438 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ M-y 28, 189X 
the isles in the far north of Scotland, and as queens mate with 
drones at a distance of six miles bee flight I think there will be 
few bee-keepers isolated further than that from foreign blood. 
But the standard hive is not only too small to test the working 
powers of any bee ; but the bees are further restricted from deve¬ 
loping their works by the use of queen-excluder zinc and other 
absurd ideas of restriction, or I may say constriction, and yet they 
advocate strong hives, but often at the wrong season, but do not 
«bow the bee-keeper the common-sense system of bee-keeping. 
I need not repeat the properties of the Punic race of bess. 
Your readers had the facts not long since, but I may add, notwith¬ 
standing the untoward weather, my Punics are now quits ready to 
swarm. Does that show them to be tender ? Who ever saw or 
heard of a common black hive of bees raising 33 lbs. weight as I 
recorded two years ago ? 
In 1886 I had two crossed Syrian swarms join, and in less than a 
week it raised upwards of 100 lbs., which the late Mr. Alfred 
Neighbour saw, and at the end of the Heather season, and t was 
•not a good one either, the gross weight of the hive, not including 
what it took to keep, it was 280 lbs., 40 lbs. being the tare of the 
hive, 240 nett. These are but two of many examples of what 
foreign bees did, yet these two hives refuted many of the 
ideas held by some of our bee-keepers of the modern school. In 
ten days after I hived the first mentioned two swarms I took 60 lbs. 
of super comb beautifully pure, and which was stored in the supers 
direct from the field, not as some teach “stored first in the body 
of the hive to ripen, then carried aloft,” a belief by some, but 
simply impossible with the standard hive ; then the short life of 
the bee was also disproved. All which I have explained before, but 
in the interests of bee-keepers and truth, I mention again.— 
A Lanarkshire Bee keeper. 
BEES AND THE DEATH’S HEAD HAWK MOTH. 
It must now be taken as proved that this moth visits hives of 
■deliberate purpose, and enters the combs when it can to suck up the 
honey. But I wish to point out that the discovery of a dead moth 
within a hive by no means proves that the bees killed it; the insect may 
have died there, owing to being unable to make its way out. Many of 
the old bee-keepers, as well as some naturalists, seem to have been under 
the impression that bees would not touch this moth, and several of them 
liave given us descriptions of the blockade they sometimes formed at the 
•door of the hive to exclude their foe. A modern entomologist, indeed, 
has stated, from his examination of this insect’s structure, that he hardly 
believes it possible the sting of a bee could enter the body, as the point 
would be turned by the down and the elastic membrane. One of the 
funny mistakes made in regard 1o the death’s head is to be found in 
Staveley’s “British Insects.” The author remarks that the larva of this 
■species enters hives in order to feast upon the comb.— Entomologist. 
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. 
Answering- Questions (iJ. //., 7. U,, C. JJ ),—We are sorry your 
■questions arrived one post too late for being answered in the present 
issue. 
Babylonian Gardens ((7. 11 .').—The article to which you direct 
our attention was, no doubt, set up from our pages. The editor of our 
contemporary in his search for good things naturally turns his attention 
to the Journal of Ilortimltiire. 
Cucumbers Bitter (A. J. L.). —Heavy dressings of soot are quite 
apt to cause bit terness in the fruit, especially during a period of dull 
weather when the assimilative functions of the leaves are somewhat 
impaired. The bitterness will pass off, and the fruit you have sent is 
not nearly so bitter as many we have tasted. Top-dressings judiciously 
applied of artificial manures that are advertised will stimulate the 
growth of the plants and not impair the quality of the fruit. 
Sewage Sludge QF. S ').—As has been frequently stated, though 
you appear to have overlooked the notification, we do not under¬ 
take the analysis of manures or soils for ascertaining their con¬ 
stituents. Analyses can only be obtained from agricultural chemists, 
who supply them professionally at varying charges. Judging by a 
cursory examination of the sample, we should prefer good stable 
manure, but a trial of both would satisfy us without an analysis, the 
one best adapted for our soil and crops. It is easy to make soil too 
rich for Tomatoes, and that which grows good crops of Potatoes is rich 
enough for the edible-fruited Solanum. 
IVXarket Gardening In Pre-railway Times (6*. G.) —We have 
no record of vegetables having been sent to the North of England from 
the London market gardens before railway times Oa mentioning the 
subject to a member of a Fulham market gardening family, established 
200 years, the reply was, “ Never heard of such a thing, and if any such 
trade existed I think my grandfather would have mentioned it in talking 
about the history of the business as he was fond of doing.” _ It was 
agreed that vegetables were most likely sent northwards by carriers, but 
the terra “North” had then reference to places very much nearer 
London than those to which it now app’ies. Perhaps some of our 
readers may be able to supply information on this subject. 
Tomatoes Failing (./. It.). —There in nothing in your letter in 
respect to soil, temperature, or treatment to afford us any guidance in 
suggesting what may have been the contributory cause of the peculiar 
condition of the p’ants. If they have not been overfed, the atmosphere 
too moist, and the temperature too low we fear they are beyond cure ; 
but if you have any doubt on those points try a change of treatment, 
keeping the soil and atmosphere much drier, and raising the temperature 
considerably. The appearance of the leaves indicates that they have 
not been able to elaborate the sap, and that the plants in consequence 
are in a state somew'hat analogous to that of blood poisoning in 
individuals. We will examine them more c’osely than time permits 
before preparing this reply, and if we have anything to add will refer 
to the subject again. 
Drying Flowers In their Ifatural Colours (A. X., Clontarf ).— 
The following method is recommended by one who has had much 
experience in the work :—Take two pints of a saturated solution of 
sulphurous acid in water (which can be had at any chemists, and is very 
cheap if brought in large quantities) ; add to this one pint of methylated 
spirit. Keep this mixture in a wide-mouthed bottle, which should be 
so tightly closed that the contents do not evaporate when not in use. 
Leave ordinary flowers in this mixture for about ten to twenty minutes ; 
inflorescences of Bromeliacem and Aroidem must be left in it about an 
hour. In most cases the colour will completely disappear, but it will 
gradually return during the process of drying, or even after the plants 
have become apparently quite dry. Having treated the specimens with 
the mixture for a short time as stated above, take them out and shake 
off the adhering drops of fluid. Leave the plants in a dry warm place 
in order to dry them superficially (they must not be allowed to shrivel), 
and then dry them in the usual way between blotting paper. If artificial 
heat is used in the latter part of the process excellent results are obtained, 
and it is not even necessary to change the drying paper. If hot-water 
pipes are available it is very convenient to place on them the bundle 
containing the plants to be dried, which need not be subjected to very 
great pressure. As it is sometimes difficult to prevent flowers from 
collapsing when using this method of preservation, and as often it is 
almost impossible to spread out those flowers when they have collapsed, 
We often put them loosely between sheets of vegetable parchment before 
immersing them in the fluid. Orchid flowers will require very careful 
treatment both in drying and pressing, as it is difficult to preserve their 
forms owing to their fleshy substance. 
Canker In Apple and Pear Trees (K. IF.).—The trees that were 
in good bearing order, but now die back at the tips of the shoots or 
boughs and bear very small and crippled fruit, are in the condition of 
many others to be found in orchards. We have taken note of Apple 
trees in various parts of the country, and have found that of those in 
grass one-sixth of the trees are falling a prey to canker at the “ tips of 
the boughs,” as in your case, whilst in those that are subjected to 
cultivation the average of diseased trees through canker is not more 
than 6 per cent. This proves that canker is in part due to or accelerated 
by a deficiency of nutrition, though the disease itself may have been 
introduced at a time when the growths were gross and the bark 
susceptible of damage from hailstones, punctures of insects, or the 
tissues ruptured by frost in consequence of the aqueous matter they 
contained. By some such agency the disease is at first set up, and the 
remedy is to render the disease latent whilst energising the trees, and 
causing them to make free healthy growths and so overcome the canker. 
Nothing short of removing the cankered parts of varieties in which 
the disease is prevalent or inherent and putting on fresh heads of 
