June  26,  18#fi 
590  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AHD  COTTAGE  GARUMM. 
natural  swarming  season  it  is  an  advantage  if  the  young  queen  is 
hatched  and  fertilised,  and  has  already  commenced  laying  before 
the  old  queen  is  destroyed.  It  is  now  well  known  to  bee-keepers 
that  it  will  take  upwards  of  three  weeks  from  the  laying  of  the 
eggs  till  the  queen  is  hatched  and  laying,  and  if  during  that  time 
the  old  queen  can  be  kept  laying,  at  a  very  low  estimate  it  will 
result  in  at  least  20,000  young  bee*.  A  young  fertile  queen  will 
at  this  time  of  the  year  lay  at  least  3000  eggs  daily.  These,  if  an 
increase  of  stocks  is  not  required,  will  be  useful  to  strengthen 
other  colonies  that  may  require  them,  as  the  stronger  the  stocks 
the  more  honey  will  there  be  stored. 
Where  a  number  of  queens  is  required  it  is  advisable  to 
operate  on  a  strong  colony  (if  there  are  no  stocks  that  have 
swarmed  during  the  past  few  days)  on  the  morning  of  a  fine  day. 
When  the  bees  are  well  on  the  wing  is  the  most  suitable  time  for 
finding  the  queen,  as  her  removal  is  necessary  before  queen  cells 
will  be  formed.  When  found  she  may  be  at  once  destroyed,  or  the 
frame  with  her  and  the  adhering  bees  be  placed  in  a  separate  hive 
with  a  couple  of  frames  of  fully  drawn-out  combs,  one  on  each  side, 
with  the  division  board  close  up,  and  if  necessary  the  nucleus  may 
be  strengthened  with  brood  and  bee3  from  other  hives.  All  will 
depend  on  circumstances.  These  will  be  useful  to  build  up  stocks 
containing  young  queens  later  on  in  the  season. 
Returning  to  the  stock  from  which  the  queen  was  removed  ; 
fill  in  the  vacant  space  from  which  the  frame  of  brood  was  taken 
with  a  frame  of  brood  obtained  from  another  colony,  selecting  one 
for  choice  that  has  a  number  of  eggs  laid  within  the  previous 
twenty-four  hours.  Cover  the  whole  up  warm,  and  queen  cells 
will  be  commenced  immediately,  which  will  be  sealed  over  in  about 
eight  days,  the  young  queens  appearing  on  the  sixteenth  day,  and 
if  the  weather  is  favourable  should  be  fertilised  and  laying  in 
about  six  or  eight  days.  But  previous  to  this  arrangements  should 
be  made  for  dividing  the  colony  from  which  the  queen  was  removed. 
About  the  tenth  or  twelfth  day  i*  the  most  suitable,  as  the  cells  are 
then  sealed  over,  and  it  is  not  advisable  to  cut  the  cells  out  before 
that  has  taken  place.  There  are  various  ways  by  which  the 
colonies  containing  old  or  worn  out  queens  may  be  requeened. 
The  subject  will  be  continued. — An  English  Bee-keeper.] 
***  All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should  be 
directed  to  “  The  Editor/’  Letters  addressed  personally  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,  and  departmental  writers 
are  not  expected  to  answer  any  letters  they  may  receive  on 
Gardening  and  Bee  subjects,  through  the  post. 
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,  as  a  rule,  reply  to  questions 
through  the  post,  and  we  do  not  undertake  to  return  rejeoted 
communicatior  s. 
Exhibiting  Vegetables  («/.  Lyne ).  —  In  a  class  entitled  “A 
collection  of  vegetables,  only  one  of  Cabbage  included,”  though  we 
should  not  think  the  wording  perfect,  neither  Cauliflowers  nor 
Broccoli  would  be  eligible  if  Cabbages  were  staged  ;  and  the  inclusion  of 
two  representatives  of  the  tribe,  Cabbages  and  Cauliflowers,  would 
certainly  disqualify  the  collection  or  collections  containing  them. 
Black  Spot  in  Tomatoes  (T.  P.  R.").— What  ‘‘  black  spot”  may 
be  we  are  unable  to  say  in  the  absence  of  specimens.  Probably  it  is 
“  black  stripe,”  caused  by  Fusarium  solani,  which  attacks  the  plants  by 
the  roots  and  ascends  the  stem  by  the  mycelial  hypbae.  It  frequently 
causes  young  plantB  to  droop  and  die ;  sometimes  it  appears  in  the 
fruits  and  produces  great  destruction.  In  the  plants  it  cannot  be 
destroyed  ;  but  the  free  u?e  of  quicklime  in  the  soil  shortly  before  use 
will  stop  infection  from  that  quarter.  It  is,  however,  frequently  carried 
over  in  the  seed,  the  resting  spores  being  formed  in  the  integument, 
and  when  the  plant  from  the  seed  grows  the  pro-mycelium  enters  the 
plant  by  the  radicle.  Clean  seed,  therefore,  should  be  used  in  clean 
soil — ie  ,  soil  free  from  the  fungus  germs,  which  are  the  origin  of  the 
evil.  We  presume  if  you  had  a  seriou*  outbreak  of  disease  in  your  hand 
you  would  like  for  a  doctor  to  see  it  for  determining  its  character,  which 
he  could  not  do  with  certainty  in  the  absence  of  examination.  Some¬ 
thing  will  be  sail  on  the  water  another  week. 
Petunia  (E.  H.  C.),— -  We  suspect  the  double  Petunia  flower  did  not 
reach  us  in  anything  like  its  best  condition.  The  flower  appears  to  be 
neat  and  pleasing  in  colour,  and,  though  worth  preserving  for  home 
decoration,  we  doubt  if  it  possesses  material  value.  Very  good  tests  are 
the  examination  of  blooms  by  the  Floral  Committee  of  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society,  and  sending  samples  to  commercial  florists,  who 
are  always  on  the  look-out  and  anxious  to  obtain  new  and  distinct 
varieties. 
Humea  elegans  Drooping  and  Dying-  ( Peach ).  —  Various 
reasons  have  been  assigned  for  the  sudden  collapse  of  these  plants  ;  but 
the  cause  is  a  fungus,  usually  Botrytis  cinerea  var.  sclerotiophila, 
Sacc.  The  sclerotia  is  introduced  with  the  soil,  the  mycelium  gains 
access  to  the  plant  tissues  by  the  roots  or  Btem,  and  then  girdles  the 
latter  at  the  collar,  thus  cutting  off  the  supply  of  sap.  There  is  no 
remedy,  but  the  evil  may  .be  avoided  by  mixing  about  one-tenth  of 
quicklime  with  the  soil  a  short  time  before  employing  it  for  potting. 
Carnations  Dying  (J.  S.~). — The  cause  of  death  is  the  girdling  of 
the  stem  at  the  junction  of  the  bark  with  the  wood  by  some  parasite 
which  has  ascended  from  the  soil  by  the  root  portion.  The  fungus  on  the 
leaves  is  Ovularia  lychnicola,  Mass  ,  a  new  parasite  on  Carnations,  and 
possibly  exceptional.  There  are  also  a  few  spots  of  the  well-known  Fairy 
ring  spot  fungus  (Heterosporium  echinulatum,  Cke.),  but  the  death  of  the 
plant  is  due  to  the  stem  and  root  attacks.  The  land  should  receive  a 
good  dressing  of  quicklime,  say  a  peck  per  rod,  also  of  mineral  super¬ 
phosphate  and  kainit  in  equal  parts  at  the  rate  of  3£  lbs.  per  rod,  pointing 
lightly  into  the  soil. 
Strawberries  for  Early  Forcing  In  Pots  (5.  H.  TV.). —  The 
best  size  of  pot  is  5-inch,  measured  half  an  inch  inside  below  the  top  of 
rim.  Rather  strong  fibrous  loam,  stacked  long  enough  to  kill  the  turf, 
with  a  fifth  of  well-decayed  manure  added,  and  an  8-inch  potful  of  bone- 
meal  to  a  barrowload  of  the  mixture,  forms  a  suitable  soil  ;  but  you  may 
add  a  quart  of  soot  and  twice  that  amount  of  wood  ashes  with 
advantage.  The  best  sort,  all  points  considered,  is  Royal  Sovereign. 
Newton  Wonder  is  good  for  early  forcing,  and  so  also  are  La  Grosse 
Suctoe,  Vicomtesie  H^ricart  de  Thury,  and  Noble.  The  runners  should 
be  layered  as  early  in  July  as  they  can  be  procured,  either  in  the  fruiting 
pots,  or  in  small  pots,  subsequently  transferring  the  plants  to  the 
fruiting  pots.  It  is  not  necessary  to  stand  the  pots  on  troughs  filled 
with  manure.  Other  information  respecting  the  plants  may  be  gleaned 
by  a  careful  perusal  of  our  columns  as  the  season  advances,  and  any 
information  on  special  points  we  shall  be  pleased  to  furnish  on 
application. 
Tomatoes  not  Colouring — Mineral  Constituents  ( Cross 
The  eye  end  of  the  fruit  is  perfectly  ripe  and  well  coloured,  but  the  part 
next  the  stalk,  and  especially  on  one  side,  is  quite  hard,  the  cells  com¬ 
posing  this  portion  being  very  small  with  remarkably  thick  walls 
(cellulo  e),  and  it  is  questionable  if  they  will  assume  a  proper  ripening 
colour  and  soft  texture.  The  cells  contain  a  certain  amount  of  gum  or 
waxy  substance  and  retain  it  for  a  long  period,  even  after  the  other 
parts  are  quite  rotten  from  over-ripeness,  and  in  not  a  few  cases  the 
fruit  splits  next  the  footstalk.  We  have  noticed  such  fruit  before,  usually 
in  a  hot  season  and  on  plants  that  have  received  some  check,  such  as  a 
deficiency  of  moisture  either  at  the  roots  or  in  the  atmosphere,  which 
has  induced  a  high  concentration  of  the  juices  in  the  parts  most  exposed 
to  light.  Some  contend  that  the  hardness  is  induced  by  a  deficiency  of 
nitrogen,  but  this  is  purely  conjectural,  as  there  is  really  more  of  this  sub¬ 
stance  in  the  affected  part  than  in  the  other  portions  of  the  fruit.  There  is 
no  disease  in  the  specimen,  the  cells  and  intercellular  spaces  of  the  “hard” 
part  being  perfectly  free  from  fungal  hypbae,  and  there  is  nothing 
calculated  to  produce  a  ferment.  The  lime  will  not  do  any  ham,  but 
possibly  good,  by  acting  on  the  organic  matter  in  the  soil,  liberating 
ammonia,  and  this,  with  the  base  and  action  of  the  nitrifying  micro¬ 
organisms,  will  result  in  nitrate  of  lime,  the  latter  being  anti-fungoid 
and  a  direct  food,  while  the  nitrogen  will  accelerate  growth.  This,  the 
ni'rogenised  lime,  tends  to  the  utilisation  of  potash,  which  is  the 
substance  needed  in  your  case  for  the  transference  of  the  assimilated 
matter,  and  to  be  of  use  must  be  available  during  the  growth  of  the 
plant.  An  excess  of  potash  is  a  bad  thing,  however,  for  Tomatoes,  as  it 
makes  the  growth  soft  and  susceptible  of  attack  from  fungi  of  the  endo¬ 
phytic  class.  The  chief  elements  required  by  Tomatoes  as  indicated  by 
an  analysis  of  their  ash  are  potash,  soda,  lime,  magnesia,  and 
phosphoric  acid,  also  silica.  Constituents  of  the  ash  of  Tomato  fruit  in 
parts  per  hundred  : — Potash,  27‘00  ;  soda,  10  39  ;  lime,  12T0  ;  magnesia, 
8*21  ;  iron,  3  96;  phosphoric  acid,  18-58;  sulphuric  acid,  4  86;  silica, 
12  36;  chlorine,  2-54;  organic  matter,  equal  to  nitrogen,  2  31.  In 
compounding  a  manure  for  Tomatoes  there  is  no  need  to  have  recourse  to 
complicated  formulae.  A  useful  mixture  is  made  as  follows  : — Dissolved 
bones,  6  parts  ;  kainit,  6  parts ;  silicate  of  soda,  4  parts  ;  sulphate  of 
ammonia,  2J  parts  ;  sulphate  of  iron,  ^  part ;  mix  thoroughly  and  apply 
£  lb.  per  square  yard,  7  lbs.  per  rod,  incorporating  with  the  soil  before 
placing  out  the  plants.  It  is  necessary  to  get  the  mixture  into  soil  for 
appropriation  by  the  plants  for  the  building  up  of  their  structures 
healthily  from  the  commencement,  as  it  is  little  use  striving  to  make 
good  the  defences  after  the  enemy  has  gained  possession  of  the  citadel. 
Such  is  your  case,  and  anything  to  be  of  use  must  act  promptly.  You 
may  therefore  use — Mineral  superphosphate,  39  per  cent,  phosphate  of 
lime,  3  parts  ;  muriate  of  potash,  3  parts  ;  sulphate  of  soda,  ^  part  s 
sulphate  of  magnesia,  £  part ;  and  sulphate  of  iron,£  part  ;  mix  and  use 
4  ozs.  per  square  yard,  or  if  there  are  roots  on  the  surface  use  half  the 
amount,  preferably  mixed  with  good  loam.  If  more  growth  be  wanted 
add  2f  parts  finely  crushed  nitrate  of  soda,  thus  forming  a  mixture  of 
10  parts.  Repeat  as  necessary. 
