March 23. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER 
491 
! soon as hived; if allowed to continue where they alight, 
even till night, many bees will return thither the next day 
and wall be lost. 
Second swarms will most likely come off between the 
ninth and fourteenth days from the rising of the first 
swarms; the means of ascertaining the exact time is 
indicated in Section 1, under the head, “ third swarms if 
second swarms rise before the end of this month, or even 
the beginning of next, and are large, they may be set up ; 
if not, they, as also third swarms (which do not very often 
come off), should be either returned to the parent hive or 
joined to some other second swarm that has been set up, or 
to some weak stock: second swarms, if set up, may be 
placed on a pedestal to be fixed next to the parent hive in 
the space directed in the second Section to be left between 
each set of two pedestals. Should the weather be bad l 
directly after swarming feed a little, otherwise the bees 
will most likely perish. Any sweet syrup given in a 
saucer, with some bits of wood floating in it, will do for 
feeding with at this season. Do not fix down the hives with 
clay or mortar; the bees will do this themselves, far better 
than it can be done for them, with the propolis or gummy 
i substance which they collect from the horse chesnut and 
| other trees. 
i June.—A ll the directions for last month apply to this, 
I except as regard setting up second swarms: the directions 
j already given relating to these must be attended to : the 
| bees in them will do more good to the bee-keeper now, if 
joined to other hives, than if set up in separate stocks. 
Keep all plants round about the entrances below the 
j level of the floor-boards. 
| e . In good seasons, small hives and boxes will be nearly 
! if not quite full; if full they should be taken away. When, 
• however, the supers are about three-quarters full, more 
room should be given, or a swarm may rise from the stock. 
A super is full when all the cells are ceiled over: where 
there are small glass windows in the supers it can be easily 
seen whether they are full or not: where there are not 
windows, discretion must be exercised: as a rule, when the 
bee 9 begin to cluster at the mouth of the hives, the extra 
room should be given, and about a fortnight after this (if 
the weather has in the mean time been fine), the full 
supers may pretty safely be removed. 
[To be continued.) 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Iris pavonia (A. B .).— We are much obliged for the additional 
! reference, to which we have access, but not just now. We shall consult 
all surh authorities very shortly, and give the fruit of our harvest; 
i meantime, we may remark, that no British author, now gone to his rest, 
i is worth consulting on the practical question of bulb culture, except 
i Sweet and Herbert; and that what Andrews said of this Iris, long, long 
I ago, might be said of Disa grandiflora down to 1850 ; and yet both are 
I as easy to keep and to flower as any other Cape bulb, 
Dahlias ( Poor Richard).— If you have the needful, and the courage 
I to go to work in earnest, you may excel all the florists of the age with 
' Dahlias, without an inch of glass, talk, or canvass, or with no more heat 
and light than reach you through these pages. “Do** them exactly as 
j they do potatoes—plant out all your roots forthwith, and cover them one 
I inch. In a few weeks the roots will have sprouted, and you can then 
! increase them by “ sets,’* like potatoes, keeping one or more eyes to each 
! set; and every set is then fit for planting anywhere. 
Arched Clibibers ( Inquisitor ).—It is too late now to get in these 
climbers, unless you had them all on the spot, and the ground ready for 
them. The best kinds of deciduous ones are, Clematis montanu , C. 
flnmula, C. Hendersonii , and Aristolochia sipho for the large leaves. 
The common, trumpet, and Japan Honeysuckles; Virginian creeper; 
and a choice from running Roses, with a few of the strongest hybrid 
China Roses, or say Ruga , to represent the Ayrshires. Of crimson 
Boursaults, as the best of that section, Laura Davoust ; of the Musk 
cluster, Felicite Perpetuel , Garland , Blairii , Fulgens, Chenedole, 
, Charles Duval , Great Western , Paul Pen'as, and Coup d'Hebe. But 
' you might try Wistaria sinensis , Passion flower; Cloth of Gold , and 
Solfaterre Roses, and such like, if you are in the south of Ireland or of 
England. 
Pear Border (Ibid). —For pyramids, as you propose, from six to 
eight feet wide will be necessary; but three feet would be enough to 
begin with. 
Indian Seeds (C. M .).—We can make out every one of them, and 
they are the best selection we have seen for many a day. These long 
lists—which are of no use or interest to any one but the possessor—we 
would advise to be sent, for the future, with a stamped envelope, and 
with the address of the party, leaving us space of clean paper to give our 
opinion. A cold frame will do to get up the following, if sown at the 
end of April—1, 6 , 7. 8 , 9, 12, 14, 16, 22, 24, 29, 30, 31, and 39; and 6 , 7, 
8 , 9 (conifers), should be in friable loam, and have little water. Try 11, 
the Gigantic Lily, in a cold frame also; no one succeeded with it in heat. 
A warm frame, or gentle hotbed, will be necessary for 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 13, 
16 , 17 , 18, 19 , 20, 21 , 23, 27 , 28. Send 26 to the Crystal Palace, as one 
of the best Indian climbers (a Bauhinia ). Give 32, 33, and 34, to the 
poultry—such melons and water squashes are of no use here. 35 is 
probably a kind we sent there in 1845, the best Suffolk cucumber. 40 is 
Phaseo/vs something, but of not the slightest use here, though it would 
be useful at Natal or Melbourne. We would try one-half of 30 (Balsams 
of all colours) in the open air, also 36 and 37* 
Bravoa gem miniflora. —Mr. Beaton says,—“When I saw your 
picture of this pretty bulb, at page 373, I thought your engraver was not 
much of a botanist, for he altered one of the chief points of its specific 
character by lengthening the style, or female organ, too much beyond the 
tube ; and, as you said that I wrote something on this plant in my series 
on half-hardy bulbs, I felt that I was booked with your artist, as birds of 
a feather. So, to right myself, I looked into ‘The Botanical Magazine,’ 
whence you took your figure; and now 1 can tell you, that I never wrote j 
a word about the plant in the Magazine at all. The plant which is 
figured from the collection at Kew is quite a different thing from the 
one called Bravoa gemminifiora in my series; but it maybe the true 
gemminifiora for all that, and mine another species. I have no access 
to the original descriptions in the foreign works to refer to. My authority 
stands thus:—In 1837or 1838 I had my Bravoa roots direct from Mexico. 
They were gathered by Galeotti, and l)r. Herbert was with me when I 
unpacked them. He was puzzled with these roots ; but he could tell all 
the rest of the bulbs in the dry state. I flowered several of the roots out- 
of-doors, in a narrow border in front of a hothouse, and I immediately 
recognised them from the coloured figure of the species in the 
“ Amuryllidce.” I)r. Herbert saw these in flower with me several times, 
and said they were gemminifiora. The one represented in * The 
Botanical Magazine,’ if it is not flattered, is a much brighter flower 
than mine, and no two species need be more different, in the style of 
growth. The one at Kew is shown with short, stiff, upright leaves ; but 
my bulbs or tubers were long-leaved after the manner of Ixia viridiflora, 
but not so stiff, and they bent over like the tail-feather of a Spanish 
cock. Mine flowered from the latter part of June to the end of August, 
but did not ripen seeds.” 
Cucumbers and Melon Pits (F. E. R.). —Yours are heated by 
flues, in chambers, and, with a pan of galvanised iron above, for retaining 
moisture. We do not think there is anything decidedly new in the idea, 
but it is a good one, and we must have a little time to ponder over it, aiid 
make a few remarks, and perhaps accompany them with the section you 
have sent. 
Tobacco Seed (IP. Z.).—You wish for the quantity for a piece of 
ground 6 yards by 4. We presume that you could get it from the nearest 
nurseryman, and, at any rate, from any Metropolitan seedsman. A very 
small packet would be sufficient, such as a quarter of an ounce. In fact, 
a single pod would yield far more than you would want. A few pence 
would be the price. A few years ago we had enough for a farm, but have 
got out of it. Ask for the Virginian large Tobacco. The cucumber 
frame would be the best for raising the plants, pricking them out in pans 
there, and hardening off in the greenhouse before planting. If you have 
no frame use the greenhouse, but keep the seeds covered with a glass; 
put a piece of paper over it at night to keep in the heat; and when the 
seedlings are pricked out, give them what excitement you can from a high 
temperature and a moist atmosphere. Much may be done this way with 
a little contrivance. The stronger and healthier your plants by the end 
of May, the heavier will be the yield of leaves. 
Penstemon Seed (D. (E.). — Sow this in any light, sandy soil; pre¬ 
pare the pots as you would see advised for seed pans generally, when 
treating lately on Pelargonium seed ; cover with about the thickness of 
the sixteenth part of an inch, or a little less ; and if you can place the 
seed-pot in a nice bottom-heat, and the soil be moist and not wet, the 
plants will be ready to handle in a few weeks—sooner or later, according 
to the age of the seed and its goodness; and then dibbed out into an 
intermediate bed, or into other pots, and planted out-of-doors towards 
the end of May. The plants will bloom early in autumn. If you can¬ 
not give the seed these advantages the plants will blow late, or not at all 
this season, reserving their beauties until another year. 
Verbena Seed (Ibid.).— Treat this in the same way, only add a little 
leaf-mould and peat, if you have got it, to the sandy loam, and a little 
white silver sand. They will want hardening off rather more early than 
the Pentstemon , or the green-fly will trouble them. It is generally best 
to plant them out in rows, in order to prove the kinds. The seed is often 
self-sown ; and the plants are often very vigorous from such seeds left in 
the ground all the winter. 
White Fuchsias tinged with Colour (J. M .).—We fear we 
cannot assist you. Are the flowers which you mention (Acantha, Diadem 
of Flora, Male’s Bride, One-in-the-Bing, Pearl of England, Purity, &c.,) 
much more coloured than your neighbours ? Of course, you merely 
mean the white calyx, for all these have the corolla more or less coloured. 
Even the calyx is but seldom a very pure white. There are two white 
ones we would recommend— Prince Arthur and Duchess of Lancaster; 
but we question if even the white of these would be pure enough to 
satisfy you. You 9 hade quite enough to keep your plants in high health. 
If you gave more shade and less air, we believe that the colour would be 
paler; but we should not like to say much for the health and vigour of 
your plants. We are more inclined to think that the colour, if more 
perceptible than general, may be owing to the gross feeding, or too much 
manure-water. 
Greenness on tiie outside of Pots (ibid).— Washing with warm 
water holding soda in solution will prevent the greenness to a certain 
extent; but too much soda imbibed by the pot would hurt some plants. 
The best plan is to wash them clean, and then make sandstone pots ot 
them, by painting them outside, and throwing on as much silver sand as 
the paint would take up. The most stylish remedy would be to set your 
common pots out of sight, inside of little vases, of any shape or form, j 
that would suit pots, and of such a material as would not allow crypto- 
garaic plants to encrust its sides. 
