238 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURAL  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  5,  1895. 
winter  and  spring,  until  the  early  spring  flowers  and  fruit  trees  are 
in  bloom.  Before  putting  the  feeder  on,  each  stock  should  be 
examined  to  see  the  amount  of  natural  stores  there  is  in  each  hive, 
and  a  note  made  of  the  probable  weight  in  each  ;  and  as  a  frame, 
standard  size,  will  hold  about  6  or  8  lbs  ,  it  will  be  an  easy  matter 
to  form  an  estimate  how  much  each  stock  contains.  It  is  better  to 
err  on  the  safe  side  by  giving  too  much  than  too  little,  for  the  less 
the  bees  are  disturbed  during  the  winter  the  better  chance  there  is 
of  them  doing  well.  I  usually  feed  mine  from  the  top  of  the  hive, 
placing  the  feeder  directly  on  the  frames,  covering  it  up 
warm.  The  food  should  be  given  them  in  the  form  of  syrup,  made 
from  pure  cane  sugar.  I  prefer  the  granulated,  and  use  it  in  the 
proportion  of  7  lbs.  of  sugar  to  three  pints  of  water,  placed  over  a 
clear  fire,  and  kept  constantly  stirred  until  it  boils,  when  it  is  at 
once  taken  off,  and  is  ready  for  use  as  soon  as  cool  enough.  If 
allowed  to  boil  for  any  length  of  time  it  will  be  too  thick  for  the 
bees  to  take  it  readily. 
It  should  be  given  to  them  warm,  and  evening  is  the  best  time 
to  place  it  on  the  hives,  for  if  given  in  the  middle  of  the  day  it 
will  cause  a  commotion  in  the  apiary,  and  may  result  in  the  robbers 
from  other  stocks  gaining  an  entrance,  when  fighting  will  occur,  and 
many  bees  be  lost.  The  next  thing  to  consider  is.  What  is  the 
best  kind  of  feeder  for  rapid  feeding  in  the  autumn  ?  I  have 
several  kinds  in  use,  one  called  the  “  New  Bee-feeder,”  and  was 
awarded  a  prize  at  the  Crystal  Palace  Bee  show.  This  feeder  is 
made  of  wood,  and  holds  about  2  lbs.  of  liquid  food.  It  is  adapted 
for  feeding  upon  the  top  of  any  hive  that  has  a  hole  in  the  crown 
board.  The  food  has  to  be  poured  into  the  outer  trough,  the  glass 
being  slightly  set  aside  for  that  purpose.  The  bees  ascend  through 
the  centre  hole  and  come  to  the  inner  trough,  at  which  they 
imbibe  the  food  without  inconvenience.  This  is  a  very  simple 
apparatus  ;  there  is  nothing  to  get  out  of  order.  This  is  a  good 
feeder  when  only  a  small  quantity  is  required,  so  is  the  bottle 
feeder,  which  is  an  ordinary  wide-mouthed  bottle,  over  which  is 
placed  a  piece  of  muslin  or  fine  net,  to  prevent  the  food 
coming  out  except  when  taken  by  the  bees,  this  is  inverted 
over  a  hole  on  the  top  of  hive.  The  best  rapid  feeder  I  have 
yet  tried  is  the  “  Improved  Canadian  Feeder.”  This  is  one  of  the 
latest  improvements  in  rapid  feeders  for  autumn  use.  A  number 
of  slats  of  wood  are  fixed  into  a  frame,  which  is  placed  in  a 
tin-lined  box.  The  bees  gain  access  to  the  food  through  openings 
on  either  side  underneath,  and  are  prevented  from  escaping  by 
the  wooden  lid.  This  may  be  slipped  along  when  a  further 
supply  of  food  is  necessary,  which  may  be  poured  into  the 
receiver  at  the  end  without  inconvenience  to  the  bees.  This 
feeder  will  hold  from  5  to  6  Ibi.  of  liquid  food,  and  is  admirably 
adapted  for  feeding  up  stocks  that  are  short  of  stores,  or  driven 
bees.  It  is  good  value  for  money,  being  only  2s.  9d.,  post  free, 
from  Messrs.  Geo.  Neighbour  &  Sons,  127,  High  Holborn, 
London,  W.C. — An  English  Bee-keeper, 
-^^1  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. 
Japanese  Wineberry  (^R.  A.  A.,  Ckelterihavi). — The  name  of  the 
specimen  sent  is  Kubus  phcenicolasius,  commonly  known  as  the  Japanese 
Wineberry,  and  sprays  of  it  were  awarded  a  first-class  certificate  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  August  14tb,  1894.  As  the 
name  implies,  it  is  a  native  of  Japan,  but  has  not  found  its  way  into 
many  English  gardens.  As  you  say  the  plants  were  raised  from  seeds, 
we  should  be  interested  to  know  the  period  of  time  which  elapsed  from 
the  sowing  of  the  seeds  until  the  plants  bore  fruit. 
Zonal  Pelargonium  Petals  Falling  (/.  S.). — This  is  not  an 
unfrequent  occurrence  when  the  plants  receive  any  sudden  check  either 
from  closeness  or  dryness,  or  rather  the  changes  from  these  suddenly  one 
way  or  the  other.  For  these  reasons  most  exhibitors  gum  the  flowers, 
placing  a  drop  of  prepared  or  floral  gum  in  the  centre  of  each  flower, 
which  secures  the  petals  at  the  base,  preventing  their  dropping,  and  a 
delight  alike  to  visitors  as  to  exhibitors.  Gumming  is  ah'^ays  resorted 
to  by  growers  of  Pelargoniums  for  market,  or  there  would  be  few  good 
trasses  left  after  the  jolting  and  shaking  in  transit.  An  excellent 
mixture  for  this  purpose  is  made  by  placing  8  ozs.  of  gum  in  pints  of 
soft  water,  allowing  it  to  remain  about  two  days  to  dissolve  ;  then  strain 
it  through  a  piece  of  muslin,  and  use  it  from  small  tins  such  as  ladies 
use  for  oiling  their  sewing  machines.  The  gumming  process  can  be 
done  very  quickly  with  these,  as  one  drop  is  sufficient  for  a  flower. 
Cineraria  Seedlings  Bylng  (7.  (S’.). — The  plant  sent  is  destroyed 
by  the  mycelium  of  a  fungus  which  has  entered  by  the  radical  root  and 
passed  upwards  between  the  bark  and  woody  tissue,  appropriating  the 
nourishment  and  destroying  the  plant  at  the  collar.  The  fungus  is  the  well 
known  destructive  Sclerotinia  libcrtiana  of  Fuckel,  Peziza  sclerotiorum 
of  Libert,  and  Peziza  postuma  of  Brk,  and  Wils. ,  which  grows  from 
sclerotia  formed  in  the  stems  of  Potato,  Cabbage,  Beet,  and  many  other 
plants,  including  Tomatoes.  The  only  remedy  is  to  disinfect  the  soil, 
which  may  usually  be  effected  by  using  a  tenth  of  freshly  burned  and 
slaked  with  the  compost,  mixing  thoroughly  a  short  time  before  use. 
Or  you  may  use  some  other  disinfectant  in  liquid  form,  such  as  soluble 
phenyie,  a  wineglassful  to  3  gallons  of  water,  or  corrosive  sublimate 
quarter  of  an  ounce  to  gallons  of  water,  bearing  in  mind  that  the 
latter  is  a  terrible  poison  to  animals. 
Orange  Fungus  on  Kose  Zeaves  (C.  H.  Aldridge). — The 
Rose  leaves  are  badly  infested  by  an  Orange  fungus  named  Coleosporium 
pinque,  which  produces  innumerable  small  pustules  on  the  under  sides. 
These  are  caused  by  the  growth  of  the  mycelial  hyphfe  of  the  fungus 
within  the  tissues  of  the  leaf,  on  the  substance  of  which  this  feeds  and 
grows,  ultimately  developing  spores  on  short  stalks,  or  concatenate,  and 
burst  through  the  cuticle  by  sheer  force  of  growth,  forming  the  orange 
yellow  dots  visible  to  the  unaided  eye,  and  ultimately  coaticg  the  leaf 
attacked  with  an  orange  coloured  dust  on  the  under  side.  The  dust 
consists  of  the  spores  of  the  fungus,  and  are  capable  of  spreading  the 
disease.  Here  and  there,  especially  on  the  midribs  of  the  leaves,  long 
narrow  pustules  appear,  and  are  caused  by  the  running  into  one  another 
of  adjoining  centres,  or  from  the  mycelial  hyphse  following  the  course 
of  the  spiral  vessels.  These  elongated  pustules  bear  a  corresponding 
large  number  of  spores,  and  are  very  conspicuous  to  the  unaided  eye 
by  their  bright  colour.  In  these  patches  a  small  orange- coloured  grub 
is  almost  invariably  present,  and  may  be  detected  by  the  unaided 
eye,  but  more  readily  with  a  pocket  lens.  It  is  the  larva  of  a 
dipterous  fly,  and  feeds  on  the  damaged  leaf  tissue — some  say  on  the 
fungus — and  aids  in  the  work  of  destruction.  Amidst  the  orange  spores, 
which  are  elliptical  or  subglobose,  other  bodies  sparingly  appear,  and 
are  readily  distinguished  by  their  cylindrical  form  with  a  nipple  at  the 
apex  and  a  rather  short  stout  stalk,  as  in  a  toadstool.  These  are  well 
seen  with  a  microscopic  power  of  260  diameters,  and  as  they  are  now 
in  a  very  interesting  condition  for  examination,  each  teleutospore  being 
capped  by  a  Custard  Marrow-like  body,  we  have  entered  on  the  matter 
at  length,  as  you  may  possibly  like  to  see  a  very  interesting  and  not 
hitherto  noted  means  of  Puccinia  fertilisation.  The  leaves  are  badly 
infested — worse  we  have  not  seen — the  fungus,  as  you  describe,  causing 
the  complete  destruction  of  the  foliage.  The  best  remedy  is  spraying 
with  Bordeaux  mixture,  which  for  Roses  may  be  prepared  as  follows  : — 
Copper  sulphate,  genuine,  powdered,  4  ozs,  ;  lime,  unslaked,  freshly 
burned  light  lumps,  4  ozs.  ;  water  TJ  gallons.  Slake  the  lime  in  a 
vessel  by  itself  and  form  into  a  thin  whitewash ;  dissolve  the  sulphate 
of  copper  in  another  vessel,  using  about  the  same  quantity  of  water, 
or  about  1^  gallon  in  each  case,  and  when  dissolved  it  will  be  a  bright 
blue  coloured  solution  ;  pour  the  limewash  slowly  into  the  sulphate  of 
copper  solution  through  a  hair  sieve  so  as  to  remove  lumps,  mixing 
thoroughly  and  adding  the  remainder  of  the  water,  stirring  well. 
Apply  with  a  spraying  apparatus,  or  a  fine-rosed  crank-jointed  syringe 
may  be  used,  so  as  to  wet  the  leaves  thoroughly  on  the  under  side, 
but  for  syringing  the  mixture  should  be  diluted  to  15  gallons,  spraying 
the  most  efficacious  as  the  mixture  is  corresponding  stronger,  and  a 
much  less  quantity  can  be  administered.  Repeat  in  the  course  of 
about  ten  days.  In  winter  dress  the  bushes  with  a  solution  of  sulphate 
of  copper,  f  oz.  to  a  gallon  of  water,  applying  with  a  brush  whilst 
the  growths  are  quite  dry.  If  you  prefer  powder  use  “Fostite,”  which 
has  been  advertised  in  our  columns,  following  the  directions,  Condy’s 
fluid  diluted  with  an  equal  quantity  of  water  may  be  used  for  spraying, 
or  diluted  to  a  rose  colour  for  syringing. 
Tomatoes  Affected 'witb  Black  Rot  (5.  G.  Randall). — We  have 
examined  the  root,  leaves,  and  fruits  of  the  specimen  you  forwarded. 
We  found  the  roots  quite  normal  and  perfectly  healthy,  there  not  being 
any  trace  of  eelworm  or  of  drooping  disease  fungus  (Fusarium  solani 
or  lycopersici),  nor  parasitic  micro-organism  of  any  description.  This 
settles  the  matter  in  your  case  as  regards  disease  proceeding  from  the 
soil.  The  stem  also  was  quite  healthy,  the  disease  not  having  ascended 
by  it  in  this  instance.  On  a  young  leaf,  and  one  about  fully  developed, 
we  found  traces  of  the  micro-organism  causing  the  disease.  In  the 
yellow  patches  on  the  youngest  leaf  we  detected  the  mycelial  hyphse  of  a 
fungus  that  proved,  on  comparing  with  sketches  from  previously 
examined  plants,  to  accord  with  Peronospora  lycopersici  (the  fungus 
causing  black  rot  in  Tomatoes),  which  is  well  known  to  cultivators  as 
“  black  stripe  ”  in  the  fruit.  We  have  found  on  close  examination  that 
the  spores  penetrated  the  tissue  at  the  point  of  contact.  Passing  on  to 
the  fruits,  we  found  the  ripest  quite  rotten,  burst,  and  nauseous  smelling. 
'  Some  of  the  seeds  were  diseased  (discoloured),  others  healthy  (clear  and 
