil is, as you say, very 11 tough. 
When the plants are established they grow and flower well in strong 
soil, but do not establish themselves quickly in such soil. No doubt the 
bed would have been improved if a quantity of wood ashes and decayed 
vegetable matter, also soot, had been incorporated in the soil; still if 
the plants have made strong leaves and crowns this year they will 
probably flower next season. If a little of the strong soil can be forked 
away without injuring the crowns or materially disturbing the roots, 
and a mixture of the kind suggested spread on the beds 2 or 3 inches 
thick and allowed to decay, the effect will almost certainly be beneficial. 
You say you “ filled ” the bed with plants. Perhaps they are too 
crowded, in which case bold crowns and fine spikes will be comparatively 
