222 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ March 17, 1887. 
a certain disease he has discarded them in favour of Cyprians and 
Syrians, which do not appear to produce as much honey, but many more 
bees.” That is not in accordance with facts. No variety has given me 
more honey and with less trouble than the Cyprian blood has d).ie, and 
the Syrians do not appear to be behind them. “ Notts Bee-keeper” seems 
to be of the opinion of many others in the old school, that prolificness is 
a fault in the eastern races of bees. If numbers are a fault, why do we 
hear of bee-keepers advising the ioining of two or more swarms or 
colonies, and proposing every conceivable plan, absurd and otherwise, to 
promote breeding ? All the eastern races of bees .are as good collectors 
and as fond of honey as ever the black bee was, and so prolific that 
one swarm of either will do the work of two of the common variety. 
The disease spoken of was experienced by the late Mr. T. W. Woodbury 
nearly a quarter of a century since, the same time as I experienced it, and 
it was recorded in this Journal at the time,notwithstanding the scepticism 
of those whose discoveries are commonly made at a later date to that 
of the first discovery made by someone they have no love for. Some 
years since I wrote an account of a fresh outbreak of this disease in my 
apiary to a contemporary (British Bee Journal), but the editor so garbled 
and mangled the article as to make it ridiculous, and while sneering at 
it tried to attribute the disease to full combs of honey, which he termed 
“ slabs of ice,” although I showed plainly that it was a summer 
disease ; but allowing bees to feed upon their own stores did not appear 
to suit his ideas so well as “ stimulative feeding.” The expert who 
“ italianised ” the whole of his hives then without giving them probably 
a fair trial goes and “ anglicises ” perhaps, too, with half foreign blood, 
has neither acted expediently nor very judiciously, and by acting so 
rashly does not prove himself an expert in my opinion. 
For the benefit of all concerned I advise every bee-keeper to 
endeavour to procure one of the eastern varieties, either Cyprian or 
Syrian, and cyprianise or syrianise a third of their hives and await the 
result, which I feel certain will not be disappointing, providing a good 
season comes and proper sized hives are used. It does seem strange that 
I should have occasion to tell bee-keepers that the stronger the hives the 
more honey is likely to be gathered, and that they should become 
impressed with the fact, and to give no heed to those who say prolific¬ 
ness in the queen is a fault. Yet that is just what some impute to the 
foreigners as being a great fault and cause of failure, but with me it has 
been the means of harvests of honey that would have been nil from the 
common variety, or I never would have allowed them to become ex¬ 
tinct, as I believe they nearly are in this part of the country. 
After a week’s very foggy weather snow commenced to fall on the 
10th, and also on the 11th March, and lies to a depth of 5 inches 
and more. The wind is easterly.—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
C 3~ 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. 
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 “ expected,” and 
which arrive on Tuesday, can, as a rule, be inserted in the current 
issue. 
Chemical Manures (IF. IF).—It is quite impracticable to give a com¬ 
parative estimate of value of the manures you name. We might find one 
better than the other for our soil, but that one might not be the best for 
yours. The manures are good and you can have little if anything to lose by 
trying them all, and may thus gain more valuable information than is obtain¬ 
able in any other way. 
Premiums in Gardens [No Name). — Your name and address must be 
sent before we can consider and reply to your letter. We should also like 
the name and address of the gardener to whom the premium was paid. 
Dividing Tuberous Begonias [J. B .).—The tubers may be divided just 
when growth is starting, dressing the cut parts'wcll with powdered charcoal 
to dry the wounds, and taking great care not to overwater after the tubers 
are potted. It is a good plan to start them in damp cocoa-nut fibre refuse, 
with small broken charcoal next the sides that are cut. Some of them may 
possibly decay. 
Root Grub ( A Gardener). —The grubs you have sent are the larva of 
the v ry troublesome weevil, Otiorhynchus snlcatus, which attacks a great 
variety of plants. It may be killed by hellebore t r a, or the petroleum 
mixture so frequently detcribed in these pages. In about six weeks the 
beetles will be emerging, and it is necessary to look after them, as they do 
m'scbief, appearing at night in houses as well as out of doors. They shonld 
be searched for with a lantern and shaken into a net or cloth. 
Eucharisea (IF. J. C.). —The Eucharis leaf is very fine indeed, stout 
in texture, and of that deep green colour indicative of robust health. The 
flower is also of good substance. There can be nothing the matter with 
plants that produce such fine foliage, and as the bulbs were formerly 
seriously attacked with the mite, the remedy adopted must have been 
effective. 
Propagating the My robalan Plum (North). —To obtain stocks in great 
plenty the long shoots from the stools of last year’s growth are laid down in 
the spring their full length, and covered with soil; almost every bud sends 
up a shoot, and roots are formed nearly contemporaneously. In autumn the 
shoot laid down is cut off, and then out into as many pieceB as there are 
young shoots and roots. It may be increased also by cuttings, preferably 
inserted in the autumn ; but you may try some now of firm young wood cut 
in lengths of 9 inches nr so, embedding them firmly in sandy soil, leaving 
only two buds of each above the surface. 
Valves in Pipes (W. M.). —Your sketch is so small and imperfect that it 
is practically impossible to trace the arrangement of the pipes. Had you 
afforded yourself thrice the space you would have made the plan clearer. 
We can only say that so far as we understand the case valves should be 
p’aced in both the flow and the return pipes. The patent valve you de¬ 
scribe is new to ns, and we cannot express an opinion on what we have not 
seen. As it is in we should not take it out without a trial, and its 
efficiency or otherwise can soon be tested. We shall be glad to hear 
whether it answers its purpose or not. 
Gypsophilas (IF. B .).—Probably as you suggest, the sprays of these 
plants were used in a dry state on the ocoasion mentioned, but they are ex¬ 
tremely graceful when fresh, and are often employed for vases in table de¬ 
corations at exhibitions. G. paniculata is taller than most others, and very 
free. They are readily increased by seeds sown out of doors in the spring or 
in pots under glass for earlier purposes. Seed can be obtained of most 
seedsmen. 
Vine and Marechal Niel Rose (Draper). —You have plenty of room in 
your house for more than one Vine and one Rose, but by waiting one of 
each will eventually cover the roof, under good management. If you wish 
to cover the space quickly you may plant Roses 2 feet apart, and Vines 
between 3 and 4 feet asunder, along the front, training them up the roof, 
but if you prefer to wait till one of each occupies the deBired space by all 
means do so. The mixture you describe is far too rich for Vines. Take it 
out of the pit and well mix it with three times its bulk of good loam, andiit 
will be suitable for both Vines and Roses. 
Lilium neilgherrense (A. Spinks ).—This specieB is not a very free 
grower, and is better cultivated in pots in a light greenhouse or cool pit in 
summer ttan planted out. The bulbs should bepotted in turfy peat, to which 
a little loam and some crushed charcoal and sand may be added, embedding 
and surrounding them with sand. The soil should be just damp enough for 
compression when used, then if the pots are plunged just over their rims in 
damp cocoa-nut fibre refuse the soil in the pots will be kept uniformly moist 
without giving water till roots form and growth extends above th9 surface. 
If you have only one bulb the pot containing it can be placed in one much 
larger, the space between them being filled with fibre to be kept damp. A 
pot twice the diameter of the bulb will be quite large enough. The price of 
bulbs depends on their size, and can be obtained on application to nursery¬ 
men. 
Grafting Pears (F.J.). —We do not understand your sketch and letter. 
If yon have cordon Pears reaching as high as either “ a ” or “ b ” in your 
sketch we fail to see how grafting could be an advantage for covering the 
arch. If the varieties are inferior that is another matter, and you may cut 
down the trees to any extent you like. It is quite true that scions should 
be the matured growths of last year, but they can be attached to stems of 
any age provided they are healthy. Probably the lower the grafting iB done 
the better ; at any rate there should not be many, if any, growths on the 
stocks below where the scions are attached. The scions must be cut off at 
once, and kept cool and fresh in soil or fibre till the stocks take the lead in 
growth. Grafting wax varies. If you can use clay better than the wax by 
all means use it, mixing cowdung with it to prevent cracking; it is then as 
good as wax. 
Reprinting Articles (Aliquis ).—We do not think it likely the articles 
referred to will be reprint d until a greater demand arises for them, for the 
reason that the venture would most likely be the reverse of profitable. 
Some writers are so ambitious to produce books and pamphlets that they 
are williDg to risk some pecuniary loss in becoming “authors,” and not a 
few lose more or less considirably by such venturee. Our correspondent is 
free from vanity in that direction, and would not feel justified in doing what 
you suggest through a solitary proposition. An inexpensive method of 
preserving a few articles in compact form is to purchase two copies of each 
number containing them, as they can then be cnt out and pasted in a book. 
Several persons adopt that plan and find it satisfactory. 
Ferns in Vineries (Constant Reader). —The species chiefly cultivated 
at Chiiweil is Adiantum cuneatum, and there is probably more fronds of 
this sold in the London and other flower marktts than of all other kinds 
put together. It is one of the easiest of Ferns to grow, and one of the 
most productive in yielding fronds. The plants are generally grown in pots 
ranging in size from 5 to 9 or more inches in diameter, according to the 
age and size of the plants. Small healthy well-established plants i» 
3 and 4-inch pots are shifted into pots 5 and 6 inches in diameter, and in. 
these they produce fronds abundantly under good management. These 
plantB are either divided and the numbers increased early in spring, cr are 
grown larger by being transferred to 8 or 9-inch pots. When in th's size 
