190 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 59, 1889. 
of, and prizes were awarded hives because of it. Doubtless, had 
men of experience been chosen as judges such hives would not 
have been awarded a ptize, and such calamities would not have 
occurred ; and more, had this rule been adhered to, societies that 
are sunk below zero would have been flourishing and useful. But 
to my subject. 
THE CLIMATE. 
This is perhaps the most invigorating and health-restoring to 
invalids in Great Britain. I have had much experience in this, 
and since my first article appeared in this Journal on the subject 
many visitors and tourists are resorting to it. Houses are scarce, 
but the ground is cheap, and a railway is surveyed for between 
Elvenfoot and Leadhills. 
THE FLORA. 
This is varied ; every flower we find yields honey, and some 
of them abundantly. I have read the criticisms of several persons 
on honey-yielding plants, who no doubt thought themselves 
qualified to do so, condemn Sweet Alyssum as a bee flower. Here 
■it not only yields honey most abundantly, but the florets are more 
like those of Candytuft than the Sweet Alyssum that grows with us. 
THE SOIL 
Appears to be varied, but a large portion of it is evidently that 
from the rocks, and is stony. There is also peat, but I am not 
geologist enough to describe it further than there is the slate forma¬ 
tion, and gold, and silver, and lead, while Whin is most prominent. 
As some plants and flowers grow here vigorously I thought the soil 
would be suitable for pot plants, but the gardener whom I asked 
for this information could not give it, though he showed me in his 
collection of Begonias a seedling of a crimson colour measuring 
5 inches in diameter. 
HIVING THE SWARM. 
Having prepared myself with supers and tools for manipulation 
only, having no hive I undid the screws and opened the hive, de¬ 
stroying all queen cells, then added two supers to the two already 
nearly filled, hived the swarm in them, and immediately replaced 
them. This hive swarmed because of the deposition of the old 
queen, as is oftener the case than some imagine, and not for want 
o£ room. It went to work vigorously, and has its four octagon 
supers well filled, from 20 lbs. to 22 lbs. each. This is not bad 
considering the unsettled state of the weather since the 7th of 
July, and it is now the 26th of August, the first settled morning 
we have had. Had the weather been fine I doubt not but good 
hives would have risen in weight 200 lbs. or more. As it is some 
of them are already nearly 100 lbs. heavier. The bees never 
ceased working while it rained if calm, but being at a high altitude 
wind often prevailed. The heavy rains reported elsewhere we 
almost escaped. 
HONEY PROSPECT3. 
We hear from various sources that the Heather honey harvest 
is a failure. I have been more fortunate, although I have only 
half of my hives at the Heather. The bloom lasts here longer than 
•on any moor I have witnessed, six weeks will not exhaust it. 
The Clover harvest has not been a success everywhere, but we 
hear of one bee-keeper in Invernesshire who has 1044 lbs. from 
very few hives, but the number is not stated. 
THE OCTAGON HIVE. 
I have throughout the year endeavoured to relieve my mind of 
the belief that the octagon or Stewarton hive is superior to any 
other, but cannot. It wintered best, swarmed first, and has given 
the most supers, and I must therefore stereotype it as the best 
hive for those who keep bees for honey for their own use the 
■squares being best for producing small saleable supers. 
HONEY GATHERED. 
This will perhaps astonish some readers. There are several 
things, however, that must be explained ; the pasturage is good 
and honey yielding, the hives are favourably situated, strong in 
bees, which are foreigners. On the evening of the 12th August I 
was assisted to weigh two hives ; one was 92 lbs., the other 
122 lbs. in weight. On the following evening at the same hour 
the first mentioned weighed 125 lbs., gathering a total of 33 lbs. 
on one day, the greater part of it being showery. This is, perhaps, 
as high a record as has ever been made in this country. We did 
not weigh any more of them owing to their height and weight, 
or even a greater result might have been discovered, as this hive 
was not the heaviest. It is a crossed Syrian. A much heavier hive, 
a crossed Cyprian, stands by the side of it. I am glad to say my 
experience at the moors has been interesting to me, and trust I 
may have something to say both interesting and instructive to 
bee-beepers in future issues.—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
E. H. Krelage & Son, Haarlem, Holland.— Catalogue of Dutch 
Flower Bulbs, 1889-1890. 
Seeger & Tropp, 112, Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, London, S.E.— 
Catalogue of Orchids, 1889. 
Dickson, Brown, & Tait, 43 and 43, Corporation Street, Manchester. 
—Catalogue of Bulbs , 1889. 
Webb &. Son, Wordsley, Stourbridge.— BiCb Catalogue, 1889. 
G. Shrewsbury, 122, Newgate Street, London.— Illustrated Lists of 
Stoves, Hot-mater Apparatuses, Spc. 
G. E. Elliott, 97, Bradford Road, Huddersfield.— List of Bulbs, 
Boses, $c. 
Fisher, Son & Sibray, Handsworth Nurseries, Sheffield.— Catalogue 
of Bulbs and Winter Flowering Plants. 
James Yates, Stockport.— List of Bulbs and Flower Roots. 
f \~ c 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. 
lavender Culture (7?. M. Co., Manchester.'). —The information 
you require is in type, and will appear in an early issue. 
Primula (II. F.). — Very much depends on the size and vigour of 
the plants, also on the temperature and position in which they are grown, 
for having them in the best condition about the middle of November ; 
but you will probably not lose by allowing the flower spikes to extend 
towards the end of September. 
Peaches and Crapes ( Alfred Bishop). —The Peaches from large 
trees that were removed last autumn and are heavily cropped this year are 
very good indeed, one being 94 and the other 9| inches in circumference, 
and the quality of both excellent. The Grapes from Vines formerly weak, 
the crops shanked and the berries not coloured, are also satisfactory. 
The berries are above medium size, and we suspect no fault has been found 
with either their colour or quality at the dessert table. We shall be 
glad to receive the account of your treatment in improving the trees and 
Vines you are good enough to offer to prepare for publication. We 
readily afford space for details of successful practice, as they are of 
service to many readers. 
Withered Tomato leaves ( E. M. B.). —When such soft leaves 
as Tomatoes are wrapped in dry paper this extracts the moisture from 
them, and they invariably arrive in a condition very different from 
when they were posted. Those you sent had not a particle of moisture 
in them, but could be crumbled like dried herbs. There appear in¬ 
distinct remains of fungus similar to that which attacks Tomatoes, but 
