370 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 1, 1890 . 
issues. The most important point at present is not to allow bees 
to suffer by want of food. 
The Use of Foexdatiox. 
The proper and profitable use of foundation is to use tbe right 
sort, genuine native wax, having the natural worker cell with thin 
septum and high side walls, so that six sheets when laid flat upon each 
other measure an inch. This used in full sheets in the broodviest 
is taken advantage of by queen and bees alike, and I have 
repeatedly seen eggs laid half an hour after the bees were hived, 
and in twenty-four hours after hiving all more or less drawn out 
without the slightest buckling or breakdown. It is the high side 
walls that give the proper strength, and insure straightness, and 
the thin midrib or septum, and firm native wax abng with allow¬ 
ing the bees ample room to start with, that prevents breakdowns 
and twisting. A heavy midrib of soft wax has the opposite effect 
of strength. 
Supers demand guides, and it is simply a question of quality 
how much should be employed. Foundation for sections should 
have the same kind of cell as that for brood, but should be as 
thin as possible with a medium side wall. Wax employed by the 
bees to build and seal honeycombs is slightly of a different nature 
than that employed in the body of the hive possessing a portion 
of more brittle and heavier substance than is to be found in wax 
extracted from brood combs. If the former could be preserved 
and wrought into foundation it would be more pleasant to eat 
honeycomb made from it than from wax of brood combs. But 
it cannot, it is far too brittle, and being heavier than the tougher 
portion tbeir affinity appears to be gone when melted. 
Coveeixg for Hives. 
“ Will you kindly permit me, through your columns, to ask 
your correspondent, ‘ Lanarkshire Bee-keeper,’ by what means the 
sacking or felt is attached to the Lanarkshire hive, and whether 
more than one thickness is required ? What length and width 
should the alighting board and porch be for the above hive ? 
Ought four 5-lb. supers to occupy the full length and width of the 
divisions ? I shall be much obliged for the above desired informa¬ 
tion.—J. D. L., Northumberland," 
For covering the body of my hives when no outside case is 
employed I wrap the sacking or woollen cloths so as to cover to the 
top of the body of the hive, the supers for obvious reasons having 
an independent covering, which laps over the body one. When the 
wrappings are made tight a patent pin at the bottom holds it firmly 
until the operator passes a card tightly round near the top. One, 
two, or three thicknesses or plies may be employed, depending 
much upon the thickness and quality of material at hand. The 
felt should be used the whole breadth (32 inches), and long enough 
to lap some inches over the wrapping, and is held close at the 
bottom by a brass nail with a head and nut passing through the 
felt an inch or so from the edge. The felt should overlap the floor 
at the back and the two sides, but clear of the doorway at the 
front. 
A cord at the top, or another B bolt keeps it together. It is 
liable to drop ; to prevent that nail a broadish strap of cloth to the 
upper edges, and tie firm, or fold over the surplus breadth, either 
prevents it dropping and closing the entrance against the bees. A 
hive so covered with the addition of dried grass on the top cannot 
be improved upon, and I consider hives uniformly and neatly covered 
need not be an eyesore in any garden. The alighting board must 
be the full width of the hive, 41 inches broad, and attached to it by 
means of two staples and hooked wires to form a hinge. Another 
board 9 inches broad reaches to the ground at any angle required. 
If the alighting board is hinged to the hive with brass butts the 
hive becomes much handier to move about. Four supers should 
occupy the whole superficial top of hive, but if a protector is used 
then they should be made to allow it to slip over the supers easily. 
Caution.—Prevent any hard substance getting between the supers 
and protector, or there will be a difficulty in taking the latter off. 
The moveable porch should not be less than 8 inchss high in 
the clear, and 4 to 6, or even 8 inches wide, and extend the whole 
width of the hive ; if broader than the first named it should be 
correspondingly higher. The main advantage of a porch is to 
prevent the bees being whisked from the alighting board by high 
winds, and there is nothing better than two broad haffets reaching 
to the ground, and as high as is convenient. — Lan.vrksiiire 
Bee-keeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Ed. Pynaert Van Geert, Ghent, Belgium.— General Catalogue of 
Plant/, 1890. 
Ryder & Son, Sale, Manchester.— List of Primulas and Begonias. 
Messrs. B. S. Williams & Son, Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper 
Holloway.— Catalogue of Xew Plants, 1890 {Illustrated'). 
All correspondence should be directed either to “ The 
Editor” or to “The Purlisher.” Letters addressed to 
Dr. Hogg or members of the staff often remain unopened 
unavoidably. 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. 
Continental Tradesmen {Sundriesinari). —We have no list of the 
particular class of dealers to which you refer. Lists of continental 
nurserymen are published in the “ Horticultural Directory.” 
Peculiar Auricula {Somerset Ward). —It is an example of 
fasciation, which, however, is more commonly seen in a combination of 
the flower stalks than in the corolla itself. Although there is apparently 
only one corolla much larger than usual, there are two series of stamens 
and two pistils. There are also double the usual number of calyx 
divisions. 
Storing- Fruit {J. A.). —Flour barrels are excellent for storing 
fruit in, and any other boxes or barrels that are perfectly sweet will 
answer, but the fruit will absorb any flavours good or bad that may 
linger in the boxes. See what Mr. Wright says on this subject on 
page 115 of his prize essay on fruit-growing, post free Is. 3i. from this 
office. 
Dabllas (.7. MoC .).—You will And the following good varieties— 
Cactus Dahlias: Juarezi, scarlet; Empress of India, crimson ; Constance, 
white ; W. T. Abery, white edged with red ; Yellow Juarezi, and 
Cochineal, deep crimson. Single varieties : White Queen, Paragon, 
maroon, edged purple ; Terra Cotta, bronzy yellow ; Chilvvell Beauty, 
yellow ; Firefly, scarlet ; and Mauve Queen. 
Iron Stakes for Roses (.7. G.). —Your letter was one post too late 
for being answered last week. We have seen iron stakes used for 
standard and pillar Roses for years without injury resulting, and we 
know of one large standard Rose that has been secured to an iron stake 
for twenty years. It is very desirable to have something as a pad 
between the stem and the stake. We have heard of iron stakes affecting 
Roses prejudicially, but no instances have come under our notice. They 
have been used for Dahlias in a garden for forty years with the greatest 
satisfaction. 
French Salads (77. B. IF.).—We have seen quite as good examples 
of salad vegetables grown in England as in France by persons who have 
rich soil and suitable appliances, such as frames and cloches for early 
produce, but all English cultivators do not devote the same attention to 
salad growing as do the generality of French gardeners, and, as a rule, 
the same care is not exercised in preparing salads in England as in 
France. It is entirely fanciful to suppose that because seeds are obtained 
direct from France the best produce will follow. If a French salad 
grower obtained seeds from a good source in Eng’and, he would raise 
just the kind of produce you admire in the French markets. Poor soil, 
and overcrowding plants when small, are the causes of many failures. 
Such a work as you name would not be a commercial success. 
Mllde-w on Roses {St. Julien). —Syringe your Roses with a solu¬ 
tion of sulphur and water, a 3-inch potful of the former to three 
gallons of the latter. The sulphur should be first mixed with a little 
w'ater into a paste, and then the remainder added. If you syringe your 
Roses thoroughly this will destroy the mildew if you allow it to remain 
upon them three or four bright days and then wash it off. Cold 
draughts and dryness at the root will cause mildew, and nothing will 
keep the plants free for long if these important matters are not care¬ 
fully attended to. Mr. Bardney is very careful about the admission of 
air to his plants, and recommends as a preventive syringing them every 
time syringing is needed with a solution of softsoap and water. The 
method of preparation is to boil about 4 lbs. of softsoap with a little 
water in a saucepan for twenty minutes ; to this six gallons of water is 
added, and half a pint of the solution is placed in a large water pot full 
of water for syringing. 
American Blight {1d m). — You will find methylated spirits 
effectual. It shouM be applied with a small gum brush. Very little is 
needed, and most of the spii-it should be pressed out of the brush before 
the affected parts are touched with it. Petroleum diluted will answer 
the same purpose, but you will fail by one or two applications of any¬ 
thing to root out this pest. It may require constant attention over a 
considerable time. However carefully syringing may be done with any 
solution it is next to impossible to reach all the insects. When the trees 
