JOnUNAL  OF  ttORFTOULFURF  AKD  COFTAOF  GAHOFNEn. 
August  iS,.  189?< 
158 
which  should  be  destroyed.  If  the  operator  is  an  adept  he  will 
readily  find  the  queen. 
If  they  are  placed  on  a  frame  hive  on  fully  drawn  out  combs, 
and  fed  rapidly  with  about  28  lbs.  of  sugar,  they  will  come  out 
strong  and  healthy  in  the  spring.  If  driven  bees  are  placed  in  a 
hive  and  it  is  necessary  to  afterwards  add  more  bees,  they  should 
all  be  sprinkled  with  thin  syrup  or  flour — the  latter  I  prefer,  as  it 
is  clean,  and  does  not  cause  robbing  from  other  colonies.  The  bees 
will  then  unite  readily  without  the  lo»s  of  a  single  bee.  If  driven 
bees  are  added  to  a  strong  colony  the  same  process  must  be  carried 
out,  or  it  will  reiult  in  failure. — An  English  Bee  keeper. 
•o’*  All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should,  until 
further  notice,  be  directed  to  “  The  Editor,"  S,  Rose  Hill 
Road,  Wandsworth,  London,  <S.TF.  It  is  requested  that  no 
one  will  write  privately  to  any  of  our  correspondents,  seeking 
information  on  matters  discussed  in  this  Journal,  as  doing 
BO  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. 
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  communications 
which,  for  any  reason,  cannot  be  inserted. 
Paper  Receptacles  for  Plants  — Your  “idea”  of  form¬ 
ing  stout  paper  receptacles  “  for  the  carriage  of  plants  instead  of  the 
ordinary  clay  pots  ”  has  been  the  idea  of  someone  else  for  a  very  long 
time,  and,  therefore,  whatever  the  advantages  of  your  “  invention  ” 
they  have  been  in  operation  for  some  years.  We  have  seen  hundreds  of 
similar  receptacles,  and  though  not  exactly  the  same  as  yours  they 
serve  precisely  the  same  purpose.  We  do  not  know  whether  they  are 
patented  or  not,  but  if  they  are  we  fear  yours  would  be  an  infringement. 
If  the  originals  are  not  patented  your  chance  of  making  yours  pay  would 
depend  on  their  price  and  your  business  enterprise.  As  you  reside 
near  Liverpool  why  cot  consult  Mr.  Ker  of  Aigburth,  or  rend  samples 
to  Messrs.  Cllbran  &  Son  of  Altrincham  and  hear  what  they  have  to 
say  on  the  subject  ?  They  are  gentlemen  of  great  experience  in  the 
packing  of  plants,  and  may  be  able  totell  you  more  about  the  receptacles 
already  in  use  than  we  can. 
Eucharls  not  Flowering-  T,"). — To  keep  Eucharis  five  years 
without  flowering  is  very  disheartening,  and  may  be  due  to  some 
peculiarity  in  the  variety  or  to  defect  of  management.  Plants  badly 
infested  with  mealy  bug,  and  the  damage  inflicted  in  cleansing  cannot 
be  expected  to  do  much  for  some  time  afterwards,  and  the  storing  of  them 
under  the  stage,  so  as  to  completely  dry  off  the  foliage,  would  not  tend 
to  mend  matters,  but  the  reverse.  As  the  plants  have  not  been  potted 
for  five  years  there  would  be  no  harm  in  potting  them,  if  properly  done 
and  the  plants  well  attended  to  afterwards,  though  needless  rcot 
disturbance  is  not  advised.  First  then,  to  get  the  plants  to  flower,  we 
should  place  the  pots  in  a  light  position  in  the  stove  as  near  as  may  be 
to  the  glass,  and  water  them  so  as  to  induce  growth  without  delay,  keep¬ 
ing  moist  but  not  over-watered  until  they  have  made  good  foliage,  when 
supply  liquid  manure  not  too  strong.  This,  with  foliage,  will  give  fine 
bulbs,  and  without  them  it  is  useless  to  expect  flowers.  Keep  the  plants 
rather  dry  after  the  foliage  ceases  to  develop  or  young  leaves  to  be 
pushed,  but  not  to  the  extent  of  causing  the  foliage  to  become  very  limp 
and  die.  After  about  six  weeks  of  this  treatment  flower  scapes  may 
show,  then  supply  liquid  manure  and  continue  until  the  new  leaves 
following  the  flowering  are  fully  developed,  when  keep  rather  drier  as 
before,  and  you  may  possibly  get  the  plants  to  flower  two  or  three  times 
in  a  year  instead  of  not  once  in  five  years.  The  temperature  during  the 
growing  period  should  range  from  65°  to  75°  or  80°  in  summer,  with  10° 
to  15°  rise  from  sun  heat  ;  55“  to  65°  at  resting  is  suitable.  We  simply 
keep  the  plants  in  the  stove,  rather  drier  when  the  leaves  are  matured, 
and  have  two  lots  of  flowers,  sometimes  three,  in  a  year.  Avoid  com¬ 
plete  drying,  which  is  not  essential  to  the  free  production  of  flowers, 
but  very  weakening  to  the  bulbs.  If  potted  in  good  soil  in  the  first 
instance  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  do  more  than  top-dress  the  plants 
annually,  repotting  only  when  the  bulbs  are  overcrowded, 
Cutting  Muscat  of  Alexandria  and  Foster’s  Seedling  Crapes 
a  Week  Before  Exhibiting  (T.  C.'). — It  does  not  answer,  as  a  rule,  to 
cut  Grapes  a  week  before  exhibiting  them,  as  when  not  perfectly  matured 
the  berries  are  liable  to  shrivel,  and  certainly  colour  no  better  off  the 
Vines  than  on  them,  even  when  kept  in  water — that  is,  the  end  of  the 
cut  growths.  They  require  light,  and  this  you  may  secure  by  drawing 
the  leaves  overshading  the  fruit  aside,  so  as  to  admit  more  of  it  to  the 
Grapes.  This,  however,  must  be  done  very  cautiously,  or  the  fierce  rays 
of  the  sun  felling  on  berries  directly  that  have  been  more  or  less  shaded 
may  result  in  scorching,  and  if  not  that,  browning,  which  is  far  worse  than 
imperfectly  ripened  Grapes,  as  clearness  goes  a  long  way  in  securing 
prizes. 
Turfy  Boam  for  Growing  Good  Cucumbers  and  Crapes 
(y.  IF.). — The  soil  appears  of  a  sound  bodied  nature,  such  as  may  be 
expected  on  the  outcrop  of  the  greensand,  and  there  meeting  with  clay 
of  a  substantial  character.  But  there  is  little  grit  in  the  sample, 
the  soil  being  of  a  vegetable  nature,  no  doubt  due  to  the  accumulation  of 
decayed  organic  remains,  hence  would  require  an  addition  of  not  less 
than  per  cent,  of  best  chalk  lime  to  make  it  suitable  for  either 
Cucumbers  or  Vines  ;  or  you  may  use  in  mixture  with  it  one-sixth  of  old 
mortar  rubbish,  which  would  give  you  the  lime  slowly  available  over  an 
extensive  period,  and  quite  enough  in  each  year  for  the  requirements  of 
the  Vines,  “  artificials  ”  containing  phosphate  and  sulphate  of  lime,  such 
as  superphosphate,  being  annually  used.  Basic  slag  phosphate  and  kainit 
could  also  be  used  in  such  soil  with  great  advantage,  using  14  lbs.  of  the 
first  and  7  lb?,  of  the  latter  to  each  cubic  yard  of  the  turf.  You  would, 
of  course,  use  other  materials  for  keeping  the  soil  sufficiently  open  for 
Vines,  we  not  having  found  anything  better  than  calcareous  or  marly 
gravel,  and  of  this  we  advise  about  one-sixth  for  mixing  with  the  turf 
for  Vines.  The  red  gravel  overlying  chalk  also  forms  excellent  material 
for  mixing  with  soil  such  as  yours,  the  Grapes  then  Colouring  like 
Sloe?. 
Erica  Shannonlana  (iZ.  J.  B.). — This  is  a  superb  large-flowering 
species,  bold  in  growth  and  much  branched.  The  leaves  are  arranged  in 
Fig.  23. — Erica  Shannoniana, 
threes.  The  flowers  are  produced  in  large  terminal  whorls,  are  flask- 
shaped,  delicate  pink  or  flesh  colour,  save  at  the  contraction  of  the  neck, 
where  the  colour  is  more  intense.  The  footstalks  and  calyx  are  bright 
red,  and  the  whole  flowers  glutinous. 
Tomato  Diseased  (TV  Hf.  H,') — The  Tomato  is  virulently  suffering 
from  Tomato  rot  fungus  (Macrosporium  tomati),  commonly  known  as 
“black  patch,”  “black  spot,”  or  “black  stripe,”  and  the  whole  life 
history  of  the  parasite  was  clearly  definable  in  the  specimen,  so  far  as 
necessary  for  practical  purposes.  In  the  early  stages  the  fruit  has  the 
appearance  of  having  been  scalded,  as  the  attack  causes  the  flesh  to 
leave  the  skin,  which  appears  quite  white,  and  the  patch  or  stripe 
quarter  to  half  inch  across  at  first.  This  enlarges  as  the  mycelial  hyphaa 
of  the  fungus  eat  the  flesh  away,  when  the  affected  part  assumes  ^ 
