314 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 16, 1891. 
neighbourhood of many hundred hives. Besides, spectacles are 
not required to see their superiority when at work, and their 
extreme hardiness is much in their favour. 
Possibly “ Expert ” never had the Punic bees. But “ 0. R.” 
would do well to ask, through the editor of the journal the 
clipping was taken from, what experience “Expert” has had 
with the bees he condemns. Frequently writers who have no 
practical experience with these superior bees advise people against 
them, and it is also amusing to hear some persons condemn the 
foreign varieties whose bees are descended from them. The pure 
race of black or British bees is very rare, and it is questionable if 
they can be had in this country. 
Registered Frames. 
Will “A Hallamshire Bee-keeper” kindly answer the following 
question as to patent rights? Mr. J. Stabo, Ballocb, and others, 
ask me “ If the registration of a frame by Mr. Meadows, Syston, 
Eeicestershire, which I have had in use for nearly thirty years, and 
which they have made since I sold the frame to them twenty 
years ago, will prevent their making them in the future ?” I have 
not seen the frame in question, but have a description and sketch. 
The only difference in it that I can see or learn is the substitution 
of a paper clip for a fine wire staple, used and described by me in 
different articles for many years past. I think the law would be 
unjust if, after a thing was invented and sold to the public by one 
party, then the protection given to another. Yet this seems to be the 
view some take of it, but wait “ A. H. B. K.’s” answer. I know 
that one may invent and another may patent; but I always con¬ 
sidered that this must be done before the public has got it, as is the 
case with this frame, as it is with some other things in bee appli¬ 
ances.—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
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. 
Mlltonla vexlllarlum (/. F .').—The plant must have been grown 
very strongly, and is in excellent condition to flower so freely. We 
liave seen as many racemes as you mention, but only from the best- 
-grown plants. 
Manure for Mushrooms (d Wehhmayi ),—To collect manure 
over such a long period and keep turning it as you suggest would spoil 
it for the purpose in question. If you commence saving the manure in 
June you will be more likely to succeed in your object, and it mu.st 
neither get unduly dry nor be heaped so thickly as to cause violent 
fermentation. 
Patent Water Cans (IF. S. /S'.).—We are not able to answer your 
■question on this subject. If a sale is desired for them they should be 
advertised. Good articles never fail to meet with a good sale when 
kept before the public in a systematic way. We are quite unable to 
read the name of the patentee as you have written it, as it is quite 
illegible. 
Carpet Bedding- (T. //.).—Several designs of carpet beds and 
methods of planting them, also instruction raising various kinds of 
plants, are given in Cole’s “ Royal Parks and Garclens,” which can be 
had from this office, post free, for 2s. lid. Mr. Graham of Hampton 
Court used to publish a small manual on this subject, but we are not 
sure he has any copies left for disposal ; you can write to him if you 
like. 
Cinerarias (IT. Crosswell ').—The flowers that reached us too late 
for acknowledgment in our last issue were very good indeed, and arrived 
in excellent condition. The damp moss in which they were inserted 
kept them fresh for several days. You evidently selected the varieties 
well, and grew the plants well also. The long winter was the reverse of 
favourable to Cinerarias, and many plants are not so compact and good 
this season as we usually see them, though we suspect yours have not 
suffered. 
White-flowered Orchids (.7. J. B .).—White varieties of several 
Orchids are now much in demand and realise high prices ; while some¬ 
times the ordinary type of the species may be only worth a few shillings, 
as in Lycaste Skinneri, the white variety alba is sold for as many 
guineas. Of the cheaper white-flowered Orchids, such as Odontoglossum 
Alexandr®, Coelogync cristata, and Phalsenopsis grandiflora, many are 
now being grown for market, and, together with the coloured Dendro- 
bium nobile, make a feature in the florists’ windows in Covent Garden 
Market. The following is a selection of the best white-flowered Orchids : 
—Aeranthus Leonis, Angrmeums, Anguloa ebirrnea, Calanthe Turneri 
nivalis, Cattleya Dominiana alba, C. Percivaliana alba, C. Skinneri 
alba, Ccelogyne cristata alba, Cymbidium eburneum, Cypripedium 
niveum, C. Sedeni candidulum, Dendrobium Deiri (very useful), 
D. infundibulum, D. formosum, D. Jamesianum, Lselia albida, L. 
anceps alba, and other varieties, L. elegans alba, Lycaste Skinneri 
alba, L. Harrisoniae alba, Masdevallia tovarensis, Odontoglossum Alex- 
audree, 0. Pescatorei, 0. pulchellum, 0. Roezli album, and 0. vexillarium 
album. Some of these are not pure white, but there is very little colour 
in the majority, the Lselias, Odontoglossums, and Coelogyne being valu¬ 
able for cutting. 
Gloxinias In Frames (IF. II .).—The particulars you require are 
as follows. The seed was sown on the 19th of February. In due time 
the seedlings appeared and w’ere pricked out in pans when large enough. 
They remainel in the pans untd the leaves were about 1^ inch long ; 
they were then planted out on an old Cucumber bed in a pit without 
much ceremony, the rubbish being simply cleared away, and a little 
peat and coarse sand and a small quantity of wood ashes mixed with 
the surface of the soil the Cucumbers grew in. They -were watered and 
shut up, air being given when the sun shone on the pit, and plenty of 
water when dry. In about a month they began to flower, and from 
that time till the end of October they were a sight not easily to be 
forgotten—one mass of flo-wers with foliage as large as ordinary sized 
Cabbage leaves. As soon as they died down the roots were lifted and 
stored in boxes in sand ; and now’, after resting all the winter, some of 
them measure over 10 inches in circumference. I have just potted a 
lot of them, and they promise to make very fine plants. The great 
advantage in planting them out over growing them in pots is that we 
have a much larger quantity of flowers from them, and they make much 
finer roots the first year. They should be planted a foot apart each 
way, rather more than less, as it is surprising how soon they fill up the 
space. 
Stokesla cyanea (JI. T. 3L ).—You will find this late enough, but 
unless it is planted in light warm soils in favoured positions it does not 
expand its flowers freely. It is worth every attention, however, in this 
respect, and it is almost if not quite unique in its profusion of lavender 
blue flowers some 2 or 3 inches across during the month of October. 
When the soil is cold or stiff it is best grown in pots plunged in ashes 
during the summer, when it may be introduced into the cool greenhouse, 
tliere to expand its blossoms. It grow’s 2 feet high, and is in all respects 
a first-class perennial. It is not easily increased by division owing to 
the tufted or conglomerate growdh on the rootstock. So closely are they 
packed in that they cannot be separated without considerable sacrifice. 
It is, however, readily increased by root cuttings, and as roots may be 
had in plenty there is no reason w’hy so good a plant should not be 
more generally grown. This may be accounted for in a measure by its 
lateness in flowering, when visits to nurseries are less frequent than 
in the spring and summer mouths. By lifting a single plant and 
selecting some of the strongest roots a good stock may be secured. 
Cut the roots into lengths 2 inches or thereabouts and insert them 
round the inside of pots in sandy loam, leaving the top just visible. 
By placing them at once in brisk heat good plants may be secured 
by the ensuing autumn. In two or three weeks or less time, according 
to the heat they have been subjected to, they wdll commence to break 
freely from the apex of the root cutting, and w-hen of sufficient size 
they should be moved to a cooler place, subsequently potted and 
ha:deaed. 
Sowing Rhododendron Seed (S. S .),—Peat should be broken up 
and placed in a cold frame to the depth of about 2 inches, that placed 
upon the top being very fine. The surface must te pressed down and 
made as level and even as possible, and the seed sown towards the end 
of this month. It must not be covered, but after sowing give a good 
watering with a fine rose can. Great care must be taken that the sur¬ 
face never approaches dryness, not even after the seedlings appear. The 
lights of the frame in which the seed is sown should be whitewashed 
and kept close to prevent evaporation, and even when this is done it 
will be necessary to lay mats over the frame during very bright weather. 
As soon as the surface of the soil is green a little air must be admitted 
to prevent the seedlings damping off. They must be gradually exposed 
to light and air until the lights can be drawn off. This should be done 
at first during dull or showery weather, but care must be taken that the 
soil in which the plants are growing does not become saturated. When 
the seedlings are large enough, say during the early part of July, they 
