202 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  31,  1899. 
fasten  securely.  The  raffia  should  be  kept  an  equal  distance  apart, 
and  when  each  piece  has  been  tied  the  frame  containing  the  brood 
may  be  lifted  from  the  table,  and  if  properly  done  the  combs  will  be 
secure  and  there  will  be  no  danger  of  them  breaking  down. 
The  fram<s  may  then  be  placed  in  the  middle  of  a  hive  containing 
bees,  and  in  twenty-four  hours  the  combs  will  be  securely  fastened  to 
the  top  bar  and  the  ends  of  the  frame,  when  the  raffia  can  be  removed. 
It  is  advisable  not  to  lift  the  frames  out  at  this  stage,  as  there  is  a 
danger  of  the  combs  breaking  down.  If  the  raffia  is  cut  at  the  top  of 
the  frame  it  may  be  pulled  out  without  disturbing  the  bees. 
Unhealthy  Bees. 
Bee-keepers  should  ever  be  on  the  alert  for  any  sign  of  unhealthi¬ 
ness  among  the  bees.  In  districts  where  foul  brood  is  known  to  exist 
very  great  care  is  necessary  when  driving  be^s  from  skeps,  as  a  large 
apiary  may  soon  become  contaminated.  A  bee-keeper  who  has  once 
seen  a  bad  case  of  foul  brood  can  easily  detect  it,  and  as  the  interior  of 
skeps  cannot  be  examined  as  readily  as  the  movable  frame  hive  it 
is  only  when  bees  are  driven  that  a  thorough  examination  can  be 
made.  Should  any  doubt  exist  it  is  better  to  destroy  both  bees  and 
brood  than  to  run  any  risk.  Foul  brood  can  usually  be  detected  by 
the  smell  arising  from  it. — An  English  Bee-keeper. 
All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should,  untT 
further  notice,  be  directed  to  “  The  Editor,”  8,  Rose  Hill  Road, 
Wandsworth,  S.W.,  and  NOT  to  12,  Mitre  Court  Chambers, 
Fleet  Street.  It  is  requested  that  no  one  will  write  privately  to 
any  of  our  correspondents,  seeking  information  on  matters 
discussed  in  this  Journal,  as  doing  so  subjects  them  to 
unjustifiable  trouble  and  expense,  and  departmental  writers 
are  not  expected  to  answer  any  letters  they  may  receive  on 
Gardening  and  Bee  subjects  through  the  post.  If  information 
be  desired  on  any  particular  subject  from  any  particular 
authority  who  may  be  named,  endeavour  will  be  made  to  obtain 
it  by  the  Editor.  Letters  of  inquiry  must  be  accompanied  by 
the  names  and  addresses  of  the  writers,  but  these  will  neither  be 
published  nor  disclosed  when  initials  or  nom  de  plumes  are  given 
for  the  purpose  of  replies. 
Correspondents  should  not  mix  up  on  the  same  sheet  questions  relatirm 
to  Gardening  and  those  on  Bee  subjects,  and  it  is  convenient  when 
each  question  is  written  on  a  separate  sheet.  All  articles  intended 
for  insertion  should  be  written  on  one  side  of  the  paper  only  ;  and 
the  name  and  address  of  each  writer  must  be  known  by  the 
Editor,  though  not  necessarily  for  insertion.  We  cannot,  as  a 
rule,  reply  to  questions  through  the  post,  and  we  do  not  under¬ 
take  to  return  communications  which,  for  any  reason,  cannot 
be  inserted. 
Attention  to  Raspberries  ( J .  2?.). — The  old  canes  should  be  cut  away 
now,  or  as  soon  as  the  fruit  has  been  all  gathered.  This  will  give  the 
young  growths  the  benefit  of  more  light  and  air.  enabling  them  to  ripen  the 
wood  better.  Some,  however,  do  not  cut  the  old  canes  out  until  the  leaves 
fall,  then  tie  up  the  young  ones,  shorten  them  to  a  height  of  3  to  4  feet, 
according  to  their  vigour,  clear  away  the  prunings,  manure  and  point  over 
the  ground  for  the  winter.  We  have  tried  both  plans,  and  prefer  the 
former — namely,  cut  out  the  old  growths  when  done  bearing  fruit,  tie  up 
and  prune  the  new  canes  shortly  after  the  leaves  fall. 
Grapes  Shanked  (A.  A.  C.). — The  bunch  of  Black  Hamburgh  Grapes 
had  several  shanked  berries  which  greatly  militated  against  its  appearance 
and  value.  As  the  borders  are  both  inside  and  outside  you  could  not  do 
better  than  renovate  the  inside  part  one  year  and  the  outside  the  following 
season,  if  the  first  operation  has  the  effect  of  inducing  fresh  roots  from 
the  base  of  the  Vines.  We  have  seen  the  plan  you  propose  practising 
quite  rejuvenate  the  Vines,  they  producing  splendid  Grapes  in  the  second 
year  after  removing  the  soil  from  about  the  stems  to  the  extent  of  4  to 
6  feet,  picking  the  old  soil  from  amongst  the  roots  and  supplying  fresh 
turfy  loam,  and  lifting  any  roots  available,  laying  them  in  nearer  the 
surface.  Numerous  new  roots  were  emitted  from  the  root-stock  or  collar, 
and  the  Vines  flourished  accordingly.  As  you  cannot  procure  turfy  loam, 
the  sandy  clay  loam,  mixed  with  road  scrapings,  lime  rubbish,  and  burnt 
refuse  would  form  a  good  compost.  This  with  the  coating  of  manure  on 
the  surface,  ought  to  improve  the  Vines,  but  do  not  mulch  deeper  than  an 
inch,  renewing  from  time  to  time.  It  would  bean  advantage  to  use  4  ozs. 
of  the  following  mixture  per  square  yard  ;  bone  superphosphate,  dry  and 
crumbling,  three  parts,  and  double  sulphate  of  potash  and  magnesia,  two 
parts,  applying  to  the  surface  after  renewing  the  border,  and  lightly 
scratching  in. 
Plums  Under  Class  (W.  Baby). — The  issue  containing  the  article 
on  this  subject  being  out  of  print  we  cannot  send  you  a  copy  ;  we  there¬ 
fore  do  the  next  best  thing,  reproduce  the  article,  for  the  benefit  of  you 
and  others.  See  page  199. 
Gros  Colman  Grape  Not  Colouring  (  W.  F.  M.). — Probably  thejdefect 
may  be  due  to  constitutional  peculiarity,  though  the  fact  of  the  Grapes 
colouring  fairly  well  the  first  season  rather  tells  bgainst  that  view.  As 
you  have  tried  lifting  the  Vine  and  adding  lime  rubbish  to  the  soil,  laying 
the  roots  in  the  fresh  material  nearer  the  surface,  we  advise  your  giving 
the  Vine  now  a  top-dressing  of  the  following  mixture  Dissolved  bones, 
dry  and  crumbling,  three  parts,  double  sulphate  of  potash  and  magnesia,  two 
parts,  mixed,  using  4  ozs.  per  square  yard,  and  pointing  in  very  lightly  or 
merely  scratching  or  loosening  the  surface  with  a  fork.  In  the  early 
stages  of  growth  the  dressing  may  be  repeated. 
Eradicating  Horseradish  and  Nettles  (J.  D.  S.). — It  is  extremely 
difficult  to  exterminate  Horseradish  except  by  the  very  expensive  process 
of  taking  out  a  trench  at  one  end  of  the  plot  and  as  deeply  as  the  roots 
of  the  Horseradish,  following  this  by  trenching  to  the  other  end  and 
removing  every  particle  of  root.  By  cutting  oft  the  tops  frequently  the 
roots  are  correspondingly  weakened  and  gradually  dwindle  away.  This 
is  the  least  expensive  and  the  usual  method  pursued.  Nettles  are  easily 
removed  by  digging  up  the  creeping  roots  at  any  time,  cnrelully  removing 
every  portion  and  burning. 
Destroying  Ants  (Idem). — One  plan,  and  that  wo  advise,  is  to  find 
out  their  nests  and  apply  a  solution  of  Fir  tree  oil  insecticide  or 
Lemon  oil  insecticide  prepared  according  to  the  instructions  supplied 
with  the  article  ;  or  use  solublo  phenyl.  I  fluid  ounce  to  3  gallons  of 
soft  water.  If  the  nests  cannot  be  reached  they  may  be  poisoned  as 
follows  : — Place  1  oz.  of  white  arsenic  in  an  iron  pot  with  a  quart  of 
water,  and  boil  until  reduced  to  a  pint  or  a  little  more  of  liquid,  to 
which  add  ^  lb.  of  coarse  sugar.  This  mixture  can  either  be  dropped 
about  the  runs  and  around  the  nests  or  placed  in  saucers  in  the  haunts 
of  the  ants.  It  is  very  poisonous,  and  must  be  used  with  the  utmost 
caution.  If  you  wish  for  a  prepared  article  formicacile,  advertised  in 
our  columns  and  sold  by  all  seedsmen,  will  serve  your  purpose. 
Disposing  of  Willow  Trees  (Wakopa). — The  Willow  trees  are  much 
too  small  for  the  purpose  you  name — “suitable  for  making  cricket  bats 
at  least,  some  we  had  of  the  largest  sizes  mentioned  were  so  considered 
by  a  timber  merchant  who  supplied  Willow  timber  to  a  cricket  bat 
maker,  being  too  soft  for  the  purpose.  The  price  offered  was  nominal 
— lOd.  per  foot.  Consult  a  timber  merchant,  and  ask  for  an  offer.  There 
is  a  great  difference  in  the  solidity  of  Willow  trees,  due  mainly  to  the 
soil  and  situation  in  which  they  grow,  hence  only  those  acquainted 
with  the  timber  variations  and  fitness  for  particular  purposes  could 
form  an  opinion  of  the  value.  The  highest  price  we  know  was  3s.  per 
foot,  but  the  tree  was  an  excellent  one,  and  the  wood  fine  grained,  not 
short  and  brittle,  but  long  and  elastic,  and  withal  light  for  the  solidity. 
Slaughter  House  Manure  for  Vine  Border  (Bullock). — The  best  way  to 
prepare  slaughter  house  manure  for  use  on  a  Vine  border  is  to  mix  it  with 
an  equal  proportion  of  dry  wood  ashes,  then  cover  the  heap,  formed  in  a 
shed,  with  dry  loam.  This  will  heat,  but  it  must  not  be  allowed  to  do 
so  violently,  turning,  if  necessary,  at  short  intervals,  as  in  preparing 
short  stable  litter  and  horse  droppings  for  a  Mushroom  bed.  After 
heating,  and  this  on  the  wane  or  even  beoming  apparently  cool,  turn  the 
heap  and  again  cover  it  with  dry  loam.  In  about  six  weeks  repeat  the 
process,  and  again  at  a  similar  interval.  After  laying  another  six  weeks 
the  heap  will  be  rich,  crumbling  material,  and  may  be  used  on  Vine 
borders  or  for  fruit  trees  at  the  rate  of  1  lb.  to  2  lbs.  per  square  yard, 
pointing  in  very  lightly.  Another  way  is  to  mix  the  slaughter  house 
manure  with  loam,  preferably  turfy,  in  alternating  layers,  3  inches  in 
thickness,  first  a  layer  of  loam,  on  which  sprinkle  4  ozs.  of  basic  slag  phos¬ 
phate  and  2  ozs.  of  kainit  per  square  yard,  then  the  slaughter  house 
manure.  After  laying  about  six  months  turn  outside  to  inside,  and  top  t<> 
bottom,  and  with  another  turning  six  weeks  afterwards  and  then  laying  a 
similar  term,  the  heap  forms  a  rich  compos^,  excellent  for  top-dressing. 
To  prevent  sourness  about  1  per  cent,  of  ground  gypsum  should  be 
mixed  with  the  compost  at  the  final  turning. 
Names  of  Fruits.  —  Notice.  —  We  have  pleasure  in  naming  good 
typical  fruits  (when  the  names  are  discoverable)  for  the  convenience  of 
regular  subscribers,  who  are  the  growers  of  such  fruit,  and  not  col¬ 
lectors  of  specimens  from  non-subscribers.  This  latter  procedure  is 
wholly  irregular,  and  we  trust  that  none  of  our  readers  will  allow 
themselves  to  be  made  the  mediums  in  infringing  our  rules.  Special 
attention  is  directed  to  the  following  decision,  the  object  of  which  is 
to  discourage  the  growth  of  inferior  and  promote  the  culture  of  superior 
varieties.  In  consequence  of  the  large  number  of  worthless  Apples  and  Pears 
sent  to  this  office  to  be  named,  it  has  been  decided  to  name  only  specimens  and 
varieties  of  approved  merit,  and  to  reject  the  inferior,  which  are  not  worth 
sending  or  growing.  The  names  and  addresses  of  senders  of  fruits  or 
flowers  to  be  named  must  in  Ml  cases  be  enclosed  with  the  specimens, 
whether  letters  referring  to  the  fruit  are  sent  by  post  or  not.  The 
names  are  not  necessarily  required  for  publication,  initials  sufficing  for 
that.  Only  six  specimens  can  be  named  at  once,  and  any  beyond  that 
number  cannot  be  preserved.  They  should  be  sent  on  the  first  indication  of 
change  towards  ripening.  Dessert  Pears  cannot  be  named  in  a  hard  green  state. 
(W.  F.  J/.).— Duke  of  Edinburgh.  (S.  II.  G.). — 1,  Early  Rivers;  2, 
Early  Victoria  ;  3,  Royal  George.  (P.). — 1,  immature,  possibly  Alfris- 
ton  ;  2,  Remette  du  Canada.  (A.  J.  K .). — 1.  Beurrd  Prdcoce ;  2. 
Belgian  Purple  ;  3,  Lady  Henniker ;  4.  Devonshire  Quarrenden  ;  5, 
Worcester  Pearmain  ;  6,  Duchess  of  Oldenburg.  (D.  R.). — Yellow 
Magnum  Bonum.  (W.  B.).— Not  one  of  the  Pears  you  send  is  in  a  fit 
