486 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEk. 
[ November 25, 1886. 
the trees are unsatisfactory, and such should be lifted and the roots laid 
in fresh compost nearer the surface. With careful lifting the crop for 
next year will not be prejudiced—in fact, trees carefully lifted usually set 
well, stone satisfactorily, and furnish good crops of fruit. Care is, of 
course, necessary in lifting the trees, so as not to give a severe check by 
too great manipulation of the roots, and not to practise it before the 
wood becomes firm, otherwise the soft parts of the wood will shrivel. If 
the drainage is defective it should be rectified, and soil of an unsuitable 
nature removed. Instead of patching up bad borders it would often be 
much more satisfactory to make new ones. A 3-inch tile drain should be 
at the base, with proper fall and outlet to carry off superfluous water. 
There must be a foot of drainage above the drain—brickbats or rubble, 
and if covered with a layer of old mortar rubbish it will be an advan¬ 
tage. Twenty-four inches of soil is ample, but it should be 30 inches 
deep in the fir.-t instance to allow for settling, and be placed together 
rather firmly ; the top 3 to 6 inches of a pasture where the soil is of a 
medium loam, inclined to be heavy rather than light, and where the sub¬ 
soil is limestone is the most suitable. Add to this a sixth part of mail 
which has been dried and chopped small, and a similar proportion of old 
mortar rubbish, incorporating well together. This soil usually induces 
a stout short-jointed growth. The border need not be wider than a foot 
beyond the extension of the roots in the first instance, aiding to it as the 
roots extend ; but a narrow border is in many respects superior to a wide 
one. The only difference is that the narrow border requires more fr< quent 
supplies of water and liquid manure with surface mulching, and then 
the results are better than in the wide, as the trees are more under control. 
The sooner 'if ting at d the teplanting of Peach trees under glass is effected 
the more likely are 'hey to return good fruit another season. The house 
should be kept as cool as possible ; in fact, the lights are best off the 
trees until the buds show colour. In a Peach case fruit can be had over 
a very extended peril d by a proper selection of varieties, Alexander and 
Waterloo ripen early in July, followed by Hale’s Early, Early Alfred, 
Dr. Hogg, Crimson Galande, Royal George or Stirling Cabtle, Grosse 
Mignonne, Alexandra Noblesse, Goshawk, Beilegarde, Barrington, Late 
Admirable, Princess of Wales, and Sea Eagle, a di ztn varieties of first- 
class quality, continuing the succession into October. Suitable Nectarines 
are Advance, Lord Napier, Rivers’ White, Elruge, Improved Downton, 
Pine Apple, and Victoria. 
i?rr /-r 
r-TT- -3—1 -| | | , ■ ,-;-;---;-;-,- - -,-;---;-;-i- 1 - 
St 
Ip 
IE BEE-KEEPER. 
b) ^ 
FEEDING BEES AND COVERING HIVES. 
Although November commenced with her “ surly blasts,” 
they did not continue long, and up till the 20th we experi¬ 
enced exceedingly mild weather, spring-like, with bright 
sunshine and a temperature sometimes during the day of 55°, 
the lowest temperature during the night being 80°, conse¬ 
quently bees were often on the wing and carried pollen freely 
up till the 16th. The temperature being lower than it was 
during October, the bees were quieter, and probably con¬ 
sumed less, the extra mildness of the month enabling 
them to fly must be conducive to their well-being during the 
next two months, when winter will be likely to come in earnest 
—at least we hope so. Although I advise bees not to be inter¬ 
fered with nor fed after September, still I am not apprehen¬ 
sive of much danger from feeding during winter if necessity 
for that should arise. Some time since “Felix” stated that 
he had maintained and kept bees alive and healthy by feed¬ 
ing tbem the whole winter. This is what I have often done, 
and what I am doing with several hives I did not intend 
keeping, and I am hopeful of success. The hives are con¬ 
structed and covered so that damp will not remain inside 
them—the whole secret of successful bee-keepiDg, provided 
that all the young are hatched and have flown before winter 
sets in, and that breeding does not commence sooner than 
the end of December or the beginning of January. 
Scarcely a week passes but someone writes me in praise 
of the ventilating floor, which doubtless guards from many 
evils, but covering hives is also important. During mild 
winters it is of less importance to have them covered 
thoroughly, but it is better to be fully prepared for the worst. 
Covering hives with a proper porous material at all times 
acts beneficially, and never otherwise unless when the cover¬ 
ing and the surroundings affect the interior of the hive so as 
to induce the bees out into a temperature they cannot bear. 
Thus if a hive is placed near a flue or other artificial heat, or 
if the coverings are of a nature that produces heat, the same 
effects will follow, and the bees are sure to suffer. When 
hives are covered on the sides with about 2 inches of straw 
and from 3 to 5 inches of meadow hay on the top, and kept 
dry, having a current of air all round, the hive so arranged 
is perfection, and cannot be made better to withstand the 
severest winter and keep the bees healthy during the whole 
year. This preparation applies to hives whether in the open 
or under cases or in bee-houses. It is a mistake to suppose 
that hives located in cases or bee-houses require no external 
covering. When hives are not cared for with proper cover¬ 
ings on the outside, the vitiated air, instead of being carried 
off from the hive, becomes condensed on the inside, the 
combs and the bees, and as damp destroys bees quickly 
during winter the moment they come in contact with it, 
every means should be employed by the bee-keeper to guard 
against it. 
The house I live in was a thatched one until lately, and 
bees have been kept in this place by the proprietors for a 
century past, and from that time up till some thirty years 
ago the hives were lifted from their outside stands and 
placed in the loft underneath the thatch and close to it at 
the bottom of the roof. The air played round the hives 
freely in a tempered form had a beneficial effect on the bees, 
apparently because they remained quiet during the two 
months of their confinement, and when taken out the first 
fine day after the storm were always healthy and flew 
briskly. Under the thatch was but a similar treatment to 
that I advise in the foregoing lines, and bee-keepers should, 
if looking to their interests, follow the example. Your 
readers have already been favoured with the “ Dumfries¬ 
shire Bee-keeper’s ” account of employing dried peat under¬ 
neath the ventilating floor. It is an idea in the right 
direction in bee-husbandry, and I am confident that cover¬ 
ing hives with “ benty turves,” as are often employed by 
some bee-keepers in certain districts (and to great advan¬ 
tage, too, so far as the bees are concerned), is also a plan 
that might be adopted with advantage by bee-keepers in 
general. Certainly it is a losing concern to keep hives in 
an uncovered state during the temperate part of the year, 
and it is a great deal more so if entirely neglected during 
winter. — A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
° 0 ° 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. 
Books (Columbia). —The two treatises published at this office—Wright’s 
“ Mushrooms for the Million ” and Iggulden’s “ Tomatoes ” will suit you as 
regards those subjects, and you will find full information on the others in 
Thomson’s “ Fruit Culture Under Glass ” (Blackwood ife Sons), and Barron’s 
“ Yines and Vine Cu ture,” published at this office. 
Chrysanthemums (J. C., Selkirk). —The information you require shall 
be given next week. Many thanks for your good wishes. 
Bellicide (R. D.).—We shall be glad to test the qualities of the substance 
named if samples are sent to us. 
Selling Grapes (Black Hambro ).—Gi apes ought to fetch more towards 
Christmas than they do in autumn, both on account of the grea‘ er con¬ 
sumption at that season and of the additional expense required to keep 
them in good condition. At the same time we would rot advise you to 
send yours to any of the London markets. Half-pound bunches stand 
little chance against the large handsome bunches that are to be met with 
there. 
Early Peach for Cool House (W. Dry).—The largest and test early 
Peach for a cold house is Alexand r, but some prefer Waterloo on account of 
its slightly higher colour. They are the largest of the ta-ly Peaches, and 
ripen in a cool house early in July, or about tbe same time as Early Beatrice, 
which is much smaller, though an excellent Peach. A'exander is fully 
three weeks in advance of Hale’s Eariy, and the next b-.st Peach to succeed 
