206 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 30, 1883 
than once ; but there is somethingthe Patent Office does not protect, ant 
while people try to rob inventors of their dues the grievance will 
■continue. “ Felix” has drawn a wrong conclusion fron my article, and 
I shall revert to the subject again. 
THE HEATHER SEASON. 
This will be very late this year. We have failed this year in every 
■other source of honey, and unless there is some line weather during the 
Heather bloom there will be no harvest, as the corn is only in flower 
here, and it could not possibly ripen ; also in the natural order of things 
sail bees would be exterminated, as they have not food enough to last till 
■Christmas. In 1879 we had a very cold wet summer, and the Heather 
■did not open till August 26th ; yet we have not had a Heather season to 
equal it since. Four weeks of hot fine weather would mean the best 
Heather harvest on record. Move your bees, place them a mile from 
the moors in some sheltered place, as I pointed out last year, then, 
should the weather prove bad, the stocks will keep strong. As a matter 
■of fact, it would pay to move bees to the Heather from every part of 
the country, even if only to save feeding, provided they were in hives 
that could be fastened in a practicable manner for the journey. When 
the Royal Agricultural Society takes the bee department in their own 
hands perhaps they will provide a class for hives that will render migratory 
bee-keeping possible and practicable to all. Some for one thing, and most 
for another, we shall all remember the past season. I have had to feed 
Jill my bees all summer except one stock - these are Punic bees I have 
previously spoken so highly of; they have kept up their population, 
including drones, all summer, and if left to Nature, on the laws of the 
survival of the fittest, they would be the only bees remaining. Of 
■course the season has not been a fair one to test any race, but this has 
always stoo 1 out very prominently. 
“ Felix” I see refers to the price of honey, and considers the sections 
■should fetch Is. 3d. each. If I may be allowed to express my opinion 
plainly, I should think the man who accepts less than 2s. 6d. each 
wholesale very unwise. The honey crop nearly all over America is as 
.much a failure as here, and it was a failure last year. There is no coun¬ 
try on the Continent where sections are largely adopted. The only 
■other places are New Zealand and several colonies in Australia, but no 
more were used there last season than they will require themselves, and 
viext season's crop could not be landed here before May, so why not 
■demand 5s. each 1 If you get it, it will help to keep your spirits up in 
feeding for next season. I am working all my sections in glass, and 
not one will I sell under 5s., even if the Heather crop yields 200 lbs. per 
ihive.—A Hallamshire Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Little & Ballantyn", Carlisle. —Bulb List, 1888. 
Diokson’s (Limited), Chester.— Dutch and other Bulbous Roots, 1SS8. 
Hogg & Wood, Coldstream and Duns. — Catalogue of Bulbs. 
James Veitch & Sons, Royal Exotic Nursery, King’s Road, Chelsea. 
—Catalogue of Hyacinths ancl other Bulbs. 
E. P. Dickson & Sons, Hull.— Catalogue of Bulbous and other Flower 
Moots. Lists of Carnations and Strawberries. 
Webb & Sons, Wordsley, Stourbridge.— Bulb Catalogue, 1888. 
Fisher, Son, & Sibray, i, Market Street, Sheffield.— Catalogue of 
-Bulbs and Flower Roots. 
J. Carter & Co., High Holborn, London.— Bulb Catalogue for 1888. 
%* All 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 un¬ 
avoidably. 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 
ithe paper only. We cannot reply to questions through the 
post, and we do not undertake to return rejected communica¬ 
tions. 
Address (If. Williams'). —Mr. William Sunley, Bacchus Hall, 
Moor Allerton, Leeds, was, and we think still is, the address of the 
Secretary of the Gardeners’ Benefit Society to which you refer. It is a 
very good and well managed institution. 
Hardy Herbaceous Plants (II. S.). —You can obtain plants of 
the less common from any of the florists who advertise in this Journal. 
Write to them for a catalogue, and you can select for yourself. 
Striped Single Dahlia (A. 7).—We have seen similar varieties, 
but yours seems to be especially rich in colour. By all means preserve 
it, as it will be useful and effective. 
Worms in Lava (A. S., Glasgow). —The old remedy that has 
been hundreds of times mentioned of saturating the lawn with clear 
lime water is safe and effectual. 
Asphalte Walks (G. D .).—Asphalte walks do not injure trees or 
plants growing in the adjoining borders, nor do they injure the grass 
of a lawn which they bound ; nor would they injure Box edging unless 
the tar was allowed to run among it, which might be easily prevented 
by a board placed before it while the asphalte was being laid down. 
Exhibition Roses ( Curious ).—As you appear to take special 
interest in the tabulated lists of Roses as prepared by Mr. E. Mawley, 
the “ curious ” point to us is that you appear to have missed entirely 
the very complete list published in September, 1887. Another list will 
probably appear during the autumn. 
Exhibiting Plants (.7. S. M .).—The plants named in the list are 
eligible for the prize according to the stipulations of the schedule, 
because there are not more than two of one genus in the collection. It 
is a curiously worded class, as two of the same species could be staged; 
thus the prize could be won by three pairs of plants—for instance, two 
of Odontogtossum vexillarium, two of Oncidium macranthum, and two 
of Anthurium Schertzerianum. 
Specks on Potatoes (Inquirer). —The white specks on the skin of 
the Potato are common to some varieties, especially the rough-skinned, 
which are distinguished for high table quality. The specks are the 
rudimentary form of scab, due to the growth of a fungus (Tubercinia 
scabies) the spores of which are grouped in a globe around an air space. 
With the development of the fungus the spores are set free by the burst¬ 
ing of the skin of the Potato. There is nothing to cause anxiety in the 
present appearance of the Potato, as there is no evidence of disease, and 
the scab will not become serious unless the weather should prove un¬ 
usually wet, or the Potatoes are stored in a wet dirty state. 
melon Pit (A. C. Mel.). —You will find some plans on another 
page, as will “A Seeker for Information” on the same subject. We are 
obliged by your notification, and you are very welcome to what you 
have received. Several persons have become subscribers through 
seeing copies of the Journal sent or lent to them by friends. We ate 
greatly obliged by such friendly co-operation, but it is not our wish that 
anyone should lose by the lending, and we willingly supply numbers, if 
applied to early, in the place of any that are disposed of in that way. 
We, like yourself, value the work of the correspondents to whom you 
refer very highly, and trust you will long derive pleasure and profit from 
their writings. 
Annuals for Spring- (.7. IF.).—A list of annuals suitable for sow¬ 
ing in the autumn for flowering in spring was published on page 108, 
the issue of the 2nd instant; but Nemophilas appear to be omitted. 
They often pass the winter well outdoors in suitable positions and 
thinned early. Well grown in pots they are very attractive. The same 
remarks apply to Saponaria calabrica. Whitlavias and Candytufts do 
not always pass the winter safely without a little protection. Some of 
all the kiuds potted and plunged in ashes near the glass of a light cold 
frame keepwell. Schizanthuses raised at once and wintered on a shelf 
in a light greenhouse are beautiful in the spring when well grown. Ten- 
week Stocks also answer, and there is just time for sowing the London 
Intermediate for flowering in May, though the plants ought to be an inch 
high now. So ought Schizanthuses. 
Rose —Primulas—Grapes (Kirheudbrightshire Reader). — \ou 
must not prune the Rose or it will push fresh growths at the wrong time. 
Less water may be given than hitherto, but not keeping the roots so 
dry as to cause the leaves to flag seriously. If in good health it will 
flower well next year. It cannot have too much sun and air. Your 
Primulas have either been raised too soon, or received a check of some 
kind. All you can do is to pick off the buds, keep the plants cool, and 
give water judiciously. We know of no quick and easy method of 
removing mealy bug from bunches of Grapes. You erred in allowing 
the insects to get in, and will have no easy task in cleansing the Vines 
and house. If you can maintain a temperature of 65° at night, with 
air, the Gros Colman will ripen, but the Vine was not started soon 
enough. 
Ants in Meadow Land (G. F.). — It is difficult to exterminate 
the ants without serious injury to the grass. The ground we presume is 
disfigured by hillocks. Those should be taken down level with the sur¬ 
rounding surface, and distributed evenly over the ground. A dressing 
may then be given of gas lime at the rate of 3 tons per acre, it being 
mixed with fifteen cartloads of compost— i.e., ditch cleanings, road 
sidings, or similar material, so as to insure its equal distribution, care 
being taken that the heap is not placed over the roots of trees, which 
would be seriously injured if not destroyed by the gas lime. It may be 
applied either in the autumn, or as soon after the middle of February as 
practicable. Allow it to lie a few weeks, and when in working order 
work it well with chain harrows. The gas lime may make the grass 
brown, but it will soon recover, and the ants will be driven away if not 
destroyed. The most effectual remedy of a manurial nature is perhaps 
the ammoniacal liquor from the gas works. We use it diluted with six 
times the quantity of house sewage, which includes all house and 
} laundry drainage, distributing it with a liquid manure cart, one dressing 
