Jnne 21, 186a J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
521 
wall cases. The Strawberr}’^ that has been most satisfactory with us 
this season has been Sir Joseph Paxton, which we use along with Presi¬ 
dent for starting after the new year ; La Grosse Sucree, Vicomtesse 
Hericart de Thury, and Sir Harry or Keens’ Seedling being put in at 
the same time. Noble is useful for forcing, as it sets and swells freely, 
is free from mildew, the fruit is of an even form and good size, and 
finishes well. Mr. Radclyile and J.ames Veitcb are grown for their size. 
Sir Charles Napier is perhaps the most taking in appearance of Straw¬ 
berries, and Marguerite is large and brilliant. For late use none rivals 
British Queen, Dr. Hogg, and Coekscomb. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
CJirysantliemums .—Plants intended for the production of large 
flowers will be growing and rooting freely in their largest pots. 
Supply water carefully, and syringe liberally twiee daily when the 
weather is bright and warm. Side growths as they appear should be 
removed, and the main shoots secured to stakes or other supports as they 
e.xtend. Aphides arc very liable to attack the plants at this stage of 
their growth, principally in the points. The best remedy is to syringe 
lightly and then dust the affeeted parts with tobacco. This will destroy 
the insects in a short time, and the powder should then be washed out of 
the shoots by the aid of the syringe. Where loam in a moderately fresh 
state has been used for potting, grass will grow on rapidly ; this can be 
kept down by constantly stirring the surface. It is bad practice to 
allow it to grow until it is large enough for pulling up. Plants potted 
at the same time and intended for bushes may have their shoots pinched 
back for the last time, or they may be allowed to extend without. The 
only difference will be taller plants by the last method and a smaller 
number of shoots, but better blooms can be secured. Length in the 
stems is of no moment with us, and therefore Elaine and all the early- 
flowering section will not be pinched again. Later plants will have all 
the leading points removed, inserted singly in 3-inch pots, and rooted in 
cold frames. Plants raised from cuttings now will be useful for 
decoration in 5 and 6-inch pots, with one to three flowers on the top of 
the stems. Pinch all intended for late flowering, and when they have 
started into growth place them in their largest pots. Cuttings rooted at 
the end of April in boxes and pinched are ready for placing in G-inch 
pots. These will be pinched once after they are established in this size, 
and will then become dwarf and useful for furnishing purposes. Large 
bushes intended for supplying cut flowers need not have the whole of 
the shoots staked singly, four or five stakes at the most according to the 
size of the pots will be ample placed /ound the sides, sloping outwards. 
These can be supplied as opportunities present themselves ; round these 
matting can be tied, so that the branches cannot be blown out or broken 
by the wind. As tbe plants grow another row of matting can be secured 
to the stakes, and so on until the end of the season, provided the stakes 
at first are long enough. This is an easier, quicker, and better method 
than trying to secure the plants to one strong stake ; they are liable to 
be crowded by this method, but not by the other. The stakes and 
matting, if the plants are well grown, are at the end of the season hidden 
from view by their stems and foliage. 
Hydrangeas .—Plants that have missed flowering of the varieties of 
H. hortensis should have the points taken out and rooted. These if 
taken near the top root freely in handlights under the shade of Cucum¬ 
bers or Melons, in fact in any moderately warm close structure. If the 
cuttings are kept moist they will quickly emit roots from the stem on 
the surface of the soil. Place the cuttings in 2-inch pots, and confine 
them to these until they are mature. The object is to prevent tbeir grow¬ 
ing, so that when placed in their largest pots they will be furnished with 
leaves to the base when they flower. This cannot be accomplished if 
the plants are allowed to attain more than a few inches in length before 
the autumn. The plants from which the cuttings have been removed 
should be cut closely back. These if plunged outside without repotting 
them will make and ripen three or four sturdy short growths, each of 
which another season will bear heads of bloom. 
Tree CarnMwns .—Carnations intended for autumn flowering will be 
growing freely in 6-inch pots. They should be plunged in a sunny 
position, and every care taken that the soil never becomes dry. Insuf¬ 
ficient water brings the plants into a woody stunted condition, and 
instead of making abundance of growth they will be constantly pro¬ 
ducing flowering shoots. Any of these that may appear should be 
pinched off at once, and the plants encouraged to make as much growth 
as possible. The whole stock, except those rooted late, will now be 
b.-tter outside than in frames. Eepot as the plants become ready, 
and be careful not to allow them to become root-bound before the work 
is done. Failure in the growth of these plants is often due to this cause 
alone. Watch for red spider, which is liable to attack the plants if once 
they become checked. The best and quickest method of eradicating it 
if it becomes established on the plants is to dip or syringe them 
thoroughly in a solution of water and sulphur, a 3-inch potful in three 
gallons of water will be ample for the purpose. Plants of Souvenir de la 
Malmaison placed ' in 6-inch pots early in the season, and with the 
centre removed as soon as signs of flowering were visible, will now be 
strong with from four to eight good shoots at the base, and may be 
shifted into 9-inch pots, and large specimens for next year’s flowering will 
be the result. In potting press the soil moderately firm in well drained 
pots. Employ good loam, one-seventh of decayed manure, one- 
third leaf mould and sand. Do not feed these plants with strong 
stimulants. 
Calceolarias .—Sow a little seed on the surface of fine soil in a pan. 
Do not cover the seed, but water gently with a fine-rose can. A square 
of glass should then be placed over the pan .and damp moss on the 
surface. Place the pan in a eool shady frame until the seed germinates. 
Wiodantlics .—The later Khodanthes should be sown at once, and 
flowering plants will then be h.ad in September. Sow the seed in o-inch 
pots, liglitly cover with fine soil, and stand them in a cold frame until 
germination has taken place. The soil may bo watered and the frame 
shaded. Keep the seedlings in a cool situation. 
^ A-A.i-r-'.rKT.j . 1 ^ . , ., . , . ^ i ♦ r- ■ .t-.- j - j ■ u .-rJ 
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HE I 
JEE-KEEPER. 
THE MANAGEMENT OF SWARMS.—No. 3. 
In the old days when skeps were almost universally in use,, it 
was comparatively easy to hive swarms, but by the use of frame 
hives some little additional difficulty has been occasioned. The 
swarm may be hived in any convenient receptacle, and although a. 
skep is generally as convenient as anything else, a bucket, box, or 
something of a like nature may be used with equal success. Most 
bee-keepers know how to hive a swarm in the first instance, and it 
will therefore only be necessary to say that care should be taken tO' 
hold the skep well under the cluster, and to give one good firm 
shake rather than several feeble ones. If the queen falls into, or is 
placed in the skep, the bees will as a consequence also cluster within 
it, and bearing this in mind our only anxiety is to insure the queen’s 
presence in the skep. The swarm will in a very short time, say- 
twenty minutes, cluster in the skep, which should, immediately 
after the bees were shaken into it, have been turned right way up 
on a sheet, and the swarm will then be ready for hiving in its per¬ 
manent home. When there is rank grass just under the clustering 
swarm a sheet should be placed beneath to save the bees not falling 
into the skep, when the twig on which the cluster rests is shaken, 
from tumbling into the grass and becoming entangled, and con¬ 
sequently being longer in rejoining the queen, and so delaying the 
final operation. Sometimes swarms cluster in very inconvenient 
places, and in such instances each bee-keeper must exercise his. 
ingenuity in hiving them, bearing in mind that a feather dipped in 
carbolic acid, or a strong smoker, will cause a swarm gradually to 
leave any position which it may have taken up. When once the 
swarm has joined the queen the second part of the manipulation must 
be taken in hand, because the bees will very soon begin to work, and 
as they leave the skep will note their position and return to it. By 
removing the swarm to a new position these bees are compelled to 
return to the old stock, and as a result the swarm is weakened. 
There are several ways of placing a swarm already hived in a 
skep into a frame hive, but perhaps the simplest, and in the hands of 
an unskilled bee-keeper the most certain, method is to fasten a 
sheet to the floorboard of the frame liive and to place a brick at 
each corner of the sheet where it touches the ground, thus forming 
a kind of gentle incline from the earth to the hive entrance. The 
hive itself may be raised an inch or more above the floorboard, and 
the bees must then by a sudden jerk be thrown from the skep on 
to the -sheet. They will at once commence to run into the hive, 
and the swarm will very shortly be clustered within. The hive 
may then be allowed to fall into its proper position on the floor¬ 
board, and the manipulation is ended. If the bees do not begin to 
run up at once a handful or so may be placed at the entrance, when 
with a joyful hum they will tell the good news of a home found at 
last to those still remaining on the sheet, and the whole swarm 
will at once begin to move, and soon a vast continuous march o-f 
the thousands of happy insects will fill the bee-keeper with glad¬ 
ness, and make him certain of the success of the manipulation. 
There is, however, always a chance if the queen has not been seen 
that .she has been left behind, and the swarm will then leave the 
hive and return in a body to the old stock ; but provided that the 
queen has been secured, the swarm will not leave the hive unless 
the bees are compelled by some very untoward circumstance— 
such as great and unbearable heat—to seek a more comfortable 
home. 
