182 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
November 21, 1891. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
The London Nursery, Maida Vale. 
As Chrysanthemums for exhibition purposes are no 
object here, Mr. P. McArthur, 4, Maida Vale, aims 
at getting flowers of moderate size and plenty of them 
for cut blooms and decorative purposes. The dwarf¬ 
ness of the plants is therefore a desirability, and in 
inducing this cutting back is resorted to with more 
signal success every year. Several of the newer 
kinds, such as Louis Bcehmer, Stanstead White and 
Ada Spaulding, have proved quite as amenable for 
this purpose as the old ones, being only from 18 ins. 
to 2 ft. high. Ada Spaulding is particularly dwarf, 
and under this treatment produces pure white 
slightly incurved florets, of peculiarly chaste appear¬ 
ance. The collection is arranged in a span-roofed 
conservatory close to the main thoroughfare, and is 
made to slope gradually from the door at either end 
to the centre. In doing so some of the plants have 
to be raised on pots to give them the necessary 
height. Madame C. Audiguier, about 4 ft. high, may 
be reckoned amongst the tallest. Other good sorts 
that have proved suitable for dwarfing are Mons. 
Astorg, Soleil Levant, Avalanche, Madame de Sevin, 
Dr. Sharp and Holborn Beauty. The latter is only 
2^ ft. high, whereas it was 7 ft. last year. It is’an 
incurved, yellow Japanese sort. Lady Talfourd under 
like conditions resembles a quilled Aster, and Prince 
of Wales is much darker in colour. Some of the 
blooms of Avalanche measured 9 in. in diameter, 
which is large enough for all practical purposes 
except exhibition perhaps. There are some new 
importations from Japan, including Mrs. Spence, 
dark maroon, Christine Gorton, straw yellow, and 
Miss Spence, blush pink and similar in type to 
Lady Selborne. All belong to the Japanese class. The 
bronzy orange of Mrs. F. Jameson, and the bronzy 
red of Mrs. H. Payne afford rich and pleasing bits 
of colour. Several of the popular market kinds, 
including Source d'Or and a semi-double white, as 
well as the magenta pink Justine, are dwarf, bushy, 
and floriferous, 
-- 
THE ORANGE IN JAPAN. 
There are many varieties of the Orange found in 
Japan, of which the most profitable are the Oonshin, 
Hira Mikan, Ivoji Kinkan, and Natsu-Mikan. In the 
prefecture of Osaka the location of the Orange trees 
is about three miles distant from the sea, at an eleva¬ 
tion of 2,016 feet, and at Oritagun, in the province of 
Kii, they are located from half a mile to three miles 
from the sea, at an elevation of 610 ft. to 800 ft. A 
southerly exposure is the best for the tree, and the 
best soil a sandy loam, with gravel about 3 ft. from 
the surface. Hilly and undulating land is preferable 
for the Oonshin and Hira Mikan varieties. As re¬ 
gards the former, the United States Consul at Hiogo 
and Osaka says that, in every respect, this is the 
best variety. The tree, or, more properly speaking, 
the bush, grows to a height of 10 ft. or 12 ft., and covers 
a space of 22 ft. or 23 ft. in diameter. It branches 
close down to the ground, and, not being pruned, the 
weight of the fruit causes the branches to lie on the 
ground, completely covering the trunk. T hey are 
extremely prolific, and as the fruit is not thinned out 
when small, it does not often attain a size of over 3 in. 
or 3J in. in diameter, and the majority are not over 
2J in. in diameter. Like all other fruits, they are 
packed by the Japanese when green and sour, as 
early as the 1st of October, and are gathered and 
packed by December, when they are stored, keeping 
so well as to be foupd in the market as late as the 
end of May. 
The fruit of the Oonshin is flattened at the ends, 
the rind peels oft very easily, and segments part as 
readily. When the Orange is cut horizontally, the 
juice is so abundant that it runs over freely. They 
are practically seedless. Out of 200 lately tested, 
only two were found to have seeds. Their flavour is 
very pleasant, sweet, and much liked by foreigners 
in Japan and China. The Hira-Mikan, sometimes 
called Kishin-Mikan, or Kino-Kuni-Mikan, is a 
smaller fruit than the Oonshin, and, though it has a 
few seeds, it enjoys a good, reputation. The tree 
grows to a height of 30 ft., is a great bearer, and is 
as hardy as the Oonshin. The Kinkan, known in 
China as the Cumquot, or golden Orange, grows to the 
height of 16 ft., and is very prolific. There are two 
kinds, the marumi, or round fruit, and the nagami, 
or long fruit. It contains four or five seeds, and is 
vgry palatable, eaten, as it frequently is, with the 
rind on ; but its chief use is as a preserve in syrup 
or crystallised. It has long been popular, both in 
China and Japan, when treated in this way. 
The Orange tree is propagated in J apan by graft¬ 
ing on the stalk the Citrus trifoliata, or native wild 
Orange, which is so extremely hardy that it does not 
appear to suffer with cold. It grows to the height of 
25 ft. to 30 ft. The fruit is perfectly round, some¬ 
what larger than a billiard ball, and full of seeds. 
The stock for grafting are propagated from these 
seeds. The young plants are replanted each spring, 
and, after two years, are ready for grafting. The 
leaf is trifoliate, like the Clover. The tree is very 
thorny, and it is deciduous. The sap falls in the 
winter, and does not rise till late in the spring ; and 
it is to this that the extreme hardiness of trees grafted 
in this stock may be attributed. The Japanese do 
not appear to give the same attention to the cultiva¬ 
tion of Orange trees as cultivators in California and 
Florida do, allowing vegetables and Corn to grow 
between the trees, which are planted so closely to¬ 
gether that the branches often interlock. The irriga¬ 
tion which takes place only in the dry seasons, is 
effected by pails, and the liquid manure is distributed 
with ladles. There are no regular Orange groves as 
in the United States, but irregular patches, and 
many trees are planted on the hill sides in terraces, 
the same way as Rice and other products. No atten¬ 
tion is paid to insects beyond burning the cocoons of 
the chrysalis or beetles. 
The principal nurseries where the young trees are 
propagated are about twelve miles from the sea, and 
are protected in winter till the third year with coarse 
straw matting roughly tied round, the idea being to 
preserve the young growth, and not because injury is 
feared to the matured branches. As the Japanese 
see no beauty in an upright tree, but rather prefer 
them crooked or dwarfed, the young trees are not 
staked or trained. One reason for preferring the low 
tree is that they can pick the fruit without the aid of 
ladders, and another reason is that the branches 
keep the ground cool and more moist than if exposed 
to the sun. Consul Smithers says that the market 
price of the Oonshin in Japan is from two to five 
silver yew (the silver yen is equivalent to about three 
shillings and ninepence) per thousand, according to 
size and quality, and large shipments are made to 
San Francisco, but owing to their being packed in 
light boxes, the Oranges often arrive in bad and 
damaged conditition . — Society of Arts Journal. 
THE APIARY. 
Bees and Bee Keeping was the subject of a lecture 
delivered by the Rev. Dr. Dangar at the meeting of 
the Devon and Exeter Gardeners’ Mutual Improve¬ 
ment Association, on the 4th inst. 
Dr. Dangar alluded in the first place to the 
structure of the bee. He said this may be consi¬ 
dered under three divisions, viz., the head, the body, 
and its continuation. As to the head, one eye is on 
each side, and contained some 15,000 facets or lenses, 
so that if a bee’s eye be mounted in Canada balsam 
and placed in a proper optical position in a micros¬ 
cope it will show a large number of pictures of a 
photograph placed at the focus ; but besides these 
eyes there are three others on the top of the head, 
each with one lens, so that the bee can “ keep an 
eye ” all round when busy gathering pollen or honey. 
The tongue is contractile, and may be compared to 
a long bag with a spring inside, capable of being 
extended or withdrawn at pleasure ; it is, moreover, 
hollow, so that the honey when sucked from the 
nectary of a flower is drawn through the tongue into 
the proper receptacle. The body proper or breast 
secretes wax on its under side, such as is used in the 
building of the comb. There are eight shields or 
plates, and between these the wax oozes out from 
the bee’s body. The legs are six, as in all insects. 
The tail part of the creature, in twelve joints, all con¬ 
tractile, has, of course, a sting. That of the queen 
is curved, and practically useless, except when she 
fights another queen ; that of the working bee is 
straight and barbed and double, so that when once 
inserted in hard flesh it cannot be withdrawn; hence 
the death of the bee. In this respect it difiers from 
the sting of a wasp, which has no barb. The breath¬ 
ing apparatus is situated on the surface of the body, 
spiral tubes entering into the interior, which the bee 
can open or close at will. The wings are in two 
pairs, so arranged that their inner edges hook 
together to form one wing ; both pairs are attached 
to the breast portion of the body ; the hind legs 
carry the pollen, and are specially constructed for 
that purpose, being not straight but jagged. 
A few words on the queen bees, or non-workers. 
They are the mothers of the families in which they 
live, one in each hive ; in case the queen dies in win¬ 
ter, failing her replacement the hive perishes. But 
in the spring, if the queen be old (i.e., say, over three 
years), it is better to remove her after she has begun 
to lay. The bees, when she is gone, will soon raise 
a queen cell, and hatch out another queen. This 
operation must not take place until there are drones, 
or male bees, about. As an illustration of the 
advantage of adopting this process, the lecturer 
quoted an instance last summer of a weak stock with 
an old queen; she was removed early in July, and 
by the end of the season the new queen had laid so 
well that the hive was strong and in a good winter¬ 
ing state. As to this queen-raising, the bees select 
a particular egg which suits their fancy; they 
destroy the egg in one of the adjacent compartments, 
cut down the partition between the two, and build 
up a large queen cell around the royal egg ; as soon 
as the grub is hatched they feed it with royal jelly, — 
it grows very fast, and in 14 or 15 days a queen is 
hatched, as against 21 days for a working bee and 
24 for a drone. The queen does not come to her 
full size, or if she be a Ligurian to her full colour, 
until the second year. If deprived, the bees will 
probably raise several queen cells in a hive, so as to 
be quite sure of hatching out from one ; but the first 
out waits for the rest, and kills them off as they 
appear. The queen does no menial work, and the 
male bee or drone follows suit ; but at the end of the 
season the toilers make short work of the drones, 
who in the autumn may be seen lying dead by the 
score outside a hive. 
If it be desired to increase a stock artificially, pro¬ 
vided that it be in a bar-frame hive, it can be done 
as follows ;— Remove the bar frame on which the 
queen bee is seen, place it in another hive, also-a 
second bar frame if it can be spared. Take away 
these two frames with the queen to a long distance. 
The bees remaining will at once raise a queen. Of 
course the operator must be sure that there are eggs 
and brood in the deprived hive, otherwise no queen 
can be raised therein. If it is desired to introduce a 
queen to a queenless hive this can be done by caging 
a new queen, in a wire cage, within the hive. In a 
few hours every bee in the hive will know’ of her 
majesty’s arrival, and they will feed her through the 
bars of the cage. When it is seen that this is onward 
she may be released, and will be accepted right 
royally. Sometimes it happens, but very rarely, if 
these precautions be not taken, that they take a 
dislike to the stranger. This often occurs if she be 
introduced suddenly. They will then encase her, 
usually at the bottom of the hive, and sting her to 
death. The lecturer then exhibited one of the most 
approved forms of bar frame hives, and dwelt in detail 
on the various parts and appliances, viz., the mode 
of arrangement of frame, supering, side boxes, 
summer and winter arrangements, quilts, dummies, 
and packing for the winter season. He spoke of the 
difficulty of keeping bees in towns, and in certain 
mining and manufacturing districts. As to towns, 
they do not find enough food near their homes, 
flowers are scarce, and in some localities the atmos¬ 
phere is unsuitable. The late Mr. Ralph Sanders 
could rarely keep his hives strong ; the bees would 
be off to the vats of the Heavitree Brewery, and either 
perish in the beer, or else drink so much and became 
so intoxicated that they could not reach home. He 
had often told the lecturer that he had seen his bees 
returning evidently the w’orse for strong drink. 
In localities where there are heaps of mundic, or 
where there are arsenic works, no bees will thrive; 
they have a keen sense of smell, and will go for miles 
to a mundic heap, where they gather the arsenic 
which is sweet, but which poisons them at once. In 
conclusion, the lecturer dw’elt upon the value of 
spreading the knowledge of bee-keeping amongst the 
cottagers as a means of income, good honey in pound 
sections being always saleable. The one great 
danger to the apiary is foul brood, and if once that 
gets thoroughly into it one might almost as well burn 
it, bees, hives, and all, forthwith ; foul brood can 
hardly be eradicated. Some years since there was a 
tainted apiary in the neighbourhood of Exeter, bees 
from other apiaries found their way thither, stole 
the honey from the weak stocks, carried it home 
with the germs of that terrible disease, and at the 
