August  11,  1*5.18. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
115 
of  crushed  bones.  Give  a  moderate  watering  and  the  roots  will  push, 
especially  adventitious  ones,  from  near  the  collar,  into  the  new  soil  at 
once,  and  the  Vines  be  in  capital  condition  for  a  start  when  the  time  of 
starting  comes  round.  When  lifting  or  renovating  the  border  is  delayed 
until  the  leaves  arc  all  down  the  Vines  do  not  start  so  freely,  the  break 
often  being  unsatisfactory. 
Midseason  Houses. — The  Grapes  upon  the  whole  have  been  good  as 
regards  colour  and  bloom,  and  the  season  has  favoured  size  and  freedom 
from  red  spider.  With  a  good  array  of  foliage  fully  exposed  to  light  the 
wood  is  stout,  short-jointed,  and  the  leaves  thick,  leathery,  and  deep 
green  in  colour,  the  Grapes  well  nourished,  and  the  buds  plumped  for 
next  season’s  bearing.  Copious  supplies  of  water  through  a  light  mulch¬ 
ing  contribute  to  a  satisfactory  result.  Fire  heat  is  often  necessary  to 
ripen  midseason  Grapes  perfectly,  but  with  ventilation  day  and  night  to 
insure  a  circulation  of  air  it  may  often  be  dispensed  with  in  mild  weather. 
The  nights,  however,  are  now  getting  cold,  and  fire  heat  may  be  necessary, 
though  a  good  rest  at  night  aids  Vines  wonderfully  that  are  carrying 
heavy  crops  of  Grapes.  Enough  fire  heat  should  be  given  to  maintain 
the  temperature  at  70°  to  75°  by  day,  and  60°  to  65°  at  night,  allowing 
5°  more  for  Muscats. 
Late  Houses. — Afford  full  supplies  of  water  through  a  good  surface 
mulching,  continuing  the  supplies  of  nourishment  until  the  Grapes  are 
well  advanced  in  colour.  All  late  Grapes  require  time.  They  ought 
now  to  be  colouring,  or  advanced  therein,  and  they  must  have  a  fair 
amount  of  air  moisture  with  a  circulation  of  warm  air  constantly,  in 
which  they  will  attain  fulness  of  berry  and  perfection  of  finish,  diminishing 
the  air  moisture  as  the  Grapes  advance  in  colouring.  Afford  a  tempera¬ 
ture  of  70°  to  75°  by  day  artificially,  80°  to  90°  with  sun,  and  close 
sufficiently  early  to  increase  to  90°  or  95  .  When  the  sun  is  losing 
power  put  on  enough  top  and  bottom  air  to  insure  a  circulation  of  the 
atmosphere,  allowing  the  temperature  to  gradually  cool,  which  rests  the 
Vines,  and  increase  the  ventilation  early  in  the  morning  with  the 
advancing  temperature.  The  hot-water  pipes  should,  if  necessary,  have 
a  little  warmth  in  them,  to  prevent  the  night  temperature  falling  below 
65°,  and  prevent  the  deposition  of  moisture. 
THE  KITCHEN  GARDEN. 
Globe  Artichokes. — Owing  to  the  long  spell  of  dry  weather  choice 
vegetables  are  likely  to  be  somewhat  scarce  during  the  next  few  weeks, 
and  an  effort  should  be  made,  therefore,  to  keep  plants  of  Globe  Artichokes 
in  a  productive  state  as  long  as  possible.  All  the  older  flower  stems 
ought  to  be  cut  down,  this  favouring  the  development  of  later  stems. 
If  in  addition  to  this  slight  attention  a  thorough  soaking  of  liquid  manure 
could  be  given  occasionally,  it  ought  to  be  possible  to  cut  moderately 
large,  succulent  flower  heads  till  severe  frost  intervenes. 
Cauliflowers. — Hot  weather  has  not  suited  Cauliflowers,  and  really 
good  clean  heads  are  scarce.  If  those  commencing  to  form  hearts  were 
kept  well  supplied  with  liquid  manure  at  the  roots,  pouring  this  in  the 
furrows  between  the  rows  caused  by  moulding  up  to  steady  the  stems, 
they  would  make  good  progress  in  spite  of  the  heat  and  drought.  They 
ought,  further,  to  have  the  leaves  drawn  together  and  tied  over  the  hearts 
when  about  half  formed,  this  keeping  them  in  a  well  blanched  condition, 
and  excluding  butterflies.  From  the  middle  to  the  end  of  the  month, 
according  to  the  earliness  or  lateness  of  the  district,  is  a  good  time  to 
sow  Cauliflower  seed  on  borders  with  a  view  to  having  a  good  supply  of 
plants  to  winter  in  cold  frames. 
Corn  Salad. — Mere  outride  leaves  of  Corn  Salad  are  of  little  value, 
but  if  the  seed  is  sown  now  on  good  ground,  in  drills  6  inches  apart,  and 
the  plants  duly  thinned  to  a  distance  of  6  inches,  they  will  form  excellent 
hearts,  that  will  be  found  acceptable  for  mixing  with  other  green  salads 
during  the  late  autumn,  winter,  and  spring  months.  A  suecessional 
sowing  should  be  made  early  in  September. 
Endive. — If  more  seed  is  sown  now  on  a  warm  sloping  border,  a 
number  of  small  late  plants  will  be  available,  either  for  standing  where 
they  are  through  the  winter  or  for  moving  into  frames,  where  they  will 
become  large  enough  to  blanch  in  succession  to  those  raised  eurlier  and 
stored  for  winter  use.  Plants  already  large  enough  to  move,  and  standing 
somewhat  closely  together,  should  be  thinned  out  at  once.  If  need  be  a 
portion  <>f  them  may  be  transplanted  to  a  fresh  site,  leaving  the  rest  to 
attain  their  full  size  where  they  are. 
Asparagus,  or  Buda  Kale. — A  late  supply  of  this  extremely  hardy 
Kale  not  infrequently  proves  acceptable,  the  plants,  if  closely  gathered 
from,  producing  abundance  of  succulent  shoots  in  May  »nd  June.  It  is 
too  late  to  so w  in  beds  and  transplant  from  these,  and  the  best  plan  is  to 
leveRand  make  fine  the  soil  after  Potatoes  have  been  lifted,  and  to  sow 
the  seed  in  lines  where  the  plants  are  to  stand.  Open  shallow  drills 
20  inches  apart,  moisten  if  dry,  and  sow  ths  seed  thinly  in  these.  It  is 
not  advisable  to  thin  out  the  resulting  plants  very  severely.  They  may 
be  left  about  1  toot  apart,  or  even  closer  together. 
Lettuce. — If  Lettuce  seed  is  sown  now  the  plants  obtained  will,  if  the 
weather  is  favourable,  give  small  hearts  in  the  autumn.  The  smaller 
Cabbage  varieties  are  the  most  reliable,  and  none  more  so  than  All  the 
Year  Round.  At  the  end  of  the  month  (a  little  earlier  in  cold  districts') 
seed  of  the  Black-seeded  Brown  Cos,  Hicks’  Hardy  Green  Cos,  and 
Hammersmith  Cabbage  Lettuce,  should  be  sown  in  quuntity  with  a  view 
to  having  abundance  of  sturdy  little  plants  to  stand  through  the  winter. 
Onions. — It  is  yet  early  to  twist  down  the  necks  of  the  plants  in  order 
to  hasten  maturation.  Mildew  is  rampant  among  many  breadths  of 
Onions,  und  once  established  in  a  bed  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  check  its 
spread.  Springing  the  plants  with  thin  lime  water  in  which  flowers  of 
sulphur  have  been  freely  stirred  is  slightly  deterrent,  and  would  be  more 
effective  if  it  could  be  made  to  adhere  to  the  plants  better.  If  there  are 
only  slight  traces  of  mildew,  remove  and  burn  either  the  affected  leaves 
or  the  whole  of  the  plant  at  once.  Seed  of  Tripoli  and  White  Spanish 
varieties  ought  to  be  sown  now,  the  plants  resulting  standing  out  through 
the  winter. 
if 
.  r^r-  t-t^’  un-r-rr-  ,  -±. 
III 
IE  BEE-KEEPER.^ 
ini- — -j  - 1  - ,  - 1  - 1  -a  -j  -j  - 1  *  - 1  - 1  -  j-  \  -j  -  t  - 1  - 1  -  \  - 1  - 1  - 1  v 
Removing  Supers. 
The  honey  harvest  is  now  fast  drawing  to  a  close,  and  with  the 
exception  of  those  districts  in  which  the  heather  plays  an  important 
part,  the  supers  may  be  removed.  Care  is,  however,  necessary  in 
carrying  out  this  operation,  or  there  will  be  numerous  sections  not 
properly  sealed  over.  The  late  r  dns  have  benefited  the  pastures  in  a 
marked  degree,  and  already  the  second  crop  of  white  Clover  is  fast 
bursting  into  bloom ;  from  this  and  other  sources  the  bees  will  obtain 
sufficient  honey  to  enable  them  to  finish  off  any  supers  that  may 
still  remain  on  the  hives. 
As  has  been  stated  in  previous  notes,  there  is  a  great  amount  of 
dark  honey  stored  this  season.  It  is,  however,  on  the  whole  of  good 
flavour,  and  those  bee-keepers  who  have  gone  in  more  largely  for 
comb  honey  will  have  no  cause  to  regret  doing  so,  as  a  great  deal  of 
which  has  come  under  our  notice  has  been  in  marketable  form.  The 
cappings  were  certainly  not  so  white  as  usual,  still  they  were  much 
better  than  one  could  reasonably  have  expected  after  such  a  bad 
sample  of  run  honey  that  was  obtained  from  the  same  district.  It 
shows  the  advantage,  too,  of  not  depending  solely  on  run  honey  in  an 
apiary. 
In  removing  sections  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  go  to  any 
expense  in  obtaining  a  super  cleaner.  All  that  is  necessary  is  a  steady 
hand  and  no  hurry  and  bustle  on  the  part  of  the  operator  ;  the  bees 
will  then  leave  the  super  in  whatever  form  it  is  in  a  very  short 
time.  If,  for  instance,  a  strong  colony  has  a  double  crate  of  sections, 
or  even  more,  on  the  top  of  the  hive,  all  that  is  required  is  to  have  a 
few  pieces  of  calico,  slightly  larger  than  the  top  of  the  hive  saturated 
with  carbolic  acid.  This  should  be  done  an  hour  or  more  previous 
to  the  time  they  are  required;  the  calico  will  then  have  taken  up  the 
acid,  and  it  will  not  disfigure  the  sections  or  whatever  it  may  come 
in  contact  with. 
Remove  the  coverings  quickly  from  the  uppermost  crate,  and  at 
once  cover  it  with  the  carbolic  sheet.  In  a  few  seconds  the  bees  will 
have  beaten  a  retreat  below.  The  crate  of  sections  majr  then  be 
removed,  and  if  there  is  another  crate  underneath  place  a  carbolic 
sheet  on  the  top  in  like  manner,  and  the  crates  of  sections  may  be 
removed  from  several  colonies  in  a  remarkably  short  space  of  time, 
without  a  bee  being  injured  or  the  brood  nest  being  interfered  with  in 
any  way. 
A  word  of  caution  is  necessary.  On  the  removal  of  the  crate  of 
sections  the  carbolic  should  remain  as  a  covering.  Robber  bees  from 
the  other  hives  will  then  not  interfere  with  the  seah  d  stores,  which 
they  are  much  inclined  to  do  at  this  season,  and  the  crate  must  not  be 
placed  flat  on  any  hard  substance,  or  the  bees,  which  are  often  found 
adhering  to  the  bottom,  would  be  crushed.  A  couple  of  bricks,  or  the 
inverte  d  roof  of  the  hive,  will  answer  the  purpo  e  admirably. 
The  sections  may  then  be  lifted  out  of  the  crate,  and  those  that 
are  well  finished  placed  in  a  box  to  be  afterwards  cleaned  and  graded. 
We  prefer  doing  this  in  the  open  air,  as  anv  stray  bees  remaining 
may  be  brushed  off,  when  they  will  at  once  return  to  their  hive. — 
An  English  Bee-keeper. 
TRADE  CATALOGUES  RECEIVED. 
Cooper,  Taber  &  Co.,  Ltd.,  90,  Southwark  Street,  London. —  Wholesale 
Bulb  List. 
F.  Cooper,  30,  Manners  Street,  Wellington.—  *ced  Guide. 
Dickson,  Brown  &  Tait,  Manchester. — Bulbs. 
W.  B.  Hartland,  Cork  — Daffodils  and  Bare  Tulips. 
J.  Peed  &  Son,  Roupell  Park  Nurseries,  West  Norwood.  —  Bulbs. 
Sutton  &  Sons,  Reading. — Bulbs 
B.  S.  Williams  &  Son,  Upper  Holloway. — Bulbs  and  Fruit  Trees. 
GARDENERS’  CHARITABLE  AND  PROVIDENT 
INSTITUTIONS 
The  Gardeners’  Royal  Benevolent  Institution.— Secretary, 
Mr.  G.  J.  Ingram,  50,  Parliament  Street,  London,  W.C. 
United  Horticultural  Benefit  and  Provident  Society.  - 
Secretary ,  Mr.  W.  Collins,  9,  Martindale  Road,  Balham,  London,  S.W. 
Royal  Gardeners’  Op.phan  Fund.-  Secretary,  Mr.  A.  F.  Barron, 
The  Royal  Gardeners’  Orphan  Fund,  Chiswick,  W. 
