September 5, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
74 : 
fEPT UR 5 D mo3. e Gardening "World, 
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i 
EDITORIAL NOTES. 
[| New Use for Electricity. 
Those who are troubled with an excess of 
inns in their lawns or even in their flower- 
ds will be pleased to leam that some 
ccess has been achieved by the use of 
hctricity in driving them out of the ground. 
,ie plan is to thrust, one terminal of an 
metrical circuit of 110 volts into the earth, 
uis terminal consists of brass rods, and it is 
ited they have the effect of driving the 
>rnis and similar creatures out of the earth 
thin a radius of two yards of this electrified 
jntre. When once driven out in thisi way 
would be an easy matter to sweep them up 
d have them destroyed or conveyed to a, 
dance. The electrical apparatus could be 
^ved from place to, place, or a number of 
terminals could be thrust into the ground at 
regular distances apart. The whole land 
could thus be cleared of the worms. 
—o— 
A Seedless Oxalis. 
When thinking of the rapid increase of 
weeds we at once fix upon the, seeds' as the 
means for most rapid multiplication. There 
are exceptions to this, however, because some 
plants produce runners and offsets at a rapid 
rate. Others again, such as Sedum acre, may 
be, broken up into almost any number of 
pieces, and each piece will grow. Some 
there are, however, which produce no seeds, 
and yet multiply rapidly, spreading in a 
most mysterious way. We may refer to 
Elodea, canadensis or Wat-er Thyme, which 
was introduced either intentionally by some 
botanist, or accidentally. In any case, it 
found its way to this country and over-ran 
it. to. such an extent, as to choke up all slow- 
running streamlets, ditches, pends and lakes. 
The plant cannot, produce seeds, but -we, ean 
easily imagine pieces of the plant being car¬ 
ried involuntarily by aquatic birds from one 
pond or stream to another. In the case of 
Oxalis cemua the case is quite different. It 
produces no seeds, but develops small bul¬ 
buls. which must get carried about in, soma 
mysterious way. Lord Avebui-y has recently 
been discussing the question, and has shown 
that, although it flowers well, it ripens no 
seed, yet has, taken possession of most of the 
gardens of the southern French and Italian 
coasts. It has also established itself in 
Malta, and upon the northern coast, of Africa.. 
It, is a, native of South Africa, and probably 
was first introduced to, some of the gardens 
bordering on the Mediterranean, and’ having 
escaped from cultivation in some mysteriousi 
way lias now become a most determined 
weed that cultivators are unable to eradicate. 
—O'— 
Medicinal Value of Yeast. 
For years past the yeast of beer has been 
used as a, sort, of remedy in the treatment of 
boils and other ailments of the human body. 
No doubt this has, often been regarded a® an 
old wife’s, remedy, but science come® to the 
rescue in showing how this, may be: It, is 
supposed that the organism of 1 yeast, has the 
effect, of neutralising the microbes: and their 
toxins that would be harmful to the, human 
being, and by this means prove of medicinal 
value. The microbe of yeast of be er requires 
a, relatively low temperature, however, and 
soon gets killed when: taken into 1 the stomach. 
M. Jacquemin, of the: Institute of Malzeville, 
near Nancy, comes t© the rescue, with the 
microbe of the Grape Vine—namely, Sac- 
charomyces ellipse id.eus, which is the: oigan- 
ism of fermentation of Grapes: in warm coun¬ 
tries, and therefore accustomed to live in a, 
high temperature. Some of this yea.st is put, 
into, some sugary solution, in which it can 
live, and some acid is added m order to 
accustom the organism to* the acid of the 
stomach before, it is swallowed by the person 
requiring its, aid. The organism is thus 
practically prepared and cultivated for its 
work in acting as a, remedy for ailments of 
the human being. 
-—o— 
Bees and Honey. 
Rather wild stories are made by some 
people in reference to the amount of honey 
which a colony of bees can store in any given 
place, such as in caves or in hollow trees. 
Some writers even go the, length of describ¬ 
ing this in tons, hut such writers can, have 
little idea, of the nature of a colony of bees 
to think such things possible. A colony of 
bees is limited by the capabilities and fer¬ 
tility of the queen in laying eggs, be¬ 
cause the queen is really the mother 
of the colony. No two queens are 
ever allowed to dominate the same hive 
or colony, so that even if two swarms of 
bees should unite in one colony, one of the 
queens will be destroyed, and the life of a 
bee being limited, the colony would soon 
become reduced to the number regulated by 
the fertility of the: queen. In some cases, 
when the queen is! only able to lay a limited 
number of eggs, such a colony can merely 
exist, without producing any surplus of honey, 
and the ultimate weight of honey gathered 
is entirely dependent upon the strength of 
the swarm. Most queens are only able to 
keep up a population of 40,000 or 50,000 
bee®. In rare instance® 75,000 to 80,000 
may belong to a colony. Mr. J. W. Rouse 
has been making this veiy clear in the “ Farm 
and Orchard.” He also, says that an average' 
swarm of bees will weigh 6 lb. to 8 lb. At 
swarming time when filled witli honey 4,000 
bees will weigh lib., but after they have 
settled down to work it will take 5,000 of 
them to weigh 1 lb. This will give a clue 
to the number of bee® to a swarm that would 
weigh 6 lb. or 8 lb. 
Botanical Gardens, Sheffield- 
The above gardens are not now earned on 
on the same principle as they were some 
years ago,, no attention, practically, being 
given to botanical collections of plants. 
Roses are, however, grown to some extent, 
and usually these are about their best, at the 
end of .Nine. This year the Roses were 
practically a month later, and were not in 
full display until the end of July. Over 100 
varieties, are grown, ranging from pure white 
through various tints of soft pink to dark 
red and crimson. A new feature this year 
is the carpet bedding which Mr. Bennett, the 
head gardener, lias been gradually evolving 
and improving. Several circular beds have 
been laid out in this, style, which has been 
greatly out of favour for some years, but 
seems likely to undergo a. recrudescence in 
the near future, 
