1373. J GAEDEN GOSSIP. 283 



I come now to the body of the house. This is entirely occupied by planted- 

 oufc trees of Peaches and Nectarines in two rows, 5 ft. apart, and these, with an 

 average amount of sunshine, will produce fruit equal to that from the wall. My 

 mothod of training them shall close this paper. I get from the nurseries, directly 

 thf leaf is down, strong maiden trees ; these are at once planted into good new 

 soil, not too much enriched. If planted to replace an old tree, a hole to contain three 

 barrow-loads is made, and filled with the same preparation. In the spring they break 

 very strongly, and when the lower buds are bursting into leaf, I head the tree to 

 the five lowest. Of these, when growth commences, I reserve the best-placed 

 three, which grow rapidly, and may require a temporary stake. By the end of 

 the season, with matured bark and ripe buds, they go to their first winter's rest. 

 In the next spring I head them down to about 15 in. from the ground, and from 

 the wood they send out I form my tree by a very simple process. Six stakes of 

 any new wood are driven in round the tree (their height out of ground, 5 ft.) ; 

 at intervals of 15 in., common iron wire is passed from stake to stake, and secured 

 to each. Thus a strong frame-work is constructed, and to these wires the young- 

 shoots, from which the first fruit will be taken the next summer, are tied by soft 

 bass matting. — G. D. 



GARDEN GOSSIP. 



'he depredations of the Vine pest, Plujlloxera vasiatrix^ still continue to 

 receive much attention on the Continent. Amongst the suggestions for 

 its destruction, which come with the best attestations of success, is that 

 adopted by MM. Monestier, Lautand, and d'Ortoman, who have experi- 

 montod at Montpollier, and have successfully used the bisulphide of carbon — a very dangerous 

 liquid, requiring great caution in its application. It is recommendod to make three holes 

 about 21 ft. deep around the Vine, and in the holes to insert a tube, furnished with a funnel 

 at one end. About two ounces of the bisulphide (also called sulphuret of carbon) are then 

 poured into the tube, which is immediately corked. The vapour from this permeates the 

 soil, and is not, it is said, like the liquid itself, fatal to the Vine, but brings sure death to the 

 insects. In Vines examined some eight days after the treatment, the lice were found dead and 

 carbonised ; and at the end of fifteen days nothing but the effects of the lice was seen. Long and 

 corroborative experience has demonstrated that about four ounces (100 grammes) of the liquid 

 is sufficient for an ordinary Vine ; but sprinkling on the surface must be carefully avoided. 

 Subsequently, however, 31. Lecoy do Boisbaudran has shown that the bisulphide is 

 expensive, and also that it injures the roots, and causes withering of the leaves while 

 they are still adherent to the green branches. This was, indeed, feared might be the case, 

 if it was applied incautiously. Ammonia is regarded as a poison for the insect, and at the 

 same time a manure for the plant. Another remedy, which is said to have been successful, 

 is that of sprinkling with urino containing a little suljihido of potassium. 31. Bertrand dis- 

 tinguishes throe distinct periods in the disease, corresponding to so many years, and indicates 

 tliat the insect should bo attacked in the second. 31. Planchon. who has been studying the 

 insect in America, concludes that the American Phylloxera, and that destroying the Vines in 

 Franco, are absolutely the same ; that certain varieties of American Vines resist its attaoks ; 

 and that there is an Acarus (which he thinks might be usefully acclimatised) wliich pursues 

 the Phylloxera down into the ground, and then attacks and feeds upon it. In reference to its 

 propagation, Professor Riley states that the Phylloxera multiplies agamically, and thereforo 

 produces successive broods from one impregnation. 



I^R. E. BuiST writes as follows of the new i)o?/£Ze Pomse^i«a which has 



made its appearance in American gardens (see Gard. Chron.^ 1873, 1465) : — "I 

 call your attention to a double Poinsettia — for from the dried specimen before 



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