November  11,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
467 
to  cause  the  Grapes  to  shrivel  prematurely.  A  temperature  of  40°  to  45° 
at  night  and  50°  by  day  will  be  sufficient,  ventilating  freely  and  early  in 
bright  weather,  so  as  to  prevent  moisture  being  deposited  on  the  berries. 
Outside  borders  should  be  covered  with  lights  or  tarpaulin  to  throw  off 
heavy  rains.  Remove  all  fallen  or  matured  leaves,  practising  every 
precaution  against  damp  and  mould. 
Late  Grapes. — These  do  not  always  finish  well,  and  this  usually  arises 
from  three  primary  causes  — namely,  starting  the  Vines  too  late,  and  not 
accelerating  thorough  growth  during  the  spring  and  early  summer 
months,  so  as  to  give  the  Grapes  the  full  benefit  of  the  summer  sun  to 
swell  and  ripen.  Overcropping,  too,  not  only  prejudices  the  current 
crop,  but  militates  considerably  against  the  succeeding  year’s  bearing  of 
the  Vines.  A  bad  condition  at  the  roots  is,  however,  the  most  disastrous 
of  all,  for  improper  food  is  attended  with  many  evils,  and  these  hinder 
the  perfection  of  the  crop.  If  the  defect  is  due  to  overcropping  some 
relief  may  be  afforded  by  cutting  a  portion  of  the  crop  at  the  earliest 
convenience  ;  and  though  nothing  will  be  gained  by  pushing  the  fire  now, 
the  temperature  should  be  maintained  at  60°  to  65°,  with  10°  to  15° 
advance  from  sun  heat,  so  as  to  secure  the  thorough  ripening  of  the  wood, 
admitting  air  freely  when  the  weather  is  favourable,  and  leaving  a  little 
on  constantly.  Where  the  cause  can  be  traced  to  imperfect  drainage  or 
bad  borders  no  time  should  be  lost  after  the  wood  becomes  sufficiently 
ripened,  or  when  the  leaves  give  indications  of  falling,  in  getting  out 
the  old  soil,  rectifying  the  drainage,  and  relaying  the  roots  in  fresh 
compost. 
Where  the  Vines  are  in  proper  condition  the  timely  attention  to  fallen 
leaves  in  clearing  away  and  looking  over  the  bunches  for  decayed  berries 
will  keep  matters  straight.  Air  is  the  best  preventive  of  mouldiness.  A 
temperature  of  45°  to  50°  suits  the  vinous  Grapes,  such  as  Gros  Colman, 
and  50°  to  55°  the  Muscats,  as  both  improve  considerably  after  apparently 
ripe. 
THE  KITCHEN  GARDEN. 
Globe  Artichokes. — Owing  to  the  extraordinary  mildness  of  the 
autumn  Globe  Artichokes  have  not  only  continued  productive  unusually 
late,  but  the  old  stools  are  pushing  up  fresh  sucker  growths  far  more 
than  desirable.  Never  perfectly  hardy,  the  plants  are  peculiarly  liable  to 
suffer  from  the  effects  of  an  early  severe  frost  this  season.  They  must  be 
protected  then.  Old  flower  stems  should  be  cut  down  to  within  1  foot  of 
the  ground,  and  all  large  leaves  be  similarly  shortened.  The  protection 
may  consist  of  either  leaves,  covered  with  strawy  manure  to  keep  them 
from  blowing  about,  or  ashes.  If  the  preeautionot  weeding  out  worthless 
seedlings  has  not  already  been  taken  do  it  at  once  while  yet  they  can  be 
recognised. 
Celery. — A  dry  autumn  has  been  most  favourable  for  the  work  of 
moulding  up  late  Celery.  Unless  the  soil  is  well  banked  up  around  the 
plants  frost  is  liable  to  quickly  ruin  them.  Not  more  than  half  of  the 
tops  of  the  leaves  ought  to  protrude,  and  if  the  ridge  is  rounded  off 
sharply  and  made  smooth  much  rain  and  snow  water  will  be  thrown  off. 
An  outlet  from  the  trenches  ought  to  be  made  for  this  water,  Celery 
keeping  best  when  the  subsoil  is  comparatively  warm  and  dry.  An  effort 
should  also  be  made  to  protect,  as  often  as  necessary,  the  exposed  tops  of 
leaves.  If  these  are  badly  injured  by  frost,  the  decay  which  follows  will 
inevitably  gradually  travel  downwards  and  reach  the  hearts. 
Beans  and  Peas. — In  the  case  of  heavy  slug-infested  soils,  sowing 
Beans  and  Peas  in  November  is  usirally  a  waste  of  labour  and  seed. 
Under  more  favourable  conditions  seed  may  be  sown  of  the  early  and 
hardy  Early  Longpod,  Beck’s  Green  Gem,  and  Mazagan  Broad  Beans  ; 
and  any  of  the  early  round-seeded  varieties  of  Peas  about  the  middle  of 
this  month  on  a  border  sloping  to  the  south.  Dispose  the  rows  as  far 
apart  as  the  known  height  of  the  varieties,  sow  rather  thickly,  and 
cover  with  about  2  inches  of  fine  soil.  If  mice  are  troublesome,  just 
damp  the  seeds  and  well  roll  them  in  powdered  red  lead  prior  to  sowing. 
The  young  plants,  from  the  time  they  are  showing  through  the  soil  till 
next  spring,  will  have  to  be  well  attended  to,  protecting  from  birds  with 
galvanised  w-ire  netting  covers  or  lines  of  thread,  and  from  slugs  by 
means  of  frequent  dustings  of  soot  and  lime,  applied  when  the  dew  is  on 
the  plants.  As  far  as  Peas  are  concerned,  raising  under  glass  and 
planting  out  in  spring  is  the  surest  method  of  laying  the  foundation  of 
an  early  if  somewhat  light  crop  of  Peas  ;  and  Broad  Beans  also  succeed 
well  under  similar  treatment. 
Mushrooms. — Beds  formed  in  ordinary  heated  Mushroom  houses  and 
spawned  early  in  November  ought  to  produce  good  crops  in  January.  It 
is  a  mistake  to  make  very  shallow  beds,  as  these  so  soon  become  cold 
and  dry.  Let  the  droppings  be  thoroughly  well  prepared,  and  the  bed  or 
beds  may  then  be  formed  15  inches  to  18  inches  deep.  They  may  be 
made  to  slope  gently  to  the  front,  though  there  is  no  real  necessity  for  this, 
and  the  manure  should  be  put  together  solidly.  Spawn  directly  the  heat 
declines  to  about  80°,  and  if  there  is  any  likelihood  of  the  heat  rising 
again  after  spawning,  or  if  more  vapour  is  likely  to  collect  about  the 
spawn  than  is  good  for  it,  use  large  lumps.  As  a  rule  a  single  brick  of 
spawn  ought  to  be  broken  into  aliout  eight  pieces.  Insert  these  8  inches 
apart  each  way,  and  any  crumbs  left  should  be  strewn  on  the  top, 
as  a  few  early  Mushrooms  may  result  from  these.  If  it  may  safely 
be  done  cover  with  2  inches  of  good  fine  loam  at  once,  but  if  this  early 
enclosing  of  the  heat  is  likely  to  lead  to  an  injurious  rise  of  the  temperature, 
defer  soiling  over  for  about  three  days.  A  heavy  covering  of  soft  strawy 
litter  should  also  be  given  directly  this  can  be  done  with  safety,  wooden 
shutters  sometimes  taking  the  place  of  this. 
Established  Beds. — The  best  form  of  Mushroom  houses  are  those 
heavily  thatched,  both  on  the  roof  and  at  the  sides,  and  the  next  best 
those  with  ceiled-inside  roof,  double  walls,  and  double-banked  doors  and 
windows.  If  a  genial  equable  temperature  of  about  55°  can  be  main¬ 
tained,  as  in  a  warm  cellar,  and  frequently  in  heavily  thatched,  well- 
darkened  structures,  without  the  aid  of  fire  heat,  these  conditions  are 
most  favourable  to  the  production  of  exceptionally  heavy  cro])s  of 
succulent,  richly  flavoured  Mushrooms.  Where  the  houses  resemble 
ordinary  sheds  in  their  structure,  with  perhaps  mats  hung  over  the 
windows  and  doors  to  exclude  light  and  some  cold  air,  the  fluctuations  of 
temperature  are  great,  as  well  as  injurious.  If  fire  heat  is  the  remedy 
apply  this  sparingly,  and  in  all  cases  guard  against  high  temperatures. 
Turn  it  off  when  the  heat  will  stand  at  the  figure  named  without  the 
assistance  of  fire  heat.  The  atmosphere  not  being  made  very  dry  by 
fire  heat,  daily  syringings  are  not  called  for,  and  in  any  case  avoid  daily 
wetting  the  soil  of  the  beds,  as  this  is  liable  to  saturate  it,  and  to  turn 
the  tiny  Mushrooms  soft  and  brown.  When  water  is  needed  give  enough 
in  a  warm  state  to  well  moisten  the  bed  at  one  or  two  waterings,  and 
be  content  with  that.  Beds  that  have  been  producing  for  some 
time  may  well  be  assisted  with  liquid  manure,  diluted  and  warmed  as  for 
pot  plants,  or  with  water  in  every  gallon  of  which  1  oz.  of  common  salt 
has  been  dissolved. 
WTW 
HE  BEE-KEEPER. 
The  Weather. 
The  past  month  has  been  remarkable  for  its  even  temperature  and 
the  number  of  fine  days  that  have  prevailed.  Although  the  last  week 
was  extremely  foggy,  the  sun  shone  brightly  on  several  occasions, 
notably  on  Saturday,  30th  ult.,  when  the  shade  thermometer  regis¬ 
tered  60°,  reminding  one  of  May  instead  of  the  last  days  of  October. 
There  was  less  than  an  inch  of  rainfall  on  seven  days,  which  is  much 
below  the  average. 
But  how  will  this  unseasonable  weather  affect  the  bees  ?  In  the 
first  place  it  will  cause  the  queens  to  continue  laying  longer  than  they 
would  under  ordinary  circumstances,  and  if  the  weather  should 
continue  mild  for  a  few  weeks  longer,  the  various  colonies  will  doubt¬ 
less  be  in  a  much  better  condition  than  they  were  last  winter  when 
the  bees  were  confined  to  their  hives  for  several  weeks  during  the 
autumn  owing  to  the  inclement  weather.  It  is  advisable  to  bear  in 
mind  that  when  breeding  is  going  on  apace  there  will  be  a  much 
greater  consumption  of  stores  than  would  otherwise  be  the  case.  If 
stocks  have  not  been  well  provided  with  stores  and  a  sudden  spell  of 
cold  weather  sets  in,  the  brood  will  become  chilled,  and  this  will  be 
the  forerunner  of  much  evil.  Late  feeding  with  thin  syrup  will  have 
the  same  effect,  the  queen  will  commence  laying,  supplies  are  stopped, 
and  the  colony  collapses. 
If  the  bees  from  a  strong  stock  have  been  observed  carrying  in 
pollen  freely  during  the  prevalence  of  fine  weather  lately,  they  should 
be  examined  with  a  view'  to  ascertaining  if  they  have  .sufficient  stores. 
This  may  be  done  without  disturbing  the  bees  by  simply  lifting  the 
quilt,  and  if  two  or  three  combs  have  sealed  stores  nearly  their  full 
length  they  wfill  not  require  feeding.  But  if  only  a  little  is  seen  near 
the  top  of  the  frames,  if  not  supplied  with  stores  they  will  probably 
die  of  starvation. 
It  is  now'  too  late  to  feed  with  syrup,  for  although  the  bees 
w'ould  take  it  freely  if  given  warm,  they  would  not  seal  it  over,  and, 
therefore,  candy  is  preferred  at  this  season,  which  should  be  made 
according  to  the  instructions  given  in  previous  notes.  Bees  take  it 
freely,  and,  if  well  supplied,  will  come  out  strong  and  healthy  the 
following  spring. 
Reduction  of  Frames  in  Hives. 
Is  it  necessary  to  remove  the  outside  combs  from  a  hive  if  they  are 
not  covered  with  bees,  and  have  no  honey  in  them  at  this  season  ?  I  do 
not  recommend  their  removal  from  the  hive,  and  now  seldom  practise 
it  in  my  apiary,  as,  after  experimenting  with  several  hives,  I  came  to 
the  conclusion  it  was  not  worth  the  trouble. 
Reducing  the  number  of  frames  in  a  hive  at  this  season  is  still 
recommended  by  some  bee-keejiers  on  the  plea  of  warmness,  as  after 
the  removal  of  the  spare  frames,  those  remaining  are  pushed  close 
together  to  one  end  of  the  hive,  and  the  division  board  placed  close  to 
them.  The  frames  are  then  covered,  and  the  inlerveuing  space 
between  the  division  board  and  the  side  of  the  hives  is  also  filled 
with  some  warm  material. 
A  bag  of  chaff  or  cork  dust  answers  the  purpose  admirably.  It, 
however,  involves  much  labour  where  colonies  are  numerous,  as  the 
spare  combs  have  to  be  stored  in  a  suitable  place.  These  invariably 
keep  better  in  the  hive  than  anywhere  else,  and  in  practice  I  can  see 
no  advantage  in  removing  them,  as  a  hive  should  not  have  less  than 
ten  frames  for  stores  and  wintering. 
If  hives  are  largo,  and  have  space  for  fifteen  or  twenty  standard 
frames,  it  would  be  a  decided  advantage  to  only  allow  the  bees  to  have 
access  to  not  more  than  twelve  frames.  The  spare  ones'  may  then 
remain  at  the  back  of  the  division  board,  which  can  have  bee  space 
