September  18,  1902.  JOURNAL  CF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
277 
Wirrall  and  Birkenhead,  Sept.  10th  and  Uih. 
This  year  is  the  Diamond  Jubilee  of  the  society,  and  at  its 
two  days’  show  the  receipts  were  £500  better  than  at  any  previous 
one.  Stove  and  greenhouse  plants  were  a  very  feeble  lot,  bub 
fruit,  hardy  flowers,  and  vegetables  were  grand.  To  the  ever 
courteous  secretary,  Mr.  A.  H.  Edwardson,  much  credit  is  due. 
For  a  group  of  plants,  Mr.  H.  Ogden,  West  Derby,  showed  much 
taste;  the  second  prize  going  to  Mr.  Haines,  gardener  to  E.  K. 
Laird,  Esq.  The  latter  had  the  best  ten  stove  and  greenhouse 
plants,  and  other  minor  classes.  Handsome  Coleus  came  from 
James  Birch,  Esq.,  and  both  Fern  classes  went  to  Mr.  C.  Jones, 
gardener  to  E.  Evans,  Esq. 
Eleven  competed  for  the  stand  of  cut  flowers  for  table  decora¬ 
tion,  the  award  going  to  Mr.  J.  Ennion  with  a  blending  of  choice 
Orchids,  Roses,  Lilies,  and  the  necessary  greenery.  Fourteen 
put  up  single  hand  bouquets,  Mr.  J.  Williams  leading.  Choice 
Roses  were  staged  by  Mr.  S.  Bell,  gardener  to  J.  N.  Hodgson,  Esq. 
The  entries  for  Cactus  and  Show  Dahlias  were  quite  bewildering, 
the  superior  Lathom  grower,  Mr.  H.  Banks,  winning  for  twelve, 
and  six  Catcus,  and  twelve  Shows;  Mr.  J.  Clarke  taking  the  six 
class.  Mr.  J.  Lee  had  a  splendid  collection  of  hardy  cut  flowers, 
bold,  fresh,  and  of  fine  quality ;  and  Miss  Gaskell  superb  annuals. 
Mr.  E.  A.  Young  had  a  grand  dessert  table  of  Muscat  and 
Hamburgh  Grapds,  Royal  George  Peaches,  &c.  Hardy  fruits 
were  good,  Mr.  A.  J.  Oakshott  leading.  The  competition  in. 
the  Grape  classes  was  keen,  Mr.  Gaunt,  Mr.  E.  Stokes,  and 
Mr.  O.  Roberts  each  doing  well.  Other  winners  were  Mr.  T. 
Ferguson,  Mr.  IT.  May,  and  Mr.  Richards.  The  vegetable 
classes,  both  for  quantity  and  quality,  were  absolutely  grand, 
but  as  the  kinds  were  unnamed,  the  educational  value  is  com¬ 
pletely  lost.  Messrs.  E.  Alty  and  J.  H.  Jones  won  for  the  col¬ 
lections,  Mr.  Millington  had  the  lead  in  twelve  Tomatoes  (thirteen 
entries),  and  Mr.  J.  P.  Platt,  jun.,  for  six,  out  of  eighteen, 
entries. 
Messrs.  Dicksons,  Limited,  Chester,  had  a  fine  stand  of 
herbaceous  plants,  grain,  and  roots.  Mr.  H.  Middlehurst,  Liver¬ 
pool,  a  similar  stand,  whilst  Messrs.  Garton,  of  Warrington,  had 
splendid  samples  of  Black  Tartarian  Oats,  New  Era  Wheat, 
and  Maltster  Barley,  for  which  a  gold  medal  was  awarded. — • 
R.  P.  R. 
Wakefield  Paxton. 
Programme  of  meetings  for  the  third  quarter,  session  1902, 
which  are  held  at  the  Paxton  Room,  Woolpaeks  Hotel,  Westgate, 
each  Saturday  evening,  at  eight  o’clock  prompt,  is  as  follows: — 
September  G. — “The  Begonia”  (exhibition),  Mr.  W.  H.  Vere; 
September  13. — “  The  Tomato*  with  Specimens,”  Mr.  G.  Duns- 
more ;  September  20. — Vegetable  Exhibition,  discussion  opened 
by  Mr.  J.  Eastwood,  Lupset ;  September  27. — “The  Dahlia” 
(exhibition),  Mr.  J.  Twigge;  October  4. — Exhibition  of  Autumn 
Leaves  and  Fruits.  Lecture  by  Mr.  T.  W.  Woodhead,  Technical 
College,  Huddersfield;  October  11. — “The  Michaelmas  Daisy  and 
Marguerite,”  Mr.  J.  H.  Wood,  Kirkstall  ;  October  18. — “The 
Apple”  (exhibition),  Mr.  T.  Wilson;  October  25. — “Experiments 
with  Chemical  Manures  in  the  Kitchen  Garden,”  illustrated  by 
lantern  slides,  Mr.  F.  W.  E.  Shrivell,  Tonbridge,  Kent; 
November  1. — “The  Scattering  of  Seeds,”  illustrated  by  lantern 
slides,  Mr.  H.  Crowther,  F.R.M.S.,  Leeds  Museum  ;  November  8. 
— "The  West  Country,”  illustrated  by  lantern  slides,  Captain 
H.  S.  Goodyear;  November  15. — Lantern  lecture,  Mr.  F.  H.  Wig- 
ham;  November  22. — “  The  Chrysanthemum  ”  (exhibition),  Mr.  A. 
Allison  ;  November  29. — “  The  Wakefield  Paxton  Society— Its 
Origin,  Objects,  and  Aims,”  Mr.  H.  Haze-11. — T.  H.  Mountain, 
A.  S.  Nicholson,  Hon.  Secs. 
Ipswich  Gardeners. 
At  the  Ipswich  and  District  Gardeners’  Association’s  last 
meeting  of  the  session,  in  the  Co-operative  Hall,  Ipswich,  on 
September  4,  Mr.  A.  Sowman,  horticultural  lecturer  to  the  East 
Suffolk  County  Council,  delivered  a  lecture  on  “The  Potato:  its 
Origin  and  Character.”  It  had  been  proved  by  experiment  on  all 
kinds  of  soil  that  the  first  thing  towards  success  in  the  cultivation 
was  to  see  that  the  sets  were  whole,  in  good  condition,  thoroughly 
matured,  well  cared  for  in  the  full  light,  perfectly  green  and 
hardy,  and  kept  as  cool  as  possible.  The  worst  possible  flavoured 
Potato  was  that  grown  on  animal  manure,  whilst  as  to  chemical 
manure,  used  in  a  methodical  manner,  it  was  found  that  the  plots 
were  not  so  liable  to  disease,  and  the  weight  of  the  Potatoes  was 
more.  The  Potato  requires  four  important  elements,  viz.,  pot¬ 
ash,  to  make  it  starchy  ;  phosphoric  acid,  for  the  production  of 
fruitfulness;  nitrates  for  the  production  of  healthy  foliage,  and 
for  the  manufacture  of  food  and  lime,  without  which  all  chemical 
fertilisers  would  bo  just  as  useful  on  the  roads.  If  they  wanted 
to  battle  against  Potato  disease,  they  must  devote  their  attention 
to  the  food  of  the  plant.  Dealing  briefly  with  the  Potato  disease, 
Mr.  Sowman  said  this  was  more  particularly  noticeable  where  the 
soil  had  been  injudiciously  treated  with  nitrates.  The  disease 
should  be  treated  with  a  mixture  for  ten  rods  of  a  pound  of  copper 
sulphate,  a  pound  of  lime,  and  a  pound  of  treacle,  mixed  with  ten 
gallons  of  water.  The  cost  would  work  out  at  about  15s.  per  acre.  , 
277 
Wintering  Bees. 
Success  the  following  season  depends  upon  the  correct  autumn 
preparations  for  winter.  There  is  a  positiveness  in  this  assertion 
which  claims  particular  attention,  the  reasons  for  which  are  by 
no  means  obscure.,  Let  a  colony  of  bees  be  either  stimulated  to 
breed  late  in  the  season,  allowed  to*  go  into  winter  quarters  short 
of  food,  or  with  stores  in  an  unnatural  position,  and  the  certainty 
that  this  is  so  will  be  manifest.  It  would  be  easy  to  accumulate 
examples  where  these  errors  in  management  have  been  the  cause 
of  restlessness  in  the  stocks  throughout  the  winter  and  reduction 
in  the  vitality  of  the  bees,  in  addition  to  which  late  breeding  itself 
will  cause  abdominal  distension  and  spring  dwindling.  All  these 
hindrances  to-  successful  bee-keeping  ^should  be  avoided. 
In  the  first  place,  the  requisites  for  safety  during  the  cold 
months  are  young,  vigorous  queens,  abundance  of  young  bees, 
sufficient  stores  suitably  located,  warmth  and  dryness.  The  time 
to  prepare  for  winter  varies  with  the  surrounding  conditions  and 
seasons.  It  is  much  preferable,  however,  to  be  a  little  too  pre¬ 
vious  than  too  late.  When  the  old  queens  are  to  be  deposed  it 
will  be  found  advisable  to  capture  the  old  one  before  the  supers 
are  removed,  otherwise  when  all  the  bees  from  the  supers  are  in 
the  brood  chamber  the  difficulty  in  finding  her  will  be  increased. 
When  the  young  queen  has  been  introduced,  the  stock  should 
be  stimulated  by  feeding  in  order  to  secure  the  desideratum  of 
plenty  of  young  bees;  and  if  the  food  is  given  a.  little  in  excess  of 
the  wants  of  the-  colony,  by  the  time  it  is  discontinued  the  stock 
will  have-  stored  sufficient  for  winter.  The  young  bees  thus 
obtained  will  not  only  live  through  the  winter,  but  will  also  work 
on  the  fruit  blossoms  the-  following  spring.  After  the  middle  of 
September  an  examination  should  be  made  to  ascertain  the 
amount  of  food  present.  There  should  be  at  least  301bs  sealed, 
which  is  equivalent  to-  six  frames.  If  there  is  any  doubt  as  to  the 
quantity  feed  up  rapidly.  The  preparation  of  the  food  for 
autumn  feeding  is  important.  Nothing  but  the  finest  cane  sugar 
should  be  used,  to  101b  of  which  five  pints  of  water  should  be 
added.  The  syrup  must  be  medicated  with  naphthol  beta,  and 
on  reaching  boiling  point  should  have  loz  of  tartaric  acid  added, 
which  will  convert  it  into  invert  sugar,  preventing  recrystalisa- 
tion,  which  is  essential.  Vinegar  is  occasionally  recommended, 
but  the  strength  varies  so  much  that  it  cannot  be  depended  upon. 
A  powerful  colony,  with  plenty  of  room  for  storage,  will  take 
101b  in  a  few  hours  if  given  warm  at  dusk.  When  fed  in  this 
manner  there  is  little  or  no  disturbance,  and  by  the  following 
morning  there  is  nothing  unusual  visible,  with  the  exception  of 
a  larger  number  of  bees  fanning  at  the  entrance.  Another  advan¬ 
tage  of  administering  food  in  this  way  is  that  it  is  so  rapid  that 
it  does  not  stimulate  the  queen  to  more  egg  laying,  which  at  such 
an  unseasonable  time  would  be  detrimental.  There  should  be 
enough  bees  to  cover  at  least  seven  combs  on  both  sides.  Stocks 
which  are  weaker  should  be  united  after  deposing  the  oldest 
queen,  and  any  bars  not  covered  by  bees  removed,  and  the  hive 
reduced  by  dummies.  When  reducing  the  number  of  frames,  the 
fact  that'  bees  require  empty  combs  to-  cluster  upon  must  not  be 
overlooked.  Those-  which  are-  half  filled  with  honey  should  be 
placed  next  to  the  cluster,  the  natural  position  of  stores  when  the 
hive  is  in  a  normal  condition. 
The  bars  should  then  be  spaced  If  of  an  inch  apart,  so  that  the 
bees  may  be  able  to  form  a  more  compact  cluster,  and  instead  of 
cutting  holes  through  the  combs  for  winter  passages,  which  inmost 
cases  are  occupied  the  following  season  by  drone  comb,  it  is 
better  to  use  “  Hill’s”  device,  or  place-  strips  of  xvood  about  £in 
thick  on  the  top  of  the  frames.  The  extra  quilts  should  consist  of 
bags,  or  the  admirable  protection  suggested  by  Mr.  Cheshire,  con¬ 
sisting  of  a  shallow  box  or  super  the  same  size  as  the  brood 
chamber,  with  a  loose  cloth  bottom  filled  with  cork  dust.  I  he 
latter  may  be  procured  from  any  fruiterer  who  sells  foreign 
Grapes.  This  forms  a  non-conducting  quilt,  which  allows  free 
ventilation  without  draught,  while  retaining  the  heat  of  the 
cluster.  If  the  cork  dust  gets  wet  it  will  not  rot  like  chaff  or 
other  vegetable  matter. 
Entrances  should  be  opened  lin  for  each  bar  of  bees,  as  in  per¬ 
forming  respiration  bees  consume  a  certain  amount  of  oxygen,  and 
to  obtain  this,  expel  the  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  maintain  the 
temperature  of  the  cluster,  entails  a  greater  expenditure  of  energy 
when  there  is  an1  insufficient  entrance.  This  also  serves  to  empha¬ 
sise  the  wisdom  of  evaporative  efficiency  in  quilts.  The  relative 
value  of  the  different  materials  for  this  purpose  has  been  a  fruit¬ 
ful  subject  of  discussion,  and  it  appears  that  the  superiority  of 
felt  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  entraps  the  air  which  it  contains  in 
a  better  mariner  than  any  other  material  commonly  used,  and  it 
is  the  non-conducting  properties  of  confined  air  upon  which  tho 
efficiency  of  the  quilt  depends.  The  perfect  quilt  is  sufficiently 
porous  to  permit  slow  upward  ventilation  without  draught. 
Inability  to-  secure  this  while  usinglinoleum  constitutes  one  of  its 
greatest  disadvantages.  The  entrance  being  at  the  bottom  makes 
