330 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 20. 
plants. Ladies and gentlemen themselves, too, are 
among the sellers of cat dowers at the shops in the 
middle row. 
Mr. J. E. Adams writes to us as follows, from Kings- 
bridge, in Devonshire:— 
“We have been much pleased to find such a periodical as 
The Cottage Gardener devoted to bees as well as other 
things. We have a little Bee Society in our neighbourhood, 
and have an annual exhibition at Plymouth, in the Botanical 
Gardens, when wo distribute prizes, about FlO, to cottagers, 
for the largest quantity of honey taken on the most humane 
principles. George Fox, Esq., of our town, is secretary. 
I have kept bees many years, and have now thirty-five 
stocks in almost every kind of hive. My experience cor¬ 
roborates your article on queen bees in your periodical for 
this month. When we purchase swarms we ought to 
enquire if the stock swarmed the previous year, to prevent 
having old queens to commence with. I took a family of 
bees out of an old chimney, four years since, and the swarm 
took possession two years previously to that time, and it is 
now in a box as strong in numbers as either one I have. 
They may have produced a queen from worker brood 1 know, 
but to me the longevity of the queen bee is doubtful. 
“ I am quite of opinion that bees work more diligently in 
shallow hives ; to benefit by which we have constructed what 
we call an adjusting hive , as follows:—The stock is eleven 
inches and five-eighths square, and ten inches deep. The ad¬ 
juster is fifteen inches deep, slips easily over the lower box, 
and rests on a ledge of an incli-and-three-quarters deep, 
running around the base of the stock box ; allowing, when 
down, a space of seven inches between the bars of the 
respective boxes; being sufficient to prevent swarming. 
A rack on each side of the stock box catches in the ad¬ 
juster, sustains it at any elevation, and a pin attached to 
the catches relieving them when required to he lowered. 
There are three windows in the adjuster; the one at the 
back of sufficient length to command the one in the lower 
box when the adjuster is resting on the raised ledge; a 
sliding shutter closes the window in the stock hive, when 
the adjuster is raised above it. The principle on which this 
hive is constructed, renders it well adapted for the greater or 
less prosperity of the season. If a poor season, the space 
of seven inches alone maybe filled up; if a tolerable season, 
the adjuster may he partly raised ; or, if a good season, it 
may be raised to the whole height. One of my adjusters 
may be seen at Mr Marriott’s, 75, Gracechnrch-street, Lon¬ 
don. I have enclosed a pattern of one of my Unicomb 
hives, which I can supply. Our last season was scarcely a 
middling honey season.” 
We hope to he favoured with more particulars con¬ 
cerning these Hives. 
We very much regret receiving the following from a 
correspondent:— 
“Upon looking over your number for February 5th, I see 
there is a letter from one of your correspondents, signed 
“ A Thinking Gardener,” and some time back he wrote to 
you as “ J. A.” On the Ith of the present month, the writer 
of that article was taken from us by the hand of death. His 
name was James Arnold, late gardener to Edmund Round, 
Esq., of Springfield, Essex. I may say that he was a man 
greatly respected in his profession, both for his skill and 
gentlemanly character.” 
REST-PRUNING. 
( Continued from page 208.) 
The Apricot. —We have always advised, in con¬ 
formity with the habits of some fruit-trees, spring-pruning 
for those which, occasionally blossoming on the young 
wood, present a dilficulty to the inexperienced^ that 
difficulty consisting in the close resemblance of the 
barren and the fruitful shoots, until the returning 
spring compels them to throw aside their disguise. 
Among these may be placed the Apricot, Fig, and 
Nut ; and as a connecting class between these, and 
those which are in the main confined to spur-bearing, 
may be added the Plum and the Pear. 
It is now high time that the apricots were pruned. 
Snags, as they are termed, are frequently produced by 
these trees; such snags being the remains of the sum¬ 
mer’s stopping or pinching of the breast shoots. These 
generally produce a cluster of buds at their base, which, 
although not blossom-buds at present, most frequently 
become such, and must be carefully preserved. All 
these “ snags” must be reduced to the very point, where 
the cluster of small buds hero alluded to present them 
selves; and if no buds appear to be organized, we cut 
them down to the base, unless the part is bare of shoots, 
when they may be reserved for the production of suc¬ 
cession wood. Such snags being removed, the next 
point is to look over the young shoots of last summer, 
and determine whether they are wanted in their re¬ 
spective situations. And here we must distinguish 
between leading shoots and mere side-shoots. Of course 
all leading shoots necessary to carry out and complete 
the form of the tree will be preserved; and, indeed, any, 
although not to be considered permanent ones, which 
are requisite to cover hare portions of wall or trellis. 
Such being reserved, the remainder may be shortened- 
hack to within an inch of their base, in the hope of 
inducing the development of spurs. And now, as no 
shortening-back is required with the apricot, unless for 
some special reasons, the main shoots may be fastened 
carefully down all over the tree. 
The “ special” reasons adverted to are these:—Young 
trees, possessing only a few shoots, must be shortened, 
in order to produce more shoots to fill the wall; and 
our practice is to shorten the centre portions of the 
tree, laying in the right and left lower portions at full 
length. The centre of the tree thus becomes a nursery 
of young wood for three or four years, and that portion 
is relieved of its superfluity by continuing to draw them 
downwards, right and left, until the wall is full, when, of 
course, shortening may cease, and the very centre of the 
tree is the last to be complete. Every body knows the 
maxim applied to hedges—“ Always make the bottom 
before you make the top,” and this applies equally to 
our trained trees. By this practice it will be found, 
that by the time the centre is complete, the lower parts, 
right and left, are become very substantial, having had 
the chief appropriation of the sap for two or three years; 
they, indeed, become so stout by this practice, that no 
wild centre shoots can ever “lord it” over them more. 
Were this practice followed with trained trees in gene¬ 
ral, we should not meet with so many gaps and blanks 
on walls; such are a blemish to our gardens, and loudly 
proclaim either that the gardener’s system is not com¬ 
plete, or that system is not appreciated by him. 
Well, then, the snags are cut, the leaders all fastened; 
what next? We can now fancy an enquirer asking 
what is to be done with all the young shoots that are 
produced on the surface of the tree. We here find that 
we have written somewhat unguardedly in the earlier 
part of this paper in saying “ the remainder may be 
shortened-back.” What we really meant was those not 
proper for tying-down, or not needed for that purpose, 
for wc must beg to recommend the same kind of tying- 
down for the apricot as for the peach and plum, that is 
to say, when and where natural blossom spurs do not 
exist in abundance. Let all the shortest-jointed wood 
be selected for this purpose, and this tied down on the 
naked portions of the older wood, the remainder may be 
spurred-back, as at first suggested. 
To complete the proceedings, let a vigilant bunt be 
made for the eggs of the Red Bar moth ( Pcedisca an- 
gustiorana), a description of which will be found in The 
Cottage Gardeners Dictionary. These eggs are in oval 
clusters, about the size and appearance of a large seed 
of the parsnip, each patch containing some three or 
