August IS, 1888. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
157 
fully grown plants are very liable to die. Cuttings root freely in any 
light sandy soil if they are kept close in the propagating frame or under 
handglasses, provided they are shaded from the sun. 
Sonerilas .—However good pots or pans may be at the approach of 
winter they are very liable to damp oil before spring. The only means 
of keeping them safely through the winter is to strike cuttings at the 
present time. The best plan is to insert a number of cuttings in 3 to 
4-inch pots, in which they should be allowed to grow until spring, 
when they will yield cuttings in abundance for making pots and pans 
for the ornamentation of the stove during summer. 
Epiphyllwnis .—Plants that have completed their growth should be 
gradually hardened and fully exposed to the sun to ripen them, for upon 
this depends whether they flower profusely or the reverse. Water care¬ 
fully, but do not allow the plants to suffer by an insufficient supply. 
Encourage in a genial temperature those that have not yet completed 
their growth. Plants worked in spring are still growing rapidly, and 
these must have a fair amount of light or they will prove too soft to 
flower freely. 
Amaryllises .—When growth is completed Amaryllises must still be 
liberally supplied with water, at the same time give abundance of air and 
expose them to full sunshine. Make no attempt to dry them by withholding 
water. As the bulbs complete and mature their growth the foliage will 
naturally fade. Assist seedlings to grow as luxuriantly as possible, but 
be careful not to keep them too close or overshade them so as to draw 
up their foliage weakly. If the young plants have abundance of roots 
weak stimulants will be beneficial. 
Thyrsacanthvs rutilans .—Plants that are well established in 5 and 
6-inch pots should be grown under cool frame treatment. If kept in 
the stove they soon become a prey to scale and run up very tall, which is 
not the case when cooler treatment is given. When they have rooted 
freely in their largest pots give weak soot water in a clear state about 
twice a week, which will impart a fine dark hue to the foliage. With 
good treatment this plant should have at flowering time dark green 
foliage down to the rim of the pots. Plants in this condition are very 
effective when in flower elevated above others to display their slender 
drooping stems of scarlet flowers. 
Winter-flowering Plants .—The weather has been so cold that many 
stove and intermediate plants could not be shifted into cool frames. 
Up to the present time it has been necessary to use fire heat generally 
for these plants, and the pits and houses they occupy are becoming too 
crowded. The weather appears to have changed, and these plants must 
be thinned so as to give them room to develope. If care has been 
taken to use no more fire heat than has been absolutely necessary 
Poinsettias, Euphorbias and such plants will be in good condition for 
removal to cold frames without fear of checking them. 
PROSPECTS OF THE HEATHER HARVEST. 
THE PRICE OF HONEY. 
The desolate appearance of the moorlands hardly augurs well 
for the Heather harvest. Walking from Buxton over the moors 
in the direction of the “ Cat and Fiddle,” and striking out 
thence in various directions on a day having more of November 
than July in it, we were struck by the appearance of the Heather, 
which can hardly fail this year to be unusually late. The weather 
—cold, wet, and sunless—lends no help, and with a continuance of 
the same conditions for another fortnight bee-keepers will be -wise 
to look carefully into the prospective profit before exposing their 
stocks to a winter’s weathering on the hillsides with only a small 
chance of a profitable result. The Heather harvest is at the best 
very fatal to the bees, sudden storms sweeping them away to de¬ 
struction and almost depopulating the hives ; and yet, provided the 
Heather is in good bloom and the weather is at all promising, the 
future result is worth the present risk, especially in those localities 
where, as “ A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper ” informs us, driven bees 
may be had in almost any quantity at a merely nominal price. 
With the certainty of thus being able to reinforce our stock by 
adding bees obtained in such a manner the winter may be looked 
forward to without anxiety, but where the bee-keeper has to pur¬ 
chase his bees at a high price, and can then with difficulty obtain 
them, the winter will be disastrous to stocks sent to the Heather 
unless the conditions are favourable. If, however, the weather 
during this month and next should be favourable, those bee-keepers 
who are able to obtain a harvest of Heather honey will reap a profit 
larger in proportion than in other years, where the Clover and low¬ 
land bloom has yielded a large surplus of good quality, and the price 
of Heather honey has in sympathy with an overburdened market 
fallen to a lower price than that which is usually obtainable for the 
cream of nectar. 
It may not be out of place to remind those bee-keepers who 
have honey in hand that they can to a very great extent control the 
price this year, and that the value of good honey is certain to rise 
very perceptibly unless some bee-keeper’s friend—possessing the 
power to do so—imports foreign produce, and by doing so floods, 
the market and keeps the price at a figure which, though it may be 
profitable to the wholesale dealer and the middleman, hardly pays 
the bee-keeper a just wage for his labour and a due per-centage or 
his capital. We hope that patriotism may withstand the interests 
of the pocket, and that no importation of foreign produce will be 
brought about by those whose duty it is to foster the British in¬ 
dustry. 
Already the retailer is inquiring for honey. Last year the 
producer had to search for the purchaser. The purchaser in the 
past has been to a great extent the master of the situation. The 
bad season has changed all this, and the man who looks after his 
own interests will obtain a large price for his product ; but im 
order to do so he must be in no hurry to dispose of his surplus, 
but quietly aavait the turn of events, taking not necessarily the 
first opportunity of getting rid of his stock, but the rather waiting: 
and availing himself of the first offer which will enable him to clear 
out at a price which shall be relatively higher in proportion, as the 
surplus this year has been less than in the last few preceding 
seasons. One-pound sections should realise at least 15d. each, and! 
some have been disposed of already at an even higher price. Those 
who have kept over a stock from last year will have their reward 
now, while those who assisted in the autumn to flood the market, 
and to lower prices by doing so, w r ill now, no doubt, regret that 
they sold at a sacrifice what could now be sold at a really renume- 
rative price. At the present time we have some sections taken last- 
summer which are in the finest condition, and which will, no doubt,, 
realise i very high price, as we have already had more than one 
good offer, although the price offered has not yet tempted us to sell. 
Comb honey, if kept in a warm dry cupboard well covered up and 
preserved from mice and insects, will keep a very long time in goodl 
condition, and in many cases no perceptible granulation will be- 
perceived, but certain kinds of honey do undoubtedly granulate 
almost immediately after removal from the hive. Such honey is; 
comparatively valueless for sale in the comb, but as bee-keepers 
know, honey extracted from the comb may, if it granulates, be 
reduced to a liquid form again by judicious heating, but care must- 
be taken not to expose it to a greater heat than necessary, because; 
the stronger the heat the greater the loss of aroma and flavour. 
Granulated honey in the comb is of relatively small value ; granu 
lated run honey may be reduced to its first state with little loss. 
It is for the bee-keeper to say whether the difference in price 
between comb and extracted honey will compensate him for the 
extra risk entailed in the case of comb honey, and having formed 
his conclusions, the individual bee-keeper must act upon them, and 
the result will, in the end, depend upon the wisdom of his con¬ 
clusions. 
In future issues it is our intention to treat of the preparation 
of stocks for winter, with the object of impressing upon all bee¬ 
keepers the necessity of exercising present care if they desire 
future success.—F elix. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Dicksons & Co., 1, Waterloo Place, Edinburgh.— Catalogue of Flower 
Roots , 1888. 
William Cutbush & Sons, Higligate.— Catalogue of Hyacinths - r 
Tulips, Ac., 188S. 
Sutton Si Sons, Reading.— Illustrated Catalogue of Bulbs. 
I 
