416 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 9, 1896. 
theory, the former at the present time should be the stronger of 
the two, whereas quite the reverse is the case, as the latter is one 
of the strongest stocks in my apiary, and the former one of the 
weakest. Why this should be I do not know, but the fact remains 
that it is not necessary or advisable to requeen a stock that is doing 
well. 
There are exceptions to every rule, and this is one to the point, 
still in a general way young queens are to be preferred to aged 
ones. I have often had queens do much better the second year, 
but I do not advise them to be kept longer. This, however, should 
not be left to chance, but a system should be carried out whereby 
half the stocks in an apiary should be requeened each year, and it 
ought to be done as early in the season as possible.—A n English 
Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
W. & J. Birkenhead, Sale, Manchester .—Catalogue of Ferns and 
Selaginellas. 
G. Bunyard & Co., Maidstone .—Herhaceons and Other Plants, 
E. P. Dixon & Sons, Hull .—New Plants. 
W. Lovel & Son, Driffield, Yorks .—Strawberry List, 
All correspondence should be directed either to “ The 
Editor or to “ The Publisher.” Letters addressed to 
Dr. Hogg or members of the staflE 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. 
Salt for iisparagus and Seakale (^Saline') —It is not too late 
to put salt on Asparagus beds, but it is best to give it earlier, both for 
the benefit of the “grass” and as a deterrent of slugs. A dressing of 
2 or 3 ozs. per square yard should be applied just before growth 
commences in spring, but a little will do no harm at other times during 
the summer ; in fact, will do good in dry soils. It is best scattered on 
with the hand, and a showery day selected, as it will then soon disappear. 
Salt is also beneficial to Seakale, applying it similarly as for Asparagus, 
and preferably before the plants commence growing, or, if afterwards 
keeping it from the leaves, as all it falls on will be more or less damaged’ 
Potato Curl (^H, P .")—Hallier advocated the view that the cause 
of this puzzling disease is Pleospora polytricha, but Eeinke and Berthold 
opposed it; while Schenck, in a series of observations and the cultiva¬ 
tion of the diseased plants, obtained from them fungi which were much 
like one form of conidia attributed to Pleospora herbarum, and which he 
called Sporidesmium exitiosum var. Solani. Following this up, and 
from Nature—the only real authority—we found that sets containing 
mycelium of curl fungus produced haulm on which were borne from 
hyphae within the leaves the outgrowths of Macrosporium commune 
var. Solani, identical with Schenck’s Sporidesmium, and later there 
was developed the perfect form or resting stage, known as Pleospora 
herbarum. This is frequently confounded with Cladosporium herbarum, 
simply because it is found in association with P. herbarum, but there is 
no connection whatever between the two. 
Strawberries for Forcing iPaniel^.—Li Grosse Sucr4e, Eoyal 
Sovereign, Auguste Nicaise and Sir Joseph Paxton. Stevens’ Wonder, 
and Laxton’s Leader are very promising first and second early varieties 
respectively, and well worth obtaining for stock. We think Stevens’ 
Wonder will be distributed by Messrs. Cutbush & Son, and will no doubt 
be duly advertised. The runners should be layered either, as soon as they 
are ready, in small pots or in the fruiting pots, selecting those from 
fruiting plants only, and the earliest and strongest runners, leaving them 
attached to the parent plants until well rooted. For the final potting 
a rather strong loam is best, but the plants will do well in light fibrous 
loam, adding a peck of wood ashes and a 9-inch potful of some approved 
fertiliser to every barrowload of loam and mixing thoroughly. Your 
questions on bulbs are not clear. If you require a succession of both 
kinds from Christmas till May it cannot be effected in the most satis¬ 
factory manner by any three varieties of each kind, especially of 
Tulips. Please write again, there is plenty of time for ordering bulbs. 
Destroying Woodlice (27. A.).—It has been repeatedly stated 
that woodlice have been caught in thousands by placing some partially 
decayed and dirty old boards face to face, and covering these with 
litter where the pests abound. Smooth new boards are of no use, but 
the older they are the better, and there should be space for the woodlice 
to enter between them. They should be examined every morning, taken 
up, held like a trough, and the contents emptied into a tank or vessel 
of water. It is a certain mode of riddance if properly carried out. 
Hedge Unsatisfactory (il7. 6*.).—It is extremely difficult, and 
sometimes impossible to induce a thin hedge to thicken at the bottom 
without reducing its height. Improvement may sometimes be effected 
by cutting down some of the growths which form the hedge without 
materially impairing it as a screen ; and some growths may occasionally 
be spared for “ laying ”—that is, cutting them almost through at or 
near the base, so that they can be bent down and affixed in position where 
required. Hedges often get weak through poverty of soil and drought, 
and they invariably suffer in that respect under trees. The only remedy 
in such a case is to break up the ground, so that strong and copious 
supplies of liquid manure can be directed to the roots, afterwards top¬ 
dressing with a thick layer of good manure. Where it is convenient to 
do so strong young plants may be put in for forming a better base, 
providing enriched soil and keeping the roots moist. 
Strawberry Weevils (fLeatherhead'). —Various weevils attack 
Strawberries, and most destructive they are. Those you send are, we 
think, small or young examples of Otiorhynchus picipes; but other 
species are similarly injurious, and the habits of all are practically the 
same. They eat almost anything green, and often do serious damage 
to Vines, Eoses, Ferns, Easpberries, and Strawberries. They hide in the 
daytime and feed at night, as a rule. Many have been caught at night 
under glass by shaking infested Vines or plants over white sheets, in 
order that the peats may be visible and secured. In Easpberry planta¬ 
tions thousands have been literally “secured ” by shaking the plants at 
night over wooden troughs smeared with tar. Easpberry growers say 
petroleum is of no use against the weevils, as “ they like it.”_ Slates^ or 
tiles laid between the rows of Strawberries have proved tempting lurking 
places for weevils, and many have been caught by their aid. Gas 
liquor diluted with five or six volumes of water and carbolic acid have 
also proved useful applications. Mr. Abbey mentions preparations 
(No. 3) at the foot of page 378 last week, which might be tried ; but 
weevils are proverbially difficult to deal with, and nowhere less so than 
in beds of Strawberries. You should make a fresh plantation distant 
from the old, and when this is destroyed dress the site with gas lime, 
half a bushel to the rod, to remain on the surface for two or three 
months before digging and cropping. 
Tomato Stem and Root Diseased {J, L ,"),—The stem and root 
are badly infested with eelworm, and swarm with cysts or developing 
eggs of the parasite, which in all the stages of the micro-organism is 
well represented. The long bodies are the males, the short and stout 
ones the females. The oblong bodies are the cysts or developing young, 
their form being clearly seen through the enclosing membrane or sac, 
and the oval bodies found on the breaking up of the pear-shaped 
receptacles are the eggs, which simply grow into cysts, often within the 
parent, and burst forth. The plants in such case are too far gone for 
recuperation, but you may use a solution of nitrate of soda, 1 oz. to a 
gallon of water, and when the plants need water again supply a solution 
of kainit, 1 oz. of the salt to 1 gallon of water. This is a good and 
safe remedy, always provided that the plants are not too far gone, and 
it is followed by placing turves against the stems above ground, so as to 
induce roots from that part for the supply of nutriment to the plants. 
The turves should be disinfected by the saturation of them a few days 
prior to use with the foregoing solutions, which will give excellent 
results in the crop with freedom from eelworm. The species of eelworm 
is Anguillula obtusa, a common British one, and mainly differs from 
A. or Heterodesa radicicola in the males being shorter or more obtuse. 
The treatment advised is only for Cucumber and Tomato plants in fruit 
BO as to enable them to perfect their crops. 
Wireworms (A. G, G,"). — The guano, 28 lbs. per chain, is an 
excellent dressing, and ought to give good results, both as regards the 
wireworm and the crop of Eunner Beans, which, as you say, soon 
outgrow the pests when the Bean plants begin to make lateral roots. 
A dressing of quicklime fresh from the kiln is excellent for land infested 
with wireworm, especially that of old turf recently broken up. Half 
a ton per square chain, placing the quicklime in heaps convenient 
for spreading, sprinkling with water, and covering with a little soil 
till fallen. Whilst quite hot and floury the lime should be spread 
and pointed-in with a fork not more than 6 inches deep. Corrosive 
sublimate solution would kill the wireworm, but it must be very 
cautiously used, as there is danger of its getting into wells with the 
drainage water, or into other receptacles, where it may cause serious 
consequences to man and beast. Sprinkling the rows with it would be 
quite sufficient, and 1 oz. to 30 gallons of water a suitable strength. The 
price of corrosive sublimate is about 6d. per ounce retail. It should 
be procured finely pulverised, and must not be handled in the pure 
state. Hellebore powder sprinkled on beans with a dredger vvill not 
hurt the wireworms unless they eat it, which they are very unlikely to 
do. We advise the lime and nothing else, unless you like to use 
phenyle, which will kill or drive the wireworms away, and materially 
aid the plants in their growth, Wireworms are not at all 
Tomato plants, but they will eat the roots, and the reason they did not 
attack yours was probably due to the guano mixed with the sou. 
