2£6 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 8, 1892. 
for them to be careful that stocks intended for next year are all 
provided with young fertile queens, as I find 70 per cent, of last 
year’s queens have been deposed.—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
APICULTURAL ITEMS. 
In further reference to Messrs. Cowan and Benton, I should 
like to mention that Mr. Cowan’s statement was that “ no one, in 
Europe at any rate, has ever seen or heard of pure Carniolans 
being yellow. This is the text : he wanted Benton to help him 
out by admitting he had made a mistake in saying they did so 
exist. Whether such bees are the true and pure Carniolan type is 
quite outside the question, which I did not and do not touch upon. 
In 1888, when the controversy was going on, Benton did not hint 
at all that he regarded such bees a 9 being impure. 
Mr. W. H. Ley, of Easton, near Stamford, had a grand stock of 
hybrid Punics, though crossed with some hybrid Cyprian drone. 
He reported them rather difficult to handle, while another hybiid 
stock, mated with a native British drone, were the quietest bees he 
has ever seen. Well, after reading what Mr. Cowan said he got 
nervous and had an accident in taking off the supers, with the 
result that he crushed somo bees, and got the stock quite savage. 
In his haste he decided that Mr. Cowan was right, and forthwith 
gave them a dose of brimstone ; then wrote to me to ask my 
opinion, as he had fears of having made a mistake, his other Punics 
being very gentle. This being the first case in which anyone has 
reported them bad tempered, I toid him he ought to have written 
me first before destroying them. He now writes me as follows :— 
Strange to relate, in the stock I sulphured, although I killed 
most of the bees, the brood and queen were all right, and on open¬ 
ing them to take honey I found lots of brood hatching and the 
queen laying, so that now they are a good stock again. They have 
done so lemarkably well that I think I shall try them again.” 
I have been charged with claiming the most wonderful virtues for 
Punics too wonderful to be true ; but here is a case that caps all. 
Mr. Cowan says they are “ short lived.” After this, who shall say 
they have not “ nine lives ? ” I must investigate the matter, 
because all my queens live a very long time. Here is a case for 
Mr. Cowan to investigate on the spot ; he will not have so far to 
go as Africa. 
Mr. Cowan must feel highly elated at getting “Old Father 
Langstroth ” to write him on Punic bees. Langstroth was favour- 
ably impressed with those he saw, and so was Roots, who was 
expecting Mr. Cowan’s finding someone to send them “ direct ” at 
a “ moderate price ”— i.e., 4s. per queen. When Roots found that 
the former had failed in his purpose he at once accepted all his 
statements respecting them ; hence it is a case of Roots having 
read Cowan and Cowan having read Roots. This seems to have 
taken Father Langstroth in ; but he wiil alter his views with a 
more extended experience with Punics—-that is, if his health will 
allow him to test them. Is it not remarkable for anyone in 
America to accept failure as the best credential of reliability?— 
fai.ure to find any mention of Punic bees in his large library ; 
failure to find anyone who had ever seen a colony at work ; failure 
to learn that his co-Editor had had such bees and spoke favourably 
of them “ from experiencefailure to find such favourable allu¬ 
sion, although he was told to “see June Record failure to find 
Punic bees in Tunis, although he claims to have got to the “ very 
spot ” I got them from ; failure to get a queen over alive for others 
to see for themselves ; failure co even try these bees at all. I 
could go on thus and fill a column. I repeat, is it not strange for 
the word of one who has nothing but failures, mistakes, and unin- 
tentional oversights for credentials to be accepted by anyone as 
reliable ?—A Hallamshire Bee keeper. 
Number of Bees to a Pound. — I was much surprised on 
writing to an eminent manufacturer of hives in London and asking 
how many bees there were in a pound, to be informed that they did not 
know. I took the trouble to count a quarter pound of fresh killed 
bees, and found that there were 1308 in that weight, so 1 lb. would 
contain 5232.— C. J. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Messrs. Barr & Son, King Street, Covent Garden, London.— Butch 
Bulls and Daffodils. 
Messrs. Bunvard & Co., Maidstone.— Fruit Trees 
Messrs. Dobbie & Co., Rothesay, N.B.— Bulls, Roses, Fruit Trees , 
Tansies, and violas. 
Messrs. Hogg & Robertson, 22, Mary Street, Dublin.— Bulls. 
Mr. T. Horsman, 102, Godwin St., Bradford.— Bulls. Roses, Fruit Trees. 
Messrs. J. Sharpe & Son, Bardney, Lines.— Seed Wheats. 
Messrs. R. H Vertegans & Cd„ Chad Valley, Birmingham.-/Wv, 
Herbaceous and Alpine Plants. J 
W **AU 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 
Xmpatlens Jerdonise (F. Walker). —This plant, which we pre¬ 
sume you mean, as we do not know an Impatiens Jordoniae, was 
introduced to this country from the Neileherries, a range of mountains 
in the Madras Presidency of Southern India in 1852. 
Apricots under Glass ( Constant Reader). — Mr. Bunyard did 
not read a paper on this subject at Chiswick, but simply made a few 
observations, of which the substance was given in our columns last 
week. He made no pretence to treat the subject in detail, as that was 
not practicable under the circumstances. 
Scale on Ericas (D. B .).—The remedy you have found effectual 
in freeing Crotons and Ixoras from brown scale—namely, “ a thumb- 
potf ul of paraffin to a four-gallon can of water ”—may be employed for 
the Ericas, provided you take care not to use too much softsoap, and to 
keep the petroleum evenly mixed with the soapy solution whilst it is 
being applied to the plants. It is necessary that the mixture be kept 
from the roots, and that it be used only on the smooth-leaved varieties. 
If the hairy-leaved varieties are infested “touch up” the attacked parts 
with spirits of wine diluted with an equal quantity of water, using a 
small brush. Methylated spirit is not always safe to use, as it contains 
spirits of tar (crecsote). 
Naming Peaches and Nectarines (IF. M. C.).— Like some 
other readers, jou have overlooked what has appeared on the above sub¬ 
ject-namely, that specimens of these fruits alone cannot be named; 
either leaves must accompany them, cut close from the wood, or young 
shoots must be sent, and in addition we must be informed whether the 
flowers of the varieties are large or small. It is by a combination of 
characters in the fruit, flowers, and leaf glands that varieties can often 
be identified. As a rule, naming them from fruit alone is mere guess¬ 
work, as fruits are changed in appearance by cultural and climatal 
influences. We are sorry, therefore, we cannot name the fruits you 
have sent, but should gladly have endeavoured to identify them had 
you complied with the conditions. 
Cineraria marltlma (IF. F.). —This Cineraria, you say, is not 
hardy with you ; and such is the case in many places, for this simple 
reason the soil is too damp and rich. On dry gravelly soils, and on 
rockwork, it is hardy ; and the way we keep it over the winter is to 
transplant it in autumn to the foot of a south wall, where we allow it 
to remain until spring, when we plant in its proper position, and by 
dividing the large roots obtain sufficient plants to fill the space pre¬ 
viously occupied. In some soils and situations Cineraria maritima will 
not live. You may, therefore, take up a few plants and pot them in any 
light loamy soil, keep sparingly supplied with water, and winter in a 
dry airy situation in the greenhouse. In February place in a temperature 
of 55° or 60°, which will encourage the production of side shoots. When 
these are of sufficient size to make into cuttings of three joints, cut them 
across transversely below the lowest leaf, and remove it and the next 
above it,leaving one with the growing point at the top. Insert the cuttings 
in moist silver sand, and plunge the pot in a bottom heat of from 75° to 
80°. Place a bell-glass over the cuttings if the atmosphere of the house 
is dry, but if it is calm and moist the bell-glass may be dispensed with. 
Keep the sand moist, but avoid wetting the foliage. If the sand be 
kept very wet the cuttings will damp off. They will root in a fortnight 
or three weeks, and may then be potted. Continue them in heat until 
established ; then remove to the greenhouse and gradually harden-off 
prior to planting-out. These Cinerarias may be raised from seed sown 
in February ; but the foliage is not so bright in colour as that produced 
by cuttings from old plants. 
Pear Tree Infested with Slug-worm (<7. T. II.).— The leaves 
are attacked by the larvae, called Slug-worms, of the Pear Sawfly 
(Selandria atra of Stephens and Westwood), (Tenthiedo cerasi of 
Linnaeus and Curtis), and devour the upper surface of the leaves, 
consuming the soft parts, leaving only the lower skin of the leaf, veins, 
and midribs, the whole leaf turning brown or black, and ultimately 
falling. The larvae usually commence their attacks about the middle of 
