212 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 30,1894. 
I find at least 15 per cent, of my queens have been deposed by 
queens of swarms entering the hives. This compels us to make a 
thorough examination of all stock hives at the end of the season. 
The isolation of my Carniolan queens has been an entire success, 
all being purely fertilised. I am confident that hill ground is 
favourable to them, fertilisation taking place near the apiary, and 
no queens are lost, as is often the case on low ground. 
Killing Drones. 
This is a subject on which opinions vary. The bees of several 
weighty hives which swarmed, but lost their laying queen, returned 
after a few days when piping had commenced. I excised all queen 
cells less one, yet these hives not only drew their drone blood, but 
killed all adult drones. Then on the other hand there are many 
hives which have had a young fertile queen for upwards of two 
months, and which have not killed a single drone. I have 
frequently mentioned the above, but it is important for young bee¬ 
keepers to be impressed with facts, and not to judge the condition 
of their hives by the attitude of the bees towards the drones, it 
not being a criterion that all is well although drones are expelled. 
It is near the rule, however, that all is right when young bees 
are hatching, these being the progeny of a youthful queen to see 
drones expelled the hive. It appears to be the young bees that 
take the initiative in that. 
Another important thing to remember is that a hive the right 
size, neither too large nor too small, is the one bees do not swarm 
readily from, but that can scarcely be properly ascertained. A 
large hive having a defective queen will swarm although not half 
full, while a small hive with a prolific one also swarms readily 
but not till full. Thus a too large a hive, as is ore too small, is 
the cause of swarming.—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 
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 communications. 
Plants and Flowers for Church Decoration (B. J.)—Your 
letter arrived just as this page was being prepared for press, and too 
late to deal with the question exhaustively here. We will endeavour to 
publish particulars on the subject next week. 
Carpet Bed Designs (^Subscriber ').—The designs to which you 
refer are necessarily worked out according to a plan on paper. The 
diagrams you have may be worked out, adopting a scale according to 
the size of your beds. Of course the designs must be geometrically 
marked on the ground, the usual method being to fill in the lines with 
white sand or sawdust prior to commencing to plant. 
Insect Found In Orchid House (G. ,J .).—The insect belongs 
to the order Othoptera, straight-winged, and is either a fine form of the 
Oriental cockroach (Blatta orientalis). or a poor specimen of the American 
kind (B. americana), but it was so crushed as to be extremely difficult of 
certain identification. Its size accords more with the common cockroach 
than the American species. The cockroaches are not often seen on the 
wing. The specimen must have been a fine female before it was smashed. 
Tomato Plants Diseased (A. T.).—The leaf is badly infested 
with the minute Tomato leaf fungus (Cladofoporium fulvum, Coolie), 
the spores of which no doubt live from year to year in the house. As a 
preventive we advise the thorough cleansing and disinfecting of the 
house, removing every particle of old soil, thoroughly washing the 
woodwork with soap and a brush, limewashing the walls, and making 
everything as clean and sweet as possible. As a preventive another 
season dust the plants early in July with anti-blight powder, or 
preferably spray them with a half strength Bordeaux mixture, taking 
care to wrap any fruit in tissue paper prior to the application, and 
remove it afterwards, as the copper sulphate is poisonous. Condy’s 
fluid (the red permanganate of potash) is nearly as efficacious, and it is 
non-poisonous. It may be used for spraying in a 50 per cent, solution 
(diluted with an equal amount of water). We use anti-blight, and have 
not had any mishaps with it, though we use it on all kinds of fruits 
affected with fungoid diseases. 
Yellow Thrlps on Chrysanthemums (T. W.). —The foliage does 
not give any particular indications of thrips infestation ; indeed, we 
cannot find any on the leaves or buds sent, but the growths appear to 
have been eaten by earwigs. The buds are very small, and we are 
afraid the flowers from them will be poor. We should certainly con¬ 
tinue the use of tobacco powder for the thrips ; also try some inverted 
flower pots on stakes for the earwigs, or hollow stems, such as beanstalks 
cut in lengths, placing near the plants. The gas liquor wi'I answer as 
well or better than carbolic acid for eelworm, as it is a good manure, 
taking care not to apply it too strong. 
Inferior Celery (T. W. B.).—Th& chief point in judging vegetables 
is to keep in view the amount of edible products of the best quality. 
This seems to have been acted on in the case you mention, as heads 
that have “ run ” or pushed the heart or stem 4 inches represents so 
much useless part or waste, and this is had at the expense of the other 
parts of the plants, so that they are deteriorated in value proportionately. 
Running or “bolting” is a great defect in Celery, and the awarding of 
the prize to heads that were not so large as yours, but not run, is 
justifiable under the circumstances, as the winning heads had more 
relative value, though smaller in size. Celery must be shown with the 
centre of the heads close, solid, and unrun, then bulk will tell, not 
otherwise. 
Cucumber Plants Attacked by Belworm (J, S. M .)— The 
small portion of root is infested by the root-knob eelworm (Heterodera 
radicicola), which appropriates the nitrogenous substances of the plants, 
and causes their impoverishment and destruction. You may try watering 
the plants with a solution of kainit, 2 ozs. to a gallon of water, pouring 
that amount through a rose watering pot over a square yard of bed, 
and in the course of three or four days follow with nitrate of soda at 
a similar strength. If the plants are not too far gone you may have 
the satisfaction of seeing the fruit swell and new growth be freely 
produced. There is no preventive other than disinfecting the soil and 
manure, which is best effected by subjecting to a temperature of 212° or 
more, but not charring or burning it, as that wastes the nitrogenous 
matter. 
Chrysanthemum Plants Diseased (//. T.). —The plants are 
affected with eelworm (Tylenchus obtusus), the decayed stems swarming 
with fertilised females, but there are few cysts, so that by destroying 
all plants affected in a similar manner by burning you will probably 
destroy the disease. The soil in which the affected plants are growing 
should be subjected to the action of fire. It is difficult to account for 
some plants, and of certain varieties, being attacked while others escape, 
but it is certain that the parasites have gained access to the tissues of 
the plants when they were tender, and have continued to spread on 
them through the season. Possibly the pests may have been introduced 
with the potting compost, and only in that part used for this particular 
variety. We have had similar experience with other varieties, and were 
assured that it was because the plants were in the condition essential for 
their breeding purposes, but it was falsified by the pests attacking other 
varieties. 
Black Hamburgh and Buckland Sweetwater Grapes 
Cracking (E. B.). —The chief cause of the Grapes cracking is lack of 
nourishment or support in the early stages of swelling, which causes the 
skin to become thick and hard, and, though such Grapes usually colour 
well, and are of excellent quality, they are liable to crack on a period of 
moist weather ensuing, especially if the border becomes saturated and 
the house is kept at all moist, and the Vines are disposed to make little 
or no lateral growth so as to utilise the excess of sap. The only thing 
likely to be of use is to admit air freely so as to prevent the deposition 
of moisture on the berries, and the cracking may be prevented by 
generous treatment during the swelling and early ripening period. The 
slight attacks of mildew are sufficient to account for the Grapes crack¬ 
ing, as the effect of the fungus is to harden the skin and prevent its 
proper expansion, especially when the Grapes are commencing to ripen 
or well advanced therein. 
Making a Vine Border (Idemi), —The border must have a drain 
with proper fall and outlet to carry off superfluous water, unless the 
ground is naturally well drained. The bottom of the border should 
incline from all points to the drain or drains. Then place in a foot 
depth of rubble or brickbats, roughest at bottom and finest (about the 
size of road metal) on top. Either cover that with a thin layer of 
sods, or preferably with a couple of inches thickness of old mortar 
rubbish freed from pieces of wood. The compost may consist of good 
turfy loam, the top 2 inches of an old pasture ; of that ten cartloads, 
two cartloads of old mortar rubbish, one of wood ashes, and another of 
fresh horse droppings, 2 cwt. of horn and hoof shavings, and 4 cwt. of 
crushed half-inch bones. Incorporate all thoroughly, the turf being 
chopped moderately small, and place in 2 feet deep rather firmly, but 
not treading, only beating with a fork. About 6 inches more depth of 
soil should be put on to allow for settling. 
Mildew, Preventing and Curine (Idem), —The best preventive 
is thorough cleanliness and careful management. Nothing will destroy 
the peritheciums or conceptacles of the fungus, and the spores they set 
free will germinate on Vines they fall on if the atmospheric conditions 
are favourable. The safest cure is to dust the affected parts with 
flowers of sulphur, but it is not nearly so effect!' e as copper sulphate 
mixed with lime, but the latter is poisonous while the former is not. 
It does not injure the A’’ine to cut a portion of the lateral with each 
bunch, only leave two or three or more leaves on the lateral above the 
pruning buds. Indeed, it is beneficial rather than otherwise, as it tends 
to plump the basal buds. 
