Angnst  2,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
115 
as  soon  as  ready,  as  they  are  likely  to  become  mealy  if  remaining  too 
long.  Such  varieties  require  considerable  watching,  therefore  examine 
the  trees  each  morning  for  the  ripe  fruits. 
Cordon  Gooseberries  and  Currants. — Grown  as  cordons  on  walls  and 
trellises  Gooseberries  and  Red  Currants  are  prolific  if  the  branches  are 
well  managed.  The  side  shoots  must  be  annually  shortened  to  three 
pairs  of  leaves  not  later  than  the  early  part  of  August,  preferably 
before,  in  order  to  more  fully  expose  the  fruit  to  light,  and  concentrate 
the  vigour  on  the  lower  buds,  which  will  be  the  fruit  buds  the  following 
year.  An  occasional  soaking  of  water  over  the  roots,  and  a  continuous 
summer  mulch  is  beneficial. 
Bush  Gooseberries  and  Currants. — Gooseberries  as  bushes  may  be 
allowed  to  grow  freely,  retaining  young  growths  at  full  length,  and 
these  will  next  season  fruit  well.  Avoid  a  crowded  state  of  the  growths 
by  thinning  out  when  the  crop  has  been  gathered.  Black  Currants 
ought  also  to  be  freely  thinned,  leaving  vigorous  young  growths,  but 
Red  and  White  Currants  must  be  pruned  as  cordons. 
Fruit  Forcing, 
Cherry  House. — The  trees  now  have  the  wood  sufficiently  ripened 
and  the  buds  enough  plumped  to  allow  of  their  being  fully  exposed  to 
the  atmosphere.  Remove  the  roof-lights,  which  is  the  best  means  of 
arresting  premature  growth,  to  which  the  Cherry,  forced  year  after 
year  successively,  is  liable.  The  leaves  at  this  stage  from  their  hard 
texture  are  not  inviting  to  aphides,  but  red  spider  will  prey  upon  them 
unless  prevented  by  syringing  or  an  insecticide.  If  black  aphides 
appear  at  the  points  of  the  shoots  syringe  with  tobacco  water,  rubbing 
the  worst  affected  parts  gently  between  the  fingers  whilst  wet  with  the 
insecticide.  The  border  must  not  be  allowed  to  become  parchingly 
dry,  but  have  copious  supplies  of  water,  and  if  the  trees  are  weakly 
employ  liquid  manure,  as  poverty  of  bud-perfecting  means  collapse  of 
the  fruit  after  setting.  Trees  in  pots  must  be  regularly  watered  and 
syringed  to  maintain  the  foliage  in  a  healthy  state  as  long  as  possible. 
Cucumbers. — Any  house  or  frame  at  liberty  may  yet  be  planted 
with  Cucumbers,  the  frame  having  a  bed  of  fermenting  materials 
which  will  give  a  supply  of  fruit  in  September  and  continue  to  do  so 
nearly  to  Christmas,  if  due  regard  be  had  to  lining  the  bed  and  to  pro¬ 
tecting  the  plants  by  mats  over  the  lights  at  night  after  the  weather 
sets  in  cold.  Let  the  growths  of  plants  in  frames  or  houses  be  thinned 
at  least  once  a  week,  and  in  growing  weather  twice,  removing  exhausted 
growths  to  make  room  for  young  bearing  wood.  Keep  the  shoots  well 
stopped  to  one  joint  beyond  the  fruit,  or  at  the  fruit  if  the  plants  are 
vigorous  and  showing  no  signs  of  exhaustion.  Always  allow  weakly 
plants  more  extension,  and  crop  them  lightly.  Maintain  a  temperature 
of  70°  at  night,  75°  by  day,  80°  to  85°  with  sun,  closing  early  to  increase 
to  90°  or  95°,  the  bottom  heat  being  kept  steady  at  80°  to  85°.  Maintain 
root  activity  by  surface  dressings  of  turfy  loam  or  lumpy  manure,  and 
pay  attention  to  watering  two  or  three  times  a  week.  Syringe  in  the 
afternoon  of  hot  days,  but  avoid  late  syringing,  for  the  foliage  should 
be  dry  by  sunset.  The  autumn  fruiters  ought  to  be  planted  on  hillocks 
or  ridges,  moderately  firm,  maintaining  a  moist  and  genial  atmosphere, 
and  they  will  grow  and  show  fruit  in  plenty  shortly. 
Peaches  and  Nectarines. — Early  Forced  Trees. — Those  which  were 
started  by  or  before  the  new  year  have  been  cleared  of  their  fruit  some 
time,  and  also  had  the  wood  on  which  the  fruit  was  borne  removed. 
This,  with  the  removal  cf  superfluous  growths,  assures  to  the  trees  an 
abundance  of  light  and  air  for  perfecting  the  fruit  buds,  and  the 
maturing  of  the  wood,  which  is  encouraged  by  clean  foliage  and 
proper  supplies  of  nutriment.  The  trees  must  be  cleansed  of  insects 
and  duly  supplied  with  water,  or  in  the  case  of  weakly  trees  liquid 
manure  at  the  roots.  A  light  mulching  will  also  tend  to  keep  the  roots 
near  the  surface,  and  prevent  the  premature  ripening  of  the  foliage. 
The  buds  will  be  sufficiently  plumped  and  the  wood  enough  ripened  to 
allow  of  the  roof-lights  being  removed,  which  should  not  be  further 
delayed.  This  old  practice  has  an  invigorating  effect,  and  insures  the 
thorough  moistening  of  the  border  by  the  autumn  rains.  Where  the 
roof-lights  are  not  movable  air  should  be  admitted  to  the  fullest  extent, 
and  a  little  whitewash  syringed  on  the  roof-lights  where  the  panes  of 
glass  are  large,  and  when  the  sun’s  rays  are  powerful,  such  as  occurs 
during  bright  weather,  will  be  useful  in  preventing  the  over- maturity 
of  the  buds,  and  their  dropping  at  a  later  period. 
Siiccesssion  Houses. — Trees  started  in  February  have  mostly  been 
cleared  of  their  fruit,  but  some  are  still  ripening  and  need  free  venti¬ 
lation.  As  the  fruit  is  removed  cut  out  the  wood  that  has  borne  it,  and 
thin  the  growths  where  too  close,  or  where  they  are  so  near  each  other 
that  the  foliage  cannot  have  proper  exposure  to  light  and  air.  Cleanse 
the  trees  from  dust  and  red  spider  by  forcible  syringing,  employing  an 
insecticide  against  it  and  scale.  Keep  the  border  moist,  supplying 
liquid  manure  if  the  trees  have  cropped  heavily  and  are  enfeebled. 
This  helps  them  to  recuperate  and  plump  the  buds.  Stop  all  laterals 
to  one  joint,  or  allow  a  little  extension  if  the  trees  have  the  blossom 
buds  prominent  and  the  leaves  have  been  infested  with  red  spider,  with 
a  view  to  continuing  the  root  action,  and  at  the  same  time  divert  the 
sap  from  the  principal  buds,  which  must  not  be  forced  into  growth. 
When  the  buds  are  well  formed  and  the  wood  duly  matured,  remove  the 
roof-lights. 
Trees  Started  in  March. — These,  when  only  given  sufficient  heat  to 
insure  safety  for  the  blossom  and  fruit  from  frost,  or  maintain  a  steady 
progress  in  cold  periods,  have  the  fruit  in  an  advanced  state  for  ripen¬ 
ing.  The  leaves  should  be  drawn  aside  and  the  fruit  raised  by  means 
of  laths  across  the  trellis,  so  that  the  apex  will  be  exposed  to  the  light. 
Water  inside,  also  outside  borders  where  necessary  with  liquid  manure, 
and  keep  the  surface  lightly  mulched  with  short,  rather  lumpy  manure, 
but  avoid  heavy  coatings,  especially  of  matter  likely  to  form  a  soapy 
mass  and  exclude  air.  Commence  ventilating  early,  in  fact  leave  a 
little  air  on  all  night,  syringing  by  7  a.m.,  and  through  the  early  part 
of  the  day  ventilate  freely.  When  the  son  loses  power  in  the  afternoon 
reduce  the  ventilation,  and  raise  the  temperature  to  85°  or  90°  about 
4  P.M.,  with  a  good  syringing  and  damping  of  surfaces,  but  it  must  be 
done  with  judgment,  for  when  the  water  hangs  for  any  length  of  time 
on  the  fruit  during  the  last  swelling  it  is  liable  to  damage  the  skin, 
causing  it  to  crack,  or  if  not  that  it  may  impart  a  musty  flavour. 
Therefore  have  the  fruits  dry  before  nightfall,  and  when  the  day  is 
likely  to  be  dull  omit  the  morning  syringing.  Directly  the  fruit  com¬ 
mences  to  ripen  cease  syringing,  but  afford  moisture  by  damping  the 
floors,  especially  the  border  whenever  it  becomes  dry,  ventilating 
rather  freely  and  sufficiently  at  night  to  insure  a  circulation  of  air. 
Late  Houses. — In  order  to  assist  the  swelling  of  the  fruit  observe 
the  conditions  laid  down  in  the  preceding  paragraph.  To  accelerate 
the  ripening,  if  desired,  ventilate  rather  freely  in  the  early  part  of  the 
day  and  till  one  o’clock ;  then  conserve  the  heat  by  reducing  the 
ventilation  so  as  to  secure  a  temperature  of  80°  to  85°,  and  at  4  p.m. 
close  the  house,  syringing  well,  and  no  harm  will  come  if  the  heat  rises 
to  90°  or  95°,  ventilating  about  six  o’clock  so  as  to  let  the  pent-up 
moisture  escape  and  reduce  the  temperature  gradually.  Tie  down 
growths  as  they  advance,  allowing  no  more  than  are  necessary  for  next 
year’s  fruiting  and  for  furnishing  the  trees,  letting  all  have  space  for 
development  and  the  full  exposure  of  the  foliage  to  light  and  air.  Keep 
laterals  stopped  to  one  leaf,  also  those  of  growths  retained  to  attract 
the  sap  to  the  fruit.  If  there  are  any  gross  shoots  which  push  growths 
from  the  leaf  buds,  cut  them  back  to  where  the  buds  remain  intact, 
or  remove  them  altogether.  They  only  tend  to  promote  gumming, 
imperfect  setting,  and  casting  of  the  fruit  in  stoning.  Draw  the  leaves 
away  from  the  fruit,  raise  it  from  the  under  side  of  the  trellis,  and  let 
it  have  as  much  sun  and  air  as  possible.  Peaches  are  prized  for  their 
colour,  which  usually  implies  high  flavour. 
- - 
If 
m  BEE-KEEPER. 
1 
Removing  Supers. 
The  weather  is  now  all  that  can  be  desired  for  bee- keeping,  but  it 
has  come  too  late  to  be  of  much  benefit  to  bee-keepers  in  the  midland 
and  southern  counties.  The  season  is  now  practically  over.  All 
supers  should  now  receive  careful  attention,  as  with  the  excessively 
hot  weather  experienced  of  late  they  will  have  been  finished  off  at  a 
rapid  rate.  The  aim  of  the  bee-keeper  should  be  to  have  as  many  in 
first-class  condition  as  is  possible.  This  can  be  done  by  removing 
them  from  the  hive  as  soon  as  they  are  in  the  right  condition,  and 
closing  up  the  empty  space.  No  greater  mistake  can  he  made  than  to 
be  constantly  removing  the  sealed  sections  or  frames  late  in  the  season, 
and  replacing  them  with  empty  ones. 
Our  plan  is  to  remove  those  that  are  well  sealed.  These  are  usually 
found  in  the  middle  of  the  crate,  directly  over  the  brood  nest,  the 
vacant  places  being  filled  with  those  only  partially  sealed  over.  There 
M'i.l  then  be  a  better  prospect  of  them  being  finished  off  than  if  placed 
at  one  end  of  the  crate  over  the  outside  frames.  All  should  be  covered 
up  warm,  and  if  a  piece  of  thin  wood  is  laid  over  the  tops  of  the  frames 
this  will  keep  the  bees  in  the  brood  chamber,  and  with  the  extra 
coverings  the  bees  will  seal  over  the  remaining  sections  or  frames.  The 
above  refers  only  to  districts  where  the  honey  harvest  finishes  with 
the  Limes. 
Some  bee-keepers  have  a  difficulty  in  clearing  the  bees  from  the 
supers.  We  use  a  carbolic  cloth,  which  is  laid  over  the  top  of  the 
sections,  and  in  a  few  minutes  every  bee  will  have  been  driven  down 
into  the  brood  chamber  ;  the  supers  may  then  be  removed  with 
impunity.  This  plan  has  the  advantage  of  being  inexpensive. 
The  Porter  Bee  Escape. 
The  manufacturer  of  one  of  the  most  useful  super  cleaners  thus 
describes  the  Porter  bee  escape.  “  When  the  surplus  honey  is  ready 
to  ba  taken  from  the  hive,  at  any  time  ot  day,  when  convenient,  raise 
up  the  super  containing  it,  bees  and  all,  using  no  more  smoke  than  is 
necessary  to  quiet  them.  Place  the  escape  board  with  escape  in  place 
on  the  brood  chamber  or  super,  if  one  remains  on  the  hive,  or  has  been 
put  on  after  removing  the  first,  place  the  super  taken  from  the  hive, on 
the  escape  board  and  replace  the  hive  cover.  If  this  is  done  early  in 
the  forenoon  and  there  is  no  brood  or  queen  in  the  super,  ordinarily  in 
five  or  six  hours,  frequently  much  sooner,  the  bees  wi  1  be  practically 
