August  9,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
139 
growing  later,  and  temporary  protection  can  be  afforded  whenever 
frost  is  imminent.  Sow  the  seed  thinly  in  drills  9  inches  or  rather 
more  apart,  and  thin  out  the  plants  to  about  6  inches  asunder. 
Mushrooms. — ^An  early  start  should  be  made  with  open  air  beds, 
and  the  manure  also  be  prepared  for  forming  beds  in  various  unheated 
structures.  For  ridge  shaped  beds  a  mixture  of  stained  straw,  only 
the  longest  being  thrown  out,  and  horse  droppings  is  needed.  Throw 
the  manure  together  into  a  ridge-shaped  heap,  and  turn  it  inside  out 
every  day,  the  aim  being  to  get  rid  of  rank  heat  and  injurious  gases, 
and  yet  leave  plenty  of  “  life.”  Treated  in  this  way  the  manure  is 
lit  for  making  into  beds  in  about  three  weeks.  For  flat  beds  not  much 
short  straw  should  be  left  with  the  manure.  Only  manure  from  dry 
fed  well  worked  horses  is  suitable  for  Mushroom  beds. 
Winter  Onions. — Seeds  of  both  Tripoli  and  White  Spanish  types  of 
Onions  may  be  sown  now.  Moderately  rich  freely  cultivated  ground  is 
needed,  and  the  seed  may  be  sown  thinly  in  shallow  drills  1  foot  apart. 
The  White  Lisbon  is  the  variety  to  sow  on  a  large  scale  for  bunching 
early. 
Winter  Spinach. — It  is  a  mistake  to  defer  sowing  this  important  crop 
later  than  the  first  fortnight  in  August.  Nor  ought  it  to  be  grown  on 
poor  land.  The  ground  should  be  freely  manured,  deeply  dug,  and 
otherwise  cultivated  well  in  advance  of  seed  sowing,  lumpy  soil  being 
particularly  objectionable.  Sow  thinly  in  shallow  drills  12  inches  to  15 
apart. 
Turnips. — Much  of  the  ground  recently  cleared  of  second  early 
Potatoes,  Peas,  and  Cauliflowers  may  be  sown  with  Turnips.  The 
ground  ought  to  be  got  into  a  finely  divided  state  and  made  firm,  the 
seed  being  sown  thinly  in  shallow  drills  15  inches  apart.  Scatter  soot, 
over  advancing  crops  in  showery  weather,  this  warding  off  insect 
attacks  and  hastening  growth. 
Potatoes. —  Heat  and  drought  caused  an  early  maturation  of  early 
and  second  early  varieties,  and  the  bulk  of  these  are  quite  fit  for  liftii  g 
and  storing,  thisjadmitting  of  the  ground  being  cropped  with  some  kind 
of  winter  vegetable.  When  the  haulm  turns  yellow  and  falls  about  the 
ground  there  need  be  no  hesitation  about  lifting,  especially  seeing  that 
this'^^is  a  good  preventive  of  disease.  If  the  crops  cannot  be  lifted  tl  e 
haulm  may  be  drawn,  and  the  tubers  thereby  saved  from  disease. 
1 
HE  BEE-KEEPER. 
Sear  enable  Notes. 
The  excessive  heat  and  drought  of  the  past  few  weeks  has  not 
been  favourable  to  bee-keepers.  Although  the  temperature  has  been 
high  here  (South  Yorkshire)  there  have  been  frequent  thunder  showers, 
which  have  had  the  effect  of  keeping  the  pastures  green  and  the 
second  crop  of  Clover  to  bloom  freely.  S  iptrs  have  been  finished  off 
but  not  much  honey  has  been  stored.  During  the  past  few  days  we 
have  passed  through  several  of  the  midland  and  southern  counties  and 
found  the  pastures  very  brown.  The  honey  flow  must  have  ceased 
several  weeks  ago.  Bee-keepers  whom  we  met  spoke  of  the  past 
season  as  a  most  disastrous  one.  Those  whose  stocks  were  strong  and 
were  supered  early  obtained  some  well-finished  sections  from  the  fruit 
blossoms.  Others  were  not  so  fortunate,  and  they  had  no  surplus  of 
honey. 
The  hedgerows  in  many  places  were  covered  with  Brambles  in  full 
bloom.  The  bees  were  working  Ireely  on  them  as,  with  the  exception 
of  the  flowers  in  the  gardens  which  had  also  suffered  severely  from 
the  drought,  this  was  the  only  source  from  which  honey  could  be 
obtained.  Blackberry  honey  is  dark  in  colour,  and  not  of  good 
flavtur;  bees,  however,  winter  well  on  it.  They  should  therefore 
be  encouraged  to  store  it  for  this  reason  alone.  If  the  stock  require.s 
feeding  it  should  be  done  before  the  nights  are  too  cold,  otherwise 
the  bees  will  not  carry  the  syrup  down. 
Introducing  Qaeens. 
At  this  season  it  is  an  excellent  plan  to  introduce  young  queens  to 
such  colonies  as  require  them.  If  { revious  instructions  have  been  carried 
out  there  will  be  numerous  queens  in  the  apiary  suitable  for  this 
purpose.  It  is  important  that  the  queen  be  fertile,  and  this  may  be 
proved  by  observing  the  number  of  eggs  laid  in  the  nucleus  hive  in 
which  she  has  been  bred. 
There  are  various  ways  of  introducing  queens,  all  of  which  are 
more  or  less  succt  ssful.  The  most  simple  is  direct  introduction.  This 
is  done  by  placing  the  queen  in  a  box — an  ordinary  match-box  answers 
the  purpose  admirably — and  going  to  the  hive  quietly  at  night,  turn 
back  the  corner  of  the  quilt,  and  allow  the  queen  to  lun  down 
between  the  frames.  They  are  then  covend  up  for  forty -eight  hours, 
and  not  distuibed  by  handling,  when  in  the  majority  of  cases  the 
queen  will  be  found  all  right.  It  is  important  that  the  old  queen  is 
removed  before  a  young  one  is  introduced.  This  should  be  done  a> 
few  hours  before  it  takes  place.  ^ 
Those  who  are  nervous  of  this  plan  need  not  buy  expensive 
introducing  cages.  We  always  make  our  own  when  desirous  of 
caging  the  queen.  Take  a  piece  of  zinc  about  5  inches  square,  and 
turn  down  about  half  an  inch  of  the  edge  at  right  angles.  These 
edges  are  pressed  into  the  comb,  which  forms  a  cage  for  the  queen. 
The  bees  will  feed  her  through  the  small  holes  in  tbe  zinc.  If  liberated 
in  forty-eight  hours  the  bees  will  usually  take  readily  to  her.  If  the 
stock  has  been  queenless  for  some  time  there  may  be  a  difficulty  in 
getting  them  to  take  to  a  queen.  In  such  cases  it  is  better  to  treat 
them  as  a  swarm  by  turning  them  out  of  the  hive,  and  allowing  the: 
queen  to  run  into  the  hive  with  them. — An  English  Bee-keepeb. 
TO  CORRESPONDENTS 
All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should  be  directed 
to  “The  EditoB,”  12,  nxitre  court  Chambers,  Fleet  Street^^ 
Iiondon,  E.C.  It  is  reqm  sted  that  no  one  will  write  privately 
to  any  of  our  correspondents,  seeking  information  on  matters 
discussed  in  this  Journal,  as  doing  subjects  them  to  unjustifiable 
trouble  and  expense. 
Dividing  Aspidistras  (IF.  J.  0.). — The  best  time  to  divide  the  plants 
is  in  the  spring,  just  before  or  when  they  are  beginning  to  grow,  as  the 
divisions  then  have  a  better  chance  to  form  roots,  and  derive  benefit 
from  the  new  compost.  They  thrive  in  almost  any  ordinary  garden 
soil,  but  are  best  grown  in  loam,  leaf  mould,  and  sand.  We  have  found 
them  succeed  admirably  in  a  compost  of  three  parts  turfy  loam,  leaf 
mould  or  well  decayed  manure  one  part,  and  half  a  part  of  sharp  sand, 
with  a  sprinkling  of  “  nuts  ”  charcoal,  the  whole  well  incorporated. 
Good  drainage  should  be  provided,  as  the  plants,  especially  when  grow¬ 
ing,  must  have  plenty  of  moisture. 
Taking  Chrysanthemum  Buds  (H.  /.). — You  may  safely  expect  that 
the  next  buds  produced  will  appear  nearly  together,  and  they  will  in 
most  cases  be  terminals.  For  large  blooms  select  the  strongest  of  the 
shoots  now  extending  from  the  base  of  the  prematurely  formed  crown 
buds  which  you  have  removed.  Secure  the  reserved  shoot  carefully  to 
its  support,  gradually  removing  all  others,  and  watch  for  the  buds  which 
may  appear  towards  the  end  of  August,  perhaps  in  some  cases  earlier,, 
in  others  later.  Crown  buds  appearing  in  July  are  of  no  use  for 
producing  good  blooms,  but  any  very  late  sort  showing  a  crown  bud  at 
the  end  of  July  or  the  first  days  of  August  may  be  secured  in  full  trust 
that  a  fine  flower  will  be  developed  in  time  for  exhibition.  After  the 
first  week  in  August  all  crown  buds  formed  should  be  carefully  taken, 
whether  they  are  the  first  produced  or  the  second.  Sometimes  plants 
will  produce  a  second  crown  bud  instead  of  running  on  to  a  terminal. 
If  they  do  so  in  August  secure  them;  if  not,  take  the  terminal. 
Propagating  Heliotropes  (P.  jB.). — If  you  wish  good  stock  for  use 
next  season  the  cuttings  should  be  secured  at  once.  They  root  readily 
in  a  close  warm  frame  or  case,  temperature  60®  to  70°.  We  take  them 
from  plants  in  the  beds^  choosing  well-exposed  growths,  not  too  soft 
nor  yet  hard,  but  crisp  when  cut.  The  extreme  tips  are  often  too  soft 
and  are  then  removed,  and  if  they  produce  flower  buds  these  are  cut 
off.  They  are  inserted  an  inch  or  more  apart  in  a  firm  layer  of  sifted 
sandy  soil,  surfaced  with  pure  sand,  on  an  unsifted  loamy  mixture,  this 
a  little  more  than  half  filling  the  pots,  and  the  whole  well  watered 
before  the  cuttings  are  taken.  These  are  made  about  3  to  4  inches 
long,  the  lower  half  or  a  little  more  divested  of  leaves,  the  work  of 
preparation,  insertion,  and  removing  them  to  close  quarters  being  done 
quickly  to  avert  any  flagging  of  the  leaves.  A  light  sprinkling  is  given 
to  settle  the  sand  round  the  stems,  and  the  requisite  shading  and 
moisture  are  provided  to  keep  the  leaves  fresh.  In  the  course  of  a  few 
days  they  will  remain  fresh  with  less  shading,  and  air  and  light  in 
gradually  increasing  quantities  must  be  admitted  until  the  plants  will 
endure  full  ventilation  and  bright  sun,  both  of  which  are  essential 
for  hardening  their  tissues.  With  plenty  of  space  available  in  a  light 
house  in  which  a  winter  temperature  of  about  55°  could  be  maintained, 
we  should  establish  a  sufficient  number  of  the  young  plants  separately 
in  4-inch  pots,  and  these  with  good  attention  would  be  in  splendid  con¬ 
dition  for  bedding  next  season.  Failing  the  requisite  space  we  should 
insert  five  cuttings  in  3 j -inch  pots  and  expect  every  one  to  grow,  then 
winter  the  plants  in  these  pots.  Early  in  the  year  we  should  transfer 
them  without  division  to  fi^-inch  pots,  and  they  would  afford  abundance 
of  cuttings  for  striking  in  heat  in  the  spring,  and  these  would  make- 
excellent  plants  by  the  end  of  May. 
