324 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 4, 1838. 
■combs containing sufficient honey may tike the place of the empty 
■ones already in the stock, or syrup may be supplied in large quan¬ 
tities until the necessary amount of food has been stored and 
sealed. The large round tin feeder is one of the best possible 
for rapid feeding. This feeder must be placed at the top of 
the hive immediately over the clustering bees, and must be 
replenished every evening until the stock has taken from 15 to 
30 lbs. of syrup. The amount will be regulated according to 
the estimated weight of food already in the combs, but not less than 
t25 lbs. of sealed store should at the end be left in every stock for 
winter and spring -use. It is false economy to spare sugar and 
spoil the stock. These are the necessary instructions given in a 
-concise form, and they are sufficiently simple to enable everyone 
who desires to commence bee-keeping to do so with a reasonable 
prospect of success. 
The following points need special care :— 
1, Large population. 
2, Good queen. 
3, Abundance of food. 
We may add that bees removed from a situation les3 than from 
-one and a half to two miles distant from their old location return 
-to their accustomed place, and many of them are consequently lost. 
This point will need care. 
The above method is only one of many plans, but it has 
^always appeared simple, easy to carry out, and inexpensive. 
To add other methods might rather confuse than instruct the 
novice, and we therefore hesitate at present to add more than has 
already been written lest some gaining a little knowledge only of 
The principles of more advanced bee-keeping should use that imper¬ 
fect knowledge to the destruction of their own interests.— Felix. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
W. Paul & Son, Waltham Cross .—Cataloqve of Roses, 1SS8-18S9. 
Charles Turner, Royal Nurseries, Slo .gh .—Catalogue of Roses, Fruit 
Trees, and Nursery Stoel;. 
J. Ckeal & Sons, Crawley, Sussex .—Catalogue of Trees, Shrubs, Roses, 
mwI Fruit Trees. 
"%* 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 
dihe paper only. We cannot reply to questions through the 
jpost, and we do not undertake to return rejected communica¬ 
tions. 
Address (A. W., Leicester'). — The address you require is Mr. J. 
Witherspoon, Red Rose Vineries, Chester-le Street, Durham. 
Chrysanthemum Catalogue (A. T.). Write to Mr. W. Holmes, 
Frampton Park Nursery, Hackney. The price is Is. Id. post free. 
American Papers ( T. C.). — The American Florist is published at 
.54, La Salle Street, Chicago. Vou had better write to the publisher, who 
will give you the information required. 
Hoya carnosa (T. G .).—Fruits are occasionally produced by (his 
plant, and the peculiarity you remark about the seeds is a characteristic 
of many members of the same family, the Asclepiadacete. 
Fruit Trees for South-east Wall (Idem). —Cherries and Plums 
are the most suitable, but it may be used for Pears, such as Jargonelle, 
Williams’ P> m Chretien, Fond ante d’Automne, Doyennh du Comice, 
Pitmaston Duchess, and Durondeau. 
Celery (R. R .).—The Celery is infested by a f ungns, and altogether 
appears to be in an exceedingly bad condition. Cut off the worst leaves 
and possibly the others may come clean, but the soil must be unsuitable 
in some way, and if you have a good stock it would be wise to destroy 
these plants. 
Orchids (71 B. M .).—Do not withhold water so long as growth is 
advancing, but under cultivation the pseudo-bulbs do not always attain 
the same size as these plants have when imported, and the size also 
varies in different seasons. Try Mr. P>. S. Williams’ “ Orchid Growers’ 
Manual.” A new edition of the work you mention is in preparation, 
that will probably contain much of the information you seem to desire. 
An Early Blue Plum (7. II. IF., Canada .).—Probably the variety 
to which you allude is Early Rivers, a small early Plum remarkable for 
its fertility. The flesh is tender, sweet, juicy, with a brisk flavour, 
and separates from the stone. It is ripe in July and early August. 
Write to the nurserymen who make a speciality of fruit trees respecting 
your other question. 
Funkia grandiilora (7. S .).— This plant succeeds and flowers well 
in pots, and probably you would find those mentioned more satisfactory 
in this way. At a recent meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society 
Mr. Roupell exhibited a plant in a pot with eight fine spikes of flowers. 
Grown in this style it has a fine appearance. If the soil is too rich in 
the border it would have a tendency to devclope the foliage at the 
expense of the flowers. 
Cucumber Boots Diseased (Telegraph). —The roots are in a very 
bad condition and affected by the disease which has been repeatedly 
noticed in this Journal. An illustration with description was given on 
page 473, June 4th, 1885. The nodules are caused by minute worm-like 
creatures, which increase rapidly and induce the sudden failure and root 
decay of which you complain. Olear out the soil and manure, and 
thoroughly cleanse the house. 
Xioofali (IF. II., Essex ).—The fruit sent is that of Luffa regyptiaca, 
a cucurbitaceous plant found in Egypt and other eastern countries. The 
portion sold in shops and used for bathing purposes is the vascular tissue 
of the fruit after the pulp has been removed. The species named and 
Luffa acutangula are known to the Arabians as Liff or Louff, and the 
fruit is made into a pickle like the Mango, but it has a disagreeable 
flavour, and is not considered very wholesome. 
Wintering Tea Boses in Pots (Tlios. TF). —They should be 
placed in a cool ho ise or other place where protection can be given them 
in severe weather, the pots being plunged to protect the roots from 
frost. Could you not give them a sheltered situation outdoors, 
plunging the pots in ashes over the rims,, and affording mats or other 
protection in severe weather ? A cool house is, however, the best place 
for them, affording water only to keep the soil moderately moist. 
Distance of Vines (F. —We have had Vines 3 feet apart 
which answered fairly well whilst the Grapes were borne on the first 
shoots of the cane, but after they had borne a few years we found the 
distance much too little from the extension of the spurs, and not being 
able to encourage lateral growth, which is necessary for the continued 
success of the Vines. We advise you not having the Vines nearer than 
4 feet, and j-ou can take two shoots from a spur or otherwise, so as not 
lose anything of crop through not utilising space, but the principal 
foliage in any case must have full exposure to light. 
Amaryllis, G-esneria, KTcegelia, and Tydsea (J. E .).—It 
would be best to keep the bulbs of Amaryllis and corms of the other 
plants in sand a little moist to 'preserve them fresh until they are re¬ 
quired for potting, keeping them in an intermediate or cool stove, and 
where they will be free from drip, as when placed beneath stages they 
are liable to become saturated and either decay or start into growth 
prematurely Our correspondent asks, *• Do any of your correspondents 
know anyway of drying Tqrnatoes on a small scale so as to be avail¬ 
able for winter use ? Making them into sauce so entirely destroys the 
flavour.” We should be obliged by particulars from those having a 
successful method. 
Williams’ Son Chretien Pear Unfruitful (A. R ).— Either the 
blossom is destroyed‘by frost or it is imperfect. Our trees against walls 
have friiited'frcely this year, whilst those of this particular variety have 
not borne any fruit on pyramids worth mentioning. This we attribute 
to the difference in respect' of immunity from frost. If the bloom does 
not set through damage from frosc we can only suggest protection ; 
indeed a crop can hardly be relied on without means of protecting the 
blossom in case of frosts, occurring at the time of setting. The blossom 
may fail to set from imperfection, which usually arises from a deficiency 
of aliment in the previous season, mulching and watering not being 
attended to in dry weather so as to insure the maturation of the buds. 
•More liberal treatment with protection of the blossom would probably 
result in a crop. 
