44 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 13, 1893. 
swarming, after which, in from six to ten days more, the after¬ 
swarms come, unless the first swarm has been delayed bejond its 
normal time through unfavourable weather. In such cases the 
after-swarm may come any'time from one to eight or ten days after 
the prime swarm, which, under the above circumstances, may have 
a young queen, the old one invariably meeting an untimely end by 
her rival daughters or the bees themselves. One point of great 
moment to the bee-keeper as regards profit is to hasten the end of 
the plurality of queens after swarming has commenced—that is, by 
destroying all queen cells unless one about eight days after the 
first swarm. At the same time form a nucleus, or several nuclei, 
as surety against the loss of the queen of the old stock, and have 
in readiness queens to add to any swarmed hive shortly after the 
issue of the prime swarm. Sometimes the summer goes past 
while the queen remains a virgin, from the fact that somehow or 
other the bees permit a plurality of queens without attempting to 
swarm or to kill them. I have three such hives that have piped 
for no less than three weeks, whereas had the surplus ones been 
killed they might have nearly hatched by this time. The three 
cases mentioned had their quesn cells duly excised and young 
Punic queens added, but second batches of these were so superior 
to the first that I introduced a second ripe queen cell to each, and 
they have piped ever since. When two or more swarms come at 
the same time, the bees—either through several queens or stranger 
bees, or both—will not settle, and it is better to allow the union, 
or catch both or more queens, and let them go back to their 
respective hives. Under the circumstances you acted wisely, and 
the best that could be done. The Heather and the Limes are the 
only two sources of honey now likely to be profitable.—A. L. B. K.] 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
F. Cooper, Manners Street, Wellington.— Garden and Agricultural 
Seeds. 
J. V. Van Zanten & Zonen, Hillegom, near Haarlem.— Dutch Bulbs. 
•**A11 correspondence should be directed either to “ The 
Editok” 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 communications. 
Vegetables for Exhibition (jR. P.'). —You should have sent the 
list for confirmation or suggested alterations. To publish a list that 
might differ more or less materially and yet not be substantially better 
would inevitably lead to confusion and be the reverse of helpful under 
the circumstances. 
Tomato Fruits Diseased (//. F. Smith'). —The truits are viru¬ 
lently attacked with Cladosporium Lycopersici, as illustrated in the 
Journal of Horticulture, March 19th, 1892, page 386. They are beyond 
remedy, and should be gathered and burned. Notes on the prevention 
of Tomato disease appear in the present and preceding issues. 
Canker Insects {J. Hiam). —You appear to think, and indeed say, 
that you can find insects on cankered wood with your pocket lens that 
Mr. Abbey cannot find with the microscope. We have to say that if 
there had been insects on the specimen when he received it they would 
have been discovered. We have made close microscopic search for 
insects alleged by you to have caused canker in specimens submitted. 
The only insects were such as affect decayed wood, and they certainly 
were not the cause but the consequence of the canker. We begin to 
want to see this pocket lens canker-causing insect magnified. It is like 
the sea serpent, a great deal talked about but not seen except by the 
favoured few—three individuals, we think, out of about thirty millions 
in the famous case. Please send a correct drawing of the creature, so 
that we may publish it, for convincing the other 29,999,997, or those of 
them who may be interested in the subject. We fear it will be useless 
sending more specimens unless you send the “ pocket lens” with them, 
for they do not reveal themselves under our microscope, and it appears 
to be the same with Mr. Abbey’s. Have a correct drawing prepared, and 
make yourself famous as a discoverer. 
Tomato Disease {S. J. A.). —No mistake has been made as to 
the nature of the disease with which your Tomatoes are being over¬ 
run. The cladosporium does not affect the leaves before these are 
fully matured, but that does not alter the fact that “ soft ”—that is 
to say, rankly grown—stems and leaves [are the most predisposed to 
attack. The disease is most virulent in a moist atmosphere, and in 
dull weather especially it is false economy to dispense with fire heat. 
One of the remedies that has been found useful is an extra strong 
heat, brought about principally by means of the hot-water pipes, 
accompanied by an atmosphere as dry as it can be kept for two or 
three days. “ Market Grower ” is fully capable of taking care of 
himself, and we wish you could grow Tomatoes as well as he does. 
You are evidently a believer in the doctrine “ in a multitude of 
councillors is wisdom.” May we add—and bewilderment ? 
Campanulate Foxglove (Dr. It.). —As we have before remarked, 
the terminal campanulate flowers in Foxgloves are abnormal and not 
uncommon. Abnormal floral forms also occur in other plants with 
Irregular monopetaloug corollas, as in Linaria vulgaris var. Peloria, 
which was illustrated in the'Journal of Horticulture for July 28th, 1892, 
page 85. In the Foxglove the corolla usually becomes enlarged and 
split into spreading segments, as shown in the specimen depicted in the 
accompanying illustration (fig. 7). We have seen many similar 
instances, but the precise cause of such changes has not been revealed, 
Sub-Xeaves from IMCidrlb of Branching Broccoli (T. H. S .).— 
The outgrowths from the midrib of the leaf are not uncommon in 
Brassicas, and may be due to the unusual drought, which has caused 
adventitious buds to form in the midrib where the veins radiate from 
it. One of the outgrowths is a miniature leaf, and from it proceeds a 
growth corresponding to the flowering branches of the head. The 
other has no leaf, but a distinct shoot about an inch long, with leaves 
from an eighth to a quarter of an inch in length, and there are buds in 
the centre not unlike those of flowers, into which they would probably 
develop if the weather continued dry. It is a great curiosity, and is no 
doubt due to the richness of the soil and the extraordinary weather. 
This has concentrated the vital forces on the midrib, forming it into a 
sort of stem, and buds have been formed and shoots produced therefrom 
as from the axils of the leaves. It generally occurs when the soil is rich 
and the plants vigorous. 
