528 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 11, 1890. 
The above hiver, the oldest of its kind, is perhaps also the best, 
and is a very superior appliance to the still older plan of sticking a 
pitchfork into a straw hive and holding it over a swarm ; very 
pretty to see as a picture, but a very tiresome and inconvenient plan 
when put into practice. Even when the bees have been placed into 
the hive they have to be lowered to the ground at an angle, and 
when the pitchfork is removed it so jars the bees as to cause many 
of the bees to take wing ; whereas with the hiver, when not suitable 
to lower by the cord, the poles are easily disjointed until the hive 
is reached.—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
BEES IN THE NORTH. 
As regards East Yorkshire the outlook is very discouraging. 
In many places bees have died through neglect during the summer, 
and fading to feed them for the winter. Some bee-keepers who 
started here a few years ago in high spirits and followed their 
hobby with enthusiasm are now disgusted with their little friends. 
When visiting a friend some time ago I passed by a garden where 
I had often seen a row of bee hives, of which the owner seemed to 
take great care ; but things had changed, many of the hives were 
standing in a corner of the garden empty, the bees having died, and 
the hives were for sale. Another bee-keeper, who was regarded as 
an authority, told me seven standard frames for any hives were 
sufficient where sections are wanted. To-day that gentleman has 
not a living bee, and others will soon be in the same condition. 
The cause is found in neglect, small hives, old queens, and insufficient 
supplies of food. It is very different in apiaries where bees are 
located in deep hives with young queens and plenty of food. 
■“ A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper ” from time to time has condemned 
small hives, and they cannot be too strongly condemned, as where 
from seven to nine bars and a crate of twenty-one sections com¬ 
pose the hive little is obtained, and swarming is the rule. My best 
results this season were obtained from twenty standard bars on the 
tiering principle ; not only did they give a little surplus, but 
required no feeding in so bad a season. The advice given in this 
Journal by “ A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper” on tiering hives I have 
found sound, and those about to give up bee-keeping on account 
of its unprofitableness should try the tiering plan. I have made a 
Lanarkshire hive from instructions given in this Journal, and I am 
pleased with its arrangements. It is a cheap hive, easy to move 
about ; the only defect is there is in so many bars when you want to 
•catch the queen and prune out queen cells, but that may soon be 
overcome ; however, this with ventilating floors shall be my plan in 
the future. Will “ A. L. B. K ” please say what kind of supers he 
uses for his hives ?— Howdenshire Bee-keeper. 
All correspondence should be directed either to “ Thf, 
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. 
Book (7 B .).—The work you require is published by Messrs. 
Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh, and can be obtained through a local 
bookseller. 
Pruning- IVIarechal Kiel Bose {John Marsh ).—Questions on 
this and all gardening subjects sent by regular subscribers to this 
Journal are most willingly answered through its columns. 
Fruitless Trees {Yew ).—Your letter has arrived too late for 
enabling us to do what we intended this week. You have no doubt 
done what is right under the circumstances. Too deep planting is un¬ 
doubtedly one of the best preventives of health and fruitfulness in 
trees. 
Scabious in Pots {E. T. U .').—You had better not disturb the 
seedlings at the present time, as in pots plunged in the ground the 
plants will make little or no growth for some time. It would be 
advisable to afford them some protection in very severe weather. The 
right time for transplantingithem will be when early spring growth com¬ 
mences, and they may possibly need a little protection afterwards. 
Boses for Market {Bose). —We can name you six H.P. varieties 
if you wish, but you will be wise in growing several plants of one 
var'etv only for the markets that you name. The variety most in 
demand in the bud state in those markets is Genbral Jacqueminot, and 
if you succeed in producing expanding buds early you will be able to 
realise good prices. Pinks and other colours do not sell so well as do 
good reds, and amongst these we know of no variety so suitable for the 
purpose as the one named. * 
Bestroyingr Mealy Bug and Scale. ( Inquirer). —Methylated 
spirits will destroy mealy bug, as we stated on page 281 last week. You 
are not the only gardener who has found too strong applications of 
petroleum injurious to Vines and Peach trees. A mixture is recom¬ 
mended on page 392 of our issue of October 30th, which if thoroughly 
applied will destroy scale and other insects. The hotter it is used the 
better, but neither scale nor mealy bug can be exterminated by one 
application of anything. 
Iris foetidissima—The Boast. Beef Flant. {J. IF, Worcester¬ 
shire). —Your plant is a native of England, and is found wild in many 
districts. It is much grown now for its capsules or bright red seeds, 
which are employed for decorative purposes in the autumn with good 
effect. The peculiar title “ Roast Beef Plant ” has been applied to it 
because the leaves when bruised give out an odour which is thought to 
resemble roast beef mixed with garlic. It is easily cultivated in ordinary 
garden soil provided the situation be neither excessively wet nor dry. 
Two other species of Iris are also regarded by some as natives of England 
— i.e., Iris pseudacorus and I. tuberosa, but the latter is excluded by 
some authorities. 
Forcing X.ilac (E. M., Motts). —White Lilac is obtained early in 
the year by placing well budded shrubs or bushes dug from the ground 
in a warm dark place, such as a well heated shed or Mushroom house. 
Shrubs of the common pink Lilac are usually the most plentiful, and 
the flowers come white when they expand in darkness. A temperature 
between 60° and 80° is suitable ; the higher it is the sooner the flowers 
appear, and we have known them quickly obtained in a temperature of 
90°. The shrubs must be syringed occasionally till the growth starts, 
and the roots be kept very moist. In addition to the heat from hot- 
water pipes, some persons have heaps of sweet fermenting materials, 
consisting of leaves mainly, in the Lilac shed, turning them occasion¬ 
ally, for the diffusion of heat and moisture, but an excess of moisture 
must be averted or the flowers will suffer. If you have not any shrubs 
that you can dig up you must apply to nurseries for them. White Lilac 
can be forced in glass structures, when small shrubs of the White variety 
are obtained and potted. The best of these are grown in France, and 
imported and sold by English nurserymen. 
Stocks for Fruit Trees {J. B. Son). —You call yourselves 
“ gardeners,” but ask the most extraordinary questions we have received 
from members of the craft. You first ask “ If shoots cut off any free- 
growing Apple trees are layers of Paradise stocks ?” No ; those shoots 
would not be layers at all, but cuttings of Apple trees. If you want to 
raise Paradise stocks you must purchase trees of the Paradise Apple, 
and when established bend down the shoots, notch, and peg them into 
the ground as layers to emit roots. Next you ask, “ If we get shoots 
off any free-growing Pear tree, and lay them in to strike root, what 
sort of stocks would they be called /” They would be called Pear stocks 
raised from cuttings, not layers. But that is not the way to raise Pear 
stocks, and if you try the plan you will find far more of the cuttings 
die than grow. Pear stocks are raised from pips or seeds, and Quince 
stocks, for grafting Pears on, from layers and cuttings. Your last 
question is a curiosity. “ Shoots from Plum tree roots budded, wouldn’t 
they be the same as the Plum tree was worked on?” If the buds grow 
that are inserted in the suckers of Plum trees the fruit that follows will 
be the same as that of the tree from which the buds, not the suckers, 
were taken. If the buds inserted fail, and the suckers grow and bear 
fruit, this may or may not be the same as that of the tree from which 
they were taken. If it was raised from a sucker the variety would be 
the same ; but if the tree itself grew from inserted buds the suckers 
would not produce fruit the same as the tree did. We think you have 
a good deal to learn on a subject which “gardeners” are expected to 
understand, and the above small elementary lesson, we hope, may be of 
service. 
Early Bulbs (.7. C.). —You should have no difficulty, as if the 
Roman Hyacinths were potted early they will advance rapidly in gentle 
warmth, and a succession may be maintained by introducing a pan, box, 
or a few pots once a fortnight according to the demand. The earliest 
Dutch varieties are Homerus, single red, and La Tour d’Auvergne, double 
white. These, if potted when advised, will have been removed from the 
plunging material and have become green in a cold frame. A few of 
both may be introduced into a temperature of 50° until they display 
signs of starting. Nothing is gained by placing them into brisk heat to 
force into bloom. No treatment is more certain to ruin them, for they 
are unduly forced out, and commence expanding their bells at the top 
of the spike instead of the base. They should be started gradually until 
they are growing, and then given a temperature of 60°, in which they 
will unfold their spikes in good condition. Early Tulips, such as scarlet 
Due Van Thol and white Pottebakker, will also be ready for starting 
