300 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 15, 1886. 
spring should be planted out as soon as possible. As yet they should be 
put in sheltered positions, and none be put out which are not well hard¬ 
ened. Our favourite place for Lettuce culture in summer is on the top 
of the ridges between the Celery trenches. 
Tomatoes, —The earliest plants were shifted into pots and boxes 
some time ago. Some of them were placed on the back shelf of a Pine 
pit, others into the Cucumber pit, and some in a cool house. Those in the 
Pine stove are heavily ladened with fruit, those with the Cucumbers are 
not quite so forward, and the others in the cool house are later still, but 
they are very robust, and will probably be the best in the end. The early 
ones now maturing their fruit are being kept very closely pinched in, and 
liberal quantities of liquid manure are given them. This is a sure way 
of making the fruit swell quickly and to a good size. Young seedlings 
which are being brought forward should be potted singly before they are 
injured by being crowded. Others in small pots with a great many roots 
should be given more root room, as it is very injurious to stunt them early 
in the season, or when they should he growing freely. Plants intended 
for open air culture are about 1 foot in height, and they must be hardened 
by being placed in a cool frame as soon as possible. The great secret of 
successful open air Tomato culture is to have strong healthy plants to deal 
with at planting out time, and unless this is the case it will be so late 
in the season before the fruit ripens that the crop will be light and of 
short duration. 
Carrots. —Those sown in the open air before the severe frost of 
March have shown up very well of late, and the border of Early Horns is 
all right, but the main crop has not been put in yet, and it should be sown 
on an early date. James’ Scarlet Intermediate or others of this type is 
the only variety we grow for the main crop, as the roots do not re¬ 
quire a very deep soil, while in quantity and quality they are all that 
could be desired. This crop should have one of the best spots in the 
garden, and previous to sowing the ground should have a good dressing of 
soot, and then fork it in. The rows should be from 15 inches to 18 inches 
apart and 2 inches in depth. After covering the soil should be finely 
raked, and then rolled hard. Good roots always follow from this practice, 
and insects are not half so troublesome in the soil when it is firm than 
when very loose. 
Broccoli. —Make two sowings of these, and the first may be put in 
now. We have sown seed of Veitch’s Autumn Protecting, Osborn’s 
Winter White, Backhouse’s, Cattell’s Eclipse, Leamington, and Sutton’s 
Late Queen. Other sorts will be sown in a day or two, and part of each 
will be sown in a fortnight or three weeks hence. Good soil is very 
necessary to produce healthy free-growing plants, and they may be sown 
in rows across a border or in patches anywhere. We sow ours in a 
narrow border along the side of one of the kitchen garden walks, and they 
always do well. We prefer them in rows to broadcast, and make the 
former from 8 inches to 10 inches apart. The seed should not be sown 
thickly and about H inch below the surface. 
Parsley. —Make a good sowing of this, as the plants raised at this 
time will keep a supply of the much-valued leaves until next spring. We 
never found Parsley fail where Carrots succeeded, and if several rows are 
put in at the same time as the Carrots a good supply will soon he forth¬ 
coming. 
Vegetable Marrows. —The remarks above on ridge Cucumbers 
apply to these Where quality is desired sow the Pen-y-byd variety. If 
size is the object grow Long White. 
FRUIT FORCING. 
Vines. —Early Houses .—Examine the Grapes, and if any of the 
bunches are too crowded remove a few of the least promising berries with 
a pair of finely pointed scissors. Keep the soil of the inside border in a 
moist state until the Grapes are ripe. Choose a bright fine morning as 
the best time for watering, and admit air rather freely, so that all super¬ 
fluous moisture will disappear before ventilation is reduced for the day, 
and to prevent its escape from the soil a little fresh mulching or short 
stable manure may be spread on the surface. Ammonia arising from the 
stable manure in combination with stimulating liquid to the roots will 
keep red spider in check. It, however, will attack even when the most 
effectual precautionary measures are taken, and to keep it from spreading 
there is no better plan than to carefully sponge the leaves with a softsoap 
solution, 2 ozs. to the gallon of water, which, though a tedious, is an 
excellent remedy for its removal. Painting the hot-water pipes with 
sulphur brought to the consistency of thin paint with skim milk is also a 
good remedy, but it is well to apply it to the return pipes only, and not to 
give a very thick coating. The fumes of sulphur are very injurious to 
delicate-skinned Grapes, particularly so to Frontignan and Muscats. 
Ventilate night and day when the berries begin colouring, and increase it 
as they approach ripeness, but fire heat must not be entirely discontinued, 
though the temperature is to be gradually reduced, sufficient being aflorded 
to maintain a minimum of 60°, as the Grapes will improve in quality 
after they are considered fit to cut, the last out being often better than 
the first. 
Muscats .—Houses of these and other shy-setting Grapes when in bloom 
will require a high temperature by day, with a good circulation of air and 
a fair supply of atmospheric moisture to prevent the young foliage suffer¬ 
ing under the influence of bright sun. Fertilise with Hamburgh pollen if 
it can be obtained, and in the middle of the day when the atmosphere is 
buoyant. A temperature of 70° at night is easily maintained in efficiently 
heated structures, but with roots active a temperature of 65°, or even 60°, 
with a lktle air is more satisfactory than hard firing to maintain a given 
temperature in all weathers. 
Late Bouses .—Make the most of solar heat for pushing on late Vines 
as Lady Downe’s, as all long-keeping Grapes cannot be over-ripened if 
they are to be kept fresh for some months after they are removed from 
the Vines. Commence ventilating early on fine mornings, and allow the 
heat to rise to 80° with increased ventilation and plenty of moisture, 
closing in time for it to rise to 90° from sun heat on fine afternons. A 
night temperature of 60° will be sufficient until the Grapes flower, when 
5° more will be necessary to increase the length of the bunches and 
produce conditions favourable to the setting of the fruit. All late Grapes 
do best when planted inside the house with the run of outside borders, 
which should be elevated, well mulched, and exposed to all the rain that 
falls from the time the Grapes are cut in January until the succeeding 
crop is ripe in the September following. As a rule, all late Grapes 
require artificial impregnation. For removing the glutinous substance 
from the stigmas a camel-hair brush is best, and the matter allowed to 
remain will prevent the berries from setting, whilst its removal insures 
their setting freely. 
Cucumbers. —These are now plentiful in most gardens ; the chief 
object is, therefore, to maintain a good supply throughout the season, 
which can easily be done by attending to the stopping, thinning, and 
cropping of the plants, with an occasional top-dressing of light loam, to 
which a third of short well-decomposed manure has been added. Copious 
supplies of water must be given to the roots when necessary, some re¬ 
quiring it daily, others bi-weekly, weekly, or less frequently, according to 
special circumstances, as plants growing in narrow borders with plenty of 
drainage, and having the bottom heat supplied by hot water pipes, with 
the plants in full vigour there is little fear of too much water being given, 
whilst with plants growing upon a bed of fermenting materials, and 
having more scope for root-action, the plants require very little water at 
the roots. Syringe twice a day during bright weather. Ventilate freely 
on all favourable occasions, avoiding cutting winds, striving to secure a 
short-jointed and consolidate! growth. Keep the plants free from the 
attacks of red spider, green and black aphides, by a proper use of the 
syringe. 
Melons. —The earliest fruits are approaching maturity, and the 
plants will need syringing less frequently ; and in damping the plants 
and house avoid wetting the fruits, as that would cause them to crack ; 
in fact, a somewhat dry atmosphere is essential when the fruit is ripening. 
To have highly flavoured and finely finished fruit the cleaner and 
healthier the plants are at the ripening period the greater is the proba¬ 
bility of its being effected. Besides, when care is taken to keep the 
plants healthy a second crop may be allowed to set, which by the time the 
first crop is ripe will be considerably advanced in swelling and without 
any detriment to the first, all male and female flowers being removed 
after a sufficient number of fruits have been secured for the crop, with 
the usual stopping attended to. After the ripe fruit is cut stir the surface 
of the bed, tread, and add more soil if necessary, watering with clear 
tepid water thoroughly, and follow at once with a copious supply of liquid 
manure. Keep well syringed, and a full second crop of fine fruit will be 
obtained. Melons in successional homes, pits, and frames will rtquire 
daily attention in stopping, tying, and thinning of the shoots and impreg¬ 
nating the blossom in the middle of the day when the pollen is dry, acting 
upon all expanded flowers at the same time in order to secure a regular 
set, so that the fruit left may still be distribu'ed regularly over the principal 
shoots of each plant and swell together, and so insure uniformity in size. 
Plants should be piepared for planting in pits and frames as they become 
cleared of Potatoes, &c. Houses that have been used for winter 
Cucumbers, and these being dispensed with, the houses should undergo a 
thorough cleaning preparatory to planting with Melons. Wash the wood¬ 
work with soap and water, using only clear water for the glass, and well 
lime washing the brickwork. Use good turfy loam, with a tenth of old 
mortar rubbish and a sixth of road scrapings, and if the loam be very 
stiff some charcoal may be added to render it more porous, but burned 
clay in the same proportion as the road scrapings is preferable. This 
should he placed in a few days to warm ; press the soil firmly around each 
plant. Sow for succession according to requirements. 
III 
IE) BEE-KEEPER. 
9^ 
Ml—• 1 
. 1 . i ■ 1 .1 ., -1 .J . ! . 1 . ' . 1 ■! .J • 1 .J • 1 ■ 1 * 1 ■ | 
QUEEN-RAISING. 
However much bee-keepers may differ on many points 
connected with bee-keeping, on one point at least they are at 
one, and that is, that in order to have all hives in a prosperous 
condition young queeus are essential. 
Among the old bee-keepers not much attention was paid 
to queen-raising, the stocks swarmed in the natural way, aud 
old and young queens were consigned indiscriminately to the 
sulphur pit, and the heavier the stock at the end of autumn 
the more certain its doom. Just as we should not expect to 
get strong lambs from a worn-out ewe, so neither can we 
expect to get populous colonies from aged queen bees. The 
duration of the life of a queen bee depends very much on the 
number of eggs she lays in a season. In a small hive a 
