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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  3,  1903. 
Trees  of  the  Bible. 
(Concluded  from  n.  402.) 
The  Poplar,  I  think,  is  noticed  once  or  twice,  and  this  is 
probably  the  white  specievs  ;  while  the  Ash,  from  which  idols  and 
graven  images  were  made,  was  not  an  ordinary  Ash  tree — which 
does  not  grow  in  the  Holy  Land — but  either  the  Pine  or  what 
is  termed  the  Manna  Ash  [which  u  an  Ash. — Ed.]  Two  imported 
woods  referred  to  on  several  occasions  are  the  Alniug,  which  was 
brought  in  during  Solomon’s  time  for  building  purposes  and  for 
manufacturing  into  musical  instruments,  and  may  be  assumed  to 
be  tlie  Sandal  Wood  of  India;  and  Ebony,  which  was  a  hard 
woo-d  brought  over  as  merchandise  also  from  India  to  Tyre. 
Few  other  trees  remain  to  be  treated  of.  Among  the 
remainder,  however,  we  hear  of  the  Chestnut,  which  is  again  a 
misnomer,  being  the  Plane  tree,  and  which  grew  in  some  pro¬ 
fusion  along  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  the  true  Chestnut  probably 
not  being  existent  in  Palestine,  and  the  Cypress  spoken  of  by 
Isaiah  as  a  forest  tree,  and  used  for  idols.  It  was  doubtless  a 
Juniper,  which  grew  round  about  Lebanon.  It  was,  however, 
not  the  same  as  the  Juniper  mentioned  in  another  place,  uhich 
was  apparently  a  kind  of  Broom,  growing  in  the  wilderness  about 
Sinai,  and  under  one  of  which  Elijah  is  stated  to  have  lain  dovm. 
Another  bush  which  played  a  conspicuous  part  was  the  Acacia, 
supposed  to  represent  the  burning  bush.  It  was,  at  any  rate, 
a  thorny  shrub  and  very  abundant.  There  is  a  scant  reference 
or  so  to  the  Willow,  which  was  the  Babylonian  or  Weeping 
\\hllow,  and  was  met  with  as  its  nature  demands,  as  at  the 
present  day,  by  the  side  of  brooks,  rivers,  and  watercourses. 
Thus  Isaiah  talks  of  “  springing  up  as  a  Willow  by  the  water.” 
The  Sycamine,  it  is  thought,  was  the  common  Mulberry  tree. 
We  have  now — with  a  passing  mention  of  the  Apple  (really 
Apricot),  the  Pomegranate,  and  the  Nut  (that  in  Song  of  Solomon 
being  the  Walnut,  cultivated  by  the  Jews  for  its  fruit) — only  to 
deal  with  the  two  highly  and  extensively  cultivated  fruit-pro¬ 
ducing  trees,  the  Fig  and  the  Date.  The  former  was  in  that 
country  and  in  those  days,  a  very  necessary  food,  being  an  article 
of  diurnal  consumption  both  in  Palestine  and  Syria.  It  was  an 
emblem  alike  of  security  and  prosperity.  To  dwell  under  one’s 
own  Fig  tree  was  indeed  quite  the  respectable  and  correct  thing, 
according  to  the  primitive  conditions  of  the  time.  It  is  a  curious 
fruit,  having  at  certain  times  the  produce  of  two  seasons  uiron 
its  branches  at  one  and  the  same  time.  _ 
Lastly  and  in  conclusion,  there  is  the  Date  Palm,  that 
beautiful  and  fruitful  tree  which  grows  with  its  feet  in  the  cool, 
moist  earth,  and  its  stately  head  in  the  burning  sun.  “To 
flourish  like  the  Palm  ”  was  apparently  an  axiom  of  extreme 
well  being.  Its  delicate  fruit  needs,  of  course,  no  deiscription 
here.  Its  day  and  generation,  however,  like  .so  much  in  that  sad 
and  retrograde  land,  with  her  bygone  history  and  former  pro¬ 
sperous  soil,  is  now  but  a  tale  of  the  past,  for  however  flourishing 
it  was  in  the  time  of  the  JeAVS,  the  Palm  is  now  practically 
extinct  in  that  country. — J.  A.  Caknegie-C’heales. 
The  Price  of  Flowers. 
Some  thirty-five  years  ago  a  young  English  doctor  Avent  on 
his  honeymoon  trip  to  SAvitzerland.  He  and  his  bride  sj)ent 
their  holidays  midst  the  mountain  scenery,  and  they  gathered 
the  floAvers  and  Alpine  plants  from  each  mountain  peak  they 
climbed,  as  a  memento  of  their  sojourn.  On  the  last  day  of 
their  honeymoon  the  bride’s  attention  Avas  attracted  by  a  beau¬ 
tiful  clump  of  Alpine  Anemone,  Avhose  starry  blo.ssoms  .shone 
conspicuously  upon  the  snoAV  and  hoar  fro.st  of  a  rock  that  formed 
the  summit  of  the  peak  they  Avere  ascending.  Anxious  to  please 
his  bride,  the  gentleman  scaled  the  rock,  but  just  as  he  Avas  in 
the  act  of  plucking  the  Anemone  the  thin  cru.st  of  earth  on 
which  they  grew  slipped,  and  he  Avas  precipitated  into  the 
crevasse  of  a  glacier  that  yaAvned  on  the  other  side.  No  one 
could  fall  from  such  a  height  and  live.  It  Avas  impossible  even 
to  recover  the  body,  but  the  guides  told  the  heart-broken  lady 
that  in  the  process  of  time  the  glacier  Avould  de.scend  into  the 
A'alley,  and  it  AA’ould  then  be  possible  to  recover  the  corpse.  A 
calculation  Avas  made  (continues  the  “  Daily.  Express  ”)  as  to  the 
time  the  glacier  Avould  take  to  descend,  and  the  bride  made  her 
home  in  the  little  Alpine  village  at  its  foot,  and  resolved  to  Avait 
this  terrible  home-coming  of  her  beloved  one.  For  over  thirty 
long  years  she  Availed  and  Avatched  the  sIoav  but  inevitable  pro¬ 
gress  of  the  glacier  that  Avas  bringing  her  loved  one’s  body  to  her. 
Two  years  ago  her  patience  Avas  reAvarded.  The  glacier  descended 
as  the  guides  predicted,  and  crystallised  in  the  ice  Avas  found 
the  bodv  of  her  husband,  still  clasping  the  Anemones  in  his  hand. 
It  i§  safe  to  say  that  there  is  not  a  single  Alpine  plant  that  has 
not  been  resironsible  for  some  terrible  tragedy. 
The  Age  of  Worker  Eees. 
One  is  frequently  asked  :  Hoav  long  does  a  bee  live.P  Not  long 
ago  I  Avas  drving  some  bees  for  an  old  farmer,  avIio  gravely  told 
me  he  had  had  those  bees  thirty  years.  It  is  easier  to  imagine 
his  utter  astonishment  than  to  describe  it  Avhen  I  informed  him 
that  probably  there  A\as  not  a  bee  of  any  description  that  Avas  in 
the  hive  the  previous  summer.  It  is  easy  to  determine  the  age 
that  Avorkers  Avill  live  to,  in  the  summer,  in  the  folloAving 
manner.  If  a  hive  of  bees  (the  common  English  bee)  SAvarm,  take 
out  the  queen  and  replace  her  by  an  Italian,  queen.  Closely  Avatch 
the  SAvarm,  and  in  about  five  Aveeks  the  yelloAv  banded  Italian 
Avill  be  seen.  Gradually  these  Avill  increa.se,  and  the  English 
decrease,  and  in  about  seven  and  a  half  Aveeks  the  last  of  the 
blacks  Avill  be  seen.  This  sIioaa’s  that  during  the  height  of  the 
season,  bees  u.sually  live  about  eight  or  nine  Aveeks;  for  the 
bees,  after  hatching,  generall.y  stay  at  home  and  act  as  nurses 
for  tAvo  Aveeks.  As  the  Avork  in  the  field  decreases,  so  their  lives 
lengthen;  so  that  those  Avhich  hatch  in  August  and  September 
liAm  until  the  next  spring. 
Italian  Bees. 
If  any  of  your  readers  have  not  tried  Italians  they  ought  to 
do  so.  The  queens  are  very  fertile,  producing  thousands  of  busy 
and  hard  Avorking  Avorkers  that-  beat  the  blacks  easily.  They 
are  more  easily  handled  than  our  native  bees,  having  excellent 
tempers.  The  difficulty  in  this  country  is  to  keep  the  race 
pure;  .so  they  become  very  expensive,  because  mongrels  have  a 
dreadful  temper  Avhich  it  Avould  be  difficult  to  beat.  Pure 
Italians  can  be  easily  distinguished, -for  round  the  abdomen  they 
have  three  bright  yelloAV  bands. — Hybla. 
J 
Colonies  Short  of  Stores. 
It  repeatedly  happens  from  various  causes,  such  as  neglect  of 
feeding  at  the  pi'oper  time,  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  feed 
some  stocks  at  a  period  Avhen  it  is  not  advisable  to  administer 
liquid  food  to  them.  Colonies  that  have  been  placed  in  a  posi¬ 
tion  Avhere  the  sun  does  not  shine  upon  them  refuse  to 
take  doAvn  the  food  given  them,  although  this  may  be 
as  early  as  September;  and  other  colonies  take  tlm  food  doAvn 
rapidly.  This  is  accounted  for  by  the  stock  going  into  Avinter 
quarters  earlier  throaigh  lack  of  Avarmth. 
There  is  little  or  no  difficulty  in  remedying  this  .state  of  things 
if  stored  combs  can  be  removed  from  stock.s  Avhicli  have  exce,ss  ; 
but  if  this  cannot  be  done,  the  difficulty  Avill  have  to  be  met  by 
supplying  them  Avith  AA'hat  is  termed  candy.  A  colony  thus  .“^aved 
Avill  be  Avorth  all  the  trouble  and  attention  this  process  aauU 
necessitate.  The  recipe  for  candy  is  as  folloAA's  :  — To  121b  of  sugar 
add  one  quart  of  Avater,  put  in  a  large  saucepan — or  preserving 
pan  preferred — and  place  it  on  the  fire,  .stirring  thoroughly  until 
dissolved.  Let  it  boil  until  the  scum  arises,  Avhich  A\ill  be  A^ery 
soon,  and  in  order  to  prevent  the  .syrup  boiling  over  or  burning 
on  the  bottom  of  the  pan  it  must  be  stirred  continuou.sly.  and 
skimmed  until  cleared.  As  soon  as  it  is  perfectly  clear  add  tAvo 
Avineglasses  of  vinegar,  keeping  on  stirring  meaiiAvhile,  after 
Avhich  let  it  boil  until  sufficient  Avater  is  cA-aporated  and  the 
bubbles  crackle,  Avhen  it  should  be  removed  from  the  fire  and  a 
spot  or  tAvo  drojrped  from  the  spoon  upon  a  saucer  and  alloAved 
to  cool.  Should  it  remain  sticky  or  soft  it  Avill  reciuire 
boiling  again  until  it  sets  brittle,  Avhen  it  may  be  removed  from 
the  fire  and  poured  into  dishes  previously  prepared  by  greasing 
and  alloAved  to  cool  in  cakes.  Cream  of  tartar  may  be  u.sed  in 
lieu  of  vinegar  if  preferred.  In  this  condition  the  bees  Avill 
take  it  doAvn  readily,  as  they  I'equire  it,  Avithout  harm.  It  should 
hoAvever,  be  placed  on  the  frames'  Ainder  the  quilt,  above  the 
cluster,  the  first  fine  Avarm  day,  not  in  A^ery  cold  AA'eather,  as  the 
disturbance  occasioned  by  opening  the  hive,  Ac.,  in  cold  Aveather 
Avould  excite  them,  and  would  consequently  be  injurioxis. 
Activity  during  a  cold  period  causes  an  increased  consumption 
of  food,  Avhich  leaves  a  residue  and  overloads  the  abdomen  of 
the  bee,  and  if  the  lo  wtemperature  should  continue  this  Avill 
sometimes  result  in  a  mild  form  of  dysentery.  Any  method  of 
feeding  during  the  period  of  rest  is  injurious,  and  .should  as  far 
as  possible  be  avoided  by  proper  attention  at  the  end  of  the 
season.  If  there  is  any  probability  of  a  stock  managing  on  the 
stores  they  possess,  if  is  better  tO'  leave  the  candy  until  breeding 
commences,  sav,  about  the  beginning  of  February.  There  is 
then  less  risk  of  any  exciteuient  being  deleterious,  as  AAarm  spells 
are  not  uncommon,  and  the  extra  refuse  Avould  he  voided  before 
it  proved  fatal. — E.  Eaton,  Sandbach. 
A  Pit-Mason  Duchess. — The  folloAving  is  from  the  “  Chatham 
NeAA’s  ”  : — “Extraordinary  Pear. — Mr.  S.  Whiddett,  of  High 
Street,  Rainham,  last  AAeek  picked  from  a  tree  in  his  garden  a 
Pit-Mason  Duchess  Pear  AA'eighing  11b  lOoz.” 
