142 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
[ February 17, 887. 
ing to those who are better able and equally willing to employ such 
means as they possess to benefit the apicultural world by introducing 
a bee such as we have endeavoured roughly to describe. It is the 
duty of every bee-keeper to destroy all inferior queens, so that in 
the succeeding year both drones and queens may be of a higher 
standard, and a better chance be consequently afforded to those 
earnest men who are striving so eagerly to improve our bees.— 
Felix. 
THE HONEY MARKET. 
Pressure of work has prevented my answering “ A. L. B.” in your 
impression of January 13th, and I have been so busy with Chrysanthe¬ 
mums and babies that I have had little or no time to spare for bees. I 
am perfectly aware that no arguments that can be adduced or facts 
proved will convince him, “ Felix,” or others that the British Honey 
Company is a success, and will continue to be so. Knowing my fellow 
countrymen, the Scotch (and as my forbears have been Scotch and bur¬ 
gesses of Glasgow back to the time of good Queen Bess, perhaps it is 
not too presumptuous on my part to assume that I am Scotch) I know 
this, that the old adage holds true of Scotchmen much more than of 
any other race ; but I appeal from “ Felix ” (and Co.) unto Caesar. 
Enclosed is a copy of the balance sheet, which I will be much obliged 
if you will forward to him. 
Roughly speaking, we made a loss of £500, which was due to the 
expenses of starting the company; while on the trading account we 
made a gross profit of £100 on a turn-over of £700, and during 1885 we 
bought upwards of £1000 worth of honey. The directors received no 
fees, as they are only paid out of profits. In a former number of the 
Journal the question was asked whether I personally was satisfied with 
the number of shareholders, only 6000 shares having been subscribed 
for. 
Everything goes by comparison, and comparing our applications 
with that of Guinness the result is ludicrous ; but if, on the other hand, 
is considered the applications for the now defunct Bee and Fruit Farm¬ 
ing Company there is no cause to complain. Let me remind your 
readers that this was praised to the skies by “ Felix ” and others, and 
perhaps they will be good enough to let them know to what extent they 
backed up their respective opinions. As far as I know, and I have it 
on the authority of one of the shareholders, the total number of shares 
allotted, including the directors’ qualifying shares, to the public was 
between 300 and 400. Again, I would ask, Why did not the Bee¬ 
keepers’ Union make a start ? There has been no honest explanation of 
the reason. A casual reference to the fact by “Felix,” and a pious 
opinion expressed by “ A. L. B.,” is all that the general public know of 
its premature death. 
Was there so little vitality in the scheme that “ A. L. B.” and others 
were snuffed out, Keats like, by an article or two in the Bee Journal] 
or was it that the scheme was so radically wrong that no one outside 
the clique would join it ? So far as the Honey Co. is concerned the 
results of last year’s business are most encouraging. The monthly 
sales are steadily increasing ; and in spite of the Canadian honey, 
and other honey, which is only honey in name, our brand is making 
its way, and grocers find that the public will not take other honey 
in place of it. I have tasted samples of Canadian, Australian, New 
Zealand, South African, American, and other genuine foreign honey, 
but with one exception, some Swiss honey, I have yet the pleasure 
to come of tasting any colonial or foreign sample that equals our British 
honey in delicacy of flavour and aroma. 
A case in point may prove this better than a bare assertion. A friend 
purchased some Canadian honey—our cousins do not suffer from an 
excess of modesty—and gave it to his children. The first day it was 
punished pretty severely, but the next day it was not touched, and the 
British honey reigned supreme. There is no vice about it, sweetness is 
there, some flavour, and good colour, but there is a nameless something 
which marks its decided inferiority. 
Whether with constant rage for cheapness the public will take to 
foreign honey is a problem which can only be solved by the experience 
of the next year or two. Though I have tasted colonial mutton and beef 
on many occasions, I have never been able to delude myself into the 
belief that I prefer it to prime Southdown or Scotch beef, even when I 
have been suffering from a severe attack of economy. 
As pure foreign honey can be bought for 3d. per lb., it is still an 
open question whether we British bee-keepers can produce honey any¬ 
where near this in price, and whether the public will pay am extra 
Id. or 2d. for pure British honey.— Geo. Walker, Wimbledon. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
S. Hot timer, Swiss Nursery, Rowledge, Farnham, Surrey. —Illustrated 
Catalogue of Vegetable, Flower, and Farm Seeds, 1887. 
Viccars Colly er & Co., Leicester.— General Catalogue, 1887. 
James Yates, 29, Little Underbauk, Stockport. —Descriptive Catalogue 
of Vegetable and Flower Seeds. 
R. H. Poynter, Castle Green, Taunton.— Catalogue of Seeds. 
John Jardine, jun., Portland Gardens, Mill Road, Kilmarnock.— Cita- 
logue of Prize Plants and Seeds, 1887. 
T. S. Ware, Tottenham. —Illustrated Catalogues of Hardy Perennials, 
P ironies, Hardy Climbing Plants, Chrysanthemums, and Hardy Florists’ 
Flowers. 
Boulton and Paul, Rose Lane Works, Norwich .—Price List of Horticul¬ 
tural Buildings and Boilers. 
° a 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. AVe 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. AVe cannot reply to questions through the 
post, and we do not undertake to return rejected communica 
tions. 
TO CONTRIBUTORS.—Our friends who favour with communications 
on controversial subjects will oblige by sending their articles as 
soon after they receive the Journal as possible. Our space is prac¬ 
tically filled on Monday, and only articles that are “ oxpected,” and 
which arrive on Tuesday, can, as a rule, be inserted in the current 
issue. 
Books (HosJiire Amateur). —The work you name is not now published. 
(R. L ).—The “ Cottage Gardeners’ Dictionary” will be of great service to 
you as a work of reference. 
Regal Pelargoniums (Inquisitive). — The “best” of anything is a 
que^t on of taste. The following are good :—Dr. Masters, Duchess of Bed¬ 
ford, Duchess of Albany, Queen Victoria, Captain Raikes, Prince of Teck, 
Princess of Wales, Madame Thibaut, Mr. John Hayes, MissLilyCanm.il. 
Volontb Nationale, and Edward Pei kins. 
Paint for Hot water Pipes (Paint). —Much of the rust can be brushed 
or rubbed off when the pipes are quite dry. There is no better or safer 
paint than mixing lampblack with linseed oil to the requisite consistency, 
only hea'ing the pipes gently for drying. If one covering does not suffice 
give a second when the first is dry. 
Grapes for Succession (Ferndale). —Your conditions exclude the Black 
Hamburgh and some other varieties. As coming within the scope of your 
inqu’ry we’name Madresfield Court, Muscat of Alexandra, West’s St. Peter’s, 
Mrs. Pearson, Mrs. Pince, and Lady Downe’s. 
Rhododendrons (W. P. W .).—If limestone is employed on the rords 
in your district, we should not apply the scrapings to the land intended 
to be planted with Rhododendrons ; but gritty matter not containing lime 
would improve the soil considerably. As to “ ponticums ” being the best 
for your purpose, that depends on what your “ purpos . ” is. You gave us 
to understand you d sired to grow named varieties, that indicating your 
preference for handsome trusses of flowers in grert variety of colour. If 
all you wish is merely a mass of evergreens and little variety of colour, 
then the common ponticums will answer, but they do not approach in 
beauty the named caucasicum hybrids, which would be quite hardy in your 
district. As to the size of the plants, that is entirely a question of cost-, 
those 2 feet in diameter being necessarily more costly than others half that 
size. As to distance of planting, that, too, is a question of cost. If you 
wish an effective mass at first, you must plant closely. We have seeu small 
plants 9 inches to a foot in d’ameter, inserted 4 feet apart, then in a few 
years, after they nearly touched, every alternate Bhrub was removed and 
the p'antation extended. No shrubs transplant better than these do in a. 
large state. 
Useful Apples (Idem). —The following are good for home use and 
mark.t:—Dessert: Mr. Gladstone, Irish Peach, Devonshire Quarrenden, 
Worcester Pearmain, King of the Pippins, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Margil, 
Clargate Pearmain, Court Pendfi Plat, and Wyken Pippin. Culinary: 
Lord Suffield, Duchess of Oldenburgh, Ecklinville, Peasgood’s Nonesuch, 
Lane’s Prince Albert, Lord Derby, Winter Hawthornden, Warner's King, 
and Blenheim Pippin, the second and last named being good also fer 
des ert. Your om ssion to name the varieties you have is the reason we 
name more than you ask for. 
Mealy Bug on Vines (Homo). —We regret exceedingly the invasion of 
your Vines by the mealy bug and the results of your endeavours to subdue 
it. We have had to deal with Vines and their enemies for forty years, and 
know something of the nature and habits of the insect in question, and of 
the difficulty of banishing it from vineries ; and we are as confident as we 
can be of anything, that had your Vines been in our charge, the advance 
columns of the enemy would have been seen and steps promptly taken to 
prevent their rapid increase. Notwithstanding all you say we are obliged 
to conclude the enemy stole a march on you and yoursharp-eyed gaideners. 
We know the Tomato midge very well, and that it can be destroyed by 
repeated fumigation, but the mealy bug cannot. Since you failed to obtain 
the name of the midge from the authority to whom you allude we may 
inform you it is Aleyrodes vaporariorura. As the application of tar and 
clay to Vines pass s your comprehension, we will cite from an article that 
was published in our columns in 1884, showing how one of the best Grape 
growers in Britain applied it and cleansed his Vines ; and it so happens 
that one of his bunches of Grapes grown after the dres?ing is figured on 
another page. Relative to cleansing and tarring Vines Mr. Murray, who 
banished the mealy bug from his vineries, observed :—“ I pity anycne who 
has charge of Vines infested with mealy bug, for it was truly said by one of 
