June 28. 188 a J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
513 
enough without much additional weight, as the longer the pole the 
more difficult it is to steady. Four feet is long enough for each 
pole. The joints should either he with sockets orscrews ; iftheformer 
pins should be pushed through to prevent slipping. The shortness 
of the poles makes it easier to undo if necessiry, and for storing. 
Here again carbolic acid assists us. A second light rod with 
■carbolised feathers drives the bees in the direction wanted, or dis¬ 
places them altogether. When bees are full of honey they are not 
so flighty as with empty stomachs. Some queens are more lively 
than others, and where more than one is present the swarm is more 
liable to fly away, especially so after being hived. 
Carniolian bees are perhaps more liable to fly back to their first 
hiving place than any other variety if shaken, and it is sometimes 
difficult to secure these bees. The queen’s nature of flying from 
twig to twig or place to place causes the bees to be in many 
clusters, and when once the queen has alighted upon a place the 
bees cling as tenaciously to the spot as if the queen was there, and 
it is often difficult to keep them from it, carbolic acid being 
effectual, but often clusters of bees will be found dead long after 
the swarm has been secured. This year it took two days before I 
could induce the bees of a swarm to cease going back to cluster 
where the queen had been. When observed I cut the spray or 
twig and place it in my straw hat, thereby encouraging the bees to 
enter and drawing them away from the attractive spot, and I some¬ 
times secure the bulk of the bees in it, being light and every way 
adapted for the purpose, but to shake Carniolian bees from a 
service to a permanent hive as advised by “ Felix ” would cause 
many, if not the whole of them, to return either to the parent hive 
or to the spot where they first alighted. 
Then there is always the risk of having the queen killed by 
stranger bees when she is exposed from the centre and protection 
of her own subjects, and where many hives are near each other 
and swarming general the risk is greater, as many bees are on the 
wing, but not for working purposes, and it appears to be their 
nature to kill every queen not their own that falls in their way. 
My advice to bee-keepers is, however successful they may be at 
times with the shaking process, abandon it ; there are always 
shoals ahead, but we need not run direct upon a visible rock 
when the consequence is clear, as it has been long since to— 
A Laxakksiiiee Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIV^ED. 
E. H. Krelage &Son, 19-27. Kleinen Houtweg, Haarlem, Holland.— 
Wholesale Catalogue of Balhs and Plants. 
-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 
the paper only. We cannot reply to questions through the 
post, and we do not undertake to return rejected communica¬ 
tions. 
Sugr^estlons (-!/>•. C. P- O .').—We are greatly obliged, and the 
matter will have attention. 
Abnormal Mint Crowtb (J. II. W.f —It is peculiar and unusual. 
We sent it to the Scientific Committee of the Royal Horticultural 
Society, and it will be referred to in the report of the meeting next week. 
Sing-le Pyrethram (A Draper). —The variety sent is a very good 
one, but not superior to others in cultivation, nor equal to some. It re.- 
sembles one named Lord Lansdowne that we have seen in collections of 
these flowers in the Royal Horticultural Society’s Exhibition Hall at 
Westminster. 
Caterpillars on Apple Trees (^William). —They are caterpillars 
of the Little Ermine moth, Yponomeuta padclla, of which particulars- 
appear on page 479. This appears to have been universally prevalent 
this year, and much injury has Ijeen done in many gardens by the cater¬ 
pillars. They also attack the Hawthorn and some other trees. 
The Crown Knife Cleaner (//. A.). —Mr. T. Clarke is thtt 
London mana :er of the Chadborn and Cold well Manufacturing Conx- 
pany, and not Mr. Chadborn as accidentally stated on page 495. Mr. 
Thomas Cold well is the inventor of the article, also of the Excelsior 
lawn mower, and we understand is the oldest maker of lawn mowers in 
the United States. He is the President of the Company in question. 
Sestroyingr Woodlice (IF. T. S.). —Cut a raw Potato in two equal 
parts, scooping out the cut ))art a little with the knife, and then place 
the half-Potatoes, with the cut or hollow side downwards, by the side of 
the eaten Ferns. Every morning treat the woodlice to a boiling bath ; 
you will find them secreted under the Potato and adhering to it in the 
hollow. As your Ferns are so much eaten examine the plants after 
dark with a lantern, and you will, not improbably, find some slugs at 
work ; if so, pick them off into a flower pot, and sprinkle some salt 
over them ; or if you have any ducks they will thank you for the- 
present unsalted. 
Turf Walls and Furze (^Bailif). —We have seen many fences 
made of turf and covered wdth Furze. When turf walls are not covered 
with anything they are often much injured by the atmosphere and the 
rubbing and butting of cattle. To guard against this they should 
be planted or sown with the Ulex europmus, or Furze. The roots of 
this plant will soon penetrate the turf, and tend to bind the wall. The 
plants not only make a good fence, but afford shelter for cattle, but add 
to the height of the wall, and give it a formidable "appearance. When 
walls are made for this, the foundation shouhl be 3 feet wide and taper¬ 
ing to 15 inches at top. As the plants advance in growth they should 
be regularly trimmed with the shears : by proper attention to this they 
will be prevented from growing too tall and thin at the bottom. If th'a 
is annually repeated the plants will be longer preserved in a healthy 
and vigorous state. Clipping has also a good effect in checking the Furze 
from spreading over the field. A good and substantial fence may thus 
be quickly formed on a soil that will not produce a biding fence of any 
other kind. 
Thinning Grapes (.7. A.).—The illustration referred to is not whai! 
you suppose. You can only, so far as we know, find what you wish in 
Barron’s “ Vines and Vine Culture,” which can be had from this office, 
post free for 6s. 3d. As you are interested in Vine culture you would 
find the amount so expended a good investment. Thinning cannot com¬ 
mence too soon after the berries are set, and the work should be com¬ 
pleted before they touch each other. Do not take many from the upper 
part of the top shoulders, .but rather thin from the under part and the 
centre of the bunches. A small stick in one hand for raising up the 
shoulders, and a pair of Giape scissors in the other, enables the work to 
be done, as it should be, witlrout touching the berries. The number to 
be removed can only be determined by the “ set ” and by the size the 
varieties attain when ripe, Gros Colman requiring much more room than. 
Foster’s Seedling for instance. If you comtcence thinning when the 
berries are very small, those retained may be at a sufficient distance 
apart for the tip of your little finger passing between them without 
rubbing the fruit. Thin out the small as far as possible, leaving those 
of uniform size to swell to maturity. 
Vines Scorcbed (A. J.). —Judging from the leaves and berries sent 
we suspect the air of the vinery is kept too dry, and possibly the roots 
of the Vines also, but the main cause of the injury is faulty ventilation. 
If you had described your method we could possibly have told you where 
you err. It is certain that having the ventilators close till the thermo¬ 
meter registers 80° or thereabouts in the morning, then throwing open 
the top and front ventilators to reduce the heat, will cause scorching and 
shrivelling. The most precise instructions have been repeatedly given, 
and it is impossible to repeat them just as we are going to press. Briefly,, 
the top ventilators should never be entirely closed, and should be opened 
a few inches wider half an hour after the sun shines on the house in the 
morning, or as soon as a shaded thermometer registers above C5° ; at every 
5° rise admit more air ; then, when the top ventilators are wide open, if 
the temperature threatens to rise above 80°, open the front ventilators 
slightly, increasing the openings to prevent the heat as shown by the 
shaded thermometer exceeding 85°. Damp the house frequently w'ith 
the increasing heat. See also “ Work for the Week.” We suspect you 
are drying the air too much by excessive front ventilation. There is- 
not much difference in the time of ripening of the two Potatoes as you 
will soon find out. 
Fung-uson Peacb Trees (^Granger). —The scraps you send are quite- 
inadequate for enabling anyone to understand the actual condition of 
your trees, unless, indeed, there are no better leaves on them than those 
before us. We can scarcely think that such is the case, but if it is the 
trees are practically beyond recovery. One leaf is blistered, and both- 
infested with fungus. Blistering is the most prevalent during cold 
springs when dry piercing -winds prevail, and fungus follows the 
blister. It may possibly cause it in some instances, but is, we think, 
usually a result. You ought to have endeavoured to subdue the fungus 
