158 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  13,  1903. 
cropping  time,  then  forking  over.  Fool  for  the  Peas  would  thus 
be  supplied  of  a  nature  in  which  turfy  soil  is  generally  deficient, 
and  thus  the  plants  be  fortified  against  the  disease,  or  better 
able  to  resist  its  onsslaught. — G.  Abbey. 
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Gadding  and  Gathering. 
The  Banner  of  Horticulture. 
These  passing  years  mark  the  opening  period  of  a  great  horti¬ 
cultural  expansion,  an  era  when  gardening  schools  and  craft 
education  and  iDractice  are  being  enormously  developed.  Cultures 
are  becoming  intensive  and  scientific,  and  from  now,  if  never 
before,  horticulture  will  date  more  and  more  as  an  industry,  as 
vitally  important  as  agriculture,  from  \yliich  it  is,  in  its  larger 
commercial  aspects,  divided  by  mere  arbitrary  definitions. 
The  “  lesser  horticulture  ”  (to  coin  a  phrase)  comprises  (1)  all 
aspects  of  ornamental  and  decorative  gardening;  and  (2)  plant, 
fruit  and  vegetable  cultures  within  the  range  of  ordinai-y  private 
household  requirements.  The  ornamental  and  decorative  phases 
of  horticulture  are  varied  and  complex.  They  embrace  landscape 
gardening  (an  art,  the  practice  of  which  entails  changes  in  the 
appearance  of  a  whole  landscape  or  district) ;  the  designing  and 
upkeep  of  private  and  public  grounds  and  parks,  and  the  adorn¬ 
ment  of  our  persons,  our  apartments,  our  dining  tables,  our 
churches,  theatres,  and  halls,  and  even  the  beloved  dead,  ere 
we  commit  them  to  the  silent  grave,  we  wreathe  with  choice 
flowers  of  the  garden.  Such  is  the  reach  of  the  ornamental  and 
decorative  side  of  gardening. 
The  smaller  cultures  of  fruits,  flowers,  and  vegetables  demand 
experience  and  wisdom  on  the  part  of  those  who  endeavour  toward 
the  highest  proficiency ;  but  the  responsibilities  in  the  “  greater 
horticulture,”  seem  to  us  to  be  far  keener,  and  fraught  with  con¬ 
sequences  of  more  serious  moment.  The  “  greater  horticulture 
pertains  to  the  successful,  practical  management  of  the  extensive 
nursery  gardens  of  our  own  and  other  lands,  allying  the  bulb 
grounds  of  Holland,  Japan,  Bermuda,  Scilly,  Ireland,  and  the 
C^ape;  and  again,  the  magnificent  orchards  of  every  civilised 
country.  The  vast  importance  of  the  great  flower  and  vegetable 
growing  centres  has  never  been  fully  appreciated  by  us,  for 
they  have  grown  up  in  ratio  to  the  increase  of  growth  of  towns 
and"  cities,  and  we  have  never  contemplated  what  it  would  mean 
to  be  without  them. 
For  our  beef,  and  bread,  ale  and  spirits,  we  are  dependent  on 
agriculture;  for  fruits,  and  vegetables,  and  for  the  floral  and 
plant  adornments  of  our  social  life,  we  depend  on  horticulture. 
Nor  would  our  cities  be  habitable  without  their  parks  and  boule¬ 
vards.  It  is,  then,  an  honour,  a  joy,  and  a  recompense  to  be  a 
gardener,  a  member,  however  humble,  of  the  huge  army  of  toilers 
and  tillers  who  can  claim  allegiance  to  the  banner  of  Horticulture, 
either  in  its  “  lesser,”  or  “  greater,”  applications. 
Gardening  in  New  Zealand. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  on  July  21, 
Mr.  Geo.  Hunt  read  a  paper  on  this  subject.  In  his  remarks  he 
named  the  Zonal  Pelargonium,  and  stated  that  the  original  varie¬ 
ties  taken  out  by  early  settlers  had  now  becoine  so  naturalised  as 
to  grow  wild,  forming  hedges  in  the  North  Island.  Ail  Fnglish 
flowers  blossom  profusely  in  Auckland.  ,  .  ,  .  , 
Wine  making  has  become  an  industry,  and  within  a  recent  year 
800  gallons  had  been  made  in  one  season  at  Auckland.  This  was 
estimated  to  be  worth  5s.  per  gallon  in  the  cellar  being  two- 
thirds  of  the  cost  of  the  first  vintage.  It  is  hoped  that  the  New 
Zealand  Government  will  come  forward  and  help  the  settlers. 
The  culture  of  Phormium  tenax  for  its  fibres,  has  been  much 
developed.  The  plant  deteriorates  in  the  southern  districts  of 
the  South  Island,  but  d.oes  well  in  Auckland.  The  leaves  are  cut 
from  the  plant;  they  are  macerated  in  water  to  rid  them  ot  the 
green  cellular  parts,  and  are  then  dried  in  the  fields,  after  which 
thev  are  shipped  to  England  as  hemp,  to  be  manufactured. 
The  New  Zealand  climate  is  capable  of  producing  the  best 
fruits  but  insect  pests  are  very  destructive  in  some  plantations. 
Cider ’is  a  favourite  drink  amongst  the  farmers,  though  harvesters 
prefer  tea,  which  they  drink  throughout  the  day.  Strawberries 
can  be  profitably  grown,  and  Raspberries  are  successfully  culti¬ 
vated  in  Nelson  Province,  in  the  northern  part  ot  South  island. 
Here  one  may  see  as  much  as  twenty-five  acres  of  one  variety— 
the  Red  Antwerp — but  American  sorts  are  not  in  favour.  ihe 
trade  is  done  chiefly  with  Wellington,  and  small  towns  on  the 
west  coast  •  and  jam  factories  have  been  established  for  presepung 
the  fruits.’  So  much  as  6d.  per  pound  is  got  at  ordinary  times, 
but  in  times  of  glut  the  price  for  Raspberries  only  realises  Id. 
per^ioui  ich  loamy  nature  of  the  Canterbury  Plain  rvas 
mentioned,  and  it  was  observed  that  the  finest  varieties  of  Apples 
are  grown  here,  and  are  so  plentiful  at  times  as  to  be  allowed 
to  rot  beneath  the  trees.  Mr.  Hunt’s  paper  was  written  on  the 
vova"e  home  from  New  Zealand,  and  it  will  be  of  much  interest 
cither  to  students  of  geography  in  its  many-sidedness,  or  to 
intendino-  immigrants  to  the  “Britain  of  the.  Southern  Seas. 
He  named  a  large  number  of  plants  and  shrubs,  de.scribing  the 
merits  and  uses,  amongst  them  being  the  Allspice  of  commerce, 
and  other  species  of  Myrtles ;  also  Pittosporums,  Lime  trees. 
Magnolias,  besides  Violas,  Ranunculuses,  Oxalis,  and  other 
subjects. — Wandekixg  Willie. 
Finding  and  Introducing  Queens 
One  of  the  most  perplexing  problems  to  the  novice  is  where 
to  find  the  queen.  In  modern  bee-keeping  this  oiieration  has 
very  often  to  be  performed.  The  finding  of  one  bee  among  so 
many  is  apparently  veiy  formidable;  but,  as  a  rule,  if  the  hive 
is  opened  with  as  little  disturbance  as  possible,  and  care  taken 
not  to  alarm  the  bees,  the  queen  will  be  found  on  one  of  the 
central  brood  combs,  generally  one  of  those  where  brood  is  just 
hatching.  If  she  is  not  on  the  centre  comb  take  out  another, 
and  so  on  until  the  whole  of  the  bars  have  been  examined.  The 
fact  that  her  body  is  longer  and  of  a  brighter  colour,  and  that 
her  legs  are  of  a  i-eddish  brown  tint,  clearly  marks  out  her 
royalty.  If  unable  to  find  her  the  first  time  a  second  examina¬ 
tion  should  be  carefully  made.  She  is,  however,  often  found 
the  first  time,  unless  she  is  a  black  ciueen,  which,  being  easily 
frightened,  run  into  dark  corners.  There  is  little  difficulty  in 
finding  Italian  queens,  as  they  are  not  disposed  to  hide,  and 
their  bright  colours  make  them  conspicuous  If  a  colony  is  in 
possession  of  a  virgin  queen  it  will  snow  no  signs  of  queenless- 
ness,  and  there  is  an  increased  difficulty  in  finding  her,  as  her 
abdomen  is  considerably  smaller.  In  some  cases,  notably 
emergency  queens,  there  is  little  or  no  difference  between  the 
virgin  queen  and  a  worker. 
If  doubtful  or  unable  to’  find  whether  there  is  a  queen  in  a 
hive  or  not,  a  ready  method  of  ascertaining  definitely  is  to 
place  a  frame  of  unsealed  brood  in  the  centre  of  the  brood  nest ; 
and  if  queen  cells  are  built  thereon  it  is  almost  certain  that 
there  is  no  queen  in  the  hive  The  absence  of  eggs  is  not  suffi¬ 
cient  evidence  that  a  colony  is  without  a  queen,  and  before 
treating  it  as  a  queenless  colony  or  introducing  another  it  is 
neoessary  to  try  the  above  unsealed  brood  test.  Should  the 
food  in  the  hive  be  distributed  without  any  sense  of  order  it  is 
a  sign  of  queenlessness,  or  that  there  is  an  unfertile  queen  in 
possession,  as  immediately  eggs  are  laid  the  honey  will  be 
moved  and  stored  in  the  tops  of  the  frames. 
The  principal  factor  in  introducing  queens  is  to  know  the 
exact  condition  of  the  colony.  Caution  is  always  necessary, 
especially  if  the  cjueen  is  a  valuable  one.  Where  there  are 
plenty  of  j'oung  bees  the  risk  of  introduction  is  minimised,  as 
they  take  more  readliy  to  the  strange  queen.  A  stock  of  bees 
is  in  the  best  condition  for  receiving  a  stranger  when  it  has 
been  queenless  from  eighteen  to  twenty-four  hours,  or  sufl5- 
ciently  long  to  know  that  they  are  queenless,  and  yet  not  suffi¬ 
ciently  long  to  have  started  queen  cells.  Queens  liberated  from 
introduction  cages  by  the  candy  eating  method  will,  if  placed 
over  such  a  colony,  be  all  right.  When,  however,  queen  cells 
are  well  advanced  before  the  queen  can  be  placed  above,  they 
should  be  excised,  after  which  the  queen  may  be  placed  over  the 
cluster  in  her  cage  and  liberated  after  the  forty-eight  hours. 
The  hive  should  not  be  opened  until  two  or  more  days  have 
elapsed,  and  then  care  taken  to  see  that  the  queen  has  left  the 
cage.  If  not,  replace  it  and  close  the  hive  for  two  days 
longer. 
The  chief  difficulty  in  this  branch  of  bee  culture  is  brought 
about  by  the  fact  that  queens  ai’e  often  required  for  re-queening 
queenless  stocks,  the  bees  of  which  are  more  or  less  old  ones 
before  their  condition  is  discovered.  In  such  a  case,  if  the 
queen  is  caged  over  the  cluster  for  a  few  days,  until  they  are 
seen  to  hang  loosely  on  it,  and  merely  pass  their  tongues  through 
the  perforations  to  feed  the  queen,  she  may  be  liberated  with 
safety.  If  a  hive  has  been  queenless  for  a  long  time  always  put  a 
bar  of  young  brood  from  another  hive  into  it  before  attempting 
to  introduce  the  queen ;  and  if  they  start  queen  cells  it  will  be 
proof  that  there  is  no  fertile  worker. — E.  E.,  Sandbach. 
How  to  Commence  Bee-keeping  in  Late  Summer  and  Early 
Autumn. 
I  think  it  has  been  clearly  established  that  it  is  profitable 
to  keep  bees,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  there  is  much 
pleasui’e  to  be  derived  from  the  pursuit.  The  more  one  learns 
about  these  interesting  creatures  the  more  fascinated  we 
become.  Many  of  your  readers,  no  doubt,  would  commence 
bee-keeping  if  they  could  do  so  cheaply,  and  only  know  what  to 
do.  The  skeppists  will  soon  want  to  sell  some  honey  or  place 
it  in  some  local  show.  Most  of  these  people  simply  “  keep 
bees,”  and  are  not  bee-keepers.  They  will  take  the  honey  by 
destroying  the  bees  over  the  sulphur  pit.  Make  your  own 
arrangements  with  these  gentlemen,  and  generally  they  are 
