162 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 21,1S39. 
thought of long since ; but there is still another useful thing we 
have not yet metioned—viz., 
A HIVE CARRIER. 
"This useful contrivance, which I have used for many years, 
■both for hives at home and at the moors, as well as for carrying 
other things, would commend it to gardeners for carrying heavy 
pots and tubs with plants. It is safer than a handbarrow in the 
hands of reckless youths in transporting flowers, and has the re¬ 
commendation of being lighter. It consists of two pieces of rope 
with a loop at each end. It is imperative these be of the proper 
length, so that the article carried be neither too high nor too near 
the ground. Two stretchers are necessary to keep them apart at 
the proper width. These may be a piece of wood or rope, provided 
the latter is stiffened by wire being coiled round it. Then two 
Pressed poles made from tough wood completes this handy and 
portable hive carrier. — A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
GLASS SECTIONS. 
It may interest some to know how I made a few glass sections last 
season. I gummed a strip of paper long enough to go round the section, 
-and laid the piece of glass on it at the proper distance apart, then when 
it was dry I folded up the strip like a one-piece section, and then put in 
a piece of deep walled foundation with strong gum, which I find 
answers the purpose perfectly. I had a glass box half filled, it was the 
full size of the top of hive, and 4 inches deep. I found when it turned a 
little cold outside the bees would concentrate along the combs and draw 
them out irregularly, although I tried to cover the glass as warm as 
possible. I made the box by pasting strips of paper along the corners, 
and putting the guides in with gum 2 inches apart, then I set the box on 
a wooden frame with thin straps to come under the combs and keep 
the bees from sealing them to the top of the hive. I may say what led 
me to use.glass was to get samples for exhibition purposes. I would 
advise all who are using the standard hive to try the effect of another 
<5J-inch box on the top to make the brood nest larger as advised by 
A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper.” I am certain the extra cost will give 
better satisfaction more ways than one. I would like to know who was 
the first to make boxes for ornamental designs in honeycomb. Was it 
the Messrs. McNallys?— Scot. 
<9 S * 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 
ciever 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. 
Grubs in lyxushroom Bed (T. B .).—Letters arriving on Wednes¬ 
day morning cannot be satisfactorily answered in the current issue. 
Planting' Herbaceous Border (A. I ).').—Your letter is received 
-and shall have our attention. It cannot be fully answered this week. 
Dendrobiums (.7. IF.).—You should obtain either D. crassinode or 
dD. Wardiaaum; both are free in growth and flowering, and easily 
managed. D. aureum is also a free and useful species, the flowers 
wery fragrant. D. nobile nobilius is still scarce and commands a high 
price. 
House for Fruit Growing (IF.).—If you mean us to understand 
Ahat the back wall of the house is IV feet and the front wall 10 feet 
high, with no glass elsewhere than in the roof, and this “ frosted,” the 
house is totally unsuitable for fruit culture, and if trees are planted in 
it, it will be little short of a miracle it they produce any good fruit. 
Fig Culture (R. A.). —There is so much"difference in trees, also in 
“ cool houses,” that no one can answer your question without knowing 
more particulars of the case. Some “ cool ” houses can be heated and 
others cannot, except by the sun ; and some Fig trees are much more* 
prolific than others. There ought to be embryo fruits visible near the 
points of the shoots, that under good management would ripen during 
the summer. If you write more fully your letter shall have our 
attention. 
Wiring Hose House (S. S.). —The wire you propose, and stretch¬ 
ing it across the rafters will answer, as you cannot perhaps strain it 
tight enough up the centre between the sashbars. The wires may he 
a foot apart, and the same distance from the glass, assuming there is 
sufficient head room in the house. We have seen splendid Marochal 
Niel Roses grown with the growths trained 9 inches from the glass, and 
others equally good upwards of 2 feet from it, so the distance is not 
very material if the management is in other respects correct. 
Araucarias Coning (R. B.). —Cone-bearing trees are not peculiar 
to any part of the country, and trees have been raised from seed which 
ripened at Bicton and Dropmore. The pollen and seed-bearing catkins 
are quite dissimilar in form, and are usually borne on separate trees, but 
not always. The cone you speak of as being 18 inches in diameter is 
probably the seed-bearing form, these being much more globular than 
the pollen bearers, which arc thrice the length of their diameter or more, 
and usually curved. 
Inarching Vines ( Vectis). —We gather from your letter that you 
wish to unite the two stems where one of them crosses the other. This 
can be easily accomplished, or you can, by moving one of the rods, 
inarch at a lower part of the stem. The young wood unites more quickly 
than the old. All that is necessary is to take a clean slice oli the two 
stems 5 or G inches long, and fit the cut parts together closely, bind them 
together to prevent displacement, and tie moss round them, to be kept 
moist by the regular syringings to which the Vines may be subjected. 
Inarching may be done when the buds commence swelling. 
Painting Kot-water Pipes (A G. B.). —We know of no better 
mixture for painting hot-water pipes with than lamp black and boiled 
linseed oil. If mixed thin you can apply it with a brush. A much 
quicker process is to take a piece of old canvas, as much as a man can 
conveniently hold in his hand, and dip it into the paint and rub it well 
into the pipes. This is rather a dirty plan, and some might object to it 
on that account ; but the work can be done quite as well as with a 
brush ; besides, the under sides of the pipes cannot always he reached 
with a brush. Six times as many pipes can be covered in an hour in 
the way suggested as with a brush. If the pipes are new and rusty use 
the paint very thin at first, then give them a second covering. They 
will not rust if dressed annually with the above mixture. 
Disbudding Fig Trees (Horace).— Disbudding may be practised 
with Fig as with other fruit trees. It is not desirable to do so at a very 
early stage, for the obvious reason that leaf-growth promotes root 
extension, and this in the early stages is essential to the swelling of the 
young fruit. There is another objection to early disbudding— namely, 
the sap so liberated causes the retained shoots to become long-jointed 
through the foliage not being sufficiently advanced to elaborate the sap. 
It is well to let the trees get fairly well in leaf before disbudding, and 
then it should be done gradually, removing a few growths each day, so 
as not to give a sudden and severe check. When in leaf, disbudding 
may be practised safely and continuously through the season, it being 
important that all growths have full exposure to light and air to insure 
their thorough solidification. See our “Work for theAVeek” column, 
where instructions on Fig culture are given from time to time. Figs in 
pots of the size you require are not usually kept in stock by nurserymen. 
AVe can only suggest that an advertisement is most likely to bring 
particulars of trees approaching your requirements. 
Compost for Plants (Constant). —When Tuberous Begonias are 
started into growth in small pots a rather light and free' compost is used 
by the chief growers, consisting of equal parts of the best turfy loam of 
medium textuie, very sweet leaf soil, and cocoa-nut fibre refuse, 
adding some crushed charcoal and sand for insuring porosity. AVhen 
transferred to larger pots twice the proportion of loam is used to the 
other ingredients, and if the plants are strong and large, very sweet pul¬ 
verised manure may be substituted for the fibre refuse, adding a pound of 
bonemeal to half a bushel of soil. The larger the plants and pots the 
rougher the compost should be, and the more firmly pressed down. 
Caladiums will grow well in similar compost, though some persons 
employ fibrous peat with loam and leaf mould in the early stages of 
growth. Camellias thrive admirably in the same mixture, but the loam 
should not contain lime, and it should be of a good wearing character, 
not full of sand or silt, or it will settle into a close mass. Much peat 
and leaf mould are of little value, and some little short of poisonous 
to plants ; and it is well also to remember that unless good management 
in watering and other details is accorded throughout, plants will not 
thrive in even the best of soil. AVe do not know what you mean by 
Meranther. If you send us the correct name of the plant we can tell you 
the kind of soil it requires, not otherwise. 
