December  1897i 
JOURNAL  OR  HORTICULTURE  ANL  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
563 
^muting  a  little  air  at  the  top  of  the  house  at  65®,  leaving  it  on  all 
day,  but  do  nor  let  the  temperature  fall  below  that  point,  and  when  the 
temperature  advances  to  75"  from  sun  heat,  a  free  circulation  of  air  must 
be  allowed.  The  bottom  heat  should  be  kept  steady  at  80°.  Avoid  a 
damp  atmosphere,  an  occasional  damping  of  the  paths  will  suffice. 
Water  only  when  the  plants  become  dry,  then  afford  a  proper  supply  of 
weak  liquid  manure. 
Plants  to  Ripen  the  Fruit  in  May  and  June. — Where  a  supply  is  required 
at  the  time  named,  and  plants  are  not  showing  fruit,  it  will  be  desirable  to 
select  from  those  started  in  March  last,  which  have  completed  growth  and 
are  now  in  a,  state  of  rest,  such  as  show  a  stout  base — the  best  indication 
of  starting  into  fruit  when  subjected  to  a  higher  temperature  both  at  the 
roots  and  in  the  atmosphere.  The  plants  are  best  placed  in  a  structure  to 
themselves.  Where  this  cannot  be  afforded  they  must  have  a  light 
position  in  the  house  where  the  fruiters  are  swelling.  Maintain  a  night 
temperature  of  65°  in  the  fruiting  department,  5°  less  in  the  morning  of 
cold  nights,  and  70°  to  75"  by  day,  but  in  very  severe  weather  a  few 
degrees  lower  is  preferable  to  extra  sharp  firing. 
THE  KITCHEN  GAKDEN. 
Vacant  Ground. — Advantage  should  be  taken  of  the  first  hard  frost 
to  wheel  on  to  the  vacant  plots  decayed  manure,  vegetable  refuse,  leaf 
soil,  old  potting  soil,  mortar  rubbish,  ashes,  sand,  or  anything  that  would 
improve  the  working  and  fertility  of  the  soil.  This  should  be  done 
whether  it  is  desirable  to  dig  or  trench  the  ground  early  in  the  winter  or 
not,  as  nothing  can  be  more  injurious,  to  heavy  soils  especially,  than 
wheeling  and  trampling  on  them  when  they  are  soft  and  damp. 
Heavy  Clayey  Soils. — More  than  ordinary  judgment  ought  to  be 
exercised  in  the  treatment  of  these.  In  some  few  cases  digging  and 
roughing  up  clayey  soils  early  in  the  winter  does  not  answer  well.  If 
after  they  are  pulverised  by  frost  and  rain  the  clayey  particles  run  together 
like  so  much  birdlime,  then  digging  had  better  be  deferred  till  a  few 
weeks  prior  to  cropping,  or  only  just  long  enough  for  the  fining  down  of 
the  lumps  by  the  action  of  the  weather  to  take  place.  In  this  case 
wheel  on  the  manure  in  frosty  weather,  and  cover  the  heaps  with  soil. 
The  majority  of  heavy  clayey  soils,  however,  are  best  dug  roughly  either 
before  midwinter  or  soon  after.  They  would  be  still  further  improved  in 
fertility  and  free  working  by  a  second  digging  in  February  or  March, 
deferring  cropping  till  the  drying  winds  and  sunshine,  followed  by  some 
rain,  have  effectively  broken  down  the  lumps.  In  this  way  a  good  spit  of 
finely  divided  soil  is  prepared.  Strawy  manure  is  best  for  heavy  land, 
especially  when  it  is  dug  in  early  in  the  winter,  and  peat  moss  litter 
manure  is  also  suitable  if  not  too  freely  applied.  For  ameliorating  heavy 
soils  a  variety  of  materials  are  available  and  should  be  employed  when¬ 
ever  possible.  These  include  lime  rubbish,  sand,  ashes,  peat,  leaf  soil,  and 
soft  ballast,  made  by  burning  clayey  soil  and  weeds.  These  ought  to  be 
spread  over  the  surface  in  the  spring,  and  well  mixed  with  the  top 
soil.  Fresh  lime  should  be  similarly  applied,  but  if  gas  lime  is  used 
spread  this  over  the  ground  at  the  rate  of  one-half  hundredweight  to  the 
square  rod,  and  leave  it  exposed  a  month  or  six  weeks  before  forking 
it  in. 
Medium  and  Light  Soils. — Medium  soils,  or  those  moderately  retentive 
of  fertility  and  moisture,  are  fairly  free  working,  give  the  least  trouble, 
and  generally  prove  the  most  desirable.  In  some  instances  these  are 
improved  by  early  digging.  For  these  almost  any  kind  of  solid  manure  is 
suitable.  Light  sandy  soils  are,  as  a  rule,  best  left  alone  till  near  the 
time  for  cropping.  They  are  usually  hot  and  dry  during  the  summer,  and 
for  this  and  other  reasons  ought  to  be  dressed  with  nearly  decayed 
manure.  Decayed  garden  refuse  is  also  a  most  suitable  manure  for  light 
soils,  digging  in  green  vegetables  finding  favour  in  some  districts.  Where 
Turnips,  Rape,  or  Mustard  have  been  sown  thickly  expressly  for  digging 
in  no  other  manure  will  be  required. 
Trenching. — Ordinary  trenching  ought  not  to  be  undertaken  lightly. 
If  the  subsoil  is  of  a  clayey,  unkindly  nature,  and  has  not  been  previously 
greatly  improved  by  bastard  trenching  and  the  addition  of  a  variety  of 
materials  such  as  previously  recommended  for  the  surface  of  heavy  land, 
then  to  bring  that  to  the  top  and  to  deeply  bury  the  fertile  free  working 
top  spit  is  likely  to  prove  a  costly  blunder.  Where  this  mistake  has  been 
made  the  best  way  out  of  the  difficulty  is  to  re-trench  the  ground.  By 
the  time  this  is  done  the  whole  depth  will  become  so  mixed  that  it  will  be 
found  more  productive  than  ever  before.  Deposited  or  alluvial  soils  are 
frequently  of  considerable  depth,  and  of  much  the  same  character  two 
spits  deep  as  they  are  on  the  surface.  These  may  be  safely  and 
advantageously  trenched  every  few  years. 
Bastard  Trenching. — This  is  also  known  as  double  digging,  and  consists 
of  breaking  up  the  ground  two  spits  deep  without  altering  their  relative 
positions.  It  has  the  effect  of  greatly  improving  the  ground,  rendering  it 
warmer  in  the  winter  and  more  retentive  of  moisture  in  the  summer  than 
ordinarily  dug  ground.  Trenching  should  be  done  early  enough  for  the 
ground  to  have  time  to  settle  and  solidify  somewhat  prior  to  cropping, 
and  no  manure  need  be  added  to  the  top  spit  unless  it  is  very  plentiful. 
PLANT  HOUSES. 
Epacris. — Any  plants  that  only  made  puny  growth  during  the  past 
season  and  are  healthy,  as  well  as  those  that  have  not  ripened  their  shoots 
sufficiently  to  flower  profusely,  may  be  cut  well  back.  If  done  at 
once  such  plants  will  start  early,  and  invariably  make  vigorous  growth 
next  year.  Keep  plants  subjected  to  this  treatment  in  the  greenhouse, 
and  maintain  a  cool  airy  temperature. 
Erica  hyemalis. — Home-grown  plants  that  are  not  going  to  flower 
profusely  may  have  all  the  strong  shoots  cut  nearly  close  back.  Any 
young  growths  that  are  not  more  than  1  or  2  inches  in  length  may  be 
left  as  they  are  and  allowed  to  extend.  Plants  treated  in  this  way  last 
year  have  flowering  shoots  upon  them  nearly  18  inches  in  length. 
Purchased  plants  generally  do  better  the  second  year  than  the  first  after 
flowering.  To  fiower  the  plants  even  satisfactorily  the  first  year  they 
must  be  potted  as  soon  as  they  have  started  into  growth. 
Erica  antnmnalis  (gracilis). — This  is  hardly  worth  retaining  after  it 
has  flowered  once.  When  grown  with  hyemalis  we  have  never  been  very 
successful  with  it  owing  to  it  being  so  badly  attacked  by  mildew.  It 
can  be  grown  fairly  well,  however,  it  given  a  place  where  the  atmo¬ 
sphere  is  dry  and  abundance  of  air  can  be  continuously  maintained.  A 
close  atmosphere  even  for  a  few  days  means  partial  ruin  to  the  plants. 
Be  careful  that  none  of  these  plants  is  allowed  to  become  dry  at  the  roots 
or  it  will  be  ruined. 
Azalea  indica.— One  of  the  greatest  evils  these  plants  have  to  contend 
against  is  keying  them  too  dry  at  their  roots  during  the  winter  months. 
At  no  season  of  their  growth  should  they  be  allowed  to  become  dry  ;  once 
this  occurs  their  silk-like  roots  quickly  perish.  Plants  that  are  confined 
for  years  in  their  pots  usually  lose  a  very  large  percentage  of  the  foliage 
owing  to  inactivity  at  the  roots.  Those  that  are  repotted  from  time  to 
time  as  they  need  more  root  room  have  darker  and  bolder  foliage,  which 
they  retain  well  throughout  the  winter.  Plants  also  that  are  potted  in 
loam,  leaf  mould  and  sand,  have  better  foliage,  and  make  more  vigorous 
growth  than  those  potted  in  peat  and  sand.  Destroy  thrips  directly 
these  pests  are  observed.  Syringe  the  plants  well  at  least  once  a  day 
when  the  weather  is  favourable.  Complete  the  tying  of  the  plants  as 
early  as  possible. 
Mignonette. — Plants  in  5-inch  pots  must  not  be  allowed  to  become 
crowded  ;  thin  them  out  to  five  or  six  in  each  pot.  Keep  the  plants 
perfectly  cool,  and  as  close  to  the  glass  as  possible.  Do  not  allow 
them  to  suffer  by  an  insufficient  supply  of  water,  or  their  foliage  will 
soon  turn  brown.  Trained  plants  that  have  their  pots  full  of  roots  may 
have  a  little  artificial  manure  applied  to  the  surface  of  the  soil  at 
intervals  of  a  fortnight. 
Zonal  Pelargoniums.— Plants  that  have  been  kept  as  cool  as  possible 
may  be  placed  in  a  temperature  of  60°,  when  they  will  quickly  come 
into  flower.  Be  careful  not  to  overwater  the  plants,  or  they  will  start 
into  soft  growth  instead  of  flowering  freely.  Damp  must  be  expelled 
from  the  house  by  the  admission  of  air  whenever  the  weather  is  favourable. 
At  this  period  of  the  year  the  plants  do  well  standing  on  a  moderately  dry 
base  with  the  atmosphere  as  dry  as  possible.  Not  only  are  the  flowers 
liable  to  damp,  but  the  foliage  as  well,  if  too  much  moisture  is  kept  about 
the  plants.  • 
Acalyphas. — The  leaves  are  falling  from  these  where  they  have  been 
kept  in  the  conservatory,  and  only  ordinary  temperatures  maintained. 
The  plants  may  be  cut  back  to  within  2  inches  of  the  soil,  and  if  placed 
in  a  temperature  of  60°  and  kept  on  the  dry  side  they  will  soon  break 
into  growth.  When  about  1  inch  of  growth  has  been  made  the  plants 
may  be  reduced  and  potted  in  the  same  size  pots,  or  if  they  are  only  in 
small  pots  the  drainage  can  be  removed  and  the  plants  given  a  small  shift. 
Cut-back  plants  with  three  or  four  shoots  make  excellent  bushes. 
,  ,11 — 1 — r— 1—5 — 1  .  r^-r  > — r— » — i — »  -  i  ,  i  ■  >  .  i .  i  >  i  >  i 
1^: 
HE  BEE-KEEP^ 
Foul  Brood. 
Bees  are  not  liable  to  disease  to  any  serious  extent  if  they  are 
carefully  managed,  except  it  be  from  foul  brood.  In  some  districts  it 
is  unknown,  but  in  other  localities  this  dread  disease  has  increased 
rapidly  of  late  years,  and  is  much  more  prevalent  in  the  South  and 
West  of  England  than  in  the  North.  In  some  country  districts, 
where  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  I  could  easily  have  found  a  hundred 
colonies  of  bees,  very  few  now  remain,  and  one  may  drive  for  several 
miles  without  seeing  a  stock  of  bees,  whole  districts  being  devastated 
by  this  disease. 
Foul  brood  being  very  contagions,  strong  measures  should  be  taken 
to  prevent  the  disease  from  spreading  to  healthy  colonies,  otherwise  it 
will  be  difficult  to  eradicate.  Unfortunately,  if  the  disease  is  not 
suspected  it  is  seldom  discovered  in  its  early  stages.  This  was  quite 
excusable  when  the  majority  of  bees  were  kept  in  straw  skeps,  as  it 
was  then  almost  impossible  to  discover  it  except  from  the  smell 
arising  from  the  putrid  mass,  or  from  the  weakue.'<s  of  the  colonies. 
When  in  this  condition  the  disease  is  in  its  last  stage  of  development, 
and  may  contaminate  all  the  bees  within  a  radius  ot  two  m  les. 
The  advent  of  the  moveable  frame  hive  offered  facilities  for 
examining  the  combs  without  injury  or  serious  disturbance  of  the 
bees,  but  the  ease  by  which  the  bees  could  be  manipulated  under  the 
modern  system  of  bee-keeping  had  its  drawbacks.  Hives  were 
constantly  opened,  irrespective  oi  the  weather  or  outside  temperature, 
the  consequence  being  brood  became  chilled  in  the  combs,  and  in  too 
many  instances  I  fear  it  has  been  the  forerunner  of  foul  brood. 
Chilled  brood  is  quite  different  from  foul  brood ;  the  latter  is  contagious, 
the  former  is  not.  The  larva  of  chilled  brood  in  the  early  stages  is 
