170 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Augnst 19, 1886. 
putting his name to it, and then refers to it as that “ which bears his own 
name.” It is not the first time I have been robbed of all the credit in 
introducing new ideas. Feeding bees on dry sugar alone as a practical 
thing was my idea, and I made a big fight for it in the B. B. J., and no 
no one tried to “ sit ” on the idea more than Messrs. Abbott and Simmine, 
and yet within six months the latter claimed all the credit, and said he 
had been working at the problem for years, though his own published 
letters not six months before entirely repudiated such a theory. In fact, 
it was entirely owing to his scouting the idea of bees being able to con¬ 
sume dry sugar that I came out in its defence, and told what I knew. 
But Mr. Simmins began to make a trade of it, and advertise his “ Dry 
Sugar Feeders,” and when I wrote to the B. B. J. pointing out his incon¬ 
sistency I was quietly dropped and he was allowed to figure as the man. 
Now I suppose the same game is to be played again. 
A word as to caging queens. I had not time to reply to “ A Lanark¬ 
shire Bee-keeper ” as the busy season is on, and glad I am now I did not, 
as my silence seems to have led Dr. Walker and others into a trap. He 
says, “ It has never been proved bees can carry eggs.” If he will cage a 
fertile Syrian queen in a pipe-cover cage on a comb in a strong stock of 
black bees, queenless and having no means to rear one, I will venture to 
predict he will find a Syrian queen hatch out, though the one he caged 
has never been at liberty, or his experience will be very much diSerent 
to mine. My contention is, that if the bees have combs, and can get the 
eggs dropped by the queen in the cage, they will carry them and rear a 
queen from them. Perhaps in his cages eggs cannot drop out, hence they 
cannot start a queen cell from her eggs. It will generally be found the 
reason bees persist in balling queens for upwards of nine days that they 
have got an egg somewhere in the hive, and when a queen cell is formed 
on it it is at once torn down as the product of a fertile worker. I could 
write a long article on this matter, but I think I have given enough to 
put such able investigators as himself on the track to an unexplored field. 
I noticed with satisfaction his confirmation of my way of introducing 
fertile queens ; had he not done so I should simply have quoted his 
writings in support of it. I have found it does not matter how many 
fertile workers are in the hive if they have not begun to lay; if so, 1 
remove all their combs, so that they have nowhere to lay them. 
The “ Benton ’’ cage I will reserve for another letter. No one has 
any idea of the labour, trouble, expense, and study expended in developing 
it. I acted as correspondent to Mr. Benton during the experiments carried 
on between here and Beyrout, carefully reporting the condition they 
arrived in, &c., and Mr. Benton admits that had it not been for me he 
could not have succeeded as be did. No one would trouble themselves to 
carefully report condition and probable failure ; all they would say was 
“ arrived dead,” and now he has succeeded scores are wanting to know 
how he prepares his food and packs his bees. 
“ A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper ” is not quite correct in assuming he 
claims credit for introducing the Carniolian bees. Previous to his taking 
them up only a few had been sent to America, and none been propagated 
there ; so he really was the first to introduce them to the New World, 
which credit he claims, but not to England, as they were pretty well 
known.—A Hallamshire Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
James Dickson & Sons, 108, Eastgate Street, Chester. —Catalogue of 
Bulbous Flower Boots for 1886. 
B. S. Wil'iams it Son, Upper Holloway, London.— Catalogue of Bulbs for 
1886 (illustrated ). 
Laing & Co., Forest Hill.— Catalogue of Dutch Bulbs. 
* s ® 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 Bee subjects, and should never 
send more than two or three questions at once. All articles in¬ 
tended 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. 
White Early Rose Potato (James Smith). —We have received the 
tuberB, which are excellent in appearance. We will try them for testing 
their merits as to earliness, quality, and productiveness—not that we do 
not accept your estimate of the value of the variety, but because you 
request our opinion, and Potatoes vary greatly in quality, especially on 
differing Boils. 
Sturt’s Dessert Pea (J. F .).—The plant to which you refer under the 
above name is Clianthus Dampieri. Place the seeds in water for a few 
hours before sowing them ; that may assist them. Sow the seeds in very 
light sandy soil in an intermediate house, the temperature ranging between 
55° and 60°. Keep the soil moist, but not excessively wet. 
Clematis indivisa lobata (E. S.). —The plant appears to be thriving 
satisfactorily, and it does not require any special treatment just now. If 
you wish it to fill as much space as possible do not shorten the growths, 
but let them advance freely so long as they can be fully exposed to the 
sun and air to mature ; do not, however, allow them to become crowded. 
Syringe occasionally to keep the plants clean and free from insects, and 
supply water liberally while growth is advancing. In the winter keep the 
plant cool, as undue heat is apt to weaken it, causing premature growth. 
The flowering period is during April and May. 
Greenhouse Hybrid Rhododendrons (Idem). —These plants make their 
growth more freely in a temperature intermediate between a stove and a 
greenhouse, with 558 as a minimum. When in flower, however, and during 
the summer the ordinary greenhouse suits them very well. The best soil is 
good turfy peat with a small proportion of sand, draining the pots very 
carefully, as water must be supplied liberally. Fuller notes on this subject 
will be published in a few weeks’ time. 
Covent Garden Market Prices (E. M. B.). —Your inquiry, which we 
print, was forwarded to our market reporter, whose reply is appended. 
Question : “ Will you be good enough to inform me in your correspondence 
column whether the prices quoted in your paper for fruit and vegetables 
are those obtainable by producers, or are they merely what wholesale 
customers are paying to the occupants of Covent Garden Market?” 
Answer : “We know of no distinction between the price the wholesale man 
pays and the price the grower receives.” 
Maggots in Begonia Leaves (Saxoring). —The leaves are destroyed by 
a leaf-mining maggot, the maggots hatching from eggs that are deposited 
by a small fly similar to the Celery fly. These leaf-mining insects are very 
destructive to Chrysanthemums, Beet, Cinerarias, and other plants that 
they attack, but we have not before seen them infesting Begonias. We 
have seen them destroyed in Celery by a mixture of softsoap and petroleum 
prepared as follows :—Take 2 ozs. of softsoap and half ounce of washing 
soda, put these into a two-gallon stons bottle, and pour upon them one 
gallon of boiling rain or soft water ; stir till the whole is thoroughly mixed, 
then add 4 ozs. of petroleum, stir and shake again, then fill up the bottle 
with another gallon of boiling rain water. When cool strain through muslin 
or other suitable material, and apply with a syringe or spray distributor in 
the evening, not in the morning, as if the sun shines on the plants before 
they are dry they may be injured. We shall be glad if you will try that 
remedy experimentally on your Snowflake Begonias, and favour us with the 
results. 
Melons Gumming (J. S. <?.).—Gumming is a consequence of too rich 
soil, too much moisture, and too little heat. The result is a gangrene or 
ulcerous exudation, and very distinct from canker, which, however, is due 
to over-much moisture, with probably a deficiency of silica and lime in the 
soil, with too much organic matter, resulting in crude imperfectly elaborated 
growth, especially in a dull period. The softened places are full of fungus 
threads and spores, usually belonging to a fungus very common in Cucum¬ 
bers, succulent fruits, and even Grapes, also Peaches and Plums, or in those 
the plants of which require a siliceous and calcareous soil. The only 
remedial measures are to cut away all the affected parts where practicable 
and burn them. "Rub the others with quicklime, and repeatedly until dry. 
Keep the plants drier, not giving any water at the roots, or only to prevent 
flagging; and when giving it keep it from the growths or stems as much 
as possible. Admit a little air constantly, so as to cause a circulation and 
consequently evaporation from the foliage, and afford more heat, which in 
your case is practically excluded; therefore keep the house drier, and 
husband the sun heat. 
Watering with Contents of Cesspool—Using Water from Water¬ 
works (C. C.). —The inside of the tank being tarred would have a deleterious 
effect upon the contents of the cesspool, tar water being highly injurious to 
plants. That, we think, is in a great measure the cause of the mischief ; 
but if the tar has been on some time and thoroughly hardened the evil 
would be the result of the liquid being too strong. The contents of the 
cesspool receiving the drainings of a w.c., sink, and laundry are not safe to 
use for Tomatoes and Vines, as the liquid is too variable in strength, con¬ 
taining the salts of potash and soda too powerful for such active feeders. 
Use liquid only of known strength, such as cow dung, 1 peck to thirty 
gallons of water, or soot, 1 peck to sixty gallons, sulphate of ammonia, 1 lb. 
to thirty gallons of water. It would be much the best plan to fill the tanks 
with water, especially if it would have the tendency to warm it before use. 
It is best in all cases to have the water of the same temperature as that of 
the house in which the plants are growing, and it is not judicious to 
syringe with water less in temperature than the house, but it is safe, as we 
have used hose pipes for many years, both for syringing and watering 
borders, without any prejudicial effect, except that it retards growth, and is 
not advisable on that account. All water used should, if anything, be 
slightly warmer than the mean of the house, and if used loss in temperature 
it retards the growth proportionately, and damping with cold water is so 
much taken from the heat, which has to be made up at the expense of fuel 
or loss of growth. Cold rain checks growth, warm showers accelerate 
growth ; the first is productive of disease, the latter of health. For cool 
houses the water may be used from the mains, for warm houses it should 
be warmed in tanks before use. 
Melons Bitter ( Kempsford). —It is a consequence of badly elaborated 
sap, and is common to plants grown in dung-heated frames after a period 
of hot weather succeeded by dull, wet, and cold days. During the hot 
weather the sap is highly elaborated and assimilated, and the roots strike 
down in quest of moisture to maintain a supply of nutriment equal to the 
demand of the foliage, which from the evaporation is very great in bright 
weather, and the fruits as a rule do not increase greatly in size, but become 
very firm and hard at the rind. Such fruit, having the dry and warm atmo¬ 
sphere continued to ripening, is very high in flavour ; but a period of dull 
weather setting in before the fruit is ripe the sap is not so highly elaborated, 
