194 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ March S, 1891. 
liquid manure, which must not be too strong, nor less in temperature 
than that named. Maintain the temperature at 60° to 65° at night, 
admitting a little air at 70°, but not so as to lower it, closing at 75°. 
Thin the fruit as soon as the best placed and most promising can be 
selected for the crop. Tke thinning should be done some time before 
the last swelling commences. 
Early Forced Planted-out Trees. —Those started at the new year are 
making good growth, and should have the points of the shoots which 
issue from round the base of the terminals pinched at the fifth or sixth 
leaf. Avoid overcrowding, keeping the growths sufficiently far apart 
for the admission of light and to insuie the solidification of the wood ; 
therefore thin the shoots where they are too crowded, and attend to 
tying them to the trellis as they advance. Keep the night temperature 
at 55° to 60°. When it reaches 65° by artificial means in the day admit 
a little air, increasing the ventilation with the temperature and reducing 
it in like manner, closing at 70°, syringing twice a day, and maintaining 
a genial atmosphere. 
Cheery House. —Upon ventilation depends success or failure in 
growing Cherries. Make sure to have a free circulation of air passing 
through the house whenever the temperature exceeds 50°, regulating 
the amount by the conditions of the external atmosphere. Maintain a 
flight temperature of 40° to 45°, and employ fire heat to raise the tem¬ 
perature to 50° by 8 to 9 A M., preventing its falling below that through 
'the day, turning off the heat at closing time. Fertilise the flowers 
either by shaking the trees gently or distributing the pollen with a 
camel’s hair brush, feather, rabbit’s tail, or plume of pampas grass. 
Aphides must be kept in check, but it does not answer to fumigate or 
spray the trees with an insecticide whilst they are in flower, and it 
■ought not to be necessary provided they were perfectly clean previous 
to the flowers expanding. If there be any aphides do not delay fumi¬ 
gation or syringing with an'insecticide as soon as the fruit is set. Grubs 
infest Cherry trees. One kind rolls itself up in the leaves, and can be 
destroyed by squeezing, but the other is the greatest pest, and will be 
^ound encased on the under side of the leaves, giving them the 
appearance of being scalded. From the leaves it makes its way to the 
'Cherries, perforating and destroying them. The only means of riddance 
is to examine the trees occasionally and destroy the grubs. See that 
'trees in pots are well supplied with water, and that the borders are not 
allowed to become dry. 
Peaches and Nectarines. — Earliest Forced House. —The bright 
weather has advanced the fruit wonderfully, it having made the first 
swelling and will soon enter upon the stoning process. Early and 
gradual thinning having been carefully attended to there will be little 
more than the necessary quantity—namely, one fruit to every square 
foot of trellis covered by the trees. Vigorous trees may have the fruit 
left a little closer, but avoid taxing them too much. More Nectarines 
are usually left, which in some measure accounts for their being under¬ 
sized as compared with Peaches. 
If there is more fruit than specified remove the smallest, and a few 
more than are required may be left for contingencies ; but if the wood 
■was ripe and the trees are healthy and well nourished there is little 
■danger of the fruit falling. Vigorous trees are the most uncertain in 
stoning, as they are prone to rush into wood growth and throw off the 
fruit. The best remedy is lifting, so as to concentrate the vital forces 
■on reproduction. Keep the temperature during the stoning process as 
•equable as possible, as sudden checks by draughts of cold air in the day¬ 
time and too high a temperature in the night may prove disastrous. 
The night temperature may range from 60° to 65°, but 5° less is safer, 
particularly in severe weather, and in the daytime 70° to 75° with sun 
heat, and about 65° by artificial means when the atmosphere outside is 
cold and the sky overcast. Secure the growing shoots to the trellis as 
fhey advance, keeping those retained to attract the sap to the fruit 
•stopped at the second or third joint. Pied spider must be kept in check 
by syringing with water at the same temperature as the house, or if 
thrips and brown aphides appear fumigate carefully when the foliage is 
iquite dry. An overdose cripples the foliage and brings off the fruit. 
For destroying the insects named nothing is safer and better than a 
solution of softsoap, 2 ozs. to the gallon of tepid water. Take care that 
the soil does not become too dry, not being deceived by the surface of 
the border, for that is often wet through syringing whilst the soil 
beneath may be dry ; therefore examine, and if necessary give good 
■supplies of water or liquid manure to weakly trees. Avoid, however, 
undue excitement, as over-stimulation causes the trees to rush off into 
growth leaving the fruit behind, it frequently being cast in stoning 
^rom that cause. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Panicum variegatum. —Transfer into 5-inch pots plants that were 
cooted in a small size in September. If the shoots are pegged into the 
surface after potting they will grow rapidly, and become useful for 
furnishing the front row of stoves and other warm houses. Plenty of 
cuttings may now be inserted in 3-inch pots filled with sandy soil; they 
will root quickly if shaded from the sun, kept close and moist under 
hand-lights in a warm house. Those intended for baskets may be 
inserted in pans, and then transplanted into the baskets as soon as they 
are rooted and have been hardened so as to bear exposure in a warm 
house. 
Selaginella ccesia. —This is a capital plant for edging when associated 
•with Panicum variegatum. It is necessary, however, to place this plant 
into slightly larger pots than the Panicum or it will fail to show an 
■even surface. Plants that have been kept cool may be divided and 
potted; they grow freely in any moderately light compost, for instance 
equal parts of loam, leaf mould, and sand. They will start freely in a 
vinery, or may be placed into a warmer structure until they are ready 
for the stove, or where they are to be employed when in good condition. 
Caladium argyrites. —These may be shaken out and started in small 
pots in a warm house. It is a good plan to plunge the pots, to prevent 
watering, and cover the surface with cocoa-nut fibre refuse until they 
commence growth. Other varieties may also be started. It may be 
pointed out that these beautiful foliage plants, after they are once 
started, are frequently grown too close and warm. They scarcely 
bear moving about when grown in warm stove. The conditions of a 
vinery, when the roof is not overshaded with foliage and the night 
temperature can be kept from falling below 60°, suits them well. For. 
conservatory decoration we have found them invaluable from the end 
of June or early part of July. Pot the tubers in a compost of light soil, 
and finally place them in good loam, one-seventh of decayed manure and 
sand ; a little leaf mould will do no harm. 
Achimenes. —Shake these out of the old soil if not already done, and 
place the tubers t’aickly together in pans in a compost of loam and leaf 
mould in nearly equal proportions ; add one-seventh of decayed manure 
and a liberal quantity of sand. Place the pans in heat, and cover with 
fibre the same as advised for Caladiums. 
Gloxinias. —Sow seed where an increase in the stock is needed. 
The surface of the pot or pan should be even and the soil fine, on 
which the seed can be sown, and then gently water with a fine rose 
can and covered with a square of glass and shaded. Shake out the 
tubers of those that have rested and start them in boxes of leaf mould. 
Those started some time ago will be ready for potting. Good loam, 
one-seventh of manure and sand, will grow these plants well. Plants 
may rest that have flowered and completed their growth. Do not hurry 
them, but allow them to gradually rest. It is a mistake suddenly to 
withhold water. 
Amaryllis. —Plants that have been stored away to rest may be taken 
out and repotted. It is a good plan to repot these plants annually 
before starting them into growth. They will do well in three parts 
loam to one of leaf mould and manure, to which sand is liberally added. 
After potting plunge them in a low house or pit where they can enjoy 
gentle bottom heat, such as a bed of leaves and littef affords. A tem¬ 
perature of 50° to 55° top heat will suit them well, with a little air 
daily in fine weather after growth commences. 
Cissus discolor. —Few plants are more ornamental than this for cover¬ 
ing pillars and the ends of houses when formed of brick. Train them to 
the top, and then allow them to hang down naturally. Positions of this 
nature that are covered with Ferns and Begonias are doubly effective, 
when this free-growing climber is allowed to hang down amongst them,. 
In large houses it is effective in baskets, and can be grown well in them, 
few plants being more suitable. Prune established plants to the ripe, 
wood, and repot them if they need it or top-dress which rich material. 
Plants in baskets may have as much soil as possible removed, and equal 
proportions of loam and manure supplied, but this plant grows 
luxuriantly in any rich compost. 
Nepenthes. —Cut back any plants that have grown tall or fail to 
form pitchers. They will soon break into growth, and should be pinched 
when they have made four or five leaves, so that they are never without 
young growth, which results in pitchers being produced all the year 
round. Place those that need it into larger baskets. It ■vyill be neces¬ 
sary to take the baskets in which they have been growing to pieces, and 
then only remove the loose material. Drain the baskets well, and use 
for a compost fibry peat and a good layer of sphagnum moss on the 
surface and round the sides. Wh^ere plants are pruned back, the stem 
removed may be cut into lengths of two joints and inserted in small 
pots filled with sphagnum and sand. If plunged in brisk bottom heat, 
shaded and kept close and moist, nearly every cutting will root. 
)m bee-ke)epbr.^ 
OBSERVATORY HIVE. 
“ If I am correct, the idea of an observing hive was first in¬ 
vented by Mr. Langstroth.” So says A. J. Eoot in the ABC 
of Bee Culture. Whether “there is nothing new under the sun” 
or not in the way of material or invention, it is certainly not new 
for someone to claim to be the originator of what existed before 
their time. 
The unicomb hive I promised to describe some years since was 
invented by the Rev. Wm. Dunbar, minister of Applegarth, Dum¬ 
friesshire, where bees are still kept by Mrs. Landel, wife of the 
present minister. The hive in question differs very little from 
those in use at the present day, being fitted with doors, &c., just 
as they are now, and if I believe my eyes, frames as well. It, being 
fixed outside, had for a support an iron rod at each side rising 
from the sole, passing through staples in the edge of the hive, and 
had two doorways, so that when turned round one had to be closed, 
