18 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
r January 18S0. 
iicially must not exceed 45° ; indeed, plants that require satety from 
frost only should be placed in vineries when the Vines are at rest. 
Late, Houses .—Maintain a mean temperature of-45° with a dry 
atmosphere in houses in which Grapes are hanging. Examine every 
bunch frequently, and remove all decayed berries. Ventilate the house 
■on fine dry mornings, and keep it closed when the weather is damp. 
Where late Grapes were ripened comparatively early, and it is desired 
to start the Vines soon after the middle of February, the Grapes may be 
■cut, the ends of the stems being inserted in bottles of rain water secured 
in an inclined position, so as to admit of the fruit hanging clear of the 
bottles. Any dry room will be a suitable place where an equable 
temperature of 40° to 45° is maintained. This will admit of the Vines 
being pruned and the house cleaned. 
KITCHEN GAEDEN. 
Digging. —Now that we have passed what is commonly termed the 
turn of the year ” work in the kitchen garden will increase weekly ; 
it is therefore necessary that all who wish to have early crops and quick 
profitable returns must be prepared to plant and sow when opportunity 
offers. This can rarely be done to advantage when the ground has to be 
dug at the time of putting in the crops, but when manured and prepared 
before cropping is easy and expeditious work. Vacant quarters are now 
■more general than they were a month or two ago, and all intended for 
■early crops should be prepared at once. 
Peas and Broad Beans. —Those sown some weeks ago are now 
through the soil. Sift some coal ashes very fine, and put a line of them 
along each side of the plants; this will prevent snails destroying 
the young plants. If in a windy or exposed position a mound of earth 
about 6 inches high can be drawn up outside the ashes, which will leave 
the plants in a sheltered furrow, and prove more beneficial than twigs or 
stakes, which are apt to “draw” them too much up. January sown 
Peas and Broad Beans are always good crops with us, and more of the 
■early varieties should be sown on the first favourable opportunity. In 
a rich well-drained soil there is no danger of failure. 
Early Carrots. —For some years we made up a hotbed early in 
January, placed a frame or frames on the top of it, filled them partially 
■with soil, and sowed the early Carrots, but we found the exposed manure 
acted like a sponge, absorbed the wet, and soon cooled to such an extent 
that it was no stimulant to the Carrots. We now use a frame 4 to 
B feet high at the back, and about 3 feet in front. The manure is packed 
firmly inside, and the soil is placed on this ; the whole is protected, and 
the soil retains the heat double the length of time of the other way, and 
it is less littery. Only the Horn varieties should be forced, and 10 inches 
of soil is sufficient for them. This should be rather light and sandy, and 
•contain a good sprinkling of soot. The manure must be trodden firmly 
down first, and the soil equally so on the top. If only 4 inches or 
B inches from the lights when finished that will be sufficient, as by the 
time the tops have gained size the manure will have subsided a little. 
The seed should not be covered more than a quarter of an inch, and if 
watered immediately after sowing no more will be required till the 
plants are visible. Protect from frost, and admit a little air on fine 
days. 
Early Radishes. —These are easily produced from now onwards- 
They .flo not require the same substantial or lasting bed as the Carrotsj 
and a slight hotbed with a frame on the top is sufficient. If grown for 
private use a one-light bed sown every ten days will yield a constant 
■supply of roots. They are very tender and crisp when raised in frames 
-early in the season, and never fail to please as salad. 
Parsnips. —Before the winter is over the bulk of these decay very 
much at the crown, and sometimes it is difficult to preserve them. We 
have lifted and stored them in sand or ashes and kept them dry in a 
dark shed, and we are of opinion that they are as well left in the soil 
as treated in any of these ways. The crowns may become black and 
pulpy, but the greater length of the root will remain sound, and the 
■flavour is far better preserved in the ground than by any storing 
process. 
Early Seed Potatoes. —Unless with very special facilities we do 
not recommend Potato forcing to be commenced until February. Those 
planted in frames or pots at this time make very long stems, but the 
■tubers do not grow equally rapid, and January planted Potatoes are 
never very productive. The seed tubers intended for planting in 
February should now, however, be taken in hand. Place strong healthy 
■tubers in one layer as close as they will stand to each other growing end 
upwards in a shallow box, shake a little leaf soil or sand over them. 
Place them in a house or pit where the temperature is about 60°, and 
in the full light. This will induce them to produce strong shoots, which 
■will be a great gain at planting time. 
Celery. —The frost and wet have caused much of this to become 
soft in the upper part of the stems, and some may be afraid of losing 
it, but that earthed up and under soil is less easily injured, and is rarely 
•spoiled. We have tried lifting it and storing under cover, but if anything 
it kept worse in this way than in the ground. When the weather is dry 
clear all the protecting litter away from it to admit air, do not replace 
it unless frost prevail, also remove the decayed ends from the stems. 
If finely sifted ashes or sand is put round the collar of each plant and 
pressed firmly down it will arrest decay much more than loose materials. 
■Celery that is soft and all spongy to the root does not keep so well as 
■the heads that are solid throughout, and whether Celery keeps well or 
mot depends a good deal on this point. 
Early Brussels Sprouts. —Some growers like to see their Sprouts 
button about midsummer, and they rear them under glass to have them 
early, but by midwinter these are not half so useful as the late ones 
that only begin to sprout in September. A few rows of the former 
with us cannot be sent to the kitchen now, but the latter are medium 
in size, exceedingly firm, and quite fresh. 
NOTES ON BEES. 
Condition of Hives. 
Everywhere hive.s seem to be in excellent condition, and 
are a marked contrast to what they were in the autumn of 1888. 
The only drawback, as I stated some time since, is that many 
hives which were at the Heather have virgin queens; that would 
have been avoided had the bee-keepers depended only on their 
nuclei for next year’s stocks. 
With the absence of such extremely cold weather next spring as 
we had in that of 1888, and fine weather in July and August, there 
is a good prospect of having an abundant harvest of honey in 1890, 
which with strong hives and but two weeks’ fine weather in either 
month will be certain. 
It is worth repeating—Do not delay getting everything likely to 
be required ready for next summer, particularly for the Heather 
harvest. Lay the plans beforehand, and when the time comes put 
them into execution. 
Every succeeding year there seem to be many recruits taking 
advantage of the Heather, and as many of the sites occupied 
by the bees are far from dwellings, there ought to be nothing to 
seek for ; supers, packing cases, and all necessary tools for remov¬ 
ing supers should be at hand. Nothing clears the supers of bees so 
rapidly and effectually as the carbolicised papers, first used by 
me and announced in this Journal, but subsequently claimed by 
many who were but novices in bee-keeping. I do not wish to 
encourage a superfluous number of appliances, as they are some¬ 
times expensive, and not unfrequently of little use ; but there is 
one which I would not be without, and I am careful to have my 
appliances serve more than one purpose. 
A Tripod. 
In conjunction with a Westing’s patent chain pulley and a 
steelyard this weighs hives, supers, &c., with little trouble, and 
costs (complete) about 20s. or thereabouts. It also forms a 
manipulating tent, but of course requires a calico cover, costing 
about 7s. when finished. In addition to the uses mentioned it 
serves well for camping out either by night or by day. A spirit or 
mineral oil lamp does all that is necessary for heating or cooking. 
A packing box serves as table, bench, or seat. I do not know any¬ 
thing more useful where workmen are to take shelter from showers. 
Gardeners, for example, may have certain work to perform during 
an inclement time of showery weather. Basket making or other 
needful work could be carried on in one of these during the time 
the showers last, and then being kept dry the men are more comfort¬ 
able and more work is performed than if they had to stand out the 
gales. The tripod is light and easily carried about from place to 
place, and is useful for transplanting trees and shrubs. One is 
easily made. A card, chain, or hoop of the proper dimensions are 
all that is necessary to hold the legs together. My own is made 
with a circular crossed piece of wood for the top with a bolt hook 
for suspension in the centre, the legs 2 by 1^ inch rounded on the 
top to form a hinge or knuckle ; a piece of wire passes through the 
centre of the arc into kneed pieces of iron held firm by screws, as 
is also the pivot. It measures only 8 feet high, but when expanded 
has ample room for six or eight men to take shelter in, or for 
half that number to work. 
It is actually folly to take bees to the Heather and leave them 
to chance, as many do, until the end of the season, unless when 
