396 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 14, 1891. 
no longer built, because, as a rule, bees will not swarm after 
that time. 
If left to themselves a small swarm for convenience to them¬ 
selves—brood rearing and honey storing—build their combs ram’s 
horn fashion, storing their honey in the upper worker cells, 
showing plainly that drone cells are meant for a different purpose. 
The larger the swarm the straighter, and the more worker comb, 
but large or small drone combs are always built after the combs 
exceed the cluster of the bees. This is a point the beginner as well 
as the experienced bee-keeper has to attend to, full sheets of 
foundation help greatly to prevent an excess of drone combs. 
When bees eat away mouldy combs in spring they invariably 
build drone comb in their place. Queenless bees build drone comb, 
but cease to do so whenever they hear the sounds of a maturing 
queen in the cell. 
It will be seen that although the queen is comparatively young 
and very fertile, the bees prepare to swarm after they have 
built combs in accordance with the initial strength of the 
swarm, and this natural propensity of bees is what the husband¬ 
man has to prevent. I have had swarms from after swarms, 
although the latter were located in hives of two and three divisions, 
but had only one filled ; therefore, do not trust to bees not 
swarming because you have provided them with extra and timely 
room. 
Always fill stock hives with worker combs at the end of the 
season, and take away all old combs from stock hives when there 
is no brood in them, which will be, as a rule, about three weeks 
after swarming. Bees store pollen not only for their own imme¬ 
diate wants, but for their prospective young, and every hive in a 
healthy condition never fails to have its supply. How foolish, 
then, is it to defer the renewing of combs till late in the year, 
destroying all the pollen intended for the good of the following 
year ; equally foolish is it to remove pollen-laden combs. No 
doubt bees, as I have shown, live healthily without pollen, and do 
not require it but for brood-raising purposes. But bees with 
ample honey and pollen in their hive do not require to leave it in 
search for either during the chilling days of spring ; consequently, 
such hives are the most forward in spring and the most profitable 
during summer.—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
Patent Rights.—“ A Hallamshire Bee-keeper,” referring to Mr. 
Samuel Ray’s observations on page 375, says he has nothing to with¬ 
draw from his own statements on page 354, and he does not accept Mr. 
Ray’s corrections. We cannot find space for the discussion of telephone 
patents in these columns. 
*»* 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 pajier only. We cannot reply to questions through the 
post, and we do not undertake to return rejected communica 
tions. 
Address (/T. J/.).—The address you require is Mr. G. Steel, 
Heatherslaw, Cornhill-on-Tweed. 
Soronias—Tuberoses (6^. It, S) P. H .').—Your letters not reaching 
us till Wednesday morning, cannot be satisfactorily answered this week. 
Insects on Marguerites (IF. P.).—They are similar to those 
which attack Celery, and these have been destroyed by dilute applica¬ 
tions of petroleum in a solution of softsoap. This is all we can say in 
■reply to your too late posted letter. The “ samples ” have not yet arrived. 
We Plus Ultra Bean (P. S.'). —Perhaps we cannot do better than 
inform you that a gardener who has grown Dwarf Kidney Beans for 
market for a number of years and tried many varieties, including 
Canadian Wonder, now relies wholly on Ne Plus Ultra, for the sub¬ 
stantial reason that he has found it pays him the best. 
Growing Peaches (iS. J. A.'). —We agree with the method of 
growing trees as bushes when it is properly carried out in structures 
well adapted to the purpose, not otherwise. In reply to your other 
question, if by an “ o'dinary” gardener you mean a casual jobbing 
gardener who has had little or no experience in growing fruit under 
glass, he would be as likely to fail as to succeed in Peach culture. The 
trellis system is the easiest for an inexperienced person to master 
(perhaps after a failure or two), and very profitable crops are grown on 
well-managed trained trees. Undoubtedly calcareous soil is good for 
Peaches, and the fruits grown by Mr. Rivers are finer and better 
flavoured than the others to which you refer. 
Cucumbers at Prescot {II. TF. G .').—Early in the season the 
Cucumbers are syringed twice daily, but as the season advances 
many of them are only syringed once. One of the largest growers 
practically uses a pump ; one end is inserted in the wells, and the 
other, a 2-inch hose with a rose on, is used for syringing and watering 
at the same time. Very often the men are carrying out this work in 
the evening between seven and eight o’clock. Fire heat is used as long 
as it is thought necessary. The fires are discontinued as soon as the 
weather is sufficiently warm to avoid checking the growth of the plants. 
Even under “ the express system ” of culture it is not wise to maintain 
a too low temperature at night. 
Camellias Planted Out in Conservatory (C.). — There is 
nothing better for Camellias than a surface dressing of cow manure or 
sheep droppings about an inch thick, watering thoroughly once or twice 
a week. No plant can receive sufficient moisture at the roots by syringing 
alone, which often makes the surface soil wet, whilst that beneath is far 
too dry for healthy vegetation. The manure assists the growth, and in 
plenty of light buds are set freely. Soot is a first-class manure. Place 
a peck in an old bag with sixty gallons of water ; poke well up daily, 
using the clear liquid. Cow manure, 1 peck to twenty gallons of water, 
or 1 peck of horse manure to the same quantity of water, makes capital 
liquid manure for Camellias, as also will 1 peck of sheep manure to 
thirty gallons of water. Apply once or twice a week. 
Artificial Manure for Xtoses {Kittie ).—Superphosphate of lime 
is perhaps the best manure for Roses, applying it at the rate of 1 oz. to 
a gallon of water. Nitrate of potash is excellent, using at the rate of 
1 oz. to 4 gallon of water. Sulphate of ammonia is also first-rate ; 
dissolving 1 oz. in 4 gallons of water. These small quantities are better 
than larger supplies, and all are best varied—that is, given at different 
times, say at alternate waterings, but not oftener than once a week. 
If you prefer to use all together take 12 ozs. superphosphate, 4 ozs. 
nitrate of potash (saltpetre) powdered ; mix thoroughly. Employ 1 oz. to 
a gallon of water, and apply once or twice a week. Sulphate of ammonia 
and nitrate of soda may be given occasionally, quarter of an ounce per 
gallon is better than half an ounce, because safer —i e., less danger of 
injuring the tender r(otlets, but unless extra vigour is wanted they 
should be omitted. Kaolin has manurial value through its being 
derived from the felspar rocks, and is essentially a hydrated aluminic 
silicate, with variable quantities of magnesia, lime, and oxide of iron, 
but in kaolin the potash has been abstracted, therefore its value is 
infinitessimal as a manure, and may be passed. 
The Early Red Rhubarb (A. H. Pownall ').—The Yaxley Vicar is 
wholly in error. No official of the Royal Horticultural Society has 
written a word about this variety of Rhubarb as grown at Y axley, in 
this Journal. You are the best judge on the point of identity, as you 
had crowns from Yaxley and from Chiswick, and after growing both 
this is your verdict:—“ I am obliged to say they are to me identical in 
length of stem, in the flirtings on the convex side of the stem, and in 
the colour—top half greenish and the lower half pinky—of the concave 
side of the stem. They are alike, too, in their tendency to throw up 
flower stems.” That is a very precise description, and settles the matter 
conclusively against the alleged distinctness of the Yaxley Rhubarb, 
and it would be wrong for anyone to sell that old Rhubarb under a new 
name. The letter which Mr. Sewell has sent to you to “ make any use 
you please of ” is no answer to our statements last week, and is remark¬ 
able mainly for a totally groundless assumption, and the consequent 
singular imputation on the capacity of a gentleman whose experience 
in growing and comparing different varieties of Rhubarb is not excelled, 
if equalled by any other person in the kingdom. We regret to hear of 
your indisposition, and shall return to the subject of Rhubarb again. 
M'orthern Spy {T. IF.).—The Apple you refer to is described in 
the “Fruit Manual” as follows :—Fiuit, fragrant when ripe, large, 
ovate, inclining sometimes to conical. Skin, thin, at first of a greenish 
yellow on the shaded side, and on the side next the sun covered entirely 
with a thin, pale crimson cheek, which is covered with broken streaks 
of a darker crimson ; but as the fruit acquires maturity after being 
kept, the shaded side changes to a rich golden yellow, and the crimson 
becomes brilliant. The whole is covered with a thin bloom like a Grape, 
Eye, small and closed, set in a very deep, narrow, and furrowed cavity. 
Stamens, marginal; tube, long, funnel-shaped. Stalk, three-quarters 
of an inch long, slender, deeply inserted in a wide hollow. Flesh, white, 
very tender, fine-grained, crisp, and very juicy. Juice, sprightly, sweet, 
and wnth a fine delicate aroma. Cells, ovate ; abaxile. A valuable 
dessert Apple ; in use from December till May. The tree is a fast and 
vigorous grower, and has an upright habit. When it acquires a little 
