246 
JOURNA L 
t Mar. h -1,183 
CN HORTICULTURE AND COTTA ZA GARDENER: 
ARTIFICIAL POLLEN. 
When bees are on the wing provide themselves with pea-meal 
if there is a paucity of flowers. It acts beneficially in a twofold 
manner. It prevents the bees roaming too far away from their 
hives, consequently averting loss, and it allows them to continue 
bringing forth brood, consequently avoids waste of eggs and insures 
full-sized and strong bees. When there is a paucity of pollen in 
the hive, the bees are either imperfect or are not brought forward. 
Bees will not gather pollen if they do not require it, or if they do 
it will either be in small quantities, or in anticipation of requiring 
it at a future period. It is now more than thirty years since I 
commenced feeding with pea-meal, and it is always discontinued 
when flowers become plentiful. I only indulge the bees with it 
before flowers appear, when there is a scarcity of them, or during 
unfavourable weather. — A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIYED. 
Little & Ballantyne, Carlisle .—Farm Seeds. 
C. Sharpe & Co., Sleaford .—Farm Seeds. 
*,* 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. 
Auriculas (J. 3/.).—We are obliged by your letter and enclosures, 
but arriving on Wednesday morning they cannot be inserted this week. 
Digging- (A. 31. B.). —We think we can supply the desired infor¬ 
mation. but Wednesday’s letters cannot be fully answered in the current 
issue. 
Planting Asparagus (J. G.). —Enrich the ground as you propose, 
not working it when wet, nor bringing much, if any, unfertile subsoil 
to the surface. Add coarse sand or other gritty matter if the land is 
heavy. This is all we can say this week in consequence of the late 
arrival of your letter. 
Peaches for Profit (A Fire-years Subscriber'). —Peaches are pro¬ 
fitably cultivated under glass by persons who are competent to grow 
them well. If you have had sufficient experience you may carry out 
your project. If you do not feel competent through lack of practice 
you had better perhaps try Tomatoes. They are more easily grown than 
Peaches, and give a much quicker and often a very good return to the 
cultivator. 
Destroying Weeds on Walks (Upper Norwood ).—There are 
various methods of destroying weeds. One part of common vitriol to 
thirty of water will kill all ordinary kinds ; so will au ounce of crude 
carbolic acid in a gallon of water. Smith’s weed killer, which is adver¬ 
tised, is largely used, and with satisfactory results Whatever you apply 
of a corrosive nature must be kept off grass or Box edgings, also from 
the boots, clothes, and hands of the workmen. 
Swelling on Bose Stock (P. H. W.). —We do not consider that 
what you send is a fungoid growth. It is a callosity which not infre¬ 
quently forms on grafted Roses when the union has been imperfect, 
■as when the stock and the Rose stem do not swell uniformly. If the 
junction is low enough to be placed below the soil, or a collar can be 
fixed round the pot for supporting added soil, roots will probably issue 
from the swollen part or above it, and the plant be improved. 
Seeds for La Plata (Emigrant). —You give not the slightest indi¬ 
cation of your object, not even mentioning whether you require vege¬ 
tables or flowers, but simply say you wish to take out a “few likely 
seeds.” Probably the best advice we can give you is to state your 
wishes to one of the large seed firms or dealers who have experience in 
sending seeds to different parts of the world, and if you name the sum 
you desire to invest, you may rely on having suitable kinds properly 
packed for arriving in good condition at their destination. 
Planting Standard Roses (S.). —We have seen standard Roses 
planted at this season of the year, and grow and flower very well during 
the season, but they were well rooted, and the fibres not suffered to get 
in the least dry when out of the ground, and the tops were closely 
pruned. Should dry east winds occur after planting, syringing will be 
beneficial, and haybands wrapped round the stems and kept moist are 
of great service in arresting evaporation from them, the escape of mois¬ 
ture from the wood before active roots form for imbibing a supply for 
keeping them fresh being the cause of death to the plants when that 
occur r. 
Pegging Down Single Dahlias (IF. J. B .).—There is no 
question that for bedding the plants are much more effective when 
pegged, as the stems are obscured and a more even and fuller surface of 
flowers produced. If the work is done neatly brilliant and level masses 
of flowers usually expand 18 inches or 2 feet above the surface of the 
beds. Dahlias for pegging should 
be planted in a slanting direction, 
to facilitate the depression of the 
stems. They should not be pegged 
quite flat immediately after plant¬ 
ing, as that would unduly arrest 
early growth. The small sketch 
will show what we mean by slant¬ 
ing the plants when placed in the 
beds. If inserted in the usual upright manner they could not very well 
be bept down without breaking, and if they could the growth would be 
checked. » 
Planting Strawberries and Raspberries (A. F. S.). —You ask 
if you will gain any time by planting these at once instead of waiting 
till the autumn. Our reply is in the affirmative if the Strawberry plants 
are not mere weaklings with few roots, and these are not dried during 
the process of removal; and if the Raspberry canes have bushy fibres, 
and these are kept moist when out of the ground. The canes should be cut 
down to within a foot from the ground, and the soil over the roots 
mulched with manure. The Strawberries may also be mulched, not 
covering the crowns, and if flower trusses appear they had better be 
nipped off. 
Soot in Strawberry Pots (II. 31 .).—An inch of soot placed in 
the bottom of each pot with leaves is very much in excess of what is 
usually employed, a sprinkling only being given, as a rule, on the rough 
material over the drainage. This acts as a preventive of worms enter¬ 
ing the pots as well as a stimulant to the plants. The quantity of soot 
employed would be likely to close the drainage, and the roots coming in 
contact with it must of necessity be destroyed, the combined effect 
being highly prejudicial to the plants. Watering with soot water 
several times when the plants were taken in to force would further 
aggravate the evil, especially if they were not well furnished with roots, 
which, we presume, they were not, as some of the plants are dead, the 
rest not able to bear fruit. The excessive use of soot is sufficient to 
account for the disaster, but it must be taken into account that early 
Strawberries have not done well this year, the result, no doubt, of the 
disadvantages of last season’s wet and cold. 
Raising and Growing Cytisuses and Deutzias (Tadcaster), 
—One of the most successful cultivators of these plants writes as 
follows The Cytisos must rank amongst the most useful of winter 
and spring-blooming plants, both for house and conservatory decoration. 
When employed for the former purpose it is most useful when grown in 
48-size pots, in which we have had plants 18 inches in diameter. By 
striking a few cuttings annually there is no occasion to retain the plants 
after their second season of blooming. Those that bloom the first year 
in spring we use for winter work the next winter, when they are best 
thrown away, unless very large plants are required, they are then re¬ 
potted. Cuttings may be struck in the autumn or spring. We prefer 
the former time, as they have a longer season of growth, consequently 
more flowers are obtained. September is the best month to strike them 
in. Take the half-ripened side shoots with a heel attached, and insert 
them in sandy soil pressed in firmly. They will strike quite readily if 
plunged in a cold frame for a short time, then introduce them to a little 
bottom heat. When rooted the points should be taken out, and they 
can be potted singly in 60-pots in two parts fibry loam and one of peat, 
with a good sprinkling of sand. Keep them close until established, 
when they should be wintered on a shelf in a greenhouse. In the 
spring they should be placed into 48-size pots. After they are well 
established, and the weather is mild and warm, plunge them in the open 
air. The points should be kept pinched back until the end of August. 
We manage this by drawing the plant through the hand as often as they 
require stopping, and cut the tops off, then the plants are obtained of a 
uniform shape. They must be well attended to with watering. Before 
there is danger of frost place them in a well-ventilated greenhouse. 
After the plants have bloomed in the spring cut them well back and 
repot, when they will bloom the following winter if placed in a tem¬ 
perature of 50°.” An excellent paper on Deutzias will soon be 
published, containing the information you require on these plants. 
Managing Vines (G. II .).—You have no occasion for making any 
apology for seeking information, nor for being a “ groom and 
gardener.” Some of the most worthy and industrious men we know 
belong to this class, and one of them has taken prizes for Grapes at the 
Royal Horticultural, Crystal Palace and other large shows. The Vine9 
now flowering should have a night temperature of 65°, falling to 60° in 
the morning, and the top ventilators may be left open half an inch or 
so all night. When the temperature rises above 65° in the morning 
admit more air, but not to lower the temperature, increasing the open¬ 
ings of the sashes at each increase of 5°. The heat then rises naturally 
and steadily, and it may rise to 80° or 85° with sun, as indicated by a 
shaded thermometer. No greater mistake can be made than to have the 
sashes closed so long in the morning that the house becomes too hot, 
and a lar^e volume of air has to be given to cool it. It is also a mistake 
to admit sharp currents of air through the front sashes. It is a good 
fig. 37 . 
