well to get the trees in at once at the proper distances by digging or trenching large holes, and leaving the trenching of the space between to be carried out at some future time. The disturbance of the soil about them will be a great gain by the decomposition of the freshly turned ground; and whatever is needed to improve its texture can be readily applied, whether it be clay to render sandy shallow soil more tenacious and moisture-holding, or road scrapings, old mortar rubbish or ashes, to render heavy and wet soils more open.

Although Gooseberries, Currants, and Raspberries are allowed to stand many years on the same ground, even after they have ceased to afford full crops of large fruits, it is not a good practice, as fresh plantations are always more profitable, and a thorough system of rotation of crops should be carried out in the fruit department as in other departments of the garden. Where plantations of the above are giving indications of being worn out by the decay of the bushes wholly or in part, or from affording indifferent crops, fresh plantations should at once be formed, and when these come into bearing equal to the demand the old may be destroyed.

FRUIT HOUSES.

Pines. During this and the following month the plants will require considerable time and attention in the several departments. The temperature in the sucker pit should be 55°, in the successional pit 60°, and in the fruiting house 70° at night, which under very adverse circumstances may be allowed to fall a few degrees. In the fruiting house the temperature must be raised 5° to 10° higher in the day, being guided by external influences; but in the other compartments a similar rise will not be necessary, except in the case of successionals which are expected to show fruit, when they should have the temperature raised as indicated for fruiting plants. Great care will be needed in watering, particularly in the case of plants plunged in beds where there is but slight bottom heat, as under such conditions plants in small or moderate-sized pots will not require much water, and should only be given when absolutely necessary, and then in a tepid state.

FLOWER GARDEN.

Contemplated alterations in lawns and pleasure grounds should be carried out as long as the weather continues mild, completing those sufficiently advanced by laying the turf; but if the weather be frosty the groundwork should be proceeded with, deferring the turfing until mild weather. If there is to be any re-arrangement-replanting trees and shrubs-it is desirable to commence in a systematic manner the groundwork being completed before any planting takes place. The greatest mistake in planting is striving too much to produce an effect at once, as in a very few years the shrubs become so crowded that a thinning of one-half has to be effected, which may spoil the whole of the arrangements. The position of each specimen, or those that are to remain as such, should be arranged, and the whole of these planted first, the spaces being then filled in any manner calculated to produce a pleasing variety for present effect; only it is undesirable to employ tall-growing trees, which are much better planted in the arboretum or for grouping in park scenery. Still, many of the Coniferæ and others that develope into large trees are very beautiful in a young state, and they are used in ornamental borders. In planting shrubberies it is well to make a departure from the prevailing fashion of late years of giving preference to evergreens to the almost total exclusion of flowering deciduous shrubs, some of which are very beautiful.

Except the almost constant work of sweeping and rolling little remains to be done in this department at present. Any gaps in Box edgings should now be made good. Where the soil is suitable for the growth of Box it is unrivalled as an edging plant, but in sandy soils or those lacking calcareous matter it often turns brown, which greatly detracts from its appearance. Where this is the case the edgings will be greatly improved in colour by working in a good quantity of chalk when relaying. Christmas Roses are much appreciated and in great request for cutting. Handlights placed over them will greatly assist the flowers and improve their colour. There is always great risk in digging herbaceous borders, especially at this season, unless the positions of bulbs and plants are indicated by stout hard wooden pegs; but, except in the case of such things as are

well known, it adds much to the interest of plants to have them properly named. Bad weather will afford an opportunity of providing pegs or labels for such plants as require them renewed. The borders should now be mulched with well-decayed manure, leaf soil, or the reduced refuse from the rubbish heap, which will not only enrich the soil but form a suitable protection against the severity of the weather. Keep a sharp look-out against the depredations of mice amongst bulbs.

Ere winter sets in in earnest plants of doubtful hardiness should receive the needful protection. Some dry leaves placed about their crowns and some fern over, with a branch or two of Laurel or Spruce to prevent their blowing about, form a good protection for Bambusas, New Zealand Flax, Chamaerops Fortunei, Pampas Grass, and many others; and those of doubtful hardiness against walls should have the roots similarly protected, affording in addition to this for Magnolias or Ceanothuses a double covering of mats tacked in front of the trees in severe weather. Roses of the tender kinds against walls may be treated similarly. Beds of Tea Roses must either now be lifted and laid in a pit to which protection can be given in severe weather, and from which they can be transferred in spring to the quarters for blooming, or they may be left in the beds protected with a good thickness of leaves kept from blowing about by some litter or fern, and in severe weather some dry hay or fern woven in about the heads will materially assist them to withstand sharp frosts. Hybrid Perpetuals should be well mulched over the roots with littery manure, and with this they are comparatively safe, as with the roots protected they will bear more cold than those not so protected, and in the case of dwarfs they will start from the base if the tops are cut off to the line of mulching.

THE BEE-KEEPER.

THE ART OF BEE-KEEPING.-No. 4.
(Continued from page 511.)

THE QUEEN BEE.

WHILE a worker bee is developed from the egg in twenty-one days, a queen takes only sixteen days-viz., three days in the egg, five as a larva, and eight in the sealed state. What makes this difference remarkable is the fact that the eggs from which both are developed are originally alike-i.e, the same egg may produce either a worker or a queen, according to the way the bees treat the larva that hatches from it. No one has yet solved the mystery in which this transformation is enveloped. All we do know is, that the larva intended for a queen is furnished with an excessive quantity of rich food called royal jelly, and provided with a much larger cell than that of a w orker, and which is placed in a perpendicular instead of a horizontal position. It is a knowledge of this remarkable power possessed by the bees that enables the bee-keeper to have queens raised at will. Usually queens are raised only when swarming is intended, or the old queen becomes nearly exhausted, or meets with sudden death. But if queens are wanted at any time the beekeeper may almost invariably cause a number of them to be raised by simply removing the old queen. In this case the bees generally select young larvæ to be transformed into queens, and thus the latter may be ready to hatch in twelve, or even ten, days from the time of removal of the old queen. As, under such circumstances, the first hatched princess usually destroys all her rivals before they issue from their cells, the bee-keeper who desires to save more than one must be careful either to remove, or cage in wirecloth, such cells as he wishes to make use of, and that about the ninth or tenth day. Such sealed cells may be given to other stocks having no queens, as when artificial swarms are made, and thus one stock may do all the queen-rearing needed in even a rather large apiary.

The knowledge of these facts renders artificial swarming possible, since the bees left in a stock from which a queen and swarm have been taken will either raise a new queen for themselves, or accept a royal cell reared in another stock. Artificial swarming was practised ages ago by the natives of the eastern Mediterranean shores, though the knowledge of how both stocks came to have queens was not possessed by them. In our own country it does not appear to have been practised before the end of last century, but followed the discoveries of Shirach and Huber already referred to. Bonner indeed tells us he practised it even before he heard of Shirach's discovery. But his practice was in some respects faulty; and this is not

surprising, since neither he nor Huber knew anything certain about the fecundation of queens. This was left for Dr. Dzierzon and Baron Berlepsch of Germany to unfold about thirty years ago. Since then queen rearing has been carried on with the certainty of a science, and has indeed attained considerable proportions as a special commercial pursuit both in Europe and America.

Let us now briefly notice the peculiarities of the queen (fig. 89) thus strangely produced. In appearance she differs greatly from her sisters the workers (fig. 90). She is about a third longer in body, and is altogether a more strongly fashioned creature, with the exception of her jaws and trunk, which are not so well developed. Her colour is a shade lighter, especially on the legs and under side of the body; and her wings are shorter in proportion to her size, and generally appear closely folded along her back. This latter peculiarity, as also her more slender outline, enables beginners at a glance to distinguish her also from the drones (fig. 91). Not being intended for foraging she is not provided with the spoon-shaped cavities on the hind legs, which the workers possess as pollen baskets, and she differs materially in other points of anatomy, but specially in having her ovaries largely developed. These last exist in the workers, but only in an embryo state.

In instincts she also differs greatly from the workers. She has no building or provident instincts, and when once fertilised never goes abroad unless to accompany a swarm. She devotes herself

solely to the work of laying eggs, which she leaves entirely to the care of the other bees; and her temper is so different that no provocation will induce her to use her sting unless against a rival queen. In this case, however, her antipathy manifests itself in

determined attempts to kill any rival, and extends even to the unhatched tenants of the royal cells. Only in the somewhat rare case of a young queen hatched for the purpose of superseding one that shows failing powers do we ever find two queens living peaceably together in the same hive.

The queen is the centre of attraction in every colony. If suddenly removed or lost the bees manifest great uneasiness. They rush about the hive, outside and in, and at intervals unite in giving expression to their grief in a doleful hum. If brood or eggs be left they will in the course of a few hours settle down as if resigned and commence the work of providing a successor, but if this be impossible they will be found in an excited state for weeks after. Experts can generally tell by the sound produced on slightly disturbing a hive whether it be queenless or not.

The queen is recognised by the other bees mainly by her scent, and outside the hive they may be seen to follow her trail as hunting dogs track game. A strange queen is recognised as such at once, and only accepted by bees that have fully realised the loss of their own queen. It is thus necessary to use precautions in introducing a strange queen to a colony, the most approved method being to confine the new queen in a wire cage until the bees become reconciled to her presence, which is sometimes at once, but generally within twelve hours or so. Cases, however, occur in which she will be attacked whenever liberated, even after being caged for a whole week. The behaviour of the bees at the moment of liberation will generally satisfy an experienced bee-keeper as to their intentions, hostile or otherwise; but we recommend that in all doubtful cases an inspection of the hive be made an hour or two afterwards. If all is quiet no further anxiety need be felt, but if the peculiar angry hum of discontented bees be heard an inspection of the combs will often reveal the poor queen encased in a mass of excited bees, in which case she must be freed by means of smoke, or by tossing the knot of bees into a vessel of water and again placed in the cage.

Queens mate on the wing, generally when about five days old, though sometimes sooner; and their fecundation is sometimes delayed by adverse weather and other causes until they are from two to four weeks old. They seem then to become incapable of fertilisation, and in many cases settle down to egg-laying as if all were right. In such cases, however, only drones will be produced from the eggs, in accordance with what is known as parthenogenesis

-that is, of virgin birth. Such cases are not at all rare, and must be promptly dealt with by destroying the unfertile queen and replacing her by a fertile one, or by joining the stock to another in healthy condition.

The best of queens may, after laying many hundreds of thousands of worker eggs, suddenly begin to lay drone eggs in worker cells, a sure sign that they are becoming worn out. Such also should be replaced. Under purely natural conditions queens will live and do well for four years, or even more; but under the stimulating influences of modern management fully carried out they may be induced to lay as many eggs in two years, and soon after begin to fail. Experienced bee-keepers therefore endeavour to avoid all risks by renewing queens every two years, and all should keep a register showing the age of every queen in an apiary.

While on this point it may be well to remark that queenless stocks will occasionally develope one or more laying workers or pseudo queens. These cannot be distinguished from the other workers unless caught in the act of laying, and are not, therefore, easily got rid of. It is unsafe to attempt the introduction of a proper queen where a fertile worker is present, as the latter generally succeeds in retaining her place as mistress. For our own part we do not care to fuss with such colonies, as they are usually weak and composed of aged bees of little value. If still numerous we unite them to another stock, caging the queen as a precaution until the fertile worker may be supposed to have been despatched by the bees of the healthy stock.

When once fecundated a queen remains fertile as long as she is capable of laying worker eggs. This fact accounts for the purity of all the bees ever produced by an imported queen of any foreign race-that is, if a queen begins to produce only yellow bees she will do so as long as she lives. If mated with a drone of another race her worker progeny will be of a mixed character, though her drone offspring will, according to the Dzierzon theory, follow the mother. Her fecundity is amazing, it being well known that she can continue to lay for many weeks at a time from two thousand to three thousand eggs a day. Much appears to depend upon the way she is treated by the workers, it being quite easy, by stimulating the latter, to cause an increase in the daily deposit of eggs by the queen; but at no period of the year can she be said to lose the power of laying, as brood may be found in some hives every month of the year

The peculiar character acquired by certain stocks of bees is largely by inheritance, and may be altered by changing the queen. Thus peculiarly energetic or good-tempered stocks may become indifferent workers or acquire a vicious temper; thus also by careful selection and breeding of queens much may be done towards improving the less energetic races. The introduction of new blood by means of queens imported from Italy and the east has latterly become a favourite practice with many bee-k epers, but the results hitherto attained do not warrant us in advising beginners to incur any expense in this direction. We consider our native bees to be at least equal to those of any foreign race, and advise all to learn to develope to the utmost the capabilities of these before attempting experiments with the pretty foreigners.-W. RAITT, Blairgowrie. (To be continued.)

TRADE CATALOGUE RECEIVED. Henry Boller, Woodfield Road, Harrow Road, London, W.-Catalogue of Succulent Plants (Illustrated).

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

All correspondence should be directed either to "The Editor" or to "The Publisher." Letters addressed to Dr. Hogg or members of the staff often remain unopened unavoidably. We request that no one will write privately to any of our correspondents, as doing so subjects them to unjustifiable trouble and

expense.

Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions relating to Gardening and those on Poultry and Bee subjects, and should never send more than two or three questions at once. All articles intended for insertion should be written on one side of the paper only. We cannot reply to questions through the post, and we do not undertake to return rejected communications.

Glass for Vinery (E.).-If you reflect for a moment you will perceive how unfair it would be for us to recommend any particular dealer for supplying any article connected with the garden, and if you had read the Journal atten

tively you would have observed that we have repeatedly said we do not nor cannot recommend dealers through our pages. 21 oz. thirds will be suitable, or 16 oz. seconds will do very well if the sashbars are not more than 10 inches apart. You can obtain the other particulars you require by consulting our advertising columns and writing for price lists.

Destroying American Blight (B. J. Elliott).—You say you have heard of tar being used for this purpose, but you cannot remember by whom nor in what manner it was applied. Mr. Speed, the able gardener to the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth, recommends the following as an infallible remedy. Take a pint of gas tar and mix with it a pint of dry powdered clay. Form the whole into a paste by adding by degrees a gallon of warm soft water. If this is applied with a brush during winter it effectually destroys woolly aphis, and indeed all insects, while it does not injure the trees.

Wiring a Vinery (A Constant Reader).—A distance of 18 inches from the glass is suitable for stretching the wires, these to be 10 inches apart, and stretched from end to end of the house across the lights, and not from the bottom to the top of the house in the direction of the sashbars. Mr. Luckhurst has found that suspending the rods a foot or so from the wires is a good plan, and we have no doubt whatever that it is, as there is then less danger of the laterals being broken by bending them down to the wires. In the large vinery at Longleat the trellis is 3 or 4 feet from the glass, but 18 inches suffices in ordinary structures, and you may rely on this distance as being safe.

Tomatoes in Vineries (F. W.).—Some of the finest crops we have ever seen were grown against the back walls of vineries before the Vines were established, and we have seen very useful crops in these positions even when the Vines were fully grown, and the Tomatoes had only glimpses of sun, as the foliage of the Vines almost entirely covered the roof of the house. Tomatoes in a house with Vines do no harm whatever unless they are planted in the Vine border or the growths crowded amongst the Vine leaves, and no sensible man would do this.

Storing and Ripening Medlars (A Subscriber). — Medlars may be treated in every respect similar to dessert Apples. If stored eyes downward on shelves in a dry room, or the fruit room, they will ripen naturally; but ripening may be hastened by placing fruit in a box or basket in a warm room. With us the Dutch Medlar ripened some time ago, and this is the largest variety. The Nottingham is later, of better quality, and is now eatable. The supply of either sort can be prolonged by gathering at intervals, and by artificially ripening of a part of the crop when this happens to be gathered all at one time.

Prices of Grapes (J. M.).-As you are well aware, the price of Grapes depends not on the quality of the fruit when cut from the Vines so much as on its condition when it reaches the market. We are well aware of the accuracy of your statement, and we are also aware from other letters on the same subject which reach us from time to time complaining of the low prices that fruit has realised, that it would do more harm than good to publish what you have written with the best intentions. We have to recognise the fact that hundreds of cultivators of Grapes cannot produce such high-class fruit and place it in the market in such good condition as you can and the celebrated grower to whom you refer. Grapes of very superior quality occasionally realise considerably higher prices than those published, but they in no sense represent the general tone of the market.

Forcing Rhubarb (R. Watson).-You have adopted the method which is generally pursued in forcing Rhubarb, and if you maintain a temperature of about 60° in the pots, crowns will start in about a fortnight, and stalks be ready for pulling in a month. Some varieties of Rhubarb do not force so well as others, and the crowns do not start so quickly into growth in November as during the early months of the year. Many persons obtain early Rhubarb by digging up the roots and packing them in Mushroom houses, or placing them in pots or tubs under the stage of a plant stove or in any warm place such as a cellar or stable.

Roses for Exhibition (H. S. P.).—The following are twenty of the best Hybrid Perpetuals:-Marie Baumann, A. K. Williams, Alfred Colomb, La France, Baronne de Rothschild, Charles Lefebvre, Marquise de Castellane, Duke of Edinburgh, Etienne Levet, Marie Rady, Capitaine Christy, Louis Van Houtte, Dr. Andry, Ferdinand de Lesseps, François Michelon, Madame Victor Verdier, Marie Finger, Comtesse d'Oxford, Mons. E. Y. Teas, and Madame G. Luizet. Six good Tea Roses are Catherine Mermet, Maréchal Niel, Souvenir d'un Ami, Marie Van Houtte, Souvenir d'Elise, and Devoniensis.

Eupatorium odoratum (W. J. M.).-This very useful plant is easily grown, and its abundant supplies of white fragrant flowers are most valuable at this time of year. To obtain large specimens the plants should be placed out in a border during the summer, being lifted and potted in autumn; and after keeping them close for a day or two until they have recovered they can be transferred to the greenhouse or conservatory, or any similar structure. Turfy loam, a little leaf soil, and well-decomposed manure form a suitable compost, and if the plants are retained in pots occasional supplies of weak liquid manure will be beneficial. This plant is readily increased by cuttings of the young growths treated like ordinary softwooded plants.

Pit for Growing Gardenias (F. H. F.). A half-span is the most suitable. The width should not be less than 10 feet inside, which will allow of a border at the back 2 feet 7 inches wide, divided from the pathway by a 44-inch brick wall, then the pathway 2 feet 6 inches wide; and with a 44-inch wall to form the side of the front border, the latter will be 4 feet 1 inch wide. The walls forming the sides of the pathway should be 2 feet 6 inches high, the top course of bricks laid in cement, or have a stone or coping. If bottom heat be sought it should be furnished by hot-water pipes. Two 8-inch pipes will be necessary for the front bed, disposed a foot from the walls all around, and covered with thin slabs of stone or slate, so as to form a chamber a foot deep, which will leave 18 inches minus the thickness of the stone or slate covering. One 3-inch pipe will be sufficient for the back border, placing it up the centre. The covering of the chamber should have the joints left open, and have 3 inches of rubble on the chamber covers; and if the plants are to be planted out have the rough of the compost placed over the rubble, and then fill in with soil for growing the plants, than which nothing answers better than turfy loam, with a tenth of sand incorporated and a twentieth of charcoal broken up small. If the plants are to be grown in pots cocoa-nut fibre refuse may be employed in place of the compost as a plunging material for the pots; and if the borders are to be used as spaces for fermenting materials, to give bottom heat in place of the hot-water pipes, the depth should be increased a foot by excavating the bottom. The back wall should be 6 feet 6 inches high, the front 5 feet, and the height of the house from the centre of the path 8 feet, to the under side of the ridge. Ventilation need only be provided by the back lights, which should open the entire length of the house. No side lights are necessary, and it would be advisable for appearance to sink the house 2 feet in the ground, so as to have less wall

outside. For top heat three rows of 4-inch pipes will be necessary, taking one along the front of the house, and the other on the path walls, or they may be placed at the sides of the pathway.

Carnations in a Cold Frame (Idem).-Souvenir de la Malmaison and other tree Carnations may be wintered safely in a cold frame, the pots being plunged in ashes, and protection given over the lights at night in frosty weather. The plants, however, will not flower until June, at least ours do not, and we have some in cold pits to succeed those grown in heat. The plants probably become drawn and weak in the greenhouse from their not having a light position and sufficient ventilation. The soil may also be too light, Carnations liking a rather strong gritty loam enriched moderately with old welldecayed manure, and should be potted rather firmly to induce a rather shortjointed growth and free disposition to flower. To have Carnations flowering in winter they require a temperature of 50° by artificial means, and all the light possible, with air upon all favourable occasions. It is little use attempting to grow Carnations in a house shaded by climbers or other plants and inefficiently ventilated.

Grape Failures (M. D.).-When you admit growing too heavy crops you admit everything; still you say, "Other cultivators have black Hamburghs in July and August, and why cannot I, in a house with plenty of pipes for heating?" You can have them if you regulate the crop in accordance with the strength of the Vines, and you cannot have them if you do not do this. The earlier Grapes are ripened the lighter the crops must be, because there is not nearly the root power for supporting the crop in July that there is, say, a month afterwards, and that extra month of root-extension in good soil makes all the difference between brown and black Grapes, the system of management in other respects being good. Soot is an excellent manure for Vines. But this is not the sole cause of your Vines showing so many bunches; the chief cause is probably the thorough ripening of the wood consequent on its being made early and having the best and longest portion of the summer in which to mature; nor is the number of bunches that show any criterion that the Vines are not overcropped. Their profusion indicates fruitfulness; but if you leave your usual crop on one Vine and have a reduced crop on another of equal strength you will find the Grapes on the latter will finish better, but the following spring both Vines will show the usual number of bunches if the wood of both is alike strong and matured. You are adopting the right course in providing fresh and good soil for the roots, as the better the Vines are supported the heavier crops they will perfect; and unless you either increase the root-action and food-supply, or reduce the weight of Grapes, you will not have well-finished produce even if the management as regards temperature and ventilation be the best in the world.

Pereskia aculeata (Sigma).-The plant of which you send a fragment is Pereskia aculeata, a member of the natural order Cactaceæ, and a native of the West Indies. It is chiefly grown as a stock for Epiphyllums, which are grafted on clean stems of the Pereskia, varying in height according to the uses for which the plants are intended. For plants in pots a height of 6 inches to 1 foot is sufficient; but we have seen the stems taken to a height of 8 feet or more before grafting the Epiphyllums upon them. In this case the stems have been trained to the wall of a house, and the heads arched over a walk, the suspended Epiphyllums having thus a fine effect when in flower. The Pereskia itself is of little value except as a curiosity, and is easily grown, though seldom seen in flower. A compost of loam, sand, and small pieces of broken bricks, with a little well-decomposed manure, suits it well, and the temperature of a stove is the best fitted for it. Water must be carefully supplied during winter-indeed, very little will then be required; but whilst growing a larger quantity is needed. When your plant is large enough we should advise you to graft an Epiphyllum upon it, which you may easily do by cutting the stock to the required length, and then cut the upper part of the stem to a wedge-like point, taking a piece out of the base of the scion so that it will fit evenly saddle fashion upon the stock. This may be then secured with a piece of matting, and a union will soon be effected.

Culture of Fittonias (Idēm).--When in good condition these are very attractive plants, and the silver-veined leaves of F. argyroneura are much valued by some persons for table decoration, either at the base of vases or in dishes containing fruits. They may be grown in baskets or paus, the latter being preferable, as they can then be placed in the stove or intermediate house on the stages under the shade of the taller-growing plants, and this appears to suit the Fittonias admirably. They also succeed well in small borders beneath the stages when not too near to the hot-water pipes, and while imparting a neat and pleasing appearance to what is often an unsightly part of the house they also prove useful in affording a bountiful supply of sprays or leaves for decorative purposes. Peat and light turfy loam, with a little sand and leaf soil, constitute a suitable compost, supplying good drainage when the plants are grown in pans. Fittonias can be readily increased by cuttings inserted in sandy soil in slight bottom heat. The "Greenhouse for the Many," price 9d., post free 10d., or Johnson's "British Ferns," price 3s. 6d., post free 3s. 9d., both published at this office, or Mr. B. S. Williams' "Select Ferns and Lycopods," price 5s., post free 5s. 5d., would suit you.

Tomatoes in Frames (Nil Desperandum).-You will experience no great difficulty in securing an early and continuous supply of Tomatoes in your threelight frame. Supposing you have another frame placed on a hotbed and utilised for propagating and other purposes in the spring, this would be the place to raise the plants. Earley's Defiance will be found the most profitable variety for your purpose, and seed of this or Conqueror-another large free-fruiting variety, should be sown early in March thinly in an 8-inch pot or pan. Keep the seedlings near the glass, and when in rough leaf pot off singly into 5-inch pots, or in pairs in 6-inch pots, sinking them carefully up to the seed leaves in the rather light and previously warmed soil. Shade from bright sun, apply water carefully, and keep the plants near the glass. When well established they will require all the light and as much air as can safely be afforded. In this manner sturdy plants will be obtained ready for planting out in the frame early in May. Not much bottom heat is required, but a slight hotbed should be formed in order to give them a good start. We should not fruit them in large pots, preferring to plant out. A few days prior to planting cover the whole of the bed with about 1 foot of soil, consisting, if available, of two parts of turfy loam to one of halfdecayed stable manure. Dispose about five plants in each light, these being planted in a sloping direction and pegged down, so as to be equally distributed about the bed. Continue to train till the frame is thinly filled, afterwards the points may be allowed to turn up, and these and a few laterals will furnish abundance of clusters of fruit, which will ripen better if staked up. Thin out each cluster to about six fruits. Closely rub or pinch out all superfluous growths, give abundance of water, varying with liquid manure when in full growth, and plenty of air on all favourable occasions; but do not syringe the plants nor throw off the lights during showery weather. The disease will not affect them if the foliage is kept dry, and by attending to the above directions there will be no necessity to replant during the season. You ought to commence gathering fruit early in July. Mr. Iggulden's treatise on Tomatoes, which you can have

from this office post free for 1s. 1d, contains a chapter on frame culture, besides other useful information on the subject. In reference to your other question, about 25 tons of rich manure would be a good dressing, giving, if needed, a sprinkling of nitrate of soda and superphosphate of lime in the spring or early summer when the crops are in a growing state.

Names of Plants (W. J. M.).-Eupatorium odoratum is the plant of which you sent a spray without leaves (see above), the other we cannot recognise from the specimen sent, all the flowers having closed. (Sigma).-Pereskia aculeata, see reply above. (C. D., Wales).-Without more definite particulars we cannot tell to what Chrysanthemum you refer; probably, however, it is C. carinatum. Send flowers of the Aquilegia, the leaf alone is not sufficient.

THE rise and progress of this breed of sheep is one of the most important histories in connection with our long-woolled sheep stock. The old Leicester breed was a large coarse sheep, possessing an abundant fleece with only a fair disposition to fatten. The Dishley or new Leicester, which for many years has quite supplanted and superseded the parent stock so as to be denomi nated the Leicester, is probably, with reference to its origin, the most artificial of any, having been moulded, as it were, by the master hand of Bakewell, obedient to certain principles which he believed to be correct, and which the experience of subsequent years has fully justified. Mr. Bakewell commenced the improvement of the Leicesters probably about 1750. In the year 1760, when the first letting of his rams was held, the first animal let for the season only made 16s., and it was not until about twenty years afterwards that Mr. Bakewell obtained a remunerating price for his sheep. It was then stated to have been only ten guineas; it, however, afterwards rapidly increased, so that in 1786 he realised three hundred guineas for the use of one ram let for the season. But three years afterwards, in 1789, he obtained for the letting of his rams the large sum of 6200 guineas, but the number let is not recorded. Still he must have been handsomely repaid and rewarded for his long-continued and untiring exertions under difficulties and opposition beneath which most men would have abandoned their pursuit as hopeless.

There were, as we may suppose, strong traits in the character

of Mr. Bakewell which, we are told, were quaint, but decided and peculiar. It is related of him that when he received a summons to show one of his horses in London to George III., His Majesty looked much more at the man than the horse. His management of vicious animals is said to have been remarkably effective. A horse which was sent to him as irreclaimable soon followed him like a dog up and down the Loughborough corn market, and a bull, which arrived at Dishley under the escort of six cows and a man on horseback with a nine-foot spike, was reduced to submission by a system of starvation, sleeplessness, and scratching at the tail head, which was supposed to go on for three or four consecutive days and nights. The memoirs of the old Leicestershire worthy have never been published, but his sayings, such as "Money wears but three lives," "Consume half the corn you grow with beasts, or lay out half its price in cake," "Rise with the lark and to bed with the lamb," are still preserved with his essays in a MS. book at Dishley. The essays are short and take a wide range, for which we cannot find space, but we need scarcely say were highly suggestive and characteristic of the

man.

The sources from whence Mr. Bakewell derived his breed cannot be accurately ascertained. The old Lincoln, the Teeswater, and the Warwickshire have each been named, and it is said that other sorts of long-woolled stock have also been employed. There is no doubt that Bakewell was not particular as to the source so that he could obtain the desired qualifications. He was very uncommunicative on this point, and the knowledge of the real origin was lost with him. It is probable, however, that the foundation of his breed was the best existing specimens of the old Leicester breed, for we are informed that Mr. Bakewell found by selecting smaller and more compact animals that he produced an earlier maturity and a greater disposition to fatten, which more than compensated in his breeding plans and objects for the loss of weight and diminished size. Thus by systematically and unremittingly carrying out his principles-viz., to attain as near as possible perfection of form, style, and type, he at length produced an animal which far surpassed all others of the period in the before-mentioned qualities, comprising, as it has been well observed by Mr. Culley, one of his admirers, in the same apparent dimensions greater weight than any other sheep, with an earlier maturity and a greater tendency to fatten, a diminution in the proportion of offal, and the return of the most money for the quantity of food consumed.

We can easily imagine even in those days that this system could not be carried out without rapidly extending the improved breed, and of course improving the flocks of other sheep-breeders to a vast extent, and inducing other parties to seek a participation in the advantages of the system. Accordingly its advocates and promoters formed themselves into a club, denominated the Dishley Society, with the object of extending their breed, preserving it pure, and benefiting and protecting themselves. This Society was established by Mr. Bakewell, and a code of laws was adopted extending to thirteen clauses, for which we cannot find space in our notice, but must refer the home farmer to a work in which they appear by Mr. W. C. Spooner, M.R.V.C., " On the Structure, Economy, and Diseases of Sheep." Every farmer should possess this work, which is sold at a moderate price. We need scarcely say that these rules were laid down for the purpose of jealously guarding and preserving the purity of the breed, and the benefit of the members, and it was undoubtedly by strict attention to these rules and the principles adopted by Mr. Bakewell that the Leicester sheep continued to improve and to be introduced into one county after another, especially in the grazing districts of the midland and north-midland counties. Their merits were sufficiently tested at that time by the fact that they invariably bore away the prizes when competing with other longwoolled sheep at the shows of the Smithfield Club and other societies.

The various points which distinguish the Leicester sheep may be thus correctly described :-The head should be hornless, long, small, tapering towards the muzzle and projecting horizontally forwards; the eyes prominent, but with a quiet expression; the ears thin, rather loug, and directed backwards. The neck full and broad at its base where it proceeds from the chest, but gradually tapering towards the head, and being particularly fine at the junction of the head and neck; the neck seeming to project straight from the chest, so that there is, with the slightest possible deviation, one continued horizontal line from the rump to the poll. The breast broad and full; the shoulders also broad and round, and no uneven or angular formation where the shoulders join at either the neck or the back, particularly no rising of the withers, or hollow behind the situation of these bones. The arm fleshy through its whole extent, and even down to the knee; the bones

of the legs small, standing wide apart, no looseness of skin about them, and comparatively bare of wool. The chest and barrel at once deep and round, the ribs forming a considerable arch from the spine, so as in some cases, and especially when the animal is in good condition, to make the apparent width of the chest even greater than the depth; the barrel well ribbed home, no irregularity of line on the back or the belly, but on the sides, the carcase very gradually diminishing in width towards the rump. quarters long and full, and, as with the forelegs, the muscles extending down to the hock; the thighs also wide and full; the legs of a moderate length; the pelt moderately thin, but soft and elastic, and covered with a good quantity of white wool, not so long as in some breeds, but considerably finer.

The

These various qualifications as above stated were obtained and preserved by the great and long-continued attention which was paid by Mr. Bakewell, and assisted by the members of the Dishley Society, to the selection of individual animals, and mating the ram with the ewe so as to correct the faults or deficiencies either may possess, and thus, by carefully and progressively getting rid of faults, gradually approaching to perfection, which, though it may be rarely or never reached, should yet be the constant aim of the breeder.

(To be continued.)

WORK ON THE HOME FARM.

Horse Labour.-This is very much in arrear, especially in the loamy and strong-land districts, and the seedtime for Wheat has been greatly delayed; nevertheless, all that is possible should be sown with Wheat between the present time and the 1st of February whenever the weather proves open and favourable. This matter should not be delayed for want of manure; for although enough box or yard dung may be available, it would be well to reserve it for early root crops, such as Mangolds, Carrots, and Cabbages, because in those cases, even where the land will bear the casting of dung on to the land for Wheat, the delay attached to it may be fatal to the Wheat-sowing, for it often happens when the seedtime is unusually late that a day lost cannot be regained. The storing of Mangolds has now been nearly completed, and should be finished as soon as possible, or as soon as horses can be spared to cast it to the store heap. In the meantime the Mangolds may be kept in small heaps, covered with greens or refuse and damaged straw. When the Wheat land is all seeded ploughing and fallowing for roots may be continued. It is especially desirable that land intended for Potatoes should now be ploughed, and in those districts where female labour is available women may be employed at all favourable weather in forking out bunches of couch, bents, and Onion grass, either before the land is ploughed or afterwards, in all open weather when the grass, &c., can be seen, especially in the spring before ploughing and planting, which saves delay -a matter of great importance connected with all early spring crops. It often happens where women cannot be obtained for light work that it cannot be done by the men, and therefore more horse labour is required, which causes delay, and frequently the best seedtime is lost in consequence, besides the difference between cost of extra horse labour and light hand labour. At all leisure times the home farmer should remember that cartage of earth and earthy materials may be carted together in readiness, not only for earthing the cattle pens, &c., but also for making composts of earth and manure, such as yard or town dung, to be sooner or later applied to the pasture land.

Hand Labour.-In many districts more work is on hand than labourers can be found to execute. It is also increasingly difficult to get a good day's work done for a good day's pay. It is, therefore, very desirable that the home farmer should have nearly all his work done by task; at least, as much as is possible. This applies with still more force in female labour, for in any light work the women will do as much work as the men and earn as much money. In all piece and task work where the women can really earn good wages in field labour they may be induced to take their part or share in the light easy work on the farm, whereas if they are only employed or offered day work they would remain at home, as they do now in various parts of the kingdom. Upon all farms where much stock is kept either of sheep or fatting cattle there is always an abundance of light work adapted for them to do which really is not done in a satisfactory manner, or not done at all, where men only are available.

Live Stock.-The feeding of the in-lamb ewes is now a very important part of the business of the home farmer, for not only is it necessary to prevent the ewes eating large quantities of Rape and Turnips on the fallow surface, which makes bad lying for them, but it is essential to the health of the ewes and the success of the fall of lambs that they should have a run upon healthy grass, either pasture or old lea; and when the grass becomes bare and short it should be supplemented by Cabbages drawn out on the driest land, which may be appointed for their night lair. Another point is, that after the extremely wet autumn which we have gone through many flocks are breaking down with the foot rot or epidemic lameness, from which sheep have suffered so much in bygone seasons. In order to assist the home farmer in curing any lame sheep suffering from either of the above causes we give the remedy we used for more than forty years with great success. Recipe-Take 3 ozs. of nitre, 8 ozs. of blue vitriol, 3 ozs. of gunpowder. These should be reduced to a very fine powder, and well mixed with

balf a pound of hog's lard; it will then keep for use. In the case of young lambs more lard should be used with it. But having the best remedy is not sufficient; it must be properly applied. Where the sheep break down lame continually they should be looked to daily, and those which are lame should have the paste rubbed in between the hoofs the first day it is discovered. If by any chance the disease should extend under the horn of the foot it should be carefully cut away as far as suppuration exists and without making the foot bleed. If it should bleed through accident in cutting it is best to let the bleeding subside before applying the remedy, which has in our case been so successful that we never lost 6d. per head by lameness since we have used this remedy. But many farmers with a large flock will not encounter the cost of continual labour by the shepherd and men under his direction, and in consequence have confessed to us that their losses on some occasions of condition in the animals has amounted to more money than their cake or corn bill. The Dorset and Somerset Down ewes will now begin lambing in a few days, and the course of management as directed lately for the horned ewes and their lambs will apply equally well to the Down ewes and lambs, with this exception-that the lambing fold will require to be placed in a carefully littered yard or fold, and it should be on ground with a slight inclination of the bottom or floor, in order that the water may drain away and give them a dry lair; whereas in the lambing fold for horned ewes we seldom use anything but a fold shifted daily on a piece of dry and sheltered pasture or old lea ground.

FARMING NOTES.

CATTLE.

PREPARATIONS are fast being made for the coming winter, and we are already looking forward to another year, for Michaelmas to farmers is practically the end of the year, the harvest being past, the season of growth almost at an end, and the year and its results lay open before us like a book written large, clear, and unmistakeable. No time could therefore be better for a retrospective glance over its pages and to store up its most useful lessons.

So

Genial spring weather induced an early and abundant growth of grass that proved a great boon after the small hay crop of last year, and with hay at £7 a ton a cold late spring would have been disastrous for dairy farmers and breeders of cattle. forward, however, was the grass, that by March 15th we were able to throw open the whole of the yards and to turn lean stock as well as cows upon the pastures-no light matter when it is remembered how frequently we are unable to do this till the end of April or beginning of May. It is true enough that much cattle is to be seen out upon pasture throughout winter whenever the weather is open, but it is a sight to be deplored, an outcome of hard times pointing with no uncertain hand to straitened means, and a struggle with dire adversity which can hardly result in good, for such cattle but too often are in a state of semistarvation. It is far better to confine cattle entirely to the yards from the time that legitimate autumn-grazing is over till a full bite is to be had in spring. Let me explain what is meant by autumn-grazing. By the middle of October the yards are littered and all the cattle are driven in at night, but for weeks afterwards while the weather continues mild and open, and herbage is still plentiful, they are let out upon the pasture by day. For example, a mixed herd of steers and heifers of various ages varying from twenty to thirty months now occupy nightly two yards opening upon a run of 40 acres of sound upland pasture in four plots opening into each other, well sheltered with belts of timber and with plenty of snug corners, over some part of which they roam and graze daily, inevitably finding out where the grass continues sweet and abundant. The dairy cows have a similar run, but younger stock are confined to a small enclosure of a couple of acres with a cosey yard and lodge. It may be thought upon what is literally a hill farm early driving to the yards is unnecessary, but it should be remembered that the rainfall of October is generally great-in this locality it exceeds that of any other month-and it is accompanied by occasional frests and a fall of 10° of temperature, to all which it must be unwise to keep stock constantly exposed. On the 21st of October I was out upon the pastures in a pouring rain, and found puddles of water in every slight hollow of the surface, so that a beast could hardly have found a place to rest upon at night, and yet it is no uncommon thing for cattle to be left out upon low-lying marsh land throughout October exposed to the wet and to every wind that blows, for there are hardly any sheltering trees or hedges there. That such exposure proves hurtful, sometimes fatal, is certainly not to be wondered at.

It is part of the experience of many a landlord to have appeals for forbearance when Lady-day comes round and rents are due. "I have plenty of lean stock," says the defaulter, "but it is in such poor condition that if I sell it now it will be at a loss." What is the cause? Overstocking the yards in autumn with a