486 THE GARDENER. [Oct. 1869. 



On this ground alone can we account for a man who possessed such a store of 

 varied knowledge not having attained a higher position in the horticultural world. 

 Mr Thomson's technical knowledge of hardy fruit was perhaps the most reliable 

 of any man of his day, and this knowledge was always at the service of any one 

 who asked for it. In this way alone he rendered services that entitled him to a 

 much more ample public recognition than he ever received. As an author, Mr 

 Thomson produced a work that will long be consulted with advantage, ' The 

 Gardener's Assistant.' Dr Liudley's great work, 'The Theory and Practice of 

 Horticulture,' was also largely indebted to his observant mind. 



" An Amateur " would feel much obliged to the Editor of the ' Gardener ' for a 

 few hints about the proper cultivation of Tuberoses. They were put, according 

 to directions, in bottom-heat in the spring, thence transferred to a small green- 

 house. They are now flowering, but so drawn up as to be totally unfit for draw- 

 ing-room decoration. 



[We shall be obliged to any correspondent who has grown Tuberoses success- 

 fully if he will give us a paper on the subject, and gratify the above writer. — Ed.] 



" R. G. E." — The insect on your Vines is no doubt the mealy bug. "When you 

 prune them this autumn, remove all the loose bark on them, even beneath the line 

 of the soil, and then wash them well with a hard brush and soap-and-water ; after- 

 wards paint the canes over with a mixture of two ounces soft-soap, two gills 

 tobacco-water, and clay enough to make the whole of the consistency of paint, to 

 two quarts of water. This should get rid of the pest, but it will at times be found 

 on the roots 6 inches under the soil, from which it will emerge in the spring. 

 AVhen you see many ants running on your Vines, suspect brown-scale or mealy bug, 

 and wash them off by using a brush, soap, and water. 



A "Subscriber" in the North. — Telegraph Cucumber will suit you for 

 ■winter. If you have two pipes for bottom-heat, you require no hot dung. Good 

 loam and some dung, and, if at hand, a few bones about the size of peas, and 

 some charcoal : a yellow loam will do well. When you water, give a good soak- 

 ing, and keep the soil moderately moist during the winter, but not so much so as 

 might be judicious dm'ing summer. 



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