444 THE GARDENING WORLD. March g, 1901 . 
and am just getting the same as that young chap you 
have along there wheeling soil " It is experience 
that gets a head place with big wages, and not be¬ 
cause he can wheel twice as much soil as Peter 
Green 
I say the planning of work is of as great impor¬ 
tance as the actual meaning of the word. “ A.V.M.” 
must surely have an excellent memory to mind how 
many sowings of Peas, Beans, Turnips, &c., and how 
much seed he used for each time last year. In some 
places the boss sees to the sowing, &c., but where 
charge is given to one chap in either department, 
and is expected to have everything and in succession, 
a reminder out of our " friend " the " diary " some¬ 
times comes in very handy. 
Mr. Macquarie (although a long way off) has 
given some examples for the “ young," but might 
have put it a little plainer for "their" sakes. 
Another proposal I would like to make is that every 
gardener should have Saturday afternoon to himself. 
As he has a Sunday on duty every now and then and 
gets no pay for it in the majority of establisb- 
menls the half holiday for gardeners is practical, 
and proves beneficial, this being sufficient reason for 
its more general adoption. No doubt the “ unions " 
will be a great help to get many a privilege. Meet¬ 
ings could be held at each county town to discuss 
everything in connection with the " poor gardener." 
Thanking you, Mr. Editor, if space is granted for 
this. — T. S. Dick, Castlemilk, Lockerbie. 
-—5*- 
THE APIARY. 
Anyone starting bee keeping must not te led away 
with the idea that a golden fortune is to be made out 
of them, and that they have only to procure a stock 
of bees, stick them in a corner and give no more 
attention except placing on empty sections and 
removing them full. The most of us can keep bees, 
but it is not everyone that can become a bee-keeper 
in the true sense of the word. Energy, patience, 
determination to overcome, combined with a fair 
amount of courage, or rather nerve, is all required 
in a more or less degree to become a proficient bee¬ 
keeper. With the above qualifications and a fair 
talent for business, bee-keeping will pay for all 
trouble taken., let alone taking into account the 
benefit to health derived in working amongst the 
busy bee. As a hobby it is unsurpassed by any, and 
unlike a great many it can always be depended upon 
to pay its way, besides the pleasure derived in view¬ 
ing some of the wondrous works of Nature. 
i hose wishing to start should always remember 
to make a very small beginning, one or two stocks 
are sufficient for a beginning ; take in a good bee 
paper, it will keep you posted in all the doings of 
the bee-keeping world. Procure the bee-keepei’s 
guide book, indispensable to the practical bee man, 
once it is thoroughly mastered. Others could 
follow, as the interest and love of the hobby 
increases. Pay an occasional visit to the apiary of 
a successful bee-keeper, he will be sure to welcome 
you, which is one of the many pleasures derived 
from the keeping of bees, viz., the interest and 
assistance so freely given by the old hand to the 
young beginner, who should never be too proud to 
show up his ignorance. In buying a stock of bees 
the best time to do so is in the month of April, for 
then the bees are in a proper condition for one to 
read their value at a glance, and they withstand a 
shift better than they would earlier or a month or 
two later. In late districts this could be left for a 
month. Where stocks are purchased from a dealer 
at a distance a written guarantee should be received 
along with them regarding health, age of queen, and 
strength of stock. 
When bought from a private source, the advice of 
a good bee-keeper should be obtained if possible. 
Where this cannot be got, and the bees are in a straw 
hive, give them a puff of smoke at the entrance, and 
turn the hive upside down. If the combs are nice, 
clean, and straight, and on looking down the centre 
ones you can see patches of brood, it is suitable. If 
it is a second swarm of the year before, or an old 
stock which had swarmed the previous year, so 
much the better, because then the queen is young, 
and will be in her prime for the coming season. An 
occasional puff of smoke wi 1 ke?p the bees quiet. 
In the case of a frame hive matters are greatly 
simplified. Be sure that the frames are the standard 
s’ze with the bees covering from six to ten frames, 
the combs, principally all worker combs, not 
clogged with pollen, but nice clean and sweet, with 
brood in two less than the bees cover, and beware, 
oh ! beware of foul brood, which I will describe in 
another article.— Doonfoot. 
[Our correspondent will be pleased to answer any 
questions which readers would like to ask concerning 
their bees.—E d.] 
--- 
SPRING FLOWER GARDENING. 
There are three or four genera of very early flower¬ 
ing plants represented by just about as many species, 
whose appearance we look for and and are generally 
gladdened with,soon after the entry of each new year. 
These three or four early bloomers are Primrose, 
Snowdrop, Crocus, and Christmas Rose. In open, 
favourable seasons these are generally to be found in 
the more sheltered corners of gardens and estates 
during January and February. 
Perhaps the Christmas Rose is the most valuable 
from the point of view of decorativeness and general 
utility, yet it is a matter of constant wonder to 
observe the scarcity of Christmas Roses in the shops 
of florists. In their case they are truly conspicuous 
by their absence. The reason probably is that the 
flowers cannot be got in sufficient quantities or at a 
cheap enough rate. 
Yet when Eucharis blooms fetch 4s. to 6s. per 
dozen, there is surely an opening for the beautiful 
pure white Helleborus niger. The most useful sorts 
of the Christmas Roses for really early flowering 
include the specific type and its varieties. H. n, 
angustifolius and H. n. altifolius or maximus. Along 
with these are some of the *' orientalis " section. 
The latter group of Helleborus should not be divided 
till the month of April, whereas the earlier flower¬ 
ing sections Of the genus may be increased by division 
during the present month (March). 
They seem to succeed well on a variety of soils and 
in various aspects. Much or all, depends on the 
general care with which the plants are treated. A 
dry soil, that is one in which rain is not retentively 
held, but which contains a suitable amount of 
moisture and is well drained, should be chosen for 
the planting of these plants. Make the site as deep 
(deeply dug) as you please, and incorporate a moder¬ 
ate dressing of rotten dung, say a barrow load to 
4 sq. yds. 
Snowdrops form a genus whose interest is very 
great and which seems to be perennial. The value 
of the genus is furthermore'always gaining by the new 
additions made to it. Snowdrops should be even 
more largely planted in grass-lands than they are; 
and in wood-land borders and spaces their beauty is 
fittingly set off. Crocuses (or Croci) do not flower 
quite so early as the Primrose (P. vulgaris) or 
Snowdrops, yet the well-known C. Imperati with 
purplish-flaked flowers, andC. sativus and C. aureus 
generally begin to appear in February. On no less 
an authority than that of the monographer of this 
genus—Mr. George Maw—it is stated that species 
are to be found in flower in every month of the 
year. The autumn Colchicums and the spring 
Crocuses are, however, the most generally known. 
Yellow and blue Crocuses on soft green grass or in 
borders furnish a splendidly beautiful effect. 
Then the early flowering Anemones delight us in 
an equal measure to the foregoing when they begin 
to develop. Anemone blanda is a charming plant 
and one of the most easily cultivated of the whole 
selection of spring flowering plants. As it seeds and 
germinates freely from self sowings, it appears to be 
adapted for naturalising along with the wild white 
Wood Anemone nemerosa, and indeed, this hint was 
thrown out by the late Mr. W. Ingram in a paper 
read before the Fellows of the Royal Horticultural 
Society in 1890. A gravelly, leafy, or humic soil 
suits it well. A. apennina is another of the early 
species not to be overlooked. Though the larger 
encrusted Saxifragas bloom in the greatest pro¬ 
fusion during May and June, there are yet many of 
the mossy, the spreading, and tufted sorts, such as 
S. oppositifolia major, S. buseriana major, S. luteo- 
purpurea that find appreciation for spring gardening, 
even though they only afford something fresh and 
green to look upon. One of the best of the mossy 
Saxifragas is S. muscoides coccinea which affords a 
fine fresh covering through the spring. 
S. ligulata and S. Stracheyi are handsome so far 
as foliage goes; and for spring effect we require 
foliar plants quite as much as in summer. S. ligulata 
is perfectly hardy even in the north, although it has 
succumbed to frost so far south as Florence in Italy. 
This fact demonstrates the susceptibility of plants 
when nurtured under such highly congenial 
temperatures, and points out a lesson to be practised 
in the case of many other plants—to grow them as 
hardy as possible. S. Stracheyi is even more hand¬ 
some and beautiful than S. ligulata but it is not so 
hardy. It should be planted in the most sheltered 
positions. 
Pansies, Primroses, Erica carnea, and other 
Heaths, Narcissus minimus, Chionodoxa Luciliae, 
Hyacinthus azureus, Scilla bifolia, Cyclamen repan- 
dum, C. Coum, Iris reticulata, I. stylosa, I. persica, 
I. p. Heldreichii, and Russian Violets, are additional 
plants whose likeness is bscoming better known every 
year. These can all be had in bloom before the end 
of March. 
Coming now to the more advanced period at the 
beginning of April, the great array of Daffodils and 
Narcissus are then in bloom, and many other species 
and varieties of all the foregoing, that is, Primroses, 
Hellebores, &c., are then adorning our beds, borders, 
and grounds. Anemone fulgens, A. robinsoniana, A. 
Hepatica, and A. angulosa are then coming into 
evidence, and the various dwarf Phloxes as for 
example, amcena, subulata, Nelsoni, and frondosa 
make pleasant swatches in the rock garden. The 
Spring Snowflake (Leucojum vernum), Triteleia uni¬ 
flora, Aubrietias, Alyssum saxatile, Trillium, grandi- 
florum, Orobus vernus, Dog’s-tooih Violets, Doroni- 
cum excelsum, Wallflowers, and the perennial 
shrubby species Cheiranthus Marshalli, Dielytra 
(Dicentra) spectabilis, Pulmonaria azurea, Grape 
Hyacinths, Ornithogalum nutans, and Uvdlaria 
grandiflora are amongst a goodly list of other things 
that one can depend on for an outdoor spring display. 
Besides these the beds of spring flowering bulbous 
plants are then beginning to yield their display. 
Violets and many of the dwarf plants aforementioned 
grow and blossom agreeably when they are properly 
and carefully planted around the outer fringes of such 
evergreen trees as Cedars, Hemlock Spruce, Biotas, 
Cryptomerias and others. They should not be planted 
exactly under the trees, but close in so as to have 
shelter from winds and rain. Forget-me-nots, Oxalis 
Acetosella, Thymus, Tiarella cordifolia, and many 
dwarf,plants are more particularly useful for the 
rockery. 
The following list of shrubs is recommended by 
Mr. Ingram, for spring flower gardensDaphne 
Mezereum, Chimonanthus fragrans, and C. grandi- 
florus, Lonicera fragrantissima, Rhododendron 
dahuricum, R. Dobleanum, R. praecox superbum, 
Andromeda floribunda, A. japonica, Berberis Aqui- 
folium, Forsythia suspensa, Magnolia conspicua, 
Genista praecox, Pyrus japonica, Berberis Darwinii, 
B. stenophylla, Azara microphylla (very handsome); 
Prunus Amygdalus nanus, Ribes, and Kerria japon¬ 
ica.— S. 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED, 
The awards mentioned below were made by the Royal 
Horticultural Society on the 26th ult.:— 
Orchid Committee. 
Laeliocattleya warnhamensis. —This is one of 
those bigeneric hybrids in which Laelia cinnabarina 
has exercised such strong prepotency. The sepals 
are deep orange, and the petals overlaid with purple 
on an orange ground. The tube of the lip is red 
externally, and orange internally ; while the lamina 
is deep crimson-purple, or maroon-purple, and hand¬ 
some. (First-class Certificate) C. J. Lucas, Esq. 
(gardener, Mr. Duncan), Warnham Court, Horsham, 
Sussex. 
Sophronitis rossiteriana. —The flowers of this 
form are similar in shape to those of S. grandiflora, 
but the sepals, petals, and lip are of a soft orange, 
very handsome, with occasionally a trace of rel 
along the edges of the segments. For the sake of 
contrast with the better known scarlet one this rare 
Orchid will be most appreciated. (First-class Certi¬ 
ficate ) Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart, (grower, Mr. 
W. H. White), Burford, Dorking. 
Dendrobium Euryale. — In this we have a hand¬ 
some hybrid in the now complicated group of 
hybrids between D. nobile and D. aureum. The 
flowers in this instance recall those of D. splendidis- 
simum grandiflorum. (Award of Merit.) Sir Trevor 
Lawrence, Bart. 
Odontoglossum Coradinei Mrs. de B. Craw- 
