13S 
THE COTTAGE GAEDENEE AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. NoyeUBES 30, 1858, 
for good ones. Therefore, although I like to see squat-trained 
plants for short periods, I know well how they play upon the eye, 
and how they can be played with, like dice and cards ; and I de¬ 
nounce the system, on public grounds, with all my strength. I 
had my ears pulled for saying that ladies, good-looking ladies, 
and Chrysanthemums, would bear all the dressing one could give 
them, because people bought Chrysanthemums and expected to 
have them like the dressed tlowers at the shows, and got disgusted 
with them, and with the dealers in them, because of the disap¬ 
pointment at not having such flowers as those that were dressed. 
Those who buy from what I say will And the antidote on the 
same page, for whenever 1 speak of dressed tlowers, 1 mention 
them in the same breath in their true colours and natural form. 
The Chrysanthemum, like the Dahlia, is dressed after the best 
natural model; and if our cross-breeders had a climate to ripen 
the seeds, as freely as those of the Dahlia, they would produce 
seedlings equal to the best-dressed flower, ail incurved up to the 
centre petal. Few people thought it possible to have such Dahlias 
as they now see, when Ihey first began to dress them; but the 
dressed Dahlia, though lean and blear-eyed at the time, was so 
after Nature’s own prime model; and Nature at last asserted her 
rights in the perfection of the Dahlia flower, with very little 
dressing needed. If we had seen plants of the same Dahlias at 
the shows, during this long natural progress to perfection, we 
should have had the antidote with the poison, just as we have the 
Chrysanthemum at the present day, and the public taste -would 
never run against dressed Dahlias, nor against those who dressed 
them. This is altogether different from squatting the Pompones, 
which is the height of beauty in the eyes of those who do them, 
as the torture of the Chinese women is in the eyes of those who 
cause it. But, thank goodness and good taste, we are not all 
Celestials.—D. Beaton.] 
POLLEN, AS EOQD FOE ADULT PEES. 
I iiave long held the opinion, iiow advanced by Mr. Teget- 
meier, that pollen does enter somewhat largely into consumption 
by the bees, as an article of food for themselves, as well as for 
the young brood. I have frequently seen partially-eaten pellets 
of farina on the alighting-board; and, in my observatory hive, 
have noticed the eagerness with which a pollen-laden bee is fol¬ 
lowed by others, for the apparent purpose of anticipating her in 
her design of depositing the precious commodity in a cell. But 
this, I am aware, will prove nothing, as it may have been re¬ 
quired for the ever-rapacious brood; yet I can hardly believe, 
that the enormous quantity of 100 lbs. of this substance, which 
is said to be taken in by the bees of a hive in one season, is con¬ 
sumed by, or for the benefit of, the grubs alone. 
Many years since, when feeding my bees in autumn, I, in con¬ 
sequence of holding this opinion, added to the syrup a quantity 
of flue flour, or arrowroot, and it was eagerly taken down by the 
bees. 
I have, like Mr. Tegetmeier, and “ A Devonshire Bee¬ 
keeper,” tried to form stocks by placing the bees of two or 
more hives, which had been doomed to dio by the brimstone 
match, in boxes more or less furnished with comb ; but I must 
confess, that the results have been far from satisfactory. One 
case, in particular, occurs to me. Having a bar-liive furnished 
with beautiful combs, I resolved to make a good stock, and 
joined the bees of four cottagers’ sleeps, winch, with a splendid- 
looking queen, were safely located in their new and strange 
domicile. 1 gave them 10 lbs. of the finest honey just drained 
off from some of that season’s harvest, which was carried down, 
stored, and much of it scaled, within the space of three or four 
days. I also supplied them with a considerable quantity of good 
syrup, so that they were amply provided for in this line. But in 
early spring the bees gradually dwindled away, and ere long were 
all defunct. At that time I strongly held the opinion, that the 
cause of the failure of this apparently most auspicious attempt 
was to be attributed to their having had no pollen to mix with 
them other food. I deem it to be more necessary to them, than 
mustard with roast beef to an Englishman ; or, to go further, 
than are bread and other farinaceous diet, to form, with a fair 
proportion of animal food, the healthy, enduring, and strong¬ 
bodied British navvy. 
Mr. Tegetmeier states, in his paper on this subject, that he has 
this last autumn formed several good Blocks by bees taken from 
cottagers’ hives. I shall be very much obliged to him if he 
will inform the readers of The Cottage Garhener, or mv- 
self individually, how many of these shall be Really good find 
serviceable colonies in April or May next. "W itli all due dR j 
ference to his known experience, I must beg to question the pro¬ 
priety of thus endeavouring to manufacture “ good stocks,” on 
two grounds ;—first, as to the liability to failure, which is very- 
great ; secondly, as to the economy of the thing, which I consider 
more than doubtful. It is much better, in my opinion, to pay a 
fair price (varying from ten shillings up to twenty-live) for a 
swarm, or established stock, than to expend so much money and 
time in attempting to bolster up a rotten constitution. Still, if 
Mr. Tegetmeier has proved by experience that he has been able 
to form really good, strong, working colonies from saving these 
expatriated bees, I shall be very glad to find that I have come to 
an erroneous conclusion. On another point* also, I ain at variance 
with many apiarians, my friend, the “ Devonshire Bee-keeI’ER.” 
included ; and that is, as to the advantage of joining these ex* 
polled bees to strong and flourishing stocks. 1 have, durilig the 
thirteen or fourteen years of my apiarian experience, frequently 
adopted this plan ; but I cannot recall one instance in which I 
could confidently assume any material benefit had accrued to tlio 
hive which had thus received an accession, a temporary accession 
of numbers ; and, in many instances, I have had reason to 
believe that a positive injury was the result. This season, 1 have 
doubled swarms, and have placed single swarms into hives ad¬ 
joining. If anything, the single swarms are the strongest. I 
wish it to be understood, that these remarks are only iutended 
to apply to the augmentation of the numbers in already flourish¬ 
ing stocks, or in the case of fair sized swarms : I quite approve 
of the union of weak stocks in spring, and of weak swarms in 
summer. On this head also, the experience of other bee-keepers 
is much desired. 
If I read Mr Tegetmeier’s views aright, he is of opinion that 
the original form of the cells in a honeycomb is round or cylin¬ 
drical, and that lateral pressure is the cause of their assuming a 
hexagonal form. In this, although I do not accuse him of 
Atheism , or any other ism , 1 must totally differ from him. After 
the first foundation of the comb is made, the very smallest original 
portion of a cell is commenced in a rliomboidal form, and tlio 
hexagonal shape is carried out. I do not think his experiment of 
placing solid wax in a hivo, in which cylindrical holes were made, 
worth a moment’s attention, being so great a departure from 
their instinctive habits. It cannot for a moment be expected, 
that they could deal with a solid mass of wax in the same beau¬ 
tiful manner that they build the tiny walls of their cells, with the 
new' and plastic material with which nature designed them to 
work. The same instinct which leads them to form their beautiful 
six-sided cells for the brood, and for tlio storing of food, is mani¬ 
fested in the formation of massive cylindrical cells for the rearing 
of the queens. I might say more on this head, but will leave it, 
in the hope that Mr. Tegetmeier will himself favour us with a 
further paper on the subject.—S. Bevan Fox, Exeter. 
NOTES FEOM PAEIS. 
So many changes and improvements have been effected in the 
general aspect of the French capital during the last eighteen or 
twenty months, that I have thought a few notes at the present 
time might be interesting to your readers, and, therefore, I send 
you an account of what has been done in the way of gardening. 
Of the many English words lately introduced to the French 
language, aud generally adopted at the present day, none lias 
become more familiar to the Parisians than our square; and, 
judging from appearances, it is likely to become popular. Formerly 
the great majority of the people here had only the pavements of 
the Eoulevarcls, or the open Tlaee, on which they could meet and 
walk about; for, though the Garden of Plants, as well as those of 
the Tuileries and the Palais Royal, arc always open to them, we 
must remember, that those agreeable and popular places of resort 
arc too far off for the great bulk of the population. As for the 
Champs Elysees, and the Bois de Boulogne, they are only within 
reach of the inhabitants of the West End. But all these places 
differ from the modern square. The Palais Royal, for instance, 
is only a large, open, gravelled promenade, with one or two rows 
of dipt trees, and two small enclosed flower gardens in the middle. 
What is called the garden of the Tuileries, is, for the most part, 
only so much bare ground densely shaded by the dark branches 
of old Chestnut trees. Of course, though such shade is agreeable 
enough in the hot weather of summer, it is too cold and damp 
during the rest of the year. There is, however, a part of the 
