Editorial Notes. 149 



from pushing into existence before the cokl ungenial spring had 

 passed away with its. chilling winds and nipping frosts. When at 

 last, towards the first of June, the weather suddenly became mild and 

 warm, vegetation sprung up with a bound, and trees and shrubs liter- 

 ally rushed into growth and qnickly covered themselves with a rich 

 mantle of verdant foliage. 



Tlie various trees came into leaf with much greater rapidity than 

 usual, and in northern parts the oak especially "jumped into leaf" in 

 a few days, which is held to be a good sign by the forester of the 

 bark stripping nicely and being of good quality. 



The ash in many places was much behind the oak in coming into 

 leaf; in fact, in some districts it scarcely moved a bud till the middle 

 of June. 



The oak, elm, sycamore, lime, and Spanish chestnut are heavily 

 clothed with luxuriant and healthy foliage, and so far as we have seen 

 have suffered less than usual from the ravages of insects. On the 

 other hand ash, beech, horse-chestnut, poplar and larch are in many 

 districts rather thin in foliage, and the beech in particular has been 

 much infested with the bluish white woolly aphis peculiar to it. 

 Scots fir, spruce, and other coniferte are making a fine clean rapid 

 growth, and we have not seen or heard of any serious depredations 

 made upon them by insects. However, this month and next are the 

 worst for coniferse being devoured by insects, and we would recom- 

 mend our readers to be on the outlook for their appearance among 

 their specimens, and to take prompt means to eradicate them as soon 

 as they are detected. 



We regret to hear that the larch aphis has been very bad in some 

 districts during the dry warm weather of last month, and we would 

 be glad if our readers would report any injury observed which has 

 been inflicted by them. 



We never remember to have seen such a gorgeous display of 

 late flowering Ehododendrons and Azaleas as has been general in the 

 northern parts of the country during the last few weeks. We have 

 observed them in all soils and situations in which they are grown, 

 and everywhere it has been a complete blaze of white, and crimson, 

 yellow, purple, and lilac, with all the varied shades between. The 

 common rhododendron, R. ponticum, and the yellow azalea, A. pontica 

 were a perfect sheet of bloom, and would have compared favour- 

 ably with the highly cultivated and trained specimen Indian azaleas 

 and rhododendrons of greenhouses and conservatories. Of the numer- 

 ous varieties of Ghent azaleas and late-flowering hybrid rhododendrons 

 there has been an equally profuse display, and those late flowering 

 varieties ought to be extensively planted, as they are almost certain to 

 make a good display annually, and such a treat as they have afforded 



