298 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 3, 1839. 
Mustard and Cress. —With us more of this is used in the kitchen 
than in the pantry, and the demand for it comes almost daily. Since 
April we have been growing it in the open air, but now it is too cold to 
do this, and it must be sown under glass. One of the best ways we have 
yet tried is to make up a gentle but firm hotbed, place a frame on this, 
fill it half way with any old rich soil, and sow the seed on the surface. 
A bed formed for the purpose now will produce crop after crop for two 
months or more, and it doe's not require more than three successional 
beds to keep up a supply throughout the winter. 
Pests and Young Plants. —We find slugs, snails, and other pests 
very plentiful this autumn. They soon injure and disfigure the young 
Cabbage Lettuces and other plants, and if not checked they will destroy 
them. A little lime or soot shaken over and around the plants once or 
twice weekly is a profitable practice, and may be continued until the 
plants have attained some size or become so hardy that the pests are less 
partial to them. If the soil is dry on the surface the Dutch hoe may 
also be run between the rows weekly with advantage. 
Asparagus. —The success of this if forced or left in the beds for 
next spring depends greatly on the manner the crowns are matured. If 
thoroughly ripened they will produce many good heads, although the 
roots are not of the best, and the surface of the beds should be cleared 
of weeds. If the stems are shading each other tie them up and do not 
remove any that are attached to the roots until they have become quite 
brown. 
^ Kidney Beans. —In the spring with proper appliances dwarf 
Kidney Beans will pain maturity in eight or nine weeks after sowing 
the seed, but at this season they will take twelve weeks or more, and 
those who wish to gather at Christmas and December should sow a 
quantity of Ne Plus Ultra seed at once in 3-inch pots and grow the 
plants in a gentle heat and plenty of light. 
Earthing up Celery.— The parts of Celery that are exposed 
when frost occurs often suffer, become soft, and will not keep well 
afterwards. It is therefore desirable that all Celery should be carefully 
earthed as far as possible without covering the stems above the centre, 
which may cause this to decav prematurely. One should hold the 
plants together and press the soil close to the stem while another pushes 
the soil forward with the spade ; and after the whole has been done in 
this way tread the ridges all over very firmly so as to cause them to 
throw off the wet. 
Early Rhubarb for Forcing. —Some of the Rhubarb crowns 
have nearly thrown off all their leaves, and the most advanced in this 
respect may be completely cleared to expose the crowns fully, and 
thereby prepare them for the first forcing a few weeks hence. 
Vegetable Marrows.— These are easily injured by frost, and 
a few degrees will render the plants useless. It will also affect the 
fruit in such a manner that they will not keep for any length of time 
afterwards, and as all the fruits that are young and tender now may be 
kept for several weeks after being cut, if secured in good condition, 
every one of them in this state should be taken in at once. If yellow 
and hard they will not be good for cooking, but anything short of this 
will prove useful. By putting them in a piece of net and hanging 
them up in the kitchen they may be kept in good condition until 
Christmas or later. 
Do not allow winter Radishes to become crowded ; keep the young 
Cauliflower plants hardy as long as possible by exposure ; Lettuces 
that are of full size may be kept useful for a considerable time by lift¬ 
ing them with a ball of soil to the roots and placing them in a cold 
frame. The check received in lifting prevents their bolting. Cut and 
store Cauliflowers, and do not allow anything to remain exposed that is 
apt to be injured by frost. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Poinsettias .—Be careful not to excite these plants into fresh growth. 
This often takes place after they are removed from cold frames by 
maintaining too light a temperature and too close an atmosphere. Air 
may be admitted liberally on all fine days, but be careful to avoid cold 
draughts. Employ fire heat to maintain a night temperature of 55° to 60°. 
Water the plants with care, and use for them water slightly warmer 
than the temperature of the house. Euphorbias, Linums, Plumbagos, 
Justicias, and other similar plants will require the same treatment. 
Begonias ,—These are likely to suffer from damp if kept in cold 
frames or cool structures any longer. They will do in the same tem¬ 
perature as advised for Poinsettias, only more liberal ventilation may 
be given during the day. Keep the atmosphere much drier than is 
necessary for those plants. For some weeks longer we shall keep plants 
of the B. manicata section cool, using fire heat only when the tem¬ 
perature falls or shows signs of falling below 45°. Let all watering be 
done in the morning, so that the atmosphere will become dry before the 
ventilators are closed in the afternoon. B. Ingrami and the old B. sem- 
perflorens are now being placed into 4-inch pots. The latter will be 
allowed to come into flower, and later plants now in small pots on a 
shelf close to the glass will be grown on to succeed them. In a tem¬ 
perature of 60° they grow quickly. The best of the early flowering 
varieties will be retained for flowering again. They can be kept in the 
same pots, and assisted by the aid of artificial manure. B. nitida and its 
variety rosea will be useful presently either for the stove or an inter¬ 
mediate house if allowed to come into flower. The same may be said of 
B. Ingrami, B. Knowsleyana, and the coloured forms of B. semper- 
florens. Such Begonias as B. weltoniensis and B. parvifolia may be 
placed in a cool house, kept dry, and allowed to rest. 
Gardenias .—Plants that have not yet set their buds need not be 
kept in a higher temperature than 60°. If too warm and too moist they 
are liable to start again into growth, which has no chance of being 
ripened thoroughly, deformed flowers resulting. Strong insecticides 
should not be used for syringing plants that have formed flower buds, as 
they are almost certain to turn yellow afterwards. Plants that have 
buds swelling freely may be pushed forward in a temperature at night 
of 65° to 70°. If the plants are grown in pots, and can be given slight 
bottom heat, such as a bed of leaves afford, all the better. 
Bucharis .—Some care is needed at this season of the year where 
numbers of plants are grown. They are liable to show flower, and 
though a few are always useful when quantities are produced at one 
time it frequently happens that many are wasted. If plants that have 
completed their growth are removed to a temperature of 50° they can 
be kept back for a long time without the slightest injury. The soil 
should be somewhat dry at their roots before removal, and water must 
be supplied with great care while they are in a lower temperature. The 
plants are not injured by a lower temperature provided cold draughts 
are not allowed to reach them. 
Stcphanotis .—Plants that are intended to flower early should be 
taken from their trellis and thoroughly cleaned. What pruning is 
needed may now be done, the soil kept rather dry, and the temperature 
at 50°. To grow these plants well it is important that they enjoy a 
complete period of rest. 
Allamandas .—These will grow throughout the year if they are 
encouraged by heat and moisture. Plants that are needed for early 
flowering should be induced to rest by placing them in a lower tem¬ 
perature and a drier atmosphere. Water may be withheld until the 
plants flag. Sufficient, however, must be given to prevent the wood 
shrivelling. Clerodendron Balfourianum and Bougainvilleas may also 
be induced to rest. 
NOTES ON BEES. 
QUEENS FOR NEXT YEAR. 
In addition to having all stocks of bees supplied with ample 
stores this month, no pains should he spared to make sure that 
every stock has a young and fertile queen ; without that nothing 
but disappointment will follow next spring and autumn. Many 
stocks swarmed this year at the Heather, and owing to the sunless 
weather few of the young queens are fertilised. After an unfer¬ 
tilised queen commences laying, and until the brood is sealed, it is 
difficult to know by appearance whether she is fertilised or not. 
A test by which I can discriminate her state is to catch her by 
both wings, when if unfertilised she contracts her abdomen to very 
small dimensions, whereas if fertilised the abdomen round the 
ovaiies retains much of its usual dimensions. 
TARRING THE INSIDE OF niYES. 
Absorbing or porous hives lately formed an absorbing topic. 
Some of their advocates seemed to lose sight of the fact that 
absorbing material could store only a certain quantity of moisture. 
Plaster of Paris, one of the ingredients recommended, becomes so 
saturated with moisture as simply to become a wall of water, 
which as it absorbs gives off moisture so as to seriously affect the 
health of the bees and destroy the combs and honey. 
Double walled hives have a similar tendency, and moreover 
decay sets in at the angles in a short time after the bees are put in 
them. As a guard against decay and damp I have for some years 
tarred the inside of all my double cased hives, in every instance to 
the great advantage of the bees, demonstrated to a greater extent 
this year than at any time previously. 
DAMP IN HIVES. 
Nothing injures a hive so much as damp, whether it arises from 
internal or external causes. It is now a fitting time to repeat, for 
the sake of novices, that non-porous material on the top of hives 
is a great mistake, as also is placing watertight or non-porous 
material close on the top of porous material. Place porous non¬ 
conducting material on the body and crown of the hive in sufficient 
quantity that the atmosphere cannot conduct the heat from the 
I hive, and over that an impervious roof or covering some distance 
