January  10,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
55 
in  the  manure, are  washed  down  to.  the  roots^  by  rain.  Soot  is  ap.  excel¬ 
lent  fertiliser,  and  may,  with  great  advantage,  be  dusted  freely  over 
Gooseberry  and  Currant  trees  as  a  deterrent  against  suvall  birds  attacking 
the  buds.  It  also  may  be  applied  to  the  soil  over  the  roots.  In  short, 
it  protects  the  buds,  cleanses  the  wood,  and  fertilises  the  roots. 
^Strawberries. — The  necessary  clearance  of  weeds,  runners,  and  dead 
foliage  from  Strawberry  quarters  ought  to  be  effected  at  once  if  such 
work  has  not  been  done.  The  soil  between  the  rows  must  not  be  dis¬ 
turbed  except  lightly  pointing  up  the  centres.  Then  spread  a  good  coating 
of  rich  manure  over  the  entire  space. 
Young  recently  planted  Strawberries  will  not  require  manuring,  but 
the  surface  of  the  soil  must  be  frequently  hoed  during  dry  weather  for 
the  purpose  of  keeping  down  weeds,  and  promoting  the  growth  of  the 
plants. 
FRUIT  FORCING. 
Cherry  House. — Give  duo  attention  to  watering  trees  in  pots  and 
syringing  on  fine  days,  damping  occasionally  only  when  the  weather  is 
dull.  Maintain  the  night  temperature  at  40°,  45°  to  50°  in  the  daytime 
by  artidcial  means,  ventilating  at  50°,  and  allowing  a  rise  of  10°  to  15° 
from  sun  heat,  with  full  ventilation,  closing  at  50°.  Scrutinise  the  trees 
closely  for  aphides,  and  if  there  be  trace  of  any  take  measures  at  once  to 
eradicate  them. 
Cucumbers. — Maintain  a  night  temperature  of  65°,  70°  in  mild  weather 
and  60°  on  cold  nights,  70°  to  75°  by  da^-,  and  80°  to  85°  with  sun  heat. 
When  the  external  air  is  mild  a  little  ventilation  may  be  given  at  80°, 
closing  before  the  temperature  is  reduced  below  that  degree,  so  as  to  raise 
it  to  90°  to  95°,  but  if  the  external  air  is  cold,  although  the  sun  shines,  it 
is  better  to  allow  the  temperature  to  advance  a  little  beyond  the  above 
limits  than  to  admit  cold  air,  which  injures  the  foliage,  also  causing  the 
fruit  to  become  stunted  and  to  curl  at  the  end.  Plants  in  bearing  will 
require  to  be  examined  about  twice  a  week,  removing  all  weakly,  super¬ 
fluous,  and  exhausted  j'growths,  reserving  such  of  the  bearing  wood  as 
carries  young  shoots  to  fill  the  allotted  space,  stopping  the  shoots  above, 
or  two  joints  beyond  the  show  for  fruit. 
Young  plants  that  have  passed  the  winter  so  far  in  fairly  good  health 
will  make  better  progress  now  the  days  aie  getting  longer  and  brighter. 
They  are  greatly  assisted  by  removing  the  staminale  blossoms,  also 
superfluous  pistillate  flowers  as  they  appear.  Tendrils  should  also  be 
pinched  off.  The  supply  of  moisture  bjthat  the  roots  and  m  the  atmo¬ 
sphere  must  be  regulated  by  circumstances  and  external  conditions. 
Syringing  should  not  be  practised  on  the  foliage,  except  a  light  sprinkling 
in  the  early  part  of  bright  afternoons,  damping  the  floor  moderately  at 
about  8  A.M.  and  2  p.m.  Encourage  the  roots  to  spread  on  the  surface  of 
the  bed  by  adding  lumpy  manure  from  time  to  time,  with  which  may  be 
incorporated  a  little  wi  11  decomposed  cow  manure  or  fresh  sweetened 
horse  droppings.  When  roots  are  had  in  this  manner  the  plants  may  be 
fed  to  any  extent  by  sprinkling  a  mixture  of  five  parts  bone  superphos¬ 
phate  and  two  parts  powdered  nitrate  of  potash  on  the  surface,  at  the  rate 
of  2  or  3  ozs.  per  square  yard  every  fortnight  or  three  weeks,  with  a  light 
dusting  of  soot  between  times. 
Keep  a  keen  eye  on  the  plants  for  their  worst  enemies— mildew,  red 
spider,  and  white  fly,  and  paint  the  hot-water  pipes  with  a  cream  formed 
of  it  and  skim  milk.  The  fumes  given  off  will  kill  white  fly  and  mildew, 
also  red  spider.  Canker  is  also  unusually  prevalent  ;  freshly  burned 
lime,  powdered,  or  slaked  with  the  smallest  amount  of  water  necessary, 
rubbed  into  the  affected  parts,  will  arrest  its  progress.  Aphides  are  very 
pernicious,  arresting  the  growth  and  spoiling  the  crop.  Fumigate  several 
times  moderrtely,  and  on  consecutive  evenings,  rather  than  once  severely. 
We  find  that  a  dose  in  the  evening  and  another  early  the  following  morn¬ 
ing  answers  the  best.  Thrips  also  succumb  to  fumigation,  and  mealy  bug 
to  vaporisation  with  nicotine  essence.  Care  must  be  taken  in  either  case 
not  to  give  an  overdose. 
Peaches  and  Nectarines. — Earliest  Forced  Trees. — Continue  to  fertilise 
the  blossoms,  using  a  camel’s  hair  brush,  feather,  or  rabbit’s  tail  mounted 
on  a  small  stick  ;  these  are  better  tb^tn  shaking  the  trellis.  When  the 
fruit  is  well  set,  syringe  the  trees  occasionally  in  the  morning  or  early 
part  of  fine  afternoons  to  assist  casting  off  the  remains  of  the  flowers.  In 
bright  weather  syringing  must  be  practised  in  the  morning  and  afternoon, 
but,  when  dull,  have  recourse  to  it  in  the  morning,  this  and  damping  the 
house  in  the  afternoon  being  sufficient.  The  water  employed  must  be  of 
the  same  temperature  as  that  of  the  house,  and  the  inside  border  should 
be  duly  supplied  with  it.  Disbudding  will  soon  have  to  be  attended  to, 
but  it  must  be  done  with  discretion  at  this  early  season,  it  being  better  to 
remove  a  few  shoots  daily  from  a  tree  than  many  at  a  time  at  distant 
intervals.  The  night  temperature  may  now  be  maintained  at  55°  to  60° 
on  mild  nights,  60°  to  65°  by  day,  5°  less  as  the  minimum  when  the 
weather  is  severe  and  dull,  admitting  a  little  at  65°,  not  allowing  an 
advance  over  70°  without  full  ventilation,  always  excepting  a  little  left  at 
the  top  of  the  house  constantly. 
Second  Early  Forced  Trees. — When  the  blossoms  show  colour  on  the 
trees  started  at  the  new  year  syringing  must  cease,  but  the  paths  and 
borders  should  be  damped  in  the  morning  and  afternoon,  except  in  dull 
cold  weather.  Supply  water  as  necessary  to  keep  the  border  in  a 
thoroughly  moist  state.  Keep  a  sharp  look  out  for  aphides.  If  there  be 
any  fumigate  the  house  on  two  or  three  consecutive  evenings  moderately, 
which  will  be  sufficient  to  keep  the  pests  under  until  the  fruit  is  set.  In 
•«  case  of  an  excess  of  blossom  buds — and  they  are  abundant  this  season, 
thjugh  many  are  being  cast  in  some  cases,  also  promising — draw  the  hand 
the  contrary  way  of  the  growth  along  the  under  side  or  back  of  the 
trellis,  so  as  to  reduce  the  number  of  bloom  buds,  which  will  increase  the 
vigour  of  those  left  and  best  situated,  therewith  tending  to  a  more  even 
and  better  swelling  of  the  fruit  after  setting. 
Succession  Houses. — Push  forward  the  pruning  of  the  trees,  dressing 
the  trees  with  an  insecticide,  and  readjusting  them  to  the  trellis,  leaving 
plenty  of  room  in  the  ligature  for  the  swelling  of  the  branches.  The 
surface  of  the  border  may  be  pointed  over  with  a  fork,  but  not  disturbing 
the  roots,  the  loose  soil  removed,  and  fresh  loam  supplied,  sprinkling  on  it 
4  ozs.  of  basic  slag  phosphate  per  square  yard.  This  is  particularly 
valuable  on  account  of  the  lime  it  contains,  as  well  as  phosphorus, 
phosphoric  acid  being  slowly  yielded  to  the  soil  and  imbibed  by  the  roots 
ivith  the  water,  for  Peaches  and  all  stone  fruits,  especially  where  the  soil 
is  of  a  rich  close  nature,  full  of  vegetable  matter  or  humus.  In  other 
cases  steamed  bonemeal,  five  parts,  and  double  sulphate  of  potash  and 
magnesia,  two  parts,  mixed,  4  ozs.  per  square  yard,  may  be  applied  with 
advantage.  The  dressing  should  be  lightlv  pointed  in.  In  the  case  cf 
basic  slag  being  used  supply  also  2  ozs.  of  the  double  sulphate  of  potash 
and  soda  per  square  yard.  If  the  borders  are  at  all  dry  they  should  bo 
given  a  thorough  watering.  Houses,  however,  that  have  movable  roof- 
lights,  and  these  being  off,  will  not  require  any  water,  the  soil  being 
thoroughly  moist.  The  shoots  also  are  kept  in  a  condition  by  the  air 
moisture  unfavourable  to  evaporation,  so  that  the  trees  not  only  have 
thorough  rest,  but  the  buds  are  prevented  falling. 
HE  BEE-KEEPER. 
g) 
It  is 
_ } 
Attention  to  Floor  Boards. 
not  only  in  the  summer  months,  but  during  the  short  days 
of  winter  that  the  convenience  of  having  loose  floor  boards  is  felt  by 
those  who  are  responsible  for  their  management.  One  has  only  to 
examine  a  hive  after  it  has  been  exposed  to  a  long  spell  of  dull,  wet 
weather  to  be  convinced  that  it  is  beneficial  to  the  bees  to  have  dry 
floor  boards  given  them  when  necessary.  If  it  is  a  fixture  there  are 
i.o  means  of  cleaning  them  at  this  seison  without  distuibing  the 
bees. 
With  movable  floor  boards  the  case  is  very  different,  as  a  clean 
dry  floor  board  may  be  given  at  any  time  without  the  bees  being 
disturbed  in  the  least.  The  plan  we  recommend  is  to  have  a  few 
spare  boards,  and  if  the  hives  are  all  of  the  same  size  it  saves  the 
bee-keeper  much  trouble,  as  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  place  one  of 
them  by  the  hive,  which  may  be  lifted,  and  at  once  placed  on  the  dry 
board.  The  same  operation  can  be  carried  out  with  the  other  stocks 
so  long  as  the  dry  boards  last. 
The  boards  that  have  been  removed  are  cleaned,  dded,  and  after¬ 
wards  used  again.  Several  stocks  may  be  done  in  the  course  of  a  few 
minutes,  and  it  is  only  reasonable  to  suppose  tliat  colonies  of  bees 
treated  in  this  manner  will  come  out  stronger  and  better  in  the 
spring  than  they  would  had  a  large  amount  of  debris  and  moisture 
been  allowed  to  accumulate  throughout  the  winter.  A  hive  may  be 
well  made,  but  more  often  than  otherwise  it  will  be  found  that  mois¬ 
ture  accumulates  in  the  corners ;  this  'will  soon  cause  the  boards  to 
decay,  and  leave  them  in  an  unsatisfactory  condition. 
Examination  of  Stocks. 
It  is  advisable  at  this  season  when  removing  the  floor  boards  to 
make  an  examination  of  all  the  colonies  to  a-certain  if  they  are  short 
of  stores  and  otherwise  in  good  condition.  The  bees  need  not  be 
disturbed  in  carrying  out  this  operation.  We  cau  usually  tell  if  there 
are  ample  stores  in  the  hive  by  lifting  up  the  back  of  the  hive  with 
one  hand.  If  there  is  any  doubt  in  the  matter,  carefully  remove  the 
outer  coverings,  and  then  roll  back  the  quilt  so.  as  to  expose  the 
outside  combs.  The  bees  will  usually  be  found  clustered  in  the 
middle  of  the  hive,  and  the  combs  on  each  side  should  contain  sealed 
stores.  The  outside  combs  in  the  hive  are  always  the  first  to  be 
cleared  of  their  stores  in  the  autumn  before  cold  weather  sets  in.  The 
natural  instinct  of  the  bees  has  taught  them  that  their  food  supply 
must  be  conveniently  near  them  when  they  cluster  during  the  dull, 
cold  days  of  winter. 
The  plan  we  have  adopted  this  season  avith  colonies  in  ordinary 
frame  hives  is  to  remove  all  the  frames  outside  the  cluster  that  have 
been  cleared  of  their  stores,  and  replace  them  with  full  frames  of 
sealed  honey,  as,  owing  to  the  honeydew,  a  great  quantity  of  this 
remained  on  hand.  The  sides  of  the  combs  nearest  the  bees  were 
slightly  bruised,  so  that  the  bees  commenced  to  feed  at  once.  If 
frames  of  stores  are  not  available  feed  with  candy  as  advised  in 
previous  notes.  If  the  coverings  have  become  damp  they  should  be 
dried  before  being  used  again.  A  mild  day  must  be  chosen  for  the 
necessary  examination. — An  English  Bee-keeper. 
