August  25,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
155 
a  foot  long.  They  are  a  dull  pink  or  reddish-purple  colour.  The  stems 
are  about  3  feet  high,  and  the  leaves  are  distinctly  whorled. 
L.  speciosutn,  often  erroneously  called  L.  lancifolium,  is  very  largely 
grown  as  a  pot  plant.  It  varies  in  colour,  but  is  usually  white,  shaded 
and  spotted  with  dark  red.  The  variety  roseum  is  a  favourite  for 
exhibition  purposes.  It  is  pure  white  tinted  with  rose. 
L.  superbum  is  from  the  United  States.  The  flowers  are  orange 
yellow  and  profusely  spotted  with  dark  brown.  The  petals  are  much 
reflexed.  L.  tigrinum  is  a  well  known  species  commonly  called  the  Tiger 
Lily.  It  has  orange-red  flowers  with  many  dark  purple  spots.  The 
variety  splendens  is  more  majestic  than  the  type,  and  the  spots  are  fewer 
and  not  so  small. — X.  L.  C.  R. 
WORK/mstheWEEK- 
FRUIT  FORCING. 
Figs.  — Earliest  Forced  Trees — The  earliest  forced  trees  in  pots  may 
be  placed  outside  if  the  wood  b.e  ripe,  but  if  there  is  any  doubt  about  it 
the  trees  should  be  continued  under  glass  with  a  free  circulation  of  air. 
These  are  matters  on  w  hich  the  cultivator  will  need  to  exercise  judgment. 
In  either  case  the  trees  must  not  suffer  for  want  of  water  at  the  roots, 
and  any  roots  that  have  extended  beyond  the  pots  ought  to  be  cut  off, 
affording  water  only  to  keep  the  foliage  fresh. 
The  earliest  forced  planted -out  trees  will  now  be  ripening  their  wood, 
and  watering  must  be  discontinued,  air  being  given  very'  libera'ly.  If 
however,  the  second  crop  is  not  yet  ripened,  moderate  moisture  in  the 
soil  will  be  necessary,  with  a  free  circulation  of  air  to  insure  high  quality 
in  the  fruit.  When  the  fruit  is  all  gathered  the  wood  not  further 
required  should  be  cut  away  in  favour  of  the  successional  growths,  and 
these  allowed  to  point  towards  the  light  will  become  matured  at  their 
extremities,  which  is  vital  to  a  full  first  crop  another  season. 
Unsatisfactory  Trees. — If  any  of  those  planted  in  houses  grow  too 
rampantly,  and  produce  thin  crops  in  consequence,  root-pruning  should 
be  resorted  to,  and  the  roots  confined  to  a  narrow  border  from  3  to 
4  feet  in  width.  But  to  secure  a  first  crop  of  fruit  another  season  it  is 
necessary  to  accelerate  and  thoroughly'  ripen  the  wood.  Trees,  there¬ 
fore.  which  are  unsatisfactory  in  cropping,  should  have  a  trench  taken  out 
as  deeply  as  the  roots,  at  a  distance  of  3  or  4  feet  from  the  s  ero,  all  the 
roots  being  detached.  The  tendency  to  a  late  growth  will  then  be 
checked,  the  ripening  of  the  wood  promoted,  and  the  formation  of 
embryonic  Figs  induced.  The  trees  may  be  lifted  as  soon  as  the  leaves 
give  indications  of  falling,  replanting  in  fresh  soil. 
Melons.  —  Plants  in  Houses.— Sufficient  water  to  keep  the  soil  in  a 
moist  condition  must  be  given  whilst  the  fruit  is  swelling.  After  it  has 
ceased  swelling  afford  no  more  water  than  suffices  to  keep  the  foliage 
from  flagging.  Stop  laterals  to  one  leaf  of  successional  growth,  rub  off 
all  superfluous  shoots  as  they  show,  thin  the  laterals  where  too  crowded, 
not  allowing  these  to  interfere  with  the  principal  leaves,  or  to  retard  the 
swelling  of  the  fruit.  Plants  with  fruit  advanced  for  ripening  should  be 
kept  drier  at  the  roots,  and  have  air  liberally,  avoiding  a  close  atmosphere, 
as  that  frequently  results  in  the  fruit  cracking,  and  generally  causes  the 
flavour  to  be  inferior.  The  temperature  should  be  maintained  at  65°  to 
70°  by  night,  70°  to  75°  in  the  day,  with  10°  to  15°  rise  from  sun  heat. 
Latest  Plants  in  Houses  — The  plants  from  a  late  July  sowing  will  now 
be  strong,  and  put  out  without  delay  will  afford  a  supply  of  fruit  about 
Martinmas.  Train  with  a  single  stem  two-thirds  up  the  trellis  without 
stopping,  and  rub  off  every  alternate  lateral  on  opposite  sides  of  the  stem. 
Fruit  will  show  freely  on  the  laterals  at  the  second  or  third  joint,  and  by 
carefully  fertilising  the  blossoms  the  fruit  sets  freely'  in  a  rather  dry  and 
warm  atmosphere.  By  afterwards  maintaining  a  temperature  ot  70°  to 
75°  by  artificial  means  the  fruit  swells  rapidly,  the  bottom  heat  being 
steady  at  80°  to  85°,  and  the  atmosphere  moderately  moist. 
Plants  in  Pits  and  Frames. — The  latest  plants  have  the  fruit  set  and 
swelling  freely,  and  will  be  better  for  a  good  lining,  so  as  to  insure  steady 
progress  and  admit  of  ventilation.  Heated  pits  will  be  the  better  for  a 
gentle  warmth  in  the  hot-water  pipes  on  cold  nights  and  on  dull  days  or 
cold  nights.  Gentle  heat  affords  facilities  for  ventilation,  a  little  being 
given  to  insure  evaporation  and  the  consequent  elaboration  of  the  sap. 
The  plants  may  be  sprinkled  over  the  foliage  early  on  fine  afternoons, 
avoiding  the  stems  or  collars,  and  closing  before  the  temperature  has 
needed  to  80°,  so  as  to  raise  the  temperature  to  90°  or  95°.  Admit  a 
little  air  at  75°,  increase  it  with  the  increasing  sun  heat,  and  keep 
through  the  day  at  85°  or  90°  by  that  means.  Employ  coverings  over 
the  lights  on  cold  nights. 
Pines. — Potting  Rooted  Suckers. — Those  obtained  from  the  summer 
fruiting  plants  will  soon  be  ready  to  shift  into  large  pots.  It  is  well, 
however,  to  divide  the  plants  into  two  batches,  and  the  strongest  should 
be  shifted  into  their  fruiting  pots  as  soon  as  ready,  employing  10  or 
11-inch  pots  according  to  the  kind,  the  smaller  for  Queens,  affording 
them  a  position  near  the  glass  in  a  light  airy  house,  where  they  can  be 
kept  gently  growing  through  the  winter.  The  plants  treated  in  that 
manner  will  be  readily  excited  into  fruit  next  May  or  June,  and  will 
afford  a  good  successional  supply  of  ripe  fruit  in  late  summer  or  early 
autumn.  The  other  plants — suckers  from  the  summer  fruiters,  not  large 
enough  to  shift  into  fruiting  pots — winter  best  in  7  or  8-inch  pots, 
transferring  them  to  larger  ones  as  soon  as  ready  in  spring,  which,  with 
the  suckers  of  Smooth-leaved  Cayenne  that  w'ere  started  last  March, 
will  afford  a  successional  supply  of  ripe  fruit  thiough  the  winter 
months. 
Re-arranging  Plants — About  this  time  a  re-arrangement  should  be 
made  in  order  to  secure  the  best  conditions  for  them,  separating  the  non- 
fruiting  from  the  fruiting,  as  many  of  those  started  from  suckers  of  last 
summer  s  fruiting  plants  will  have  fruit  swelling.  These  must  have  the 
best  position  possible,  so  as  to  insure  the  fruit  finishing  well.  Those 
plants  not  fruiting  will  have  completed  their  growth,  and  should  have  air 
very  liberally  for  the  next  six  wreeks  when  the  temperature  exceeds  80°, 
maintaining  the  bottom  heat  steady  at  80°,  and  all  well-established  plants 
should  have  a  bottom  heat  of  80°  to  85°. 
Fruiting  Plants. — Moderate  atmospheric  moisture  is  essential  to  the 
swelling  of  the  fruit,  but  a  close  atmosphere  unduly  enlarges  the  crowns, 
and  the  sun  acting  powerfully  on  the  fruits  while  damp,  causes  their  dis¬ 
colouration.  Admit,  therefore,  a  little  air  at  the  top  of  the  house  early  in 
the  morning,  so  as  to  allow  of  any  superfluous  moisture  escaping  before 
the  sun’s  rays  act  powerfully  or  directly  upon  the  fruit.  Any  fruit  it  is 
desired  to  retard  should  be  moved  to  a  cool  or  shady  house,  affording 
abundance  of  air. 
-  ■  • 
FC77  /a 
II 
-1  -1  -  1  -  f  -  «  -  r  -  T  -  t  -  l-i.l-l-l-J-  IV  J  -  »  -J  -  -J  -  I  -  l  -  . 
s 
a* 
HE  BEE-KEEPER. 
Unmarketable  Honey. 
What  is  to  be  done  with  the  unsaleable  honey  that  many  bee¬ 
keepers  have  on  hand  ?  This  is  a  serious  question,  as,  judging  from 
the  reports,  the  past  season  has  been  more  favourable  for  honey 
production  than  has  been  the  ca-e  for  several  years  past;  but  with 
few  exceptions  it  is  of  inferior  quality,  and  being  so  dark  in  colour  any 
bee-keeper  who  has  a  reputation  to  keep  up  would  not  attempt  to 
place  it  on  the  market. 
We  will  briefly  state  how  we  intend  utilising  it  in  our  apiary,  and 
if  others  will  work  on  the  same  lines  it  will  be  interesting  to  note  a 
few  months  hence  how  bees  have  wintered  under  the  altered  con¬ 
ditions  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  We  have  no  doubt  of  he 
ultimate  success  of  the  experiment,  but  it  should  be  tried  under 
different  conditions. 
Doubled  Hives. 
We  use  the  term  doubled  hives,  to  distinguish  them  from  those 
having  supers  in  some  other  form.  As  is  avell  known,  we  advise  and 
practise  the  use  of  full-sized  frames  for  supers,  and  as  they  have  not 
been  extracted  from  for  several  weeks  past  they  are  at  the  present 
time  seahd  over  with  immerse  slabs  of  honey,  and  as  It  is  useless  for 
commercial  purposes  the  bees  will  have  the  benefit  of  it  for  wintering. 
Between  the  brood  n<  st  and  the  super  is  a  piece  of  queen  excluder 
zinc.  This  will  be  removed  by  first  lifting  the  super  off  without 
disturbing  the  combs  or  I  ees  ;  the  queen  will  then  have  access  to  the 
frames  when  the  super  is  again  placed  in  its  original  position.  The 
object  of  removing  the  excluder  zinc  is  when  cold  weather  sets  in  the 
bees  will  be  able  to  cluster  within  easy  reach  of  their  food  ;  whereas  if 
the  queen  were  confined  in  the  body  of  the  hive  many  would  be 
starved  or  chilled  in  attempting  to  reach  the  stores  in  the  super. 
During  the  short  days  of  winter  the  bees  will  doubtless  take 
possession  of  the  top  storey  ;  underneath  will  be  the  ordinal  brood 
nest,  through  which  ample  ventilation  will  be  obtained  if  air  space  is 
provided  at  the  entrance.  The  frames  should  be  warmly  covered  up, 
so  that  there  may  be  no  escape  of  heat.  This  plan  is  quite  opposite 
in  principle  to  the  large  hives  often  recommended,  but  we  have  no 
doubt  the  bees  will  winter  well.  It  has  simplicity  to  recommend  it, 
and  will  also  save  a  great  amount  of  labour  in  feeding  the  bees.  As 
we  have  a  couple  of  dozen  colonies  being  wintered  in  doubled  hives 
we  shall  at  some  future  date  be  in  a  position  to  state  how  the  plan  has 
answered.  Hives  on  which  there  are  supers  in  some  other  form 
should  have  different  treatment. 
Hives  with  Shallow  Frames. 
Hives  having  shallow  frames  as  supers  may  be  treated  in  the  same 
manner  as  those  having  full  sized  frames.  Owing  to  the  fine  weather 
experienced  of  late  many  colonies  will  have  two  or  three  crates  of 
shallow'  frames  or  sections.  If  the  former,  it  will  make  no  material 
difference  if  all  are  left  on  the  hive,  but  sections  that  will  at  some 
future  date  be  offered  to  the  public  ought  to  be  removed  and  the 
honey  extracted,  feeding  it  back  to  the  bees  in  the  usual  wav.  The 
empty  sections  may  then  be  placed  on  the  top  of  the  frames  to  be 
cleaned  by  the  bees,  which  they  will  do  in  a  short  time  at  this 
season.  They  should  be  placed  on  the  hive  late  in  the  evening, 
and  removed  in  the  morning  before  the  bees  are  on  the  wing. — 
An  English  Bee-keeper. 
