343 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Mabch 1, 1859. 
injured by the removal so is the plant deprived of the means of 
support; and if the removal be in the spring, or summer, the 
deprivation is at a time when all those fibres are most needed ; 
and the sap which is employed in the formation of new fibres, 
would have served to increase the size of other parts. 
The quantity of root we have always observed to increase with 
the poverty of the soil in which it is growing. Duhamel found 
the roots of some young Oaks, in a poor soil, to bo nearly four ' 
feet long, though the stem was not more than six inches. Every 
one may have noticed this familiarly instanced in Poa annua, the 
grass most commonly growing on a gravel walk, its stem minute, 
its root a mass of widely-extending fibres. The cause of this is 
evident: the nourishment which is required for the growth of 
the plant, can only be obtained by an increased, widely-extending 
surface of root, and, to form this, more sap is often required than 
the plant, owing to the poverty of the earth, can obtain for itself; 
in that case, a soil is sterile, for the plant must evidently perish. 
A root always proceeds in that direction where food is most 
abundant; and, from knowledge of this fact, we should be cir¬ 
cumspect in our' mode of applying manures, according to the 
crop and object we have in view, We know a soil which, being 
shallow, never produced a Carrot, or a Parsnip, of any size ; but 
almost every root consisted of numerous forks thickly coated with 
fibres. Digging two spades deep produced no material advantage, 
the gardener applying, as usual, manure to the surface; but, by 
trenching as before, and turning in a small quantity of manure 
at the bottom, the roots always spindled well, grew clean, and 
had few lateral fibres. For late crops of Peas, which mildew 
chiefly from a deficiency of moisture to the root, it is an object to 
keep their radiculre near the surface, for the sake of the fight 
depositions of moisture incident to their season of growth ; hence 
it will always be found of benefit to cover the earth over the 
roots with a little well-rotted dung, and to point it in lightly. 
If it be desirable to prevent the roots of any plant travelling 
in a certain direction, the soil on that side should be excavated, 
and the cavity infilled with sand or some other unfertile earth ; 
whilst the soil on those sides of the plant whither the roots are • 
desired to tend should be made as fertile as is permissible with 
its habits. 
To keep tho roots of trees near the surface, gardeners make an 
impervious substratum beneath their borders, either by ramming 
a bed of chalk at the requisite distance from the surface, or by 
placing there an asphaltic mixture of hot coal tar and lime rubbish. 
Roots coming in contact with these do not turn aside, but im¬ 
mediately cease extending in length, and produce laterals.—J. j 
{To he continued.) 
BEES SECRETING WAN—HEXAGONAL CELLS 
—HUBER AND HUISH. 
“ Florilerifi, ut apes, in saltibus omnia libaHt, omnia nos.” 
“ As bees in forests suck from every flower, 
So we poor mortals vary every hour.” 
I agkee most cordially with what is stated in No. 537 of Tiie 
Cottage Gardener on this subject by a “ Devonshire Bee- 
Keetbr,” and also by “ B. & W.” ; and although Mr. Wighton 
is a powerful writer, he is certainly a bold man to oppose such an 
accurate observer as Huber was. 
Respecting tho “ resinous ” substance collected from the 
Laurels and Firs, it is only to scrape off the substance which 
fixes the hives of bees to the boards, and put this substance to 
our nose, to be informed that these wonderful insects search for 
other substances besides real wax for some of their curious ope- j 
rations ; and hence Mr. Wighton, or any other intelligent writer, 
may raise another question—How this substance, of a different , 
smell and harder consistence, is secreted or collected ? Really 
there might be no end of arguing theso points. 
I read Huber’s book nearly fifty years ago, and was much de- ! 
lighted. There is a grand simplicity in his work, and I believe 
nearly all he has advanced: but in some little things, of minor 
consequence, he is in error—where lie says that hive bees attack 
the “nests” of humble bees (on which latter ho has written 
also). 
Dr. Bevan, one of the best modem writers (living near Here¬ 
ford still, and nearly one hundred years old), quotes Huber as an 
authority on this subject. I have studied the history and haunts 
of wild bees since I was a boy, and have taken their nests from 
time to time ever since, and am certain that the charge is untrue. 
I can only account for this idea of Huber by supposing that our 
late interesting friend, M. Huber, left some of the wild bees’ nests 
which he had taken from the earth, and placed them in an ex¬ 
posed state in his garden, with some wild honey in the cells. 
This may have attracted some hive bees to it, ns sweets always 
will; but in the natural state of the wild bees this is never the 
case. 
While on this subject, I regret to observe another writer, whom 
I considered a practical man with hive bees, asserting his disbelief 
in the hexagonal shape of the workers’ cells. Surely there is no 
one thing in the history of the hive bees which shows the finger 
of Divine Providence more than in the formation of these cells. 
The economy of space and symmetry displayed here, mark the 
All-wise Author to perfection. 
Mr. Huish—whose work also came out some forty years ago— 
boldly repudiates the connection between the queen bee and 
drone, and flatly contradicts the “ Immortal Huber.” I am 
surprised that no one has taken up this (Huish’s), theory again, 
in these “ enlightened ” days of “ universal discussion.” 
Mr. Huish boasts of his destruction of every poor unfortunate 
humble bee and their nests wherever lie can find them, denouncing 
these poor harmless insects as enemies of the hive bee! One of 
his reasons being, that they (the humble bees), usurp the flowers 
and blossoms. Now, 1 could prove that the majority of the 
“Bombi” feed on the larger flowers, such as the Foxglove, the 
Nettle, and a numerous variety of wild flowers peculiar to their 
own taste; and the only two species, the Bombus terrestris and 
Bombus lucorum, that are sharers in the same pasture as the hive 
bees—another proof, if any were wanting, how every creature 
living is provided with its own particular food by the great 
Creator of all things.—II. W. Newman, Lieut.-Col^ R.S.O.M. 
ORCHIDS FLOWERING BETWEEN NOVEMBER 
AND END OF FEBRUARY. 
Angreecum caudatum 
„ bilobutn 
„ eburneum 
„ viridissimum 
Ansellia Africana 
Brassia caudata 
„ maculata 
Bnrkeria Skmneri 
Calanthe vestita (both varieties) 
„ curculigoides 
Coelogyno cristata 
„ Gardneriana 
„ speciosa 
Cypripcdium barbatuui 
„ Farieanum 
„ hirsutissimum 
,, insignis 
,, venustum 
„ villosum 
Dendrochilum glumaceum 
Dendrobium chrysanthum 
,, inoniliforme 
„ nobile 
„ Pierardi 
Laiia anceps 
Laelia albida 
„ autumnalis 
Leptotes bicolor 
Lycaste Skinneri 
„ „ virginalis 
Odontoglossum pulchellum 
Oncidium bicallosum 
„ cucullatum 
„ ornithorhynchon 
„ pubes 
„ unguiculatiun 
„ Wentworthiauum 
Pleione laginaria 
„ maculata 
Plmius grandifolius 
„ Wallichii 
Phakenopsis amabilis 
„ grandiflora 
Rodriguezia suaveolen3 
Trichopilia suavis 
„ tortilis 
Vanda furva 
Zygopctalum crinitum 
„ intermedium 
„ Mackayi 
VARIEGATED PLANTS. 
Aspidistra lurida variegala 
Ananassa sativa variegata 
Begonia Griflithii 
„ Rex 
„ picta. (The flowers of 
this species contrast finely 
with the foliage.) 
Caladium bicolor 
„ pcecile 
„ Chantinii 
„ argyritis 
Croton picta 
„ variegatum 
Dieffenbaehia seguina picta 
Dioscorea discolor 
Dracama terminalis 
„ nobilis 
Farfugium grande 
Hydrangea Japonica variegata 
Maranta pardina 
„ Regalis 
„ vittata 
„ Warscewiczii 
„ zebrina 
Pandanus Javanicus variegatus 
Sonerila margaritacea 
Tradescantia discolor vittata 
