572 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 31, 1891. 
tlie only journal that practically showed the impossibility of 
the prevention of swarming by any of the modern methods of 
management as advocated and practised previous to our letters 
in this Journal, and appears to have enlightened the bee-keepers 
of America as they have done some in Britain. 
Those who cannot attend their bees during the honey gather¬ 
ing and swarming season, or act in accordance with the instructions 
laid down in these pages, should not keep bees if they expect to 
be successful with them. Particulars as to what to do regarding 
swarming, and how to guard against the loss of absconding swarms, 
will he given during the coming spring. 
Bees never swarm without preparing some days beforehand, 
but they swarm at all times of the day between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., 
and under every known condition, plenty of breeding space with a 
young prolific queen excepted. When several swarms issue at the 
same time they create confusion, and damp the hopes and spoil 
the plans of the keeper; queens are killed, and not unfrequently 
whole swarms. To avoid these losses is the object of this letter. 
The bee-keeper should never have his eye oft the apiary during 
the swarming and honey gathering season, and if this is im¬ 
possible, someone should be employed to do so. When one 3warm 
issues and the hives are in a convenient place, most people will 
secure it easily ; but when several attempt to swarm at the same 
time, unless the attendant doe3 something more than stand and 
gape, even although he hives the huge cluster of bees, they may 
shortly thereafter unobserved leave the hive, as several queens is 
one of the causes of unsettled swarms. Swarms about to issue 
should not be closed in, as that, through the excitement, overheats 
the hive, which creates incipient foul brood.—A Lanarkshire 
Bee-Keeper. 
(To be continued .) 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Charles Sharpe & Co., Sleaford, Lincolnshire.— Catalogue of Garden 
and Farm Seeds. 
J. Cheal & Sons, Crawley.— Seed List, 1892. 
Dobbie & Co., Rothesay.— Catalogue and Competitors' Guide, 1892. 
Ellwanger & Barry, Rochester, N.Y.— List of Bulls and Hardy Plants. 
Chr. Lorenz, Erfurt.— Illustrated Catalogue for 1892. 
Little & Ballant.yne, Carlisle.— List of Garden Seeds, 1892. 
Wm. Cutbush & Son, Highgate and Barnet.— Catalogue of Flotver, 
Vegetable, and Farm Seeds , 1892. 
C. Fidler, Reading.— Catalogue of Vegetable Seeds and Potatoes. 
Dickson & Robinson, 12, Old Millgate, Manchester. —Seed Catalogue, 
1892. 
® 4 *A11 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 
unavoidably. 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 communications 
Unanswered letters. —Replies to several letters received during 
the “ holiday season ” cannot be published this week. 
Camellia Buds Falling (B. S .).—There is no doubt whatever 
that the dry heated air from the hot-water pipes is the chief cause of 
the evil; it is possible, too, that the plants in pots do not have the 
support they need, and a gentle stimulant such as soot water might be 
beneficial. If the stage is of open latticework you would do well to 
cover it with something that would hold a layer of gravel, and by 
keeping this moist and syringing the pot occasionally the flowers of the 
Camellias would probably expand. 
Potatoes for Planting an Acre (./. J .').—As obviously the 
weight of sets lor a given extent of ground depends not on their size 
alone, but on the distances at which they are to be planted, in answer 
to your question we can only suggest a case. Suppose the sets are 
planted a foot apart in rows 30 inches asunder, 17,424 will be required: 
for an acre ; and if they average 2 ozs. each their total weight will be 
19 cwt. 1 qr. 22 lbs. By weighing a few sets and deciding on the 
distances for planting you will now have no difficulty in making an 
approximate estimate of the weight you will require. 
IVTicrocacrys Tetragona (IF. M. T .').—The Tasmanian plant 
concerning which you inquire is one of the most remarkable of the 
Conifers found at the Antipodes, and indeed in the whole family. The 
FIG. 103.—HICROCACRYS TETRAGONA. 
great peculiarity of the plant is that the female cones are of a semi¬ 
transparent texture, fleshy and most brilliantly coloured, being of a rich 
red hue that in sunlight is very striking. These ernes, though small, 
are borne in considerable numbers on short branchlets, and, the main 
branches being of a decumbent or drooping habit, the plant has a 
graceful and really beautiful effect grown in a pot with the main stem 
secured to a stake. It is found growing on the western mountains of 
Tasmania, where it forms a low straggling bush, the branches being 
four-angled, as the specific name indicates, the leaves small and closely 
pressed to the stem. It was introduced to Kew about 1862 by 
W. Archer, Esq., of Cheshunt, and several plants in the temperate house 
there succeed very well and produce their attractive cones very freely. 
Several Conifers produce coloured fruits, but in most cases it is a disk, 
aril, or some appendage that is so coloured, and not a true cone, as with 
the Microcacrys. For instance, the fleshy aril of the common Yewis well 
known, and in the genus l’odocarpus several similar examples occur, 
one of the most noteworthy being P. neriifolia, the Oleander-leaved 
Podocarp. The fruit of this species has a large fleshy globular or ovoid 
bright red disk about half an inch long, upon the top of which is seated 
the seed, a true fruit about the size of a large pea, but more egg-shaped 
and bright green, forming a most peculiar contrast with the richly 
coloured disk. 
