428 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
March 2, 1901. 
The Orchid rockery also contains a good sprink¬ 
ling of different species in bloom, amongst which 
Lycaste Skinneri is one of the most conspicuous. 
The blue lip and brown sepals and petals of Zygo- 
petalum Clayi also marks a pretty species. A fine 
bold Epidendrum is E. macrochilum album, with its 
white lip. Lycaste cruenta is also a good thing. 
Coelogyne cristata, and C. c. lemoniana have also 
commenced to bloom at this early period. A large 
plant of Cymbidium lowianum will be fine presently. 
Some Oncidiums also call for notice. Very 
varied and beautiful are the many varieties of the 
hybrid Epidendrum elegantulum, whose flowers are 
yellow and beautifully spotted with violet in different 
proportions. Many Odontoglossums are also flower¬ 
ing in the cool houses, with many more to follow 
presently. 
THE APIARY. 
Leaking Roofs. —A great many beekeepers are 
often troubled with this, more especially in cheap 
hives. In the summer this is not of so much conse¬ 
quence, because the natural heat of the air soon 
dries it up; but if this occurs in the autumn it 
should be seen to at once. Nothing kills a stock 
quicker in the winter than damp. They can stand 
any amount of frost and snow with very little pro¬ 
tection, provided they are kept dry, but let the wet 
once get on the quilts and amongst the combs and it 
spells ruin. 
A good coat of paint is sometimes all that is 
necessary ; if it is very bad, give a coat of paint, and 
before it is dry spread a piece of calico over it 
sufficient to cover the whole, and tack it round the 
edges. Soak as much paint into this as it will take 
and you have a thoroughly waterproof roof that will 
last for years. Some prefer to us9 a sheet of thin 
zinc that can be got for the purpose and nail it on, 
soldering at the nails and corners. This makes a 
more lasting roof than the former, costing a little 
more to commence with. 
All roofs should have two or three boles under the 
eaves back and front; this has a great deal to do 
with keeping everything sweet and dry. The holes 
can be provided with bee escapes or perforated zinc 
nailed over them to keep out robbers. 
Dysentery is one of the few diseases that our little 
friend is subject to. The bees feeding on fermented 
food duriog long confinement, damp, or being dis¬ 
turbed during winter and too early in spring, may 
be said to be the principal causes of dysentery. It 
is usually found during early spring and may be 
detected by seeing the bees’ excrements all over the 
combs and inside the hive, the same being of a dull 
muidy appearance and having a vdry bad smell. 
Where there is sufficient bees’ they should be given 
a clean hive and combs with sealed honey in them, 
if possible. If this cannot be done, do the next best 
thing, namely, remove them into a temporary box, 
while their old one is being thoroughly cleaned ; 
return them, giving no more combs than they will 
cover, and feed with 6 lbs. of good warm syrup. 
When they have taken this place, a good cake cf 
candy over the top and pack up warm. 
With a return of warmer weather the bees are 
able to get an occasional fly, and we will soon have 
them busy amongst the Crocuses, tumbling about 
three and four in the one flower. Those who are 
short of pollen-bearing plants in the spring can give 
artificial pollen about the beginning of March. Get 
a shallow box and place a few shavings or chips of 
wood along with a handful of Pea flour in it, also a 
piece of honeycomb to attract the bees at the begin¬ 
ning. Place in a warm, sunny corner, and it is 
amusing to watch the little insects diving down 
amongst it and rolling it into the pollen baskets with 
their legs. Very little can be done this month 
except to see that they are kept dry, with plenty 
of food, and the entrance clear of dead bees.— 
Doonfoot. 
[Our correspondent will be pleased to answer any 
questions which readers would like to ask concerning 
their bees.—E d.] 
There is:— 
A lesson in each flower, 
A story in each tree and bower, 
On every herb on which we tread 
Are written words which rightly read 
Will lead us from earth’s fragrant sod 
To hope, and holiness, and God. 
#l£amtt0s t l\\z Dmrtti 
nf Sriettc% 
The subjects given below were discussed at the 
Scientific Committee meeting of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society on the 12th ult. 
In response to the invitation of the council of the 
R.H.S. to well-known men of science to join the 
scientific committee, with the view of reinstating it 
on a firm basis and of rendering it more useful, a 
large gathering of new and old members assembled 
after the annual meeting; and a very interesting 
discussion took place over the numerous exhibits 
sent, as well as upon a valuable viva voce abstract of 
bis paper upon " Hybrid Conifers,” by Dr. Masters, 
which will appear in full in the Journal. A cordial 
vote of thanks was given unanimously to Dr. 
Masters. Mr. Elwes observed that it would be of 
much assistance to the secretary if there were an 
unwritten rule that whoever contributed specimens, 
whether sent or brought to the meetings, should 
always accompany them with as full details as 
possible, for preservation in the reports, which would 
finally be recorded in the Journal. He also thought 
that when a valuable series of plants was showD.as on 
the present occasion by Mr. Lynch, the most im¬ 
portant at least should be preserved, as they might 
not even be in the National Herbaria. With regard 
to notes, &c, on specimens sent, Mr. Henslow 
observed that as a rule something was usually said 
about them, but too often of a very meagre descrip¬ 
tion. What, however, would enhance the value of 
the reports, would be for those who had observations 
to make at the meeting to send him a more complete 
account than is conveyed by the remarks which 
occur at the moment, if such should be thought 
desirable. 
Hybrid Conifers.—Dr. Masters presented a 
paper on this subject in which he remarked on the 
rarity of hybrid Confers in Nature in spite of the 
profusion of pollen thai is formed. This rarity he 
attributed to the fact that, in the old world at least, 
the forests consist mainly of one species. Allusion 
was then made to the various hybrids in the genus 
Pinus, described by Beck, Wettstein, and others, and 
to the so-called hybrid between Juniperus nana and 
J. communis, in reference to which the speaker 
showed specimens of both forms taken from the 
same bush. Biota meldensis, a supposed hybrid, is 
only a transitory stage of Thuia orientalis. The 
only two artificially produced hybrids known to the 
speaker are one raised by M. Croux between Abies 
Pinsapo (male), and A. nordmanniana (female), and 
another raised by the late Henry de Vilmotia be¬ 
tween Abies cephalonica (male), and A. Pinsapo 
(female). Specimens of these hybrids, by the cour¬ 
tesy of M. Croux and of M. P. de Vilmorin, were 
shown. M. de Vilmorin’s hybrid Abies had produced 
cones, two of which were exhibited, together with 
those of the parent plants. Last year a single fertile 
seed was obtained, whose progress will be watched 
with interest. Details relating to the external 
features and internal anatomy of these hybrids are 
given at length in the paper, which will probably be 
published in the Journal of the Society. Specimens 
of the foliage, and of the cones of the parent plants 
and of the hybrids, were shown in illustration of the 
speaker’s remarks. 
Snowdrops diseased.—Mr. H. Lewis Jones, 61, 
Wimpole Street, sent some specimens of Galanthus 
Elwesi, with the following note:---“They were 
planted for three years. A topdressing of manure 
was put over them in autumn. There was nothing 
wrong until this year, when a large number came up 
healthy, but the later members (about half of 500 in 
all) came up slowly, were yellowish later, and proved 
to be diseased. It seems to be spreading in both of 
my beds of bulbs. They are at the foot of a wall, 
with an easterly aspect. The soil is light, with a 
chalky subsoil. Professor Farmer undertook to in¬ 
vestigate the nature of the disease, and specimens 
were also sent to Dr. W. G. Smith, Yorkshire Col¬ 
lege, Leeds. 
Cypripedium malformed.—Mr. O’Brien ex¬ 
hibited a dimerous flower of C. insigne, and a pale 
yellow-green leaf from the same plant. He remarked 
that these two features had been constant on one 
and the same plant for three or four years. Though 
both peculiarities are not uncommon, it was unusual 
to find them on the same individual. 
Galanthus, species.—Mr. Elwes showed flowers 
and foliage of G. Elwesi, and the so-named G. Whit- 
talli, pointing out that the latter is only a local 
variety of the former with somewhat broader leaves 
and sepals, there being also a slight difference in the 
green colouring of the petals. He observed that G. 
Elwesi is a great seeder, and apparently, in conse¬ 
quence, fails to produce bulbils for propagation ; such 
is also Mr. Barr’s experience. 
Mistleto, vars.—Mr. Burbidge sent several 
varieties from the Botanical Gardens of Trinity 
College, Dublin, wilh the following observations 
“ I beg to send five varieties of Viscum album, all, 
as I think you will see, slightly different in habit, 
size of leaf, &c., as also in earliness or time of 
flowering. You will observe that in all cases but one 
the male plants have larger leaves than the females. 
Another point is peculiar about Viscum and its time 
of flowering—viz , the males in all cases flower a week 
or more earlier or before the females, as is also the 
case in Aucuba japonica and some other dioecious 
plants. The male Viscum has foliage of a brighter 
green, while the females have leaves of a deeper and 
more sombre or sap-green colour. Amongst the 
female or fruiting plants of Viscum there is also 
considerable difference in size, colour and time of 
ripening of the berries, as there is also in the time of 
opeaing of the male flowers, some individuals being 
weeks earlier in bloom than are others. The male 
Viscum has often in its young state on young Apple 
trees, or on the Mountain Ash, enormous leaves 
but these become smaller as they begin to flower. 
The host plant, soil, aspect, &c., may affect the 
plants, but there is also a considerable range of 
seminal or inherent variation. Note the beautifully 
regular dichotomous growth of the branches, all the 
twigs lying in the same plane, and the half twist in 
the leaf at the base.” 
Plants from the Botanic Gardens, Cambridge. 
Mr. R. Irwin Lynch contributed the following 
interesting plants and notes, for which a unanimous 
vote of thanks was recorded :•— 
Iris histrioides.—This species is not recorded in 
Sir M. Foster's book, and is probably of more recent 
introduction. 
Iris stylosa—A narrow form of this species, Mr. 
Elwes observed, was introduced by him in 1874 as 
I. cretensis, allied to I. unguicularis, exhibited by 
Mr. Bowles. 
Galanthus Erithrae.—Not mentioned by Mr 
Baker. 
Hyacinthus ciliatus (azureus). 
Narcissus Trimon.—Sir M. Foster’s hybrid 
between N. triandrus and N. monophyllus It is the 
earliest of all in flowering this year The preceding 
are flowering out of doors 
Cyrtanthus lutescens.—Mr. O’Brien contri¬ 
buted the following remarks upon this plant:— 
“ Some time in 1893, I think, Mr. J. Medley Wood, 
of the Botanic Gardens, Darban, Natal, sent me a 
few small bulbs of a Cyrtanthus, afterwards de¬ 
scribed from a specimen which flowered with me by 
Mr. J. G. Baker in Gardeners' Chronicle, June gth, 
1854, page 716, as Cyrtanthus O’Brieni. A reference 
to its interesting discovery on the Drakensberg I 
embodied in a note on Cape Flora ( Gardeners' 
Chronicle, January 20th, 1900, page 33). Prior to 
that I had got C. lutescens from the same region, 
and either at the same time as C. O’Brieni or soon 
after, a rather showy Cyrtanthus (also from the 
same region), which Mr. Baker said was nearest to 
C. Tucki, though it was a much nearer approach to 
the showiest forms of C. angustifolius than the 
original C. Tucki (aot too well figured in Gardeners' 
Chronicle, August 6th, 1892, page 155), which, by 
crossing with C. lutescens, gave me C. X Marian 
[Gardeners' Chronicle, March 6:b, 1897), in describing 
which I gave also some other experiences with 
Cyrtanthus which may or may not coincide with the 
experience of others. Cyr. O’Brieni, imported, was 
always delicate, and ultimately died. Before that 
event, I had crossed C. lutescens with the Drakens¬ 
berg species, allied to C. Tucki, and on its flowering I 
was pleased to find that it was practically identical 
with the imported C. O Brieni, but much freer 
growing. I think it points to the probability of the 
wild Cyr. O’Brieni being the result of a natural 
cross between the two plants, from which I got it at 
home. I think that view is strengthened by the fact 
that Cyr. O'Brieni, of Natal, is only found in the one 
unfrequented spot, and, so far as I can glean, only in 
a small patch. All the plants referred to are of the 
