488 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 13, 188P* 
■often fall chilled before they fly many yards from the hive. Given 
two hives of equal strength—the one having a deficiency of stores 
.and the other plenty, beginning breeding at the same time, the 
weather chilly, the bees in the former will fly out and dwindle. 
The bees within will make an effort to cover all the brood, but in 
their relaxed cluster a sufficiency of heat is not kept up, the brood 
is gradually eaten out, and the adult bees get less daily. In the 
latter caze no flying out is necessary, hence the bees increase and 
prosper. Although the foregoing is neither quite original nor 
full, I trust it may serve its purpose of impressing bee-keepers with 
fhe importance of carrying out the principles advocated, and leav¬ 
ing the “ modern ” instructions to those who invented them. 
Below is one of numerous letters I receive bearing upon the 
question at issue. Everyone bears out the principles advocated 
-and taught in these pages. 
“ My hives came all through the winter, but one had a fertile worker 
queen breeding drones, so I consigned it to the brimstone pit, and I had 
ione robbed yesterday. Others are all in good condition and full of bees. 
Have you observed the want of flower on the Plane trees this season ? 
Here we have not a flower, and instead of an incessant hum of insect 
life from “ early morn to dewy eve,” all is silent. 1 do not recollect 
having seen such an entire absence of flower from the Planes before. 
It makes a difference to bee-keeping in this district, as nice supers used 
to he got from the Planes. We had no deaths in either octagon or 
square Stewarton here, fully bearing out your contention as to the 
adaptability of either hive to the requirement of the bees, while the 
■deaths in the bar-frames so strongly recommended elsewhere have been 
very numerous; in fact, I have not seen one come through the winter 
worth a rap. As I already said, mine are all in an advanced stage, and 
-.several never got a drop of sugar, but depended wholly on what they 
gathered last season, and from several of these I got a fair amount of 
super honey.— William Dick, Kirknewton, Midlothian." 
SWARMING. 
This is becoming general now, and has been since the last week 
-of May. It is better to encourage it than keep bees in too small 
hives, but it is more judicious to enlarge hives for the full scope 
of the queen and its internal economy than to encourage swarms 
'from such small hives. When suitable weather comes full-sized 
hives send forth swarms capable of gathering a large surplus, to 
the delight and profit of the bee-keeper.— A Lanarkshire Bee¬ 
keeper. 
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. 
Kate Inquirers (.1/. M., and Others ').—Letters arriving on Wed¬ 
nesday morning are too late to be answered in the current issue; nor 
«an similarly late communications be inserted the same week, except by 
special arrangement. 
Arallas ( Walpurgis ).—The species with green leaves as large as 
those of the Fig, but differing in shape and colour, is A. Sieboldi. If 
you wet the young leaves and dust them with tobacco powder or snuff 
■now and then, we think they will not be attacked by insects. 
Vine Leaves Scorched (Z. It .).—The foliage indicates that the 
house has been kept closed too long in the morning of a bright day, and 
then the ventilators opened too wide at once to lower the temperature. 
In such a case the evaporation from the foliage is always great, and 
tender leaves are browned at the edges—scorched or chilled. If sulphur 
has not been burnt in the house, the above is, we think, the cause of 
injury. 
Tomato Leaves Curled (_F. S.). —The leaves of some varieties of 
Tomatoes curl naturally, and without seeing some of yours we cannot 
possibly say whether they are diseased or not. The temperatures you 
name are fully high, except with free ventilation night and day, and a 
rather dry in preference to a very moist atmosphere is desirable. 
Peach Leaves Scorched (<9. II .).—It would appear from your 
letter that the sulphide of potassium mixture has injured the leaves, 
but we have known stronger applications do no harm. We, however, 
did not advise its use, nor do we ever do so experimentally for testing 
its effect before using it generally. No doubt your tree would be im¬ 
proved by placing the roots in fresh firm calcareous loam early in 
the autumn. Immature wood and gumming are precursors of fruit 
falling prematurely. 
Nectarines Dropping- (6*. II .).—On dissecting the fruits you 
have sent we have no doubt the misfortune complained of is due to one 
of two causes, or it may be in part to both—namely, imperfect fertilisa¬ 
tion or a deficiency of lime. If the border contains a good quantity 
of ca’careous matter, then undoubtedly the blossoms did not set as they 
should have done. This may have arisen from a deficiency oE pollen, 
imperfect organs of fructification, or a damp atmosphere when the tree 
was flowering. 
Chrysanthemums Injured ( Novice j.—We fear the plants that 
were so severely damaged by large pieces of ice will not be easily brought 
into condition for producing good blooms. No doubt you have acted 
rightly in cutting the worst down, and slight dressings of nitrate of 
soda will stimulate growth, but it is easy to do more harm than good 
with it. A quarter of an ounce to a gallon of clear liquid manure—the 
drainings from a dung heap—given very pale in colour once a week 
would assist the plants. Nitric acid is more of a stimulant than a food 
for plants. 
Questions and Answers ( I). LI). —We are at all times ready to 
answer questions, but having searched diligently through your note we 
fail to find anything to answer. However, as you evidently expect us 
to say something, we advise you to endeavour to improve on your 
peculiar method of spelling, for there is nothing like it in the dictionary, 
and your grammar is also open to considerable improvement. We have 
never seen “ Sataarday ” so rendered before, and your letter is in other 
respects novel. 
Summer-pruning- Fruit Trees ( Farnham ).—The most important 
requisite in the formation of fruitful trees is the thin disposal of the 
main branches. They should be sufficiently far apart for the sun to 
shine between them, then if the ends of the branches are not shortened 
natural spurs will form, and there will be little breast wood to cut 
out. Any growths not wanted for extension may be cut back now to 
four or five leaves, and secondary growths that may follow be pinched to 
one leaf. If the main growths are too numerous some of them may be 
cut out now. 
Mildew on Vines (J. Cl ).—We cannot account for the presence 
of mildew on your Vines for the first time. We gather from your 
letter that you grow plants in the houses, and if these have been 
watered late, and the atmosphere has been rather damp and moist, 
with a low night temperature, the conditions would be favourable for 
the germination of the spores. Read our reply to another correspondent. 
Sulphur can usually be blown off with a pair of bellows. It will 
not disfigure the Grapes half so much as the mildew will if this is 
allowed to spread. 
Seedling Pelargonium (R. McKenna). —The box containing the 
trusses of Ivy-lea- ed Pelargonium did not arrive till Thursday morning, 
and the cotton wool had abstracted the moisture from them, thus the 
flowers were withered, and nearly all the petals shaken off. Judging 
from the solitary flower that in some degree retained its shape, and 
from your description of the plants, the variety is probably a very 
good one, but it is impossible to form a definite opinion from the spoiled 
samples. They would have arrived fresh in a little newly cut grass, or 
surrounded with soft leaves, such as Spinach. 
Repotting Camellias ( Newcastle). — All the requisite details 
have often been given in our pages, and more fully than they can be 
furnished in a reply. If the pots are full of roots the plants may be 
shifted as soon as the buds are set, and before they are as large as 
peppercorns, taking care that the balls of soil are not dry at the time, 
and that the new compost given is moist also, but not ivet.and pressed 
down as firm as the old. The roots should not be disturbed, and only 
loose drainage particles removed, and a little loose soil rubbed from 
the top when potting. Apply water with judgment afterwards, and 
shade with occasional syringings will prevent the necessity of frequent 
applications to the roots immediately after the plants are shifted. 
Ceranlum Cuttings (6-’. S. F .).—We presume you refer to Zonal 
Pelargoniums. For producing dwarf bushy plants choose stout jointed 
cuttings, 4 to 5 inches long, half to be inserted in the soil. They should 
have all the sun and air they can endure, and the plants only protected 
with glass in summer against drenching rains. The cuttings are best in¬ 
serted singly in small pots, and when roots are visible through the drainage 
nip off the points of the plants, and a week afterwards shift them into 
pots 2 or 3 inches wider, pressing the soil, which may consist of good turfy 
loam, with a sixth part of crumbled manure and a little crushed char¬ 
coal, also sand if the loam is heavy, pressing it very firmly round the 
roots. Firm potting, free exposure to sun, also pinching the shoots 
occasionally, is the routine for producing dwarf bushy plants. 
Mildew on Vines (A. S.). —Seeing that sulphuring the pipes is 
generally practised by gardeners, and has been frequently advised in 
