88 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Ju’y 27, 13937 
. . 
iS 
iIhe bbe-kbbper. 
VsA 1 
APIARIAN NOTES. 
Notes from the Moors. 
Since the bees were taken to the Heather the weather has 
been wet and stormy. More bees have been lost in a few days 
than there were last year, there being more inducement for 
them to fly out, and, owing to want of sunshine, the chilled bees 
overtaken by the lashing showers never rise. These phenomena in 
hilly districts are more frequent and extraordinary than in the 
lowlands. On the 19th, between 1 and 2 p.m., when the sun for 
a brief period shone out with all her splendour, the air became 
suddenly very cold, lasting for about fifteen minutes, with a 
strong wind at the time. Bees fell in showers to the ground, and 
I had to take shelter, and retreat homewards. 
The bees are anxious to work, the flowers being so profuse, and 
with but one week’s calm and fair weather they would gather large 
quantities of honey. Swarming with all the untoward weather 
has been prevalent, proving that the advice to the effect that 
timely room will prevent it is erroneous. An unparalleled case 
has been brought under my notice this week. After two or three 
virgin queens had piped and lived together in one hive swarming 
took place. It is somewhere about eight years since I stated in 
this Journal a case where three weeks expired after the queens 
were hatched before they swarmed, and showed the desirability 
where profit was concerned of getting rid of all the surplus ones at 
the earliest opportunity. 
PuNics. 
As usual I meet with bee-keepers from different localities who 
have their bees near mine. One man accosted me with, “ How 
have your Punics done this year ? ” I replied, and repeated some 
of the advice that has appeared in the pages of the Journal of 
Horticulture. Another person exclaimed, “ My Punics have been 
by far my best hives, both last year and this one.” The first who 
spoke explained “ that he put supers upon a swarm a few days 
hived, and in two weeks after they were filled and prettily sealed.” 
Surely these facts disprove the assertions made against these bees. 
My prime swarm mentioned several weeks since has increased in 
weight 45 lbs., excelling my others, nearly the one-half of that 
being gathered after the weather had broken. There is little 
necessity looking after their doorways, they contrast or extend 
them themselves as circumstances demand. 
There are perhaps some persons who may after all these facts 
have been published still endeavour to disprove them, but let all 
who seek after truth pay me and my hives a visit, and they will 
learn more truth in an hour than in years by merely reading what 
is said about the Punic bees by writers who have had no actual 
experience with them.—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
•**A11 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 communications. 
Bees (F. J. IF.).—Your letter is received, and the required information 
will be given as soon as possible. 
^rational Rose Society’s Catalogue QRosariaii). — You will 
find an answer to your question on page 72 of the present issue. 
Iilght Reading (S. J. A.).—Amusing and refreshing, but should 
have been sent a day sooner to secure insertion. 
Book on Table Decoration (6*. W. It.). —“Table Decoration,” 
by William Low, and published by Messrs. Chapman & Hall, London, 
would meet your requirements. It could no doubt be obtained through 
any bookseller. 
Raw Bones and Chrysanthemums (IF. A. 31.). —Evidently the 
bones used as drainage are injuring your plants. Clear lime water will 
not hurt them, and may, or may not, destroy the maggots. Cannot you 
carefully turn the plants out of their pots and remove the cause of the 
evil? It may be tedious work, but will be the best way of improving 
the plants. 
Boronla polygallfolla (A. 31.). —You are correct in saying that 
this Boionia is “ comparatively little known,” but it is one of the most 
useful of the genus. In few gardens, however, it is largely grown, but 
wherever it has been fairly tried the highest opinion is held of its merits 
as a greenhouse or conservatory plant. Perhaps the best examples of its 
utility can be seen at Kew in the greenhouse, where during the spring 
and early summer months plants with quite masses of flowers are very 
noticeable upon the side shelves. These are borne on corymbose heads, 
are of a bright rosy-lilac hue, and last a considerable time either upon 
the plant or when cut. The growth being very free, the plant will 
endure hard cutting, a valuable quality when flowers are so largely 
in demand ; and though the colour is not so brilliant or startling 
as that of some plants, it is a shade that can be readily associated 
with many others without producing any unpleasant discord. It 
requires similar treatment to other species of the genus. 
Heaviest Buneta of Crapes (^Yoxing Gardener). —We have many 
times answered similar questions to yours, and can only repeat that the 
heaviest bunch of Grapes we have seen, and so far as we know that has 
been officially recorded, was a bunch of the Calabrian Kaisin, weighing 
26 lbs, 4 ozs., grown by Mr. Curror, gardener to J, Douglas, Esq., 
Eskbank, Dalkeith, and exhibited in Edinburgh on September 15th, 
1875. A bunch of Syrian grown by the late Mr. Dickson, gardener to 
J. Jardine, Esq., Arkleton, Langholm, weighed at the same show 25 lbs., 
15 ozs. This appeared to be the larger bunch of the two, the berries 
having been more thinned than the former. Mr. Dickson has stated 
that the bunch when cut weighed 26 lbs. 8 ozs., so that either it must 
have lost weight before it reached the show or there was a difference in 
the scales employed in the two instances. An illustration of this bunch 
was reproduced in the Journal of Horticulture for December 29th, 1892. 
Mr. Koberts, The Gardens, Charleville Forest, Tullamore, has grown a 
bunch of Gros Guillaume weighing 23 lbs. 5 ozs. 
Acacia grandls (^Amateur). —The plant to which you allude is no 
doubt Acacia giandis, which is a native of Western Australia. It forms 
a shrub of moderate .size, and flowers freely while small. The stems are 
angular, grooved, and usually, but not invariably, quite glabrous. The 
leaves consist of two pinnm articulated at their base, each pinna being 
about an inch long, and composed of from eight to ten pairs of linear, 
alternate, smooth leaflets, the rachis or stalk to which they are attached 
being flattened, and terminated by a small leafy point. A. grandis is a 
most charming plant for spring flowering, being at that season loaded 
with its g.dden yellow balls; and at all periods of the year its elegant 
foliage gives it an ornamental character. Its propagation is effected 
either by seeds or cuttings, usually by the latter method ; they should 
be inserted in white sand, or very sandy soil, and covered with a bell- 
glass or tumbler. As they are impatient of damp, they require a little 
more care during the rooting process than those of the leafless species. 
The inside of the glass should be wiped daily, and as soon as the cuttings 
are well rooted they must be potted into sandy peat, and eventually 
into good fibrous peat containing less sand. 
American Ginseng' (A. B .).—You desire to know something about 
“ American Ginseng, which is highly valued as a medicine by the 
Chinese.” The following extract from a recent number of the “ Kew 
Bulletin ” exactly answers j'our question :—“ The American Ginseng 
belongs to the natural order Araliacese, an order closely allied 
to the Umbelliferm. Amongst Araliacem are included plants 
of very different habits and characters, such as Panax, Fatsia, 
the tropical Sciadophyllum and Hedera (the common Ivy). Aralia 
quinquefolia, A. Gray, has a low herbaceous stem seldom more than 
a foot or 15 inches high. The leaves are long-stalked, palmatisect, with 
usually five leaflets (hence the specific name), arranged in a whorl of 
three or four at the summit of the stem ; the leaflets have generally three 
larger than the others, they are somewhat thin, obovate-oblong, pointed 
and serrate. A single umbel of flowers appears on the short, slender, 
terminal peduncle with small yellowish flowers. The calyx is adherent to 
the ovary and surmounts it with five minute teeth. The corolla is made 
up of five small oval white petals which soon fade away. The stamens 
(when present) are five in number, with small heart-shaped anthers, 
and there are two, sometimes three, persistent ordinary curved styles. 
The ovaries expand into small round bright red berries about the size of 
small peas, each with two seeds. The root (the part used) is tuberous, 
3 or 4 inches long and usually branching into two or three tap¬ 
shaped divisions. It is wrinkled by parallel transverse ridges, and gives 
rise to a number of fibrous rootlets. The upper portions of the root-tuber 
show several angular scars, the remains of previous stems which die 
down annually. As the roots increase with age they often assume 
strange forms, and such roots are highly prized, the Chinese readily 
giving large sums for them. In America the roots are not regarded as 
possessing active medicinal properties. They have, however, an 
aromatic bitter-sweet taste, are somewhat mucilaginous, and may have a 
j mild, stimulant, tonic effect.” 
