THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, February 3, 1857. 311 
causes the fruit to fall in the walks and on borders. Now, 
may part of this limb be taken off without injuring my old 
tree ? H. A. S. 
[Do not on any account cut off such a limb as you have 
described. You will never have such- another in your life- 
lime, or in the time of the generation after you. If it is so 
large as to give evidence of splitting at “ the fork,” and of 
endangering the safety of the tree, all you have to do is to 
put a prop under it, and to thin it by lopping off some of the 
branches which can best he spared, either from the quantity 
of diseased bark upon them, or from being misplaced and 
injurious to others. You may easily do so, to lighten 
the weight of the limb, without injuring the tree, and by re¬ 
ducing the quantity of wood on one side you will throw 
more vigour into the tree, and cause it to develope a greater 
quantity on the other. Let the wounds be covered with a 
plaster of pitch, rosin, and bees-wax, to exclude the action 
of the weather.] 
CUTTINGS OF DIELYTRA SPECTABILIS. 
“ Last summer I struck about a dozen cuttings of Dielytra. 
The old root is now growing fast, but as yet there is no 
appearance of life in my young ones. An amateur of my 
acquaintance, and one who considers himself a knowing one, 
tells me that last spring he could get none of his to grow; 
perhaps you will tell me howto treat them.”—A Constant 
Subscriber. 
[This question turns on the time of the summer the 
cuttings were struck, and on how they were afterwards 
nursed. If they only had time to make the first small 
fibrous roots they are all dead long since; but if they had 
sufficient time to make fang roots, like Radishes, there is no 
more fear of them doing well than there would be about 
tiny little Carrots or Parsnips, and the best thing you can 
do for them is just to let them alone, and thinlj no more 
about them till you see them above ground. Of course they 
are out of doors, either in a pot or in the border. You need 
not trouble yourself about them; if they are alive they 
will come as sure as March, and if not, you will be as 
“knowing,” or rather more knowing, than your “ acquaint¬ 
ance,” for you will never strike them so late again in the 
summer. The very first start after blooming is the right 
growth andright time to take cuttings of Dielytra spectabilis.'] 
PLANTING AN ISLAND IN A POND. 
“ Will you give me a hint as to what to do with an island, 
about thirty yards by twenty yards, near Ledbury, standing 
in a pool about two acres in area, and square in shape. It 
is in front of the house, but on lower ground. On the 
island is one tall Scotch Fir and an Oak. Our soil is of the 
highest description of rye land, and the new red sandstone 
rock is so near the surface as to crop out in places. In 
others, on the island, for instance, there may be three feet 
of soil.”—R. P. H. 
[We noticed that the Alder and some kinds of Willows 
and Poplars grew vigorously on the “ flats ” along the 
Severn and Wye, on either side of you, and along the 
Ledbury Canal, in front of you; also behind you, round 
the “ lake ” in front of Eastnor Castle; in all of which the 
roots were as much in water ns they would be on the said 
island; therefore, the safest way would be to plant such 
kinds as do well in your part of the country under similar 
circumstances. We would also plant half a dozen of the 
deciduous Cypress on the island; it grows naturally in 
swamps ; also some common Rhododendrons, in peat from 
the common in front of the parish. We once botanised 
over that common and in the neighbourhood, and the rarest 
thing we found was Omithogalum Pyrenaicum, on a bank by 
the road side, and we think the left-hand side, going from 
the rectory to the church; but we do not remember to have 
seen the pond or island, only a winding, marshy brook.] 
FUMIGATING BEES. 
“I was much amused with Mr. Hibberd's account, in a 
recent number, of the adventure of “Jenkins” in bee 
keeping, or rather, bee destroying. I am sure I am not 
“ Jenkins,” as I never saw or heard of Mr. Hibberd before 
seeing his name atttached to the communication spoken of. 
But during the past summer I have had one or two adven¬ 
tures something like those of Jenkins, though not quite so 
tragic in their consequences, and I daresay there have been 
many “Jenkinses.” So that while Mr. Hibberd has amused 
us by telling us what Jenkins did, I, for one, should feel 
thankful to be told what he ought to have done. I have found, 
on one or two occasions, the bees very provokingly decline to 
become insensible, notwithstanding the application of any 
quantity of the fumes of the fungus sold by the London 
dealers in bee apparatus, and this more especially when the 
bees have been disturbed before applying the fumigator. 
What is the probable cause of my failure? Are the bees 
when agitated less susceptible of the fumes of any narcotic ? 
Is it probable that when the bees begin to fall they fall in such 
numbers as to stop the mouth of the fumigator, and so 
prevent the further ingress of the smoke, so that the bees 
not yet under its influence remain sensible and active ? 
Though comparatively an inexperienced apiarian, let me 
give a word of advice to all Jenkinses, and perhaps, indeed, 
to all bee keepers, never have anything to do with bees in the 
dusk, or by candle light.. When wanting to fumigate them, 
stop them up over night and have broad daylight to work 
by; then, if unsuccessful, there is every chance of remedying 
the effects of inexperience or carelessness. 
“ Has not Mr. Eaglesham, of Stewarton (whose advertise¬ 
ment I see in your last number), some agent in England for 
the sale of his bee boxes, which, if good, seem so very cheap ? 
I and, no doubt, others who would desire to have them, are 
deterred by the cost of carriage. Would it not answer for 
him to appoint an agent in Birmingham and London ? ”—A 
Country Curate. 
[It may be well to remind you that there is a time and a 
season for all tilings. In reply to your question, “ What 
ought Jenkins (p. 243) to have done with his bees?” we 
have only to say to have let them alone, undisturbed in any 
way, till the close of the season for working. Even then 
we would reiterate our advice not to attempt the difficult task 
of removing a family of bees, combs, and stores, and all, 
into a new dwelling. This is a widely different affair to the 
autumnal junction of two or more weak stocks to form one 
strong family in an already-furnished hive. We have fre¬ 
quently had occasion to caution the novice in apiarian prac¬ 
tice on this point, which, unless in very skilful hands, can 
only result in disappointment. Any new hive, no matter of 
what kind, is best peopled by hiving a swarm into it as early 
as possible in the season. We attribute the partial failure 
alluded to, perhaps, to a certain degree of inexperience; to 
something wrong in the narcotic employed, or defective 
apparatus in applying it. There is no difficulty under skilful 
management, and at the proper period. As respects Mr. 
Eaglesham’s hives we have had no experience in their use; 
he must be supposed best to understand his own interest in 
vending them.] 
TRANSFERRING BEES. 
“ I want to know if I can, within the next three months or 
so, transfer a hive of bees from a straw hive into a glass 
box. The box itself cannot be inverted in the operation; 
but the top can be taken off, and the loose comb bars lifted 
out. I want at the same time to shift the bees about forty 
feet in the same garden.”— -Birmingham. 
[You will perceive that much of what is said to “A Coun¬ 
try Curate” is equally applicable to the case you submit to 
us. Unless you are desirous of emulating the martyr 
“Jenkins,” let your bees go on quietly to work, and stock 
your new hive with a swarm. The bar hive you mention 
undoubtedly offers facilities for removing the combs not 
afforded in a common one; but the advantage is of little 
avail where the old and new hives are of different forms or 
diameters. In other words, the bars must fit equally well in 
either, so that the combs may remain attached and unbroken, 
the interspaces also being unaltered, for this is by no means I 
an unimportant point to be attended to. The removal of i 
your hive should have taken place a month or two ago whilst 1 
the family were inactive. At all events delay increases the | 
