168 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND C0T1A6E GARDLHER. 
[ August 20, 1883. 
Endive and Lettuce.— Continue to plant out large quantities of 
these for late autumn and winter use. Give them good soil, a dry sunny 
open position, and keep all from 10 inches to 1 foot apart each way. 
Where Chicory has failed or has not yet been sown, sow a quantity at 
once, as it is an excellent companion to the Endive and Lettuce. It is 
not over-particular to soil or situation, the odd corners in the garden very 
often producing fine roots, which are lifted and forced in a dark place 
throughout the winter. 
Onions. —Remove all weeds and anything which is obstructing the 
sun from the spring-sown crops, which are now gaining maturity. Clear 
off last autumn-sown crops, and save any good sound bulbs for immediate 
use. A small quantity of The Queen, or some other white variety, should 
be sown to produce the earliest bulbs next spring. Sow in rows in soil 
that is free from worms and moderately rich. A sunny position is 
much better for them than a shady one. 
FRUIT FORCING. 
Figs. — Early-forced Trees .—-When the trees have been cleared of the 
second crop of fruit they will require cool dry treatment to insure the 
prop r ripening of the young shoots, and when this has been secured the 
roof lights may be taken off for a few weeks, and any repairs, painting, &c., 
executed. The exposure to night dew and rain is a powerful aid in cleaning 
the trees. As a collection of the best Figs for early forcing we fin d none 
to surpass Brown Turkey, Osborn’s Prolific, Negro Largo, and White 
Marseilles. 
Succession Houses .—Trees on which the second crop is now ripening 
will require careful treatment as the days decrease in length and the 
nights become damp and cold. The fruit should have full exposure to 
light, which, with a free circulation of dry warm air by night as well as 
day, will improve the colour and quality of the fruit, but care must he 
taken not to give a check to the roots and so interfere, with the flow of 
the sap ; therefore, the roots must be regularly supplied with tepid water 
or liquid manure, selecting bright morniogs as the most suitable time for 
applying it, as the liberal admission of air will then carry off superfluous 
moisture, which otherwise will condense and injure the fruits. As the 
growths which have reached the extremities of the trellis and become 
clear of fruit, and successionals require more room, the former may be 
cut away, which will admit light and air, to the great benefit of next year’s 
fruiting growths. The growths should not be tied in close, hut allowed 
to grow upward, as this favours the ripening of the points. 
Cucumbers .—The house into which winter Cucumbers are to he planted 
must he thoroughly cleansed. The woodwork may be washed with softsoap 
and hot water, and the glass with clear water only, the brickwork and 
plaster, if any, with hot lime, and any painting needed should be done 
without delay. It is no use expecting healthy plants without thorough 
cleanliness, and insects are encouraged by dirt and ill-health. Examine 
the drainage and see that it is perfect before putting in the compost, which 
should be composed of three parts light loam and one part peat, with 
sufficient charcoal to keep the whole porous, or about a tenth. In this 
material well incorporated the plants will thrive much better than when 
manure is added, and stimulants can always be applied in a liquid state as 
the plants require it. A dry day should be chosen for getting in the 
materials, the drainage haviDg been covered with turves grass side down¬ 
wards. The soil should be made into a ridge in the centre of the pit or 
space allotted for the bed, and formed into hillocks flattened at the top, 
the soil being a foot thick in the centre. The seeds having been sown 
as advised in a former calendar, and the treatment there given accorded, the 
plants will be fit for planting on the hillocks at the end of this month, or they 
may be shifted into the pots or boxes if that mode of culture is practised. 
The p'ants having been watered some time previously to planting out, they 
should be turned out with the ball entire, and have their roots disturbed 
as little as possible. Press the soil firmly around each plant, after which 
a small stick should be placed to each and secured to the first wire of the 
trellis. Should the sun be blight at the time of placing the plants shade 
for a few days until they become established, when it should be discon¬ 
tinued. Eacourage a sturdy, short-jointed growth, and thick leathery 
foliage, by ventilating freely on all favourable occasions, as the plants need 
all possible vigour to enable them to afford fruit at the most trying 
period of the year—viz., December and January. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Calanthes .—The earliest batch of these plants should now be strong, 
with their pots well filled with roots, and in order to further develope 
them liberal and judicious feeding must be resorted to. Weak stimulants 
should be given every time they need water, nothing being better for 
them than liquid made from cow manure. Abundance of water mu-t be 
given to these plants, and for some time the soil in which they are grow¬ 
ing must Dot be allowed to he dry. Any deficiency in this respect will 
soon bring their roots into an inactive condition, and premature ripening 
will be the result. Syringing should still be freely practised, and the 
atmosphere kept moist, but more air must be given them than has been 
necessary up to the present. Shading will still be required, but the 
strong rays of the sun only should be screened from them. Light, air, 
and liberal feeding are necessary for developing large, well-matured 
pieudo-bulbs, which in due time will yield strong stout flower spikes. 
Later batches started in small pots should, without further delay, be 
placed into a size larger and treated carefully afterwards, until they are 
rooting, freely into the new soil. A close warm atmosphere must be 
maintained for hatches in a backward condition, and every ray of light 
possible given them. Under the most judicious system of treatment it 
is impossible for those grown for late flowering to produce such good 
flower spikes as those started earlier in the season. The pseudo-bulbs 
of the late-started plants have not the same chance of ripening 
thoroughly, and therefore every attention must be given them, for unless 
this is accomplished they cannot bi expected to flower well. They are, 
however, worthy of all the labour an l care necessary to grow them for 
the purpose of coming into flower after Christmas, when many autumn¬ 
flowering plants have ceased to bloom. Hitherto we have found the late- 
batch more serviceable than those that flower two months earlier, and 
they should he grown by all who are anxious to maintain a continuous 
supply of flowers for cutting and decoration. 
Phajus grandifolius. —These plants will now be growing vigorously 
and rooting freely. Every attention as regard? watering and feeding must 
be bestowed upon them to insure a strong robust growth if fine large 
spikes are required. Syringing may he practised during bright weather, 
and every ray of light possible admitted to them. It is much better to 
pr duce under the influence of light and a circulation of air a strong sturdy 
growth than to draw up the foliage weakly under heavy shade, and in a 
close confined atmosphere. Sturdy compact growth will always produce 
the strongest and finest flower spikes. The liquid recommended for 
Calanthes will suit these plant? well, but their foliage will be much 
improved in appearance by occasional doses of soot water in a clear state. 
Cattleyas. —C. Mossise and C. Triante that flowered early will have 
completed their growth, and should he removed at once to the coolest end 
of the structure. To flower these plants well, and to obtain afterwards a 
good growth development, they must be thoroughly ripened. More air 
and light must he given than has been needed up to the present time to 
ripen and solidify the pseudo bulbs made, and then large well-coloured 
flowers may be anticipated. The supply of water at the roots must not 
be diminished, for at this stage they are mist active, and must be encou¬ 
raged in order to further plump up the pseudo-bulbs. The atmosphere 
must also be kept moist. Later-flowering varieties must be encouraged 
to complete their growth as early in autumn as possible, for nothing is 
gained by having to ripen them during short dark sunless days. Such 
plants, however well they be rested, very rarely flower satisfactorily. The 
growth of the plants can be much forwarded by closing the house a little 
earlier during sunny days, and using a little more fire heat both at nigbt 
and during cloudy sunless weather. These plants bear without injury a 
close atmosphere until the flower sheath3 are visible, when more heat and 
light are of the utmost importance. 
Dcndrobium Wardianum .—This Orchid naturally starts into growth 
early in the season, and if grown suspended in the stove proper they will 
have completed their growth and must be removed without delay, or else 
they will break again into growth, which cannot be thoroughly ripened, 
and will only damp during the resting season. This can he avoided by 
removing them to a vinery or other cooler structure where plenty of light 
and air can be given them. In a very short time they will bear full ex¬ 
posure to the sun and the condition? of a cold house. Plenty of water 
must be given them for som; time yet, or the pseudo-bulbs will ripen pre¬ 
maturely and fail to Hover from every joint of their growth, which will 
be the case if gradually and thoroughly ripeneL 
III 
dE BEE-KEEPER. 1 
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■nr~ 'iiYi ., . , . , - , . , . , - | - l - . - , - , - l - t - , - j - i - i - j - 1 - . - i - 1 - i - i • 
NOTES ON BEES. 
During the month of September, 1884, I arranged my 
hives to stand the winter and spring, marking those I wished 
to swarm and those not. Not only have I had my wishes- 
fulfilled, but notwithstanding the very untoward and cold 
season they have done well—far beyond my expectations. 
The only storing days the bees have had this year since April 
w ts the last week of June and from the 20th to the 29th of 
July, with two wet days during that time. At present my 
hives will have stored about 70 lb3. of surplus honey ; with 
a continuance of this fine weather for another week each 
should yield 100 lbs. The crossed Cyprians are this year 
again far ahead of the others. A stock that swarmed lias- 
given as much as non-swarmers, while the swarm promises 
the same. I neither fed nor manipulated, except feeding the- 
swarms a little, dividing hives for young queens, putting on- 
supers. I clean no floors, because my hives do not require it, 
having ventilating floors. 
The following are the casualties that have occurred in- 
my apiary :—First, a two-year-old queen was deposed at the 
end of April; a nucleus kept over winter was joined and put 
matters right. Second, a super placed on a hive with frames 
all open at the top contained brood. This was intended to 
illustrate what I was sure would happen, and is the second 
super only that contained brood during my bee-keeping life. 
The third was a hive that I neglected to ventilate, and one 
warm rainy day last week one comb collapsed; next day it, 
