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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
September  10,  1903. 
to  be  procured  by  those  who  wish  to  cultivate  little  known. 
Among  the  closely  related  Scillas,  Chionodoxas,  and  Pusch- 
kinias,  we  have  some  neglected  plants  of  worth.  Scilla  sibirica 
is  too  widely  grown  to  the  exclusion,  or  almost  so,  of  S.  bifolia, 
a  varied  plant  with  pretty  flowers  and  procurable  in  blue,  white, 
flesh  colour,  and,  more  rarely,  in  pink;  while  there  are  various 
oddments,  such  as  the  true  S.  amoena,  well  worth  considering. 
Then  the  dainty  little  Hyacinthus  azureus,  with  its  Muscari-like 
flowers  very  early  in  the  year,  is  a  lovely  little  thing.  So^  is 
N.  amethystinus,  a  gem  of  a  later  season.  As  for  the  dainty 
Puschkinias,  or  the  tiny  Chionodoxa  nana,  the  Musk  or  the 
tasselled  Hyacinths',  how  few  there  be  that  grow  them. 
Among  the  bulbous  Irises  there  are  many  neglected  plants. 
Because  the  Spanish  and  English  Irises  are  cheap  and  beautiful 
there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  enjoy  the  pretty  I.  sindjar- 
ensis,  the  love’y  little  I.  Rosenbachiana,  the  exquisite  I.  reticulata 
and  its  varieties,  and  the  considerable  number  of  others  to  be 
found  in  the  catalogues  of  the  bulb  dealers.  Then  how  small  a 
number  of  gardeners  know,  the  little  crimson  Lapeyrousia,  or 
Anomatheca  cruenta,  which  is  hardy  in  warm  soils,  and  which 
looks  so  delightful  in  the  shade.  Leucojums  are  not  absolutely 
neglected  bulbs,  but  many  more  should  cultivate  the  neatest  of 
all,  L.  autumnale,  which  flowers  from  July  onward  with  exquisite 
little  white  blooms.  With  the.se  one  may.speakof  the  Romuleas, 
pretty  summer-flowering  Crocus-lik’e  bulbs,  which  wmnt  a  warm 
place  and  a  sunny  situation.  A  word,  too,  must  be  said  for  the 
Lilies,  hardly  ever  seen  in  gardens.  Why  need  we  devete  our¬ 
selves  almost  entirely  to  L.  auratum,  L.  candidum,  Li  longi- 
florum,  L.  croceum,  L.  tigrinum,  and  sucH — fine  though  they 
are — and  neglect  L.  Szovitzianum,  L.  pardallnum,  L.  Humboldti, 
L.  Martagon  dalmaticum,  and  the  many  other  choice  Liliums 
at  our  command?  _  . 
It  seems  an  absurdity  to  speak  of  the  Narcissi  as  among  the 
neglected  lines,  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  there  are 
many  interesting  and  beautiful  things  among  them  which  are 
seldom  seen.  If  we  look  through  Messrs.  Barr  and  Sons’  cata¬ 
logue  there  will  be  found  such  gems  as  N.  cyclamineus,  N. 
gracilis,  N.  Macleai,  N.  juncifolius,  N.  triandrus  pulchellus,  and 
others  which  would  delight  those  who  could  find  for  them  a 
fitting  place. 
To  conclude,  one  can  merely  glance  at  some  of  the  Ornitho- 
galums,  such  as  0.  pilosum ;  the  Oxalises,  such  as  Bowieana,  or 
enneap’hylla  ;  the  Sternbergias,  not  easy  to  flower  everywhere, 
it  may  be,  but  worth  many  a  trial  before  confessing  one’s  self 
beaten;  the  charming  Zepliyranthes  Candida,  and  a  few  others 
of  the  genus,  and  to  finish  with,  the  many  Tulip  species,  with 
endless  variety  of  colour,  shape,  and  size.  All  these  show  us 
that  there  are  many  neglected  lines  even  among  introduced  hardy 
bulbs.  Were  a  demand  for  these  to  arise  it  would  lead  to  their 
being  cheapened  and  brought  in  quantities  within  the  reach  of 
the  masses. — S.  Arnott. 
Irish  Gardeners’  Association  and  Benevolent  Society,  Dublin. 
The  following  address  was  received  by  H.M.  the  King  at - 
Dublin  Castle  on  July  22,  1903,  from  the  ,  Irish  Gardeners’ 
Association : 
To  His  Majesty  Edward  VII.,  King  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  Emperor  of  India,  &c.  May  it  please  your  Majesty, 
we,  on  behalf  of  the  Irish  Gardeners’  Association  and  Benevo¬ 
lent  Society,  beg  to  tender  to  Your  Most  Gracious  Majesty, 
and  to  your  illustrious  Consort  the  Queen,  our  most  loyal  and 
hearty  wmlcome  on  this  your  first  visit  to  Ireland  since  your 
Majeky’s  accession  to  the  Throne.  Representing,  as  we  do,  a 
large  body  of  your  loyal  subjects,  who  appreciate  the  great 
interest  your  Majesty  takes  in  the  welfare  of  those  engaged  in 
horticultural  pursuits,  and  in  honouring  with  your  Royal 
patronage  the  Gardeners’  Royal  Benevolent  Institution  and' the 
Gardeners’  Rcyal  Orphan  Fund  of  England,  whose  objects  are 
of  a  similar  character  to  our  own,  we  feel  that  the  present  is  a 
fitting  opportunity  to  express  our  sincere  gratitude  •  and  pro¬ 
found  respect  on  this  occasion  of  your  visit  to  Dublin,  and  we 
humbly  hope  and  pray  that  it  may  be  your  Majesty’s  gracious 
pleasure  at  some  future  date  to  honour  with  your  illustrious 
patronage  the  Irish  Gardeners’  Association  and  Benevolent 
Society.  _  _ 
The  Relative  Value  of  Large  v.  Small  Bulbs. — The 
references  and  pictorial  illustration  furnished  by  Messrs.  Sutton 
and  Sons,  of  Reading,  in  their  new'  bulb  catalogue  deserve  the 
fullest  publicity,  for  they  are  good.  Their  remarks  are  as 
follows,  and  their  illustration  we  have  used  on  the  opposite 
page :  — “  We  should  like  to  remove  one  very  common  but 
erroneous  impression.  The  value  of  a  bulb  is  frequently  estimated 
by  its  size,  and  this  opinion  especially  prevails  concerning 
Hyacinths.  It  is  quite  true  that  some  varieties,  when  fully 
matured,  are  remarkably  large.  Others  attain  only  a  medium 
size,  while  certain  Hyacinths  are  always  below  the  average. 
There  is  also  considerable  diversity  in  the  form  and  appearance. 
The  essential  point,  however,  is  density.  The  accompanying 
illustration,  reproduced  from  a  photograph,  shows  at  a  glance 
that  a  large  bulb  may  not  contain  the  nucleus  of  so  fine  a  spike 
as  a  much  smaller  bulb.” 
Autumn  Feeding  and  Preparation. 
The  essentials  of  safe  wintering  are  numerical  strength,  plenty 
of  good  food,  pure  air,  warmth,  and  dryness,  but  many  bee¬ 
keepers  in  their  preparations  for  winter  fail  to  secure  these  re¬ 
quisites,  and  the  inevitable  trouble  which  they  term  bad  luck 
comes.  All  colonies  should  be  sufficiently  strong  to  cover  at  least 
seven  bars,  and  the  majority  of  these  bees  must  be  young  ones, 
these  not  having  lost  their  vitality  by  labouring  will  be  the  ones 
to  carry  on  the  brood-raising,  &o.,  at  the  most  critical  time  in 
the  following  spring.  The  life  of  the  worker  bee  is  governed  by  the 
amount  of  work  it  is  called  upon  to  perform,  and  if  queens  cease 
laying  too  early  in  the  autumn  through  lack  of  income  the  colony 
consequently  goes  into  winter  quarters  with  comparatively  few 
young  bees.  The  second  essential  is  a  sufficiency  of  wholesome 
sealed  food  in  the  proper  position. 
There  is  much  doubt  as  to  the  exact  quantity  of  food  neces¬ 
sary  to  support  a  stock  through  the  cold  months,  but  if  there  are 
from  201b  to  251b  sealed  by  tbe  middle  of  September  it  will  be 
ample.  Rather  less  water  is  necessary  in  making  syrup  for 
autumn  feeding,  five  pints  of  water  to  101b  of  sugar  being  plenty. 
Syrup  of  this  consistency  will  require  very  little  evaporation. 
The  other  essentials  are  warmth  and  dryness  in  the  hive.  Any 
leakages  in  the  roof  should  be  attended  to,  and  quilts  examined 
periodically  throughout  the  wdnter,  in  order  to  ascertain  if  they 
are  perfectly  dry.  Extra  warmth  is,  of  course,  obtainable  by 
dummying  and  quilting.  Stocks  which  do  not  cover  seven  bars 
should  be  united,  as  if  left  to  wdnter  singly  they  will  succumb 
through  inability  to  maintain  the  rec|uisite  heat.  Weak  stocks 
are  unable  to  evaporate  the  superfluous  moisture  from  the  syrup, 
and  are  consequently  unable  to  seal  it  up,  w’hich  renders  them 
liable  to  dysentery.  Every  comb  that  the  bees  do  not  actually 
need  should  be  removed. 
During  autumn  feeding,  all  entrances  should  be  narrowmd  to 
prevent  robbing  and  loss  of  heat,  the  latter  assists  in  the 
evaporation  of  moisture  from  the  food.  The  object  of  slow'  feed¬ 
ing  in  the  autumn  is  to  artificially  prolong  the  harvest  at  the 
cessation  of  which  the  queens  discontinue  breeding.  This  con¬ 
tinued  ovipositing  is  the  greatest  desideratum  for  wintering  safely 
and  coming  out  strong  in  the  spring.  The  crow'ding  of  bees  for 
winter  is  not  always  carried  out  as  it  should  be.  If  contracting 
and  feeding  up  is  done  early,  i.e.,  the  brood  nest  reduced  to  about 
seven  bars  of  bees,  they  will  have  no  alternative  but  to  store  the 
food  in  the  upiier  portions  of  the  combs  and  on  both  sides  of  the 
brood,  and  as  the  latter  hatches  the  empty  cells  wdll  supply  the 
requisite  clustering  space,  in  the  natural  position. 
Much  of  the  success  of  wintering  depends  upon  the  location 
of  stores,  an  abundance  of  w’hich  on  the  outside  oomb.s  where  the 
cluster  cannot  reach,  w'ill  not  compensate  for  a  deficiency  in  the 
centre.  If  feeding  in  the  autumn  is  allow'ed  to  drift  until  cold 
weather  sets  in  the  food  will  remain  unsealed  and  liable  to  fer¬ 
mentation,  and  the  bees  w’ill  have  no  empty  combs  to  cluster 
upon,  -which  (even  if  a  very  pow  erful  colony)  places  them  at  a 
great  disadvantage  in  maintaining  the  required  temperature 
throughout  the  winter. 
American  apiarists  whose  winters  are  much  more  severe  than 
ours,  recommend  that  the  bees  should  be  crowded  into  as  small  a 
space  as  they  can  be  forced  to  occupy.  The  heat  is  thus  pre¬ 
vented  from  escaping  around  the  nest,  and  upward  ventilation 
avoids  any  risk  of  moist  vapours.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
strongest  stocks  consume  less  honey  than  the  weaker  ones  during 
the  , winter  months,  and  if  economy  is  the  object  of  the  bee¬ 
keeper,  the  consumption  may  be  minimised  still  further  by  uniting 
and  contracting.  -  It  w'ill  be  apparent  that  the  temperature 
around  a  cluster  of  bees  will  be  higher  than  in  the  remotest  part 
of  the  hive,  so  that  by  contraction  to  a  smaller  space  the  insects 
are  , able,  to  maintain  a  temperature  of  6odeg  by  consuming  less 
honey. 
This  feeding  causes  a  corresponding  amount  of  activity  which 
in  the  winter  is  injurious.  Further,  it  is  important  to  have 
young  and  vigorous  queens  for  wintering,  or  else  autumn  stimu¬ 
lation  to  obtain  young  bees  will  be  a  dismal  failure.  ■ 
Before  the  middle  of  October  stocks  should  be  examined  care¬ 
fully,  and  all  combs  not  covered  should  be  removed,  and  where 
there  is  a  deficiency  of  food  it  must  be  remedied  by  supplying 
bars  sealed  up.  It  is  a  bad  practice  to  open  hives  in  the  spring, 
or  to  disturb  them  in  any  way  during  the  months  of  quietude. 
If  feeding  has  to  be  resorted  to,  wait  until  the  bees  are  active 
some  fine  day  when  the  temperature  is  between  SOdeg  pid  GOdeg, 
and  then  insert  a  bar  of  sealed  stores,  or,  failing  which,  a  cake 
of  candy  over  the  feed  hole.  At  this  period  of  the  year  candy 
must  not  have  any  substitute  for  pollen,  such  as  peaflour  mixed 
wdth  it.  Excrement  is  produced  by  pollen,  not  by  honey  and 
syrup,  .so  that  candy  wull  be  .sufficient  to  sustain  life  until  they 
can  take  flights  frequently  enough  to  prevent  them  discharging 
themselves  on  the  combs  and  becoming  generally  dysenteric. — 
.  E.  E.,  Sandbach. 
