388 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 13, 1886; 
will accelerate evaporation. From 7.30 to 8 o’clock is a proper time to 
ventilate, but it will need to be regulated by the weather and aspect of 
the houses. Half-past three to four o’clock on bright days will be soon 
enough to close the house. Those in flower will need a somewhat dry 
and airy atmosphere, the blossoms being fertilised at midday until they 
have set their fruit, after which they should he subjected to a moist 
atmosphere, with a minimum temperature of 70° and a maximum of 90° 
to 95° with sun. Three or four fruits, according to the strength of the 
plants, will be sufficient on each, all others being removed as they appear. 
Plants with the fruit ripening will require a high temperature—70° to 75° 
artificially, and 85° to 95° by day from solar influence, with a gentle cir¬ 
culation of air constantly, and moisture must be kept from the atmo¬ 
sphere. 
THE FLOWER GARDEN AND PLEASURE GROUND. 
Hardening Plants. —Zonal Pelargoniums being grown in cool houses 
and pits, and well exposed to the full sunshine, require but little hardening 
off; in fact, ought now to withstand any cold weather we may now have. 
Those recently growing in heat will still need a little protection during 
cold frosty nights, and this protection will be still more effective if it also 
ward off heavy rains. The last to be fully exposed and planted out are 
such easily injured kinds as Heliotropes, Iresines, Coleuses, Alternantheras, 
and the majority of the sub-tropical plants. Iresines and Coleus may yet 
be struck, and now is a good time to put in large quantities of Alternan- 
thera cuttings. A nearly spent hotbed or a slight newly made hotbed 
faced over with a layer of fine sandy soil about 1 inches deep is the best 
place for striking them in quantity. The cuttings may be dibbled into 
this 3 inches apart each way, and if kept close and shaded from bright 
sunshine will strike root quickly and be quite as large as required by 
bedding-out time. In hardening off these and other delicate plants the 
greatest care must be taken to avoid over-watering and to prevent saturation 
by heavy rains. If injured at the roots they are a long time before they 
recover. If the stock of Iresine Herbstii is insufficient, a good substitute 
will be found in Amaranthus melancholicus ruber. Sown in heat at once 
it will germinate in a few days, and potted off singly into 2-inch pots 
will, if kept in heat, be large enough to bed out by the second week in 
June. 
Solving Carnation Seed. —No plants in the borders are more useful 
than these and Picotees, and seedlings are by far the most vigorous and 
floriferous. It is true a good per-centage of them may be single-flowering, 
but even these find plenty of admirers. The seed should be sown thinly 
in pans or boxes of fine sandy soil and only lightly covered. If well 
attended in the shape of proper moistenings and shading, the seed will 
germinate in a cold frame or under a handlight, and still more quickly in 
a gentle heat, such as a partially spent hotbed. We sow very thinly, and 
this saves the trouble of pricking ou% the plants being transferred to a 
well-prepared bed directly they are large enough to stand the exposure. 
If sown at all thickly they must first be pricked off in boxes or pans of 
light sandy soil, and later on planted out. They succeed best in slightly 
raised beds, say about 6 feet wide. Our last summer’s seedlings were 
planted out 12 inches apart each way, and the young flower growth meet 
all round. So very floriferous are they, that we find it unwise to depend 
upon them a second year, and annually raise a fresh batch. 
Campanulas. —Those of the Medium or pyramidalis type are the best 
for the open borders, these being quite hardy in most districts and flower 
profusely late in May and June. They also pot up well from the open 
ground, and are then very serviceable for conservatory decoration. The 
seed ought now to be sown on the even surface of a pan of fine soil and 
only lightly covered. It may be stood in a warm frame or in the open, 
shading from sunshine, and moistening when necessary. If the pan is 
covered with a square of glass germination will be quicker and more 
sure. When the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick off the 
required number in pans or boxes of good soil, and finally plant out when 
of good size, disposing them about 18 inches apart each way. 
Stocks , Wallflowers, and Street Williams. —It is unwise to delay 
sowing these till after the busy bedding-out time is past. To have them 
strong and bushy before the winter the seed ought to be sown early or 
some time in May. If the ordinary garden soil is light the seed may well 
be sown thinly, either broadcast and covered with a little fine soil, or in 
shallow drills about 6 inches apart. Where, however, the garden soil is 
heavy and cold, and slugs perhaps very abundant, it will be found 
the best plan to sow the seed either in boxes or under handlights, using a 
little light sandy soil in each instance. In this way nearly every seed 
will germinate, and later on the young plants may be pricked out in a 
sunny, open position, where they are to flower, or they can be trans¬ 
planted. The Brompton and Queen Stocks are suitable for present 
sowing, these withstanding an ordinarily severe winter, and flowering 
grandly in the spring. Wallflowers Blood Red and Bel voir Castle Yellow, 
or the best procurable dark red and yellow strains, may be substituted, 
and those who may wish to try the tall double German Wallflowers should 
sow these now. Most seedsmen have a good strain of Sweet William. 
Pansies , Polyanthuses, Primroses , and Alpine Auriculas. —All these 
can be readily increased from seed, although they ought to have been 
sown in March or April, in order in each case to have strong flowering 
plants for next spring. Sow in pans of fine sandy soil, keep close and 
shaded, and directly the seedlings appear give more air and gradually 
expose to the light. Prick off the seedlings when large enough to handle, 
and transplant to well-prepared sheltered beds directly the plants are 
strong enough to bear removal. 
Carpet Beds. —Where the beds intended to be filled with carpeting 
plants in various designs are unoccupied with spring-flowering plants, 
advantage should be taken of showery weather to commence filling them. 
The groundwork of the plan is generally filled in with Sedums, Veronica 
repens, Antennaria, Mentha, Herniaria, and other dwarf and hardy 
trailing plants, and these may be, and are, all the better for being freely 
divided and dibbled in thinly and evenly. Every little piece will grow 
providing it is kept slightly shaded with branches of evergreens and- 
watered frequently till well established. It is unwise to attempt to lay 
down any complicated design, as these, although effective on paper, are 
often failures when worked out, and the more simple designs, these having- 
every figure quite distinct, are more easily planted, and are less trouble to 
keep in order. The lines of the design should be traced out on a per¬ 
fectly smooth and fine surface, and may be made more distinct if formed 
with silver sand. The groundwork being filled in with the above-named 
plants, only leaves the figures to be filled with the Alternantheras and 
other choice plants when this may safely be done. 
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dE BEE-KEEPER. 
INITIATORY INSTRUCTIONS.—No. 6. 
I have endeavoured to lay before intending bee-keepers 
the fundamental rules of profitable bee-keeping in a plain 
and concise manner, and I am sure success will follow those 
who abide by the instructions given, and so long as their 
hives do not exceed the number the bee-keeper desires to 
work for profit. Whenever their hives exceed that number, 
experiment with these in every conceivable fashion to get at 
facts, and be able to rely upon your own knowledge and 
method of working, without which no one will ever be a 
successful bee-keeper. 
Spreading brood will no doubt be included in these 
experiments, but the bee-keeper possessing a good under¬ 
standing will soon discover its futility. A young fertile queen, 
new combs, plenty of bees and well provisioned, are the natural 
essentials toward strong hives, early swarms, and profitable 
bee-keeping, if right shaped and full-sized hives are used. If 
hives are to be useful and handy for carrying about, getting 
the advantage of flowers in different districts, the frames of 
such hives must be made so that they will retain their natural 
position (which is inch from centre to centre) in a rigid 
manner. This will preclude the possibility of making even a 
more foolish manipulation than spreading brood—viz., that 
of bringing the combs nearer each other than Nature haa 
designed, allowing at least two bodies of bees between the- 
seams necessary to keep up the proper degree of heat, and 
attend to the brood in a proper manner, which is impossible 
when the distance between the combs is reduced to a quarter 
of an inch or so. While I am writing this (May 4th), we 
have not had a week’s fine weather—most unsuitable for 
manipulating bees; yet I hear of some well-managed hives, 
are within a week of swarming. 
Is the present year an exceptional one ? Yes, so far as 
the long continuation of a very low temperature is concerned, 
but not otherwise. The weather in other respects is just as 
we have hitherto experienced, and just as one hour of frost 
will kill a tender plant, so will one cold day in April or May 
destroy the spread brood of any hive when the bees draw 
together to preserve themselves and brood alike during the 
cold. March, April, and May are the three severest months 
for bees, and during these months they are rapidly preparing 
for swarming, and should not be exposed in any way. 
There is one experiment that I have tried with success, 
and would like to see others give it a fair trial. It is lining 
the inside of the hive with sheets of wax, so that the wood 
will not absorb moisture. This is in direct opposition to the 
opinions and plans of many who seek an absorbing material 
for the inner walls of hives—good when these are thin and 
single-walled, but bad when thick and double-cased. With 
the former, when covered with straw, the heat of the hive 
forces it outward and the current carries it away ; but in the 
latter case the walls absorb moisture, returning it to the hive,, 
while there is no possible escape for it otherwise, and there 
is no greater enemy to bees than damp, especially on floors 
and in the corners of wide hives. Wax is the natural non- 
