506 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 2,1888. 
well-ripened lengths of this season’s growth are available these ought to 
be at once made into cuttings, and with very little trouble will in mo-t 
instances strike root readily. We make and dibble out the outtings much 
the same as we would Currants or Gooseberry cuttings. Preference is 
given to medium-sized shoots, which are cut into 1-fojt lengths, cutting 
clean across below a joint, and trimming off thorns and buds from the 
lower half. Directly they are made, or before they have become dry and 
shrivelled (this being fatal), they are dibbled in firmly to half their depth 
in a good open position. The rows may be about 18 inches apart, and 
the cuttings 9 inches asunder in the row. Many dispose th-m much 
more thickly ; but they are not wise in so doing, as the majority are almost 
certain to root, and during the summer crowd and spoil each other, 
whereas if given plenty of room they will frequently form strong flower¬ 
ing plants the same season, and may be transplanted much better later 
on. We find they do better when some old Mushroom-bed manure and 
road grit is mixed in the surface soil, and they also lift more readily 
from ground thus treated. A mulching of short manure, cocoanut fibre, 
or ashes serves to protect the cuttings during the winter, and prevents 
upheaval by frost. Some seasons the strong well-ripened shoots obtained 
from pot p ants strike more surely, but there ought to be no difficulty 
experienced this year in procuring plenty of suitable cuttings from those 
in the open ground. Own-root Roses usually grow more strongly and 
last much longer than do those worked on either the Manetti or Briar 
stocks. But all the varieties worth cultivating are not easily struck, the 
worst in this respect being those with most thorns. Such comparatively 
thornless varieties as Countess of Oxford and John H pper strike like 
weeds, and there are many more nearly as accommodating in habit. 
Lifting and, Storing Flower Roots .—At the present time (November 
3rd) Dahlias are uninjured by frost and are still quite gay. Any night, 
however, may see them cut down ; and before a very severe frost is expe¬ 
rienced, and which we may have at any time, they ought to be cut down 
to within 9 inches of their roots, lifted, dried, and stored in a dry cool 
shed or room where they can be protected from severe frost. A little 
light nearly dry material disposed about the roots serves to keep them 
from shrivelling, but there is not much need for this unless they are 
necessarily stored in a rather airy or dry place. The tuberous Salvia 
patens is best stored in boxes of moderately moist soil, and placed in a pot¬ 
ting shed or other not too dry position out of reach of frost. The favourite 
place with many for storing tuberous or bulbous plants is under a 
greenhouse staging ; but here the drip frequently rots a good many of 
them, and those that survive are apt to start into growth too early in the 
year. Even the strong clumps of Cannas are best stoTed in a cool dry 
cellar, or a well protected outhouse. Sufficient soil may be left about the 
roots to prevent dry rot. Tuberous Begonias must also be lifted directly 
their tops are damaged (at present they are still blooming freely), all 
damaged portions and part of the stems being cut away, and may then 
be packed closely in boxes of light moderately dry soil. A little soil 
should be left on each root, and this will serve to keep them plump. The 
boxes may be stored in a dry shed, or anywhere out of drip, care being 
taken to protect them from severe frosts. The old stems and the long 
fleshy roots of Verbena venosa, every little piece of which can be grown 
into a plant next spring, may be packed closely in boxes of moist soil, 
and be wintered in frames or fruit houses. They are nearly or quite 
hardy, but as they must in most cases be lifted from the flower beds it 
is advisable to be certain of as many as are wanted. We also prefer to 
lift a good many strong clumps of the herbaceous Lobelias, and these 
stored in boxes and wintered in cold frames are handy for division in the 
spring. They are very effective in masses among the bedding plants as 
well as in the borders. Choice Hollyhocks ought not to be left in the 
open ground, or the stock may easily be lost. Besides, young plants are 
always best, and if the old stools are lifted, packed in boxes of good soil, 
and wintered in frame 0 , they may be placed in gentle heat early in the 
year, and will then afford a number of cuttings. These may easily be 
rooted in bottom heat, making strong flowering plants the same season. 
The commoner sorts of Gladioli are frequently best left in the open 
ground, a slight mulching of litter, leaf soil, or ashes serving to protect 
them from Bevere frosts. As a rule, all are best lifted early iu November, 
and after being dried store in sand or dry soil, or wrap singly in paper. 
The tiny offsets formed round the old corms must be mixed with fine 
soil, or they will perish before planting time. All should be wintered in 
a cool dry position, care being taken to shelter them from severe frosts. 
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HE BEE-KEEPER. 
. 
MANIPULATING STOCKS. 
There are certain times when it is absolutely necessary to mani¬ 
pulate stocks in order to obtain the best results ; and although the 
tendency of the age is to increase the labour attendant upon keeping 
bees by continued and unnecessary interference at all seasons of the 
year, it may be well to point out briefly, for the benefit of those who 
have in the past experienced difficulty in subduing and handling bees, 
how they may in the future with tolerable certainty avoid the mis- 
tjkes they have made in the past, and so insure success in the coming 
year. Before, however, doing so it is necessary to consider whether 
smoke or carbolic acid is the most preferable agent to use for bring¬ 
ing a stock into subjection, and so enabling the bee-keeper not only to 
handle the bees with pleasure and comparative immunity from stings, 
but also whether smoke or carbolic acid is more transient in its effects 
on the bees themselves. 
The value of carbolic acid has long been recognised by apiarians, 
for we find a description of a fumigator—to all intents and purposes 
identical with a “ new one ” just invented—so early as 1869, and 
possibly it may have existed for Borne years previous to the date 
of the article in the Journal of Horticulture for September 2nd, 1869, 
page 188, from which the following extract is culled—“ I do not 
know,” says the writer, “ of a more useful auxiliary in the apiary 
than carbolic acid. It is cheap, costing only 6d. a phial, and it is 
one of the best disinfectants. As ingeniously used by ‘ Apicola’ on 
a piece of sponge inserted in a fumigator and blown through with 
the breath or pair of bellows, it answers nearly all the purposes of 
smoke.” In the same year carbolic acid had been applied with success 
for the prevention of robbing. In the article from which the above 
extract is taken it is also written—“ Early in the morning, or as soon 
as the Corsair bees are on the raid, dip a feather in carbolic acid and 
wet the entrance of the assailed hives all round, pouring at the same 
time a few drops on the landing. Repeat the dose during the day as 
the odour passes off. If properly managed the inmates will remain 
at home ventilating, whilst not a single robber dare cross the threshold. 
It is even desirable that some of the robber bees Bhould wet their feet 
in the acid, that on returning to their own hives they may spread 
consternation at home. If robbers are in possession of the hive, lift 
it up and pour a little of the acid on the middle of the floorboard, 
and then replace the hive, and the robbers will decamp.” It is, how¬ 
ever, very bad management to allow a particle of the acid to touch 
the bees themselves, and any 7 careless application of the acid within 
the hives may be attended with serious ill consequences, and the 
whole stock may by the nauseous fumes arising be compelled to- 
decamp in order to escape from the effects of the ill-judged use of a 
powerful aid to the bee-keeper, especially in the management of 
vicious stocks. 
For clearing sections and sectional supers, as pointed out in a 
former issue by “A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper,” the acid is wonder¬ 
fully effective, and should be used by all who desire to do the work 
of the apiary with all speed and with as little inconvenience to the 
bees themselves as possible. Here is, I believe, one great point in 
favour of using carbolic acid instead of smoke, for the effect of the 
former passes away almost immediately, while the smoke hangs about 
to the great discomfort of the bees for a very considerable time. 
There is a danger of using so strong an agent far too free'y ; it 
must be used with caution and common sense. It is impossible to give 
any very detailed advice as to the quantity required and of the 
strength which must be used, but experience will show each indi¬ 
vidual far better than I can tell him how much of the vapour arising 
from the acid is necessary for bringing a stock into a peaceable 
frame of mind. It is wiser to err on the safe side, and to use too 
little rather than too much. 
A fumigator is not at all necessary, but it may be useful, and 
those who wish to do so may easily convert their smoker into one of 
the so-called “ new ” fumigators. I do not advise them to do so, for 
they will find cases occasionally in which smoke will be of greater 
use than the acid. Strips of paper soaked in carbolic and allowed to- 
dry are alone necessary for clearing supers, and they may be used 
with success in many other operations in the apiary. Perhaps the 
greatest advantage that carbolic has over smoke is, that it is always 
ready and does not need a constant refilling, while there is no trouble 
in lighting it as in the ordinary fumigator. Bees are in most cases 
cowed by it, but some colonies having more than usual determination 
will no more be subdued by the acid than by smoke. I will now, 
after this somewhat long discussion of the varied advantages of the 
two different agents at present in use in our apiaries, very briefly 
refer to a passage in the first part of Mr. Cheshire’s second volume of 
“ Bees and Bee-keeping,” in which he says, after quoting the general 
idea, that “ A honey bee, when filled with honey, never volunteers an 
attack, but acts solely on the defensive that “ Bees, when terror- 
struck, rush to fill themselves at their stores, and are then harmless, 
not because they are filled, but because terror-struck. Their gorging 
is the result of their submission, not the converse.” 
Now it is with some diffidence that I express an opinion to the 
contrary of what Mr. Cheshire, who is one or our greatest authorities- 
on the scientific aspect of bees and bee-keeping, but I do not think 
that this is a statement of fact, for if a hive without any stores is 
first smoked and then manipulated, the result is, as far as my experi¬ 
ence goes, very contrary to what might have been expected in view 
of the above statement. I am inclined to believe that Mr. Cheshire, 
in manipulating a stock when no stores are in reach of the bees, 
might experience a wry real and practical result by reason of the 
bees not having the means to gorge. If the bees are smoked into- 
stupidity, well and good ; but given two stocks of bees of identical 
temperament—the one with stores, the other with none—and the 
