352 THE FLORAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



consisting of rich loain, a little old, dry, chippy dung, leaf-mould, and a good ad- 

 mixture of broken crocks, lumpy charcoal, and brick rubbish. The pots should be 

 well drained with large crocks at the bottom, then a layer of smaller ones, and 

 then some of the roughest of the soil. They are propagated by suckers, which may 

 be taken off now if of moderate size, and struck in sandy peat and loam. They 

 like sun, and during the buranier plenty of water ; in winter, very little, or none at 

 all. Broken leaves may be cut off close with a sharp knife, but the hss the plants 

 are cut or injured the better. Do not shift to larger pots unless the pots are already 

 full of roots, but, if they really require more room, shift at once without breaking 

 the ball, and give plenty of water and sliade for a week. When growing, an occa- 

 eional sponging of the leaves with soft tepid water will do them good, but they 

 ■ must not be exposed to the sun while the foliage is wet. 



Thbip-infested Fekxs. — A Lover of Ferns.— Yon have not shown the affec- 

 tion your signature would lead us to suppose you had for these beautiful plants by 

 letting them get infested with thrip in tlic way you describe. Your best plan will 

 be to remove and burn the fronds that are much disfigured, and then give the house 

 in which they are a thorough smoking with tobacco, or tobacco paper. Be careful 

 not to overdo it, and repeat the dose three successive nights ; and after a week's 

 interval give the house anotlier smoking, to destroy the young ones which make 

 their appearance. We expect you have kept the house too dry, -which is a prolific 

 source of thrip. 



Fiiuns FOii North-east Wall. — S. A. — To answer your query satisfactorily, 

 we must first of all know in what part of the United Kingdom you live. It may 

 be your residence is in Sutherlandshire, and the cultivation of fruit otherwise than 

 against a choice south wall impracticable, or on the other hand you mny live in 

 Cornwall, Avhere a very large number of fruits may be grown against a north-east 

 aspect. As you have not considered it desirable to inform us of your whereabouts, 

 we can only answer you in a general way, and say that you may plant with con- 

 fidence Morello Cherry, Orleans, Jefferson, Magnum Bonum, and Victoria Phims. 

 Tou could also plant currants for late use, as they would ripen late, and the hirds 

 could be kept from them. 



Planting Peach and Nectarine Trees. — W.B. — We should advise you to 

 make your selection at once, and have the planting finished by the end of October. 

 The trees will then become nicely rooted at once, and start freely away in the 

 spring. Spring-planted trees lose the best part of the season in making roots. If 

 the soil is naturally good, you need do nothing to the border beyond trenching in a 

 moderate d -essing of thoroughly-decayed manure. Mix the manure well with the 

 soil, and trench as deep as the nature of the subsoil will admit. To insure tlie 

 highest degree of success, you had better take out about a couple of barrowfuls of 

 the old soil where the trees are to be planted, and fill in with good turfy loam 

 chopped up roughly. Spret d the roots out carefully, and keep them near the sur- 

 face. With uncongenial soil the best plan will be to take it entirely away to a 

 depth of three feet, and fill the space with good turfy loam. This would be an 

 expensive affair, but you would be more than repaid in the superior quality and 

 quantity of the fruit. We should not advi-e you to mix any manure with the soil 

 in the first instance ; it would promote too great a luxuriance in the growth. What 

 vou want is a medium-oized, stubby, and well-ripened wood. 



Celery Fly. — .Inquirer. — We know of no preventives more effectual than fresh 

 lime or soot, sprinkled occasionally over the young plants, which renders them 

 distasteful to the fly. But when the maggot has got a lodgment, much may be 

 done by crushing it in the leaf, and removing and burning the leaves that are most 

 injured. Wherever this fly has obtained a lodgment, cultivation alone will eradicate 

 it. The pupcc, or chrysalids, are now in the earth. Twice digging in winter, and 

 once in spring, of the plot intended for celery next year, and also of the plot on 

 which celery stands now, would pretty well extirpate it, by exposing the defenceless 

 creatures to the weather and the birds. 



Succulents.— Jf;-*. H. — There can be no doubt at all in the matter. The 

 succulents offer far more variety and interest to the cultivator than amateurs are 

 aware of; but one might as well hope for the instantaneous prevalence of universal 

 prosperity and virtue as for the general appreciation of true excellence in the cha- 

 lacters of plants. Pachiiphytum bracteatum and RocJiea falcata are true Crassu- 

 laceous plants. The last-named is one of the finest subjects ever housed in an 

 amateur's greenhouse. 



