July S.J THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 219 
first stage, before it had spread—something like being 
punctured; we had thought of destroying it, but, by way of 
experiment, we thought we would try the use of sulphur. 
The plant was syringed to make the sulphur stick to it, and 
then sulphured with a pepper box beneath and above every 
leaf, till it was smothered; indeed, so desperate was the 
case, that we were determined to kill or cure. It remained so 
a week or ten days, when we thought it time to see the effect. 
The plant was syringed again to wash off the sulphur, and 
. we found the disease was completely stopped,—not a spot 
j has been seen upon a single leaf which the plant has made 
since; nor is this all, for it was the very best plant in our 
| collection of fancy Pelargoniums, which obtained the first 
I prize at our late horticultural exhibition. l>oes not this 
prove the spot to be some kind of fungus or mildew, for which 
sulphur is an unrivalled antidote ? at least, it appears to us 
to be quite conclusive. Here, then, is a remedy simple and 
effective, with little trouble and less cost.— Geo. Goodwin, 
at Geo. Thomas , Esq., TToodbridye , Suffolk. 
HARDY SPRING FLOWERS. 
Your correspondent, S. N. V., has treated on a subject 
very attractive to those poor folks, who, having no green¬ 
houses, and never spending “ the season ” of all seasons, 
in London, cannot afford to keep their dower-beds in the 
proper state of fashionable emptiness. My own half dozen 
have been as fully furnished for the last three months, as I 
hope they will be for the next three; and even when the 
summer plants are only beginning to spread in the middle, 
the edgings of each are gay with Ranunculuses, Pinks, and 
Pansies, as you allowed me to describe in your pages last 
September. As S. N. V. promises more of his instructions, 
I should not have presumed upon his ground, had he not 
requested suggestions. He will, perhaps, allow me to re¬ 
mind him of a few useful spring flowers, on which he may 
give us further information .—Arabis vena. I know not 
why this should not have been much used ; it is compact in 
foliage, brilliant in whiteness, and invulnerable by injury.— 
Iberis sempervirens (Evergreen Candytuft), comes into flower 
just as the Arabis is over, and looks like a snowball till June. 
It is not strictly herbaceous, but its stems strike root as 
layers, so freely, that it can always be divided when removed 
at this season, and cuttings are equally prolific.— Aubrietia 
purpurea grows much like the Arabis, and is of the same 
natural order, but flowers rather later, and continues covered 
with pretty purple blossoms till July, never wholly losing 
them till the winter. It spreads rapidly, and would form a 
beautiful edging .—Iris pumila flowers about April; rich 
purple, and very dwarf. Most visitors ask for a bit, and it 
increases fast enough for all.— Phlox frondosa, tiny thorn¬ 
like leaves, and bright pink flowers in May. I have a bed of 
Roses edged with this on one side, and Genlianella on the 
other.— Phlox verna, prostrate foliage, and rose-coloured 
flowers six inches high, in April, but a cold spring checks 
them.— Linum Jiavum , beautifully yellow, about May, but 
not quite hardy. Last winter, however, it stood out without 
suffering. It should be well drained.— Hepaticas. With 
these I find no difficulty myself, even though moved twice 
a-year. The leaves are apt to turn black, and die just as 
the flowers are in beauty, and are then best cut off. In May 
they are taken up and divided, and the roots cut back and 
planted deeply.—I have tried many others, but these are my 
sheet anchors, except bulbs, on which I hope S> N. Y. will, 
hereafter, give his instructions.— Incognita. 
REE SUPERSTITIONS. 
From the many proofs you have given of a readiness to 
receive communications from, and advise young apiarians, 
I am sure you will excuse my troubling you with a few lines, 
briefly detailing my own doings up to this time, and asking 
your advice as to my future proceedings. First, I would 
i observe, that I am living in the neighbourhood of Marlbro’ 
Forest, not, I should think, a very favourable district for 
bee-keepers, the late frosts to which we are subject in the 
spring, sadly interfering with the operations of bees ; still 
bees are kept to a considerable extent by my poorer neigh¬ 
bours although, as you shall hear, with all the prejudices 
and fancies of a century since. The habit of grubbing up 
double hedgerows, now so prevalent on our farms, is sup¬ 
posed by many to have deprived the bees of much of their 
favourite pasturage, and thus to account for the small store 
of honey which the bees usually furnish now , compared with 
the good old times. In order to commence my experiments j 
as an apiarian, I applied to a worthy old woman in my I 
parish, better informed on most matters than those of her j 
class generally, and with an especial reputation for her skill 
in the management of bees. She willingly consented to let 
me have one of her best stocks, but not for money , as that 
would be unlucky ; it must be a gift, or it would not prosper ; 
and such, I assure you, is the general opinion here, at all 
events. The hive was brought early in the spring, and 
placed on a stool, under a south wall, in a warm and dry 
situation. I procured one of the cottage hives in readiness 
for the swarm, whenever it should rise. The bees went on 
working most industriously, and the hive began to send forth 
a sweet savour of honey and wax, and an early swarm 
was expected. During the 2nd week in June, the bees 
began to hang in clusters outside, and show symptoms 
of the hive being too full to hold them. I regretted, of 
course, that I could not avail myself of the discoveries made 
of late years, and, by putting on a cap, employ their idle 
time till the queen was ready, and the weather favourable 
for the important event of swarming, however, I had 
nothing to do but to wait patiently. The wind and the 
weather continued, as you are aware, very unfavourable 
for the object in view. At length there was a change; on 
the 19tli and 20th of the month, the bees hung out in still 
larger clusters, numbers not returning to the hive before 
dark. On the 21st the suli shone out very brightly, and, 
although the wind was very high, everything promised well 
for the rising of the swarm. While I was sitting in my 
room, a message was brought in about twelve o’clock that 
the bees were sv r arming; out I went much pleased at the 
tidings, when, to my dismay, I heard a loud banging and 
clattering of pans, for I remembered a remark in Mr. 
Taylor’s book strongly condemning the practice as most 
absurd, and, indeed, calculated to drive away the bees, rather 
than to attract them. My first impulse was to stop these 
proceedings altogether, but I found it would not do ; an old 
man in my employ, who had taken many swarms in his 
time, and was to officiate on this occasion, shook his head 
at the fearful innovation of silencing this horrible discord ; 
and as I saw' lie would lose all faith if I interfered, I felt 
that I had no choice but to leave him to manage the matter 
in his owm way. The bees (who certainly seemed most 
willing to alight in my little garden, had the music ceased 
or been somewhat more harmonious) went over the hedge 
which separates mine from a neighbour’s garden, and 
alighted upon its opposite side. In the meantime the hive 
was to prepared ; salt, honey, and beer, were mixed together 
by another beekeeper who happened to be in the house, and 
the inside well smeared with the mixture; the edge of the 
hive must next be rubbed with majoram. When the opera¬ 
tion was finished, my old friend, with the greatest non¬ 
chalance, took the hive and went straightway to the bees 
and began shaking them down into their future abode. The 
greater part took wing again, but a few were hived, and the 
hive was then placed upon the ground, and covered with the 
boughs of a tree. After a while the remaining bees again 
settled upon the hedge; the branch on which they hung 
w'as then cut off and placed by the side of the hive, and 
everything allowed to remain quietly until night; at night 
the bees were found to have taken to the hive, which was 
then removed and placed on its stand by the side of the 
parent stock. I weighed the hive immediately, and found 
the weight to be Ilf pounds. The swarm was pronounced 
to be unusually large, indeed the hive would hardly hold it; 
and I should imagine, judging from the above weight, must 
have amounted to seven or eight pounds, as the hive itself 
was small and light. Notwithstanding the music and 
smearing, so far all has prospered. 
I have omitted to mention an instance of superstition very 
prevalent in these parts, concerning bees. One of my poor 
parishioners died after a long illness, leaving a widow and 
several children, and the other day the widow was lamenting 
that the bees “ had done so badly since her husband’s 
death, because she had forgotten to toll the hives, and put 
them in mourning.”—A Country Vicar. 
