August  8,  1895 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
141 
g;rower9  to  a  distance  of  8  inches  or  so  apart,  leaving  the  strap-leaved 
varieties,  including  the  valuable  Chirk  Castle  Blackstone.  6  inches  or 
rather  less  asunder.  If  from  any  cause  there  are  many  failures  either 
hoe  up  what  few  have  survived  and  sow  afresh,  or  else  sow  more  seeds 
where  the  failures  occur.  Ground  newly  cleared  of  Potatoes,  made 
fine,  firm,  and  level,  suits  winter  Turnips  well.  Nearly  every  seed  will 
germinate,  therefore  avoid  sowing  thickly.  Directly  the  plants  are  seen 
dust  over  with  soot  and  lime,  keeping  them  coated  to  ward  off  attacks 
of  Turnip  fly  and  slugs. 
Cabbage. — First  sowings  of  Cabbage  to  stand  through  the  winter 
have  failed  in  many  gardens.  There  should  be  no  delay  in  sowing  more 
seed,  even  where  plants  are  plentiful.  It  sometimes  happens  that  the 
earliest  raised  plants  are  a  little  too  forward,  those  raised  later  standing 
best.  Some  varieties,  again,  are  more  liable  to  run  to  seed  prematurely 
than  others,  and  one  sowing  may  turn  out  right  and  the  other  wrong. 
In  any  case  a  number  of  small  late-raised  plants  left  in  the  seed  beds 
all  the  winter  are  very  handy  for  planting  in  the  spring.  Summer 
Cabbages  are  badly  eaten  by  caterpillars  this  season.  Instead  of  leaving 
them  as  they  are,  cut  them  over  and  throw  the  hearts  on  the  rubbish 
heap  ;  or,  better  still,  give  them  to  the  pigs  and  poultry.  The  old 
stumps  will  soon  push  out  fresh  growths  and  neat  little  hearts  be  had 
next  winter.  June-raised  plants  of  London  Rosette  Cole  wort,  and  other 
small  quick  hearting  Cabbages  ought  now  to  be  put  out  in  quantity. 
Potatoes. — Soaking  rains  have  fallen  in  time  to  save  the  later 
planted  breadths  generally,  and  late  varieties  are  all  growing  strongly. 
It  is  to  be  feared  the  haulm  is  too  abundant  and  sappy,  and  a  bad  attack 
of  disease  would  quickly  ruin  all.  Dressings  of  either  anti-blight 
powder  or  the  Bordeaux  mixture  ought,  ere  this,  to  have  been  applied, 
repeating  the  dose  directly  that  first  given  is  washed  off.  Where  the 
tubers  had  ceased  to  grow  when  the  rain  fell  the  proper  course  to  pursue 
was  to  lift  and  store. 
Masbrooms. — We  are  having  abundance  of  Mushrooms  from  the 
fields  now  instead  of  in  the  autumn,  and  those  who  grow  for  the 
markets  as  well  as  private  gardeners  generally  will  do  right  in  making 
and  spawning  beds  as  quickly  as  circumstances  will  permit.  Ridge¬ 
shaped  open  air  beds  ought  particularly  to  be  started  now.  The  beds 
should  be  formed  on  a  dry  hard  bottom,  preferably  in  a  position  sheltered 
from  cold  winds,  may  be  of  any  length,  30  inches  to  3  feet  wide  at  the 
base,  the  same  in  height,  and  tapering  off  to  a  width  of  6  inches.  The 
manure  ought  to  be  put  together  very  firmly  and  neatly,  every  particle 
of  it  used  being  in  a  semi-moist  state.  It  will  heat  strongly  at  first,  and 
directly  the  trial  stakes  show  a  steady  decline  the  time  has  arrived  for 
spawning.  If  there  is  little  likelihood  of  overheating  soil  at  once, 
otherwise  wait  three  days.  Keep  trial  sticks  inserted  through  the  centre 
of  bed.  If  overheating  threatens  form  deep  holes  with  an  iron  rod 
through  the  centre,  this  letting  out  superfluous  vapour.  On  the  other 
hand  if  the  heat  declines  fast  cover  heavily  with  a  strawy  litter  saved 
for  that  purpose,  and  dispose  this  as  much  as  possible  in  the  form  of  a 
thatch  so  as  to  ward  off  heavy  rains. 
APIARIAN  NOTES. 
Bees  at  the  Heather. 
We,  under  favourable  circumstances  and  weather,  managed  to 
have  our  bees  flying  and  working  shortly  after  mid-day  on  the 
25th  July.  The  Heather  is  early,  gorgeous,  and  profuse  in  bloom, 
unlike  other  native  flowers,  of  which  there  is  a  great  paucity,  many 
not  showing  a  single  bloom.  The  meadow  hay  crop  in  many 
instances  has  yet  to  grow. 
The  first  rain  worth  speaking  about  began  to  fall  on  the  evening 
of  the  25th,  and  continued  for  forty-eight  hours.  Owing  to  the  very 
dry  ground  it  ran  off  quickly,  raising  the  rivers,  but  leaving  the  lands 
in  want  of  more.  Although  our  bees  have  as  yet  had  only  two  work¬ 
ing  days,  the  first  pollen  mostly,  and  the  second  honey,  I  never  ex¬ 
perienced  better  promise  of  an  abundant  yield  of  the  latter.  The 
rain  coming  at  the  early  stages  of  bloom,  and  on  the  heated  earth, 
cannot  fail  to  cause  a  plentiful  secretion  of  honey,  and  with  eight 
or  ten  days  settled  fine  weather  any  time  in  August  the  bees  will 
secure  it. 
To  be  strong  and  speedy  in  flight  is  certainly  a  property  desirable 
in  the  honey  bee.  Shortly  after  the  introduction  of  the  Italian 
Alp  bee,  as  some  of  your  readers  will  remember,  I  tested  the  new 
comers  against  our  native  bees,  the  former  beating  the  latter  in  a 
comparatively  short  flight  by  many  seconds.  This,  with  their 
honey  gathering  Qualities,  endeared  them  to  me  as  a  superior  bee, 
notwithstanding  the  voluminous  writings  against  them. 
The  introduction  of  the  Carniolan  about  ten  years  later 
possessing  properties  superior  to  the  Italians,  of  which  by  this 
time  the  pure  race  could  not  be  had,  and  being  subject  to  chloric 
dropsical  fever,  I  became  used  to  the  cleanly,  mild  tempered,  and 
industrious  Carniolans.  From  the  first  I  observed  their  hardiness, 
with  great  power  of  wings  and  the  distance  they  flew,  always 
finding  them  further  from  the  hives  than  any  other  variety.  On 
July  Slst  I  went  over  the  hills  a  distance  of  fully  two  miles,  and 
Carniolan  bees  were  the  only  ones  working  on  the  Heather  at  that 
distance,  having  flown  over  large  tracts  of  beautifully  bloomed 
Heather  to  reach  that  which  was  probably  richer  in  honey. 
It  is  by  testing  bees  of  different  breeds  side  by  side  we  arrive  at 
facts.  There  are  many  experiments  I  have  not  carried  fully  out, 
such  as  placing  different  breeds  together  at  various  distances  from 
the  honey  fields,  and  that  done  thoroughly  would  be  a  means  of 
benefit.  By  the  introduction  of  foreign  bees  and  stamping  the 
original  black  bee  out  of  existence,  is  the  sole  cause  of  the  greater 
yields  of  honey,  and  not  to  the  so-called  modern  improvements. 
— A  Lanarkshire  Bee-keeper. 
SEASONABLE  NOTES. 
As  the  weather  continues  unsettled,  and  showers  are  very 
prevalent,  it  is  not  advisable  to  leave  supers  (in  whatever  form  they 
may  be  employed)  on  the  hives  after  this  date,  as  with  a  lower 
temperature  the  bees  will  commence  to  carry  the  honey  down  and 
place  it  in  the  brood  combs.  Sections  that  are  well  finished  off 
should  be  put  in  a  dry  place  until  required  for  use.  They  should 
be  well  cleaned  of  any  propolis  or  wax  adhering  to  them,  and  if 
packed  in  boxes,  or  put  in  half-dozen  lots  and  wrapped  in  paper, 
they  may  be  kept  quite  free  from  dust.  Those  that  are  not  sealed 
satisfactorily  should  be  uncapped  and  the  honey  extracted,  the 
sections  being  stored  in  a  dry  place  for  use  another  season. 
Stocks  that  have  been  worked  on  the  doubling  system,  either 
with  shallow  frames  or  standard  size,  should  now  have  the  top 
storey  removed  and  the  combs  all  passed  through  the  extractor. 
These  should  then  be  stored  away  in  their  sizes  in  a  cool,  dry  place 
for  future  use.  At  this  time  of  the  year  there  is  often  a  difficulty 
in  getting  the  bees  to  leave  their  combs,  and  when  such  is  the 
case  it  is  advisable  to  lift  the  top  storey  off,  and  carry  it  a  few  yards 
from  the  hives,  then  lift  the  combs  out  one  at  a  time  and  shake  the 
bees  off  on  to  the  ground,  brushing  the  few  that  are  left  off  with 
a  feather.  These  will  at  once  fly  to  their  parent  stock,  and  the 
operator  will  not  be  troubled  with  robber  bees  as  much  as  if  the 
operation  had  been  carried  out  close  to  the  other  hives.  Little  smoke 
should  be  used,  as  when  used  too  freely  the  honey  sometimes 
becomes  tainted  from  that  source,  and  the  flavour  is  spoiled. 
A  cloth  that  has  been  sprinkled  with  carbolic  acid  is  very  useful 
when  manipulating  the  bees.  This  should  be  spread  over  the  top 
of  the  frames,  and  will  prevent  robbers  from  the  other  hives 
obtaining  an  entrance,  as  they  are  ever  on  the  alert  when  outdoor 
supplies  are  getting  short  to  obtain  an  entrance  to  the  other 
colonies.  Where  the  old-fashioned  bell-glass  is  used  as  a  super  on 
straw  skeps,  as  it  is  in  many  country  districts,  it  should  be 
removed,  and  carefully  turned  upside  down,  and  the  bees  brushed 
away  with  a  feather.  Those  that  remain  will  in  a  short  time  come 
to  the  light,  when  they  may  be  brushed  off,  and  the  super  will  be 
quite  clear  of  bees  in  a  short  time. — An  English  Bee-keeper. 
All  correspondence  should  be  directed  either  to  “  The 
Editor  or  to  “  The  Publisher.”  Letters  addressed  to 
Dr.  Hogg  or  members  of  the  staff  often  remain  unopened 
unavoidably.  We  request  that  no  one  will  write  privately 
to  any  of  our  correspondents,  as  doing  so  subjects  them  to 
unjustifiable  trouble  and  expense. 
Correspondents  should  not  mix  up  on  the  same  sheet  questions 
relating  to  Gardening  and  those  on  Bee  subjects,  and  should 
never  send  more  than  two  or  three  questions  at  once.  All 
articles  intended  for  insertion  should  be  written  on  one  side  of 
the  paper  only.  We  cannot  reply  to  questions  through  the  post, 
and  we  do  not  undertake  to  return  rejected  communications. 
Book  (T.  M.'). — The  “  Garden  Manual”  will  suit  you  admirably;  it 
may  be  had  from  these  oflSces  for  Is.  9d.,  post  free. 
Frnlt  of  Cydonla  japonlca^ — Varieties  for  Preserving; 
(IK.  E.  G."). — The  fruits  of  tne  varieties  you  name  will  be  likely  to 
make  excellent  jelly  or  conserve,  and  most  are  first-rate  candied,  they 
being  bright  in  colour  and  of  taking  form  with  a  delightful  perfume. 
C.  j.  Maulei  is  perhaps  the  best  of  the  varieties  for  preserving  purposes, 
their  value  depending  on  the  amount  of  flesh,  the  “  woody  ”  fruits  not 
being  suitable  ;  therefore  be  guided  by  the  development  they  attain  on 
the  respective  trees  or  bushes. 
