October 27, 1892. ]] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
885 
and in order to be on the safe side with this important root pull and 
store at least a portion of the crop. They keep very well if trimmed 
and stored similarly to Potatoes, the heaps being examined occasionally 
and all sprouts rubbed off the roots. Chirk Castle Black Stone is the 
hardiest variety, Orange Jelly also standing well through most winters. 
The latest sown, and which have failed to “bulb” properly, ought to 
be left where they are, as these may produce an acceptable crop ot 
greens. Leeks are perfectly hardy, and continue to increase in size 
whenever the weather is mild. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Allamandas.— These will continue to flower for some weeks longer, 
provided they are liberally supplied with stimulants. Plants grown in 
pots will be crowded with roots, and a dressing of decayed manure on the 
surface will help them to develop their flowers; in addition to liquid 
manure frequently, artificials may be applied to the surface. If the 
plants are not well supplied with food the flowers will be small and only 
poorly developed. Growths that have done flowering should be thinned 
out, so that the energy of the plants may be devoted to the development 
of the flower buds that are formed. Light will also be admitted to the 
occupants beneath and also to the flowers, which will be of a brighter 
colour. 
Gesneras. — Be careful not to water these on their fo.iage or 
they will be browned and disfigured. At this period of the year until 
they come into flower they do best on a shelf fairly close to the glass, 
where a good heat and a fair amount of moisture is maintained. Give 
these plants clear soot water every time they need water. Be careful not 
to allow them to become dry ; on the other hand, they should not be 
kept wet. 
Tydaeas. —Those that are coming into flower may be removed to 
the stove proper, but they should have the driest position or else the 
foliage will damp. The remaining portion of the stock may be given 
the treatment advised for Gesneras. Spring-flowering kinds of the 
Madame Heine type that do not make underground stems may have a 
temperature of about 60°. These do best standing on some moisture¬ 
holding material. 
Crotons. —Plants that are needed for room decoration should be 
given slightly cooler treatment than the main stock of Crotons. 
When well hardened these plants last in such positions for a very much 
onger period of time ; in fact, double the length of time than when 
removed from a close moist structure where a high temperature is main¬ 
tained. Growth should now be complete and. no attempt must be 
made to force these plants to grow. Young leaves made at this season 
rarely colour, and if used in rooms before these are developed they 
invariably flag and frequently fall oif. 
Acalyphas. —Plants grown for winter decoration in rooms should 
not be kept too warm, or they will continue to grow and the young 
leaves flag when removed to cooler and more draughty quarters. These 
plants should occupy an intermediate structure where air can be given 
daily. This not only prevents further growth but hardens the plants so 
that they bear room decoration fairly well for a time without losing 
their foliage. For the conservatory in summer these plants will in 
future replace Coleus altogether. When properly grown for this purpose 
they stand well and are much more effective, being choicer in appear¬ 
ance than Coleus. Plants that have become shabby may be cut down 
and placed in heat to break. Keep them on the dry side at first or 
the roots will perish. 
Polnsettias. —The earliest batch will have commenced to show their 
bracts, and these may have a temperature of 65°. The plants, if strong 
and well grown, will develop large bracts in this temperature. Keep 
them as near the glass as possible ; on this depends whether the bracts 
are brilliant in colour or the reverse. Feed with weak stimulants every 
time water is needed. Later batches should be kept at 60° with a little 
air daily until growth is completed, when the temperature may be 
raised. If kept too warm before the completion of growth the plants 
often start growing, and only poor bracts are produced. 
Euphorbia jacquinleeflora. —Keep plants at 55 to GO until they 
display their flower buds; if the growths have not been well ripened and 
are kept too warm they will start into growth instead of flowering. 
Once they do this all chance of their blooming satisfactorily is over. Do 
not overwater these plants, for they are very liable to go off at their 
roots if kept too wet. Justicia flavicoma, not yet showing flower, may 
have the same treatment. Plants that are showing flower may be 
brought into bloom in the temperature advised. 
Celoslas. —Plants that have been kept in a temperature of 55° to 
60° to bring them into flower should be carefully and gradually hard¬ 
ened before they are placed in the conservatory. When forced out in 
heat and removed direct to a lower temperature they are liable to damp 
off just above the soil. When care is taken to harden them they should 
be watered judiciously and then they will last a long time. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Wm. Clibran & Son, Oldfield Nurseries, Altrincham.— Roses, Shrubs, 
Fruit Trees, Sfc. . 
Ealph Crossling, Penarth Nurseries, South Wales.— Fruit lrees, 
Roses, fyc. 
E. P. Dixon & Sons, Hull.— Forest and Ornamental Trees, Roses, ftc. 
Pitcher & Manda, Hextable, Swanley, Kent.— Chrysanthemums. 
W. Wells, Earlswood Nurseries, Kedhill.— Chrysanthemums. 
APIARIAN NOTES. 
Never in all my experience has the work of the apiary been 
so long delayed as during the present autumn. Many apiaries still 
remain as the hives were brought from the Heather, and many to 
feed yet. My own have all been finished and fed as required for 
more than a week now ; but should a favourable day occur 
between this and the middle of November, I shall give all a feed. 
This is very good for bees at the beginning of winter, encouraging 
them to fly out and clean themselves thoroughly, by which they 
are enabled to withstand a protracted winter. 
Narrow Doorways. 
Every one of my hives have their doorways contracted to three- 
quarters of an inch, and I shall allow them to remain so until the 
bees in spring show a desire to have them widened. Should they 
take an airing any day during winter I may widen them until their 
flight is past, then close again. 
Winter Preservation of Bees. 
This has been long studied, and is still a problem to many 
bee-keepers ; but in my own apiary that has been many years 
solved. It is now thirty years or more since I wrote to the Cottage 
Gardener, explaining my method of insensible upward ventilation, 
and Mr. G. M. Doolittle in “ Gleanings” for October speaks of the 
system favourably. He says : “ I adopted the plan as it was then 
termed, although I now look at it as practically no direct ventila¬ 
tion, unless you can call it ventilation which we have when sleep¬ 
ing under our warm comforters on a cold winter night. Precisely 
so. Just what I practised and taught so long since, and still con¬ 
tinue to do so, because it is the only method we can successfully 
bring bees safely through winter. 
Bees never die of old age. They only become worn out by much 
flying, or succumb at an early age to the rigours of a severe winter 
when located in hives having either a draught or dampness inside 
the hive. Youthful bees that have never flown and that were bred 
late in the fall, are those that die first and communicate disease 
through cold to the adult bees between November and February. 
During my stay at the Heather I visited several batches of bees, 
numbering from twenty to forty hives in each lot. In one of the 
latter there was a division of 20 feet between two sets of hives. 
There was nothing else to distinguish or influence them in any way, 
all looking easterly towards the Heather, and within 20 feet of a 
field of Oats, sheltered behind by a stone dyke and a few trees. 
One batch had a good-sized swarm of dead bees in front of every 
hive besides what were lying scattered further beyond, and a 
number of them dead. In another lot in a line with them there 
was scarcely a dead bee to be seen. In the last named the 
entrances were less wide and apparently better covered, while 
the former had very wide entrances and the ventilators opened. 
This was all the difference I could distinguish between the two 
lots, the hives being similar in all other respects. 
In another batch of forty hives there were four better protected 
than the others, being well covered with felt, and the entrances 
were half the size of the others. These four hives lost very little 
weight, while all the others did, from 10 to 20 lbs. each. 
Strong Hives. 
I never had hives so full of bees as they are this autumn ; in 
’act, more than I care for at this season. Too many consume 
nuch honey, and are unnecessary to carry on all the breeding 
squired for swarms at the proper period ; better, however, too 
nany than too few. I hope for the best, and for better seasons 
than the one now closed. Strong hives at the present time are, or 
aught to be, the great desiderata of bee-keepers. One queen to 
ane hive properly managed meets all the requirements of the 
majority of bee-keepers, but in some cases it is absolutely necessary 
to have the progeny of two queens in one hive. _ 
Premising then, that all have their hives in proper order to 
withstand the winter and survive the spring unscathed by extreme 
zero weather or internal dampness, and anxious to catch the first 
flow of honey, a proportion of hives must be sacrificed at not less 
than one month before the expected first honey yield. In another 
article I will explain how to accomplish this.—A Lanarkshire 
Bee-keeper. 
