274 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 2, 1891. 
them twice daily during fine weather to start them into growth, and 
stand the plants on ashes or other moisture-holding material. After 
growth is started pot all that need more root room in a compost of good 
peat and sand. Do not disturb the old ball more than is necessary to 
remove the drainage. Press the soil firmly into the pots and water 
t arefully afterwards. Keep the plants close for ten days or a fortnight, 
then ventilate daily to induce stout growths. 
Erica hyemalis. —Home-grown plants.'or those that flowered early 
and were cut back at once, have started into growth. If they need 
more root space repot at once in the same soil advised for Epacrises. 
Continue growing them where abundance of air can be admitted, as 
nothing is gained by forcing them in heat, for they only grow weakly. 
Ericas only recently cut back may be kept close until they commence 
growing, when air may be gradually admitted and daily increased. 
JIardwooded Heaths .—Ventilate the structure in which these are 
grown as freely as possible, and repot any plants that need more root 
room. Good peat and sand should form the compost, and care is needed 
not to bury the collar of the plants. Leave also plenty of room in the 
pots for water ; frequently there is insufficient space, and two or three 
applications are needed to soak the whole ball thoroughly. Drain the 
pots carefully. Young stock that it is necessary to grow on as quickly 
as possible may have the flower buds removed directly they show. This 
saves time, and the plants soon start into growth. Plants of E. Caven- 
Klishiana have an upward tendency ; the points of these may be removed 
or the shoots that are taking the lead drawn, if possible, towards the 
rim of the pots. Complete the tying of specimen plants, and use no 
more stakes than are absolutely necessary. Any plants necessary to 
be retarded for late flowering may now be removed to a cool airy 
structure, where frost can be excluded, with a northern aspect. 
Syringe freely amongst newly potted plants, and protect them until 
established in the new soil from bright sunshine by shading them 
lightly for a few hours. Maintain a fair supply of moisture in the 
house during bright sunshine and drying winds ; it is better to allow the 
temperature to rise considerably than unduly dry the plants. 
Solamims .—Remove the points from seedlings as they advance, and 
\K)t them if they need more root room. The same may be said of those 
rooted in the autumn. Old plants that were cut back some time ago 
and have broken into growth may be turned out of their pots, the roots 
reduced and placed in a smaller size. Pot these in a compost of fibry 
loam, one-seventh of manure and sand. Keep the plants for the present 
in a temperature of 50°. 
Liluim eximium .—Place this Lilium in a perfectly cool house where 
frost only can be excluded, and if stood on a led of ashes and ventilated 
liberally strong growths will be made. This is one of the finest Liliums 
that can be grown in 4 and 5-inch pots. When about 6 inches high 
apply a little artificial manure to the surface of the soil. Watch for 
aphides, and destroy them directly they appear. Lilium Harris! that 
has flowered may have the flower stems shortened a little and hardened 
in a cool house until May, when they may be stood outside, and if 
watered will flower again in the autumn. 
Scabious .—Plants that have been wintered in cold frames in small 
pots may now be placed into G-inch, give air freely when the weather is 
fine, they soon draw up weakly if kei)t close. Have a central stake to 
each plant, and in due course they will yield abundance of flowers for 
•cutting. 
m BDE-KDEPER. 
1 
^ - - 
APIARIAN NOTES. 
Is Pollen Necessary for Comb-building ? 
Some authors assert that bees cannot secrete wax without the 
aid of pollen. At the end of November, 1890, I undertook the 
charge of a few bees, not more in bulk than my two hands, which 
had to be resuscitated with warm syrup, so nearly dead were they. 
I placed a feeder over them filled with syrup, but several days 
passed before the bees could secrete wax and have comb built for 
storage. By-and-by, as a little comb was built, the syrup disap¬ 
peared, but no pollen was carried in. I managed by careful feeding 
do supply them with about 20 lbs. of sugar by the middle of 
December. The bees have survived, are strong, and have still 
between 8 and 10 lb?, of syrup in the combs, which, if melted, 
would produce three-quarters of a pound of wax. There were a 
few eggs in the combs on the 13th of January, and a few pellets of 
pollen were carried in on the 15th, and on the 12th of March I saw 
a few young bees on the wing, cold as the air was, but under a 
bright sunshine. I have other similar cases, but the one mentioned 
is in no way different, and need not occupy space in explanation. 
There is no nitrogen in wax, but an excess of hydrogen compared 
with honey, and is probably extracted from the water contained in 
.the syrup, or from what the bees carry in when secreting comb—a 
process not fully understood yet, but in which I believe the acid 
contained in the sac connected with the sting plajs an important 
part. As time rolls on and science progresses errors will disappear, 
and their authors will be ashamed to own them. 
Honey Presser. 
In a village where the Lanarkshire honey presser was invented 
a coterie of bee-keepers met, some who knew me and some not, who 
h.id read the false statement concerning its invention. Amongst 
those met was an old bee-keeper nearly a hundred years old, who 
said he remembered seeing the first presser of this nature in the 
possession of the inventor about fifty years ago. A deputation 
waited upon me on the 11th of March to hear from me the facts of 
the case ; being undeceived they went away rejoicing. On the same 
day a bee-keeper from the Erst of Scotland visited me, who saw 
my presser ten years ago, made one from it, but having the screw 
horizontal, and it is believed that it was from this one that Raitt 
copied the horizontal screw, but I have no proof further than his 
instructions were copied from mine. 
The Weather. 
On the 7ch March a second fall of fully 2 inches snow fell, 
which had not all disappeared on the 13th. The cold was intense 
and the flowers that February brought forth are destroyed. The 
temperature on the mornings of the 8tb, 9ch, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 
13th was 18°, 8°, 10°, 14°, 14°, and 10° respectively, and on only two 
days has the day temperature been above 32°. However sudden 
the cold came on and intense it has been, bees seem nothing the 
worse, proving the value of keeping them at one uniform tsmpera- 
ture, and under protection of material which change of temperature 
affects but little, if any ; and the narrow entrance I allow prevents 
an undue pressure of cold air amongst the bees, and the ventilating 
floor performs the other necessary work effectually. 
I am glad to learn that “A H-allamshire Bee-keeper” is still to 
the fore, and bog to ask if he is aware if any bees that had the 
vinegar and cream of tartar in honey escaped abdominal 
distension ?—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
James Veitch & Sons, 544, King’s Road, Chelsea. — Catalogue of 
Herbaceous Plants and Hardy Florists' Flowers. ' 
J. SaUier, Fils, Neuilly-sur-Seine.— f'atalogiie of Plants. 
W. Clibran & Son, Oldfield Nursery, Altrincham.— General Catalogue 
of Stove, Greenhouse, and other Plants. 
Vilmorin-Andrieux et Cie., 4, Quaide la Megisserie, Paris .—Catalogue 
of Tree and Shrub Seeds. 
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 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. 
Unsatisfactory Peach Trees—Ants (J. H. K. and Amateur ).— 
Your letters arrived a post too late for being answered this week. 
Primulas (7L S. Williams A Co .).—The flowers having been placed 
in a dry box, and remained in the post a day or two, arrived curled up 
and withered. They were praetically dead, but the richness of the 
colours was even then apparent, which shows that they are “ fixed.” 
Valeriana Phu aurea (F. J/.).—You have been rightly informer’. 
This plant is quite hardy, and produces yellow leaves and stems in 
