August 24, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
183 
retard the swelling of the fruit. Plants with fruit advanced for ripen¬ 
ing should have an abundance of air, with, if practicable, an increase of 
temperature, avoiding a close moist atmosphere, and keep rather dry at 
the roots. 
Latest Plants .—Those planted in houses will require every encourage¬ 
ment, maintaining a moist atmosphere and a temperature of 70° to 75° 
by artificial means, falling 5° on cold nights, and keeping the bottom 
heat steady at 80° to 85°. The leader must not be pinched until it 
reaches the trellis, when it may have its point taken out if more than 
one leader is wanted. Keep a sharp look out for canker at the collar and 
upon the stem, rubbing quicklime into the parts affected, striving to 
maintain a clean growth. 
Melons in Pits and Frames .—The latest plants in pits and frames 
will have set or be setting their fruit. In order to secure a good set, the 
growths require to be kept rather thin, the atmosphere warm and dry 
by the aid of linings, so as to insure steady progress and the free 
admission of air. Those in hot-water-heated pits will be the better of a 
gentle warmth in the pipes on cold nights and dull wet days, a gentle 
heat affording facilities for ventilation, which should be given, if only a 
little, so as to insure evaporation, and the consequent elaboration and 
assimilation of the sap, on which depends in a great measure the quality 
of the fruits. The plants may be sprinkled, avoiding the collar or stem, 
early in the afternoon, and closing before or by the temperature has 
receded to 80° or 85°, and so as to raise it to 90° or 95°. Admit a little 
air at 75°, or increase it from that with the advancing sun heat to 
85° or 90°, at which keep through the day from sun heat. Plants in 
frames should be attended to as required with linings of sweetened 
fermenting material as the nights become cold, so as to prevent the 
temperature falling below 65° in the morning, and if mats are placed 
over the lights after the sun leaves the frames, and removed shortly after 
the sun has risen, success will be ensured, 
THE KITCHEN GAKDEN. 
Cabbagres. —Hot weather and warm moist soil having caused the 
seeds to germinate quickly and the plants to grow rapidly, there is every 
likelihood of the earliest raised plants being much earlier than desirable. 
Anyway they ought not to be wholly depended upon. If more seed is 
sown at once thinly in drills previously moistened, there is every 
probability of the plants obtained being quite large enough to put out 
this autumn. Even if they are not they may yet prove very handy next 
spring either for forming successional beds or for filling blanks caused 
by many of the too early raised plants running to seed prematurely. 
Coleworts have also grown very rapidly, and no time should be lost in 
planting these extensively. They could he planted in succession to 
Peas, Beans, and autumn Onions without any preparation of the ground 
other than surface hoeing and removal of weeds. Should the weather 
be hot and dry this ought not to hinder planting, as rather than spoil 
the plants in the seed beds they ought to be well soaked with water 
prior to drawing, and be replanted in drills, also watered. A foot apart 
each way is enough space for small quick hearting Cabbages and Cole- 
worts. 
Onions. —In some gardens there are particularly good beds of Onions 
to be seen and in others very poor ones indeed. Where the seed was 
sown early and came up well the bulbs are all of good size and well 
matured, thick or “ bull ” necks being scarce. There is scarcely any 
necessity to twist down the tops in order to hasten maturation of the 
bulbous roots, and the latter will be fit for drawing and storing very 
much earlier than usual. Directly they come away readily from the 
soil is the time for removing them, and if they are further harvested on 
dry boards or wattled hurdles in the open, or if the weather is wet, an 
empty vinery or other dry airy place should be utilised. Onions after 
they are thus well prepared should be stored in a cool airy shed. Where 
the seed germinated irregularly, some not starting till several weeks 
later than the rest, the crops will be difficult to deal with. The late 
plants are bulbing badly and will not mature properly. It will be quite 
useless to draw these with a view to storing them, and the better plan 
will be to leave them where they now are, drawing them as they are 
wanted for use. Those that have made fairly good progress should have 
their necks or tops twisted down to hasten maturation, while all that 
are already ripening ought to be taken the greatest care of, being 
treated as already advised in the case of early beds, as it is these that will 
keep the longest. 
Sowing- Onion Seed.— It is not yet too late to sow seed of Tripoli 
and White Spanish Onions to stand through the winter. Such are not 
absolutely indispensable, but are recommended if large heavy roots are 
desired early next summer, and ought certainly to be grown extensively 
where the summer crops are partial failures this season. The Queen, 
Early White Naples, and other early maturing varieties may well be sown 
with Giant Madeira, Giant White Tripoli, Eoccas, and other large 
bulbing sorts, the drills being drawn 12 inches apart, and moistened 
prior to sowing the seed. The White Spanish types are quite as hardy 
as the Tripolis, but the bulbs obtained from plants raised very early in 
the year under glass are invariably of better form than those formed by 
autumn-raised plants, also keeping better. 
Winter Spinach. —Judging from the progress made by a number 
of late planted winter green vege4ables. Spinach will grow rather rapidly, 
and should the hot weather last through August the earliest plants 
of the latter will very probably run to seed prematurely. It is advisable, 
therefore, to sow another good breadth of ground at once. An open, 
rather high, or well drained and fairly rich piece of ground should be 
selected, and the seed be sown in shallow drills drawn not less than 
12 inches asunder and well moistened. 
liettuces. —Where Lettuce can be obtained good early in the season 
is the best site for growing late autumn Lettuce. The Cos varieties 
sown late may fail to heart properly, and the preference ought there¬ 
fore to be given to Early Paris Market, Golden Queen, Commodore Nutt, 
and All the Year Round Cabbage Lettuces. Draw drills 10 inches apart, 
give a gentle watering, and sow the seed rather thinly. During showery 
weather the thinnings drawn from rows of Cos as well as Cabbage 
varieties may well be dibbled out on warm borders, and should the 
weather keep fairly mild during September some useful Lettuces may 
be had for storing in frames or protecting with boards and frame lights. 
Tomatoes In the Open. —This promises to be a remarkably good 
season for Tomatoes grown against garden walls and fences, as well as 
those in the open. Already a considerable weight of fruit has been cut, 
and there are large numbers of ripening and green fruit on the plants. 
All leading growths ought ere this to have been topped, while super¬ 
fluous side shoots should be kept constantly cut away. Leaves are very 
strong and healthy, no disease being apparent. In order to favour the 
development of the later fruit, and to hasten ripening generally, the 
leaves should he freely reduced in size, in many instances not more than 
one-third of the leaf being left. As yet no disease has been observed, 
but it may become troublesome directly there is a change to dull 
showery weather. The best preventive is keeping the leaves dry. In 
many instances spare garden lights might with advantage be fixed over 
the plants against walls, these efftctually warding off rains and heavy 
dews. 
Tomatoes under Glass. —These also have cropped admirably, the 
plants where they have not been stopped continuing to set great clusters 
of fruit. Where they have grown rather vigorously, and perhaps failed 
to fruit well in consequence, the plan of freely shortening back the 
leaves would have checked this over-luxuriance, and have promoted a 
more productive habit of growth. Many of the older leaves will now be 
quite yellow, and should be cut off. If disease spots show on the leaves, 
the worst form known as Cladisporium being denoted by yellow spots 
near the size of a threepenny piece, and a mildew-like patch under¬ 
neath, can only be safely checked by means of a considerable increase of 
fire heat, accompanied by a good circulation of dry air. Raising the 
temperature of the house or houses to about 115° during the hottest part 
of three or four days in suceession kills much of the fungus, as is both a 
safe and good remedy. Old plants in boxes or narrow ridges of soil can 
be kept in a growing productive state till next summer if need be. All 
that is necessary is to reserve and lay in side shoots thinly all over the 
roof, these soon commencing to hear fruit. In order to infuse a little 
new life into these old plants give a soaking of liquid manure, a short 
time after removing a little of the surface soil, and top-dressing with 
a mixture of turfy loam and short manure, a sprinkling of bone meal 
improving the compost. Young plants, especially when the body of the 
house is to be utilised, are the most likely to produce heavy crops of 
fruit, and these may well be placed singly in 12-inch pots at once. 
While the weather remains hot and dry these young plants may safely 
be left in the open, but directly there is a likelihood of a change to 
colder, damp weather they ought to be housed, or otherwise they may 
become affected by the Potato disease. 
; ■ . 1 ^ . ■ , ~. ■■—,—^^^^^^^^^—!. ■ ^ T ■ 1 t 
Im bee-keeper.4 
APIARIAN NOTES. 
At the Heather. 
After a week’s improved weather, of which the bees did 
not fail to take advantage, a change for the worse came on the 
19th inst. High winds prevailed, accompanied by a heavy fall of 
rain, putting a stop to honey gathering. As the Heather is not 
yet past, however, the dry season having favoured it greatly both 
in the extent of growth and profuseness of bloom, in a few more 
fine days there will be some unusually weighty hives. 
Crossed and pure Punics have given every satisfaction, enabling 
me to disprove every adverse criticism about these bees in Britain 
and America. One prime swarm two months hived cannot have 
risen less than 70 lbs., but accurate weights will be given in due 
course. My time has been fully occupied since I removed the bees 
here, so persistent in swarming have they been, and are not past 
yet. If the Punics are the best in the aggregate my two best hives 
are composed of second cross Syrians unswarmed, and a second 
cross Carniolan, an old swarmed stock. 
Our local bee and honey shows appear to have been a success, 
but I have been unable to attend any. What I have learned and 
fully proved at the moors this year will by-and by be embodied 
in practical articles for beginners, which I trust will be of perma¬ 
nent benefit to them. 
Can Bees Count? 
My bees stand at the foot of one glen and on the point of 
intersection to the main one that leads to many others, and behind 
a stone dyke which runs east and west, the hives facing north. A 
hive I had forwarded to me was placed at the west end of three 
