138 



THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GARDEN aUIDE. 



outside the greenhouse for nearly a week , 

 the other plants -were destroyed in the 

 fjreenhousc ; the insect I have never 

 seen ow the plants, it runs about the soil, 

 and being so nearly of the same colour 

 is easily concealed by the particles of 

 mouhl ; can you te'il me how to avoid its 

 attack ? — L. M. [We have written so 

 much about Azalea amcena that we 

 supposed the subject to be exhausted. 

 This is the first time we ever heard of any 

 faihu-e in its cultivation. We must sup- 

 pose it is in a soil quite unsuited to its 

 character ; and L. M. should have added 

 some particulars on that head. All it 

 requires is a bed of turfy peat or bog 

 two feet deep in a shady position, and to 

 be left alone to lake care of itself If 

 planted in common garden mould it can 

 never do any good. We suspect the 

 little black nimble insects are beetles, 

 and probably quite harmless. The mis- 

 chief is much more like the work of 

 slugs and snails, and probably if L. M. 

 will examine the plants with a candle at 

 nioht, an army of small slugs will be 

 found feasting on them. Whenever there 

 is any mystery of this kind, cultivators 

 should introduce lettuce plants for the 

 vermin, and they will quit better 

 things.] 

 Gekanium Spot. — I have taken your 

 valuable work for two years, and now 

 venture for the first time to ask a ques- 

 tion. I inclose some leaves, will you 

 tell me what is the matter with them? 

 — J. B. [The geranium leaves sent are 

 horribly afflicted with "spot," the re- 

 sult of imperfect drainage. When this 

 affection breaks out it sometimes spreads 

 to all the plants in a collection, and 

 becomes incurable. It is invariably 

 caused in the first instance by a water- 

 logged condition of the roots, or sudden 

 chills, with damp, caused by ill-regulated 

 ventilation, or want of fire-heat when 

 the plants are in a sappy condition. For 

 the future use plenty of drainage, care- 

 fully packed, so that the soil will not 

 run down and prevent the escape of 

 ■water. Place over the hole in the pot 

 one large hollow crock, hollow side 

 downwards, over that lay some smaller 

 pieces, and then put in broken oyster 

 shells enough to fill at least one-fom-th 

 of the depth of tlie pot, you may fill 

 one-third of the depth with advantiige. 

 Let the soil be— s;nid\' loam, two parts, 

 peat one part, leaf-mould one part, all 

 in a rough cou'iition, well mixed, but 

 not sifted. Attend to ventilation, keep 



the plants rather dry in cold weather, 

 and keep the house dry all the winter 

 through, and you will never see spot 

 again.] 

 Variou.s. T'. — Tour verbenas wanted 

 bottom-heat to give them a start after 

 potting. It is common enough for 

 people who work v/ithout the aid of 

 artificial heat to lose all tlieir plants in 

 spring, through repotting them. In 

 future, if you succeed so well in keeping 

 your plants through the winter, leave 

 them alone till quite the end of April or 

 beginning of May ; indeed you might 

 have left yours alone till time to plant 

 them out" — T. Gt'Jlimore. — The flower 

 is that of Amaryllis longi folia. Tlie leaf 

 is of one of "the varieties of Lilium 

 lancifolium, which has been subjected to 

 unusually bad treatment to be infested 

 with meally bug. for as a rule these 

 liliums enjoy quite an immunit}- from 

 vermin. Your plants have surely been 

 coddled ; sponge the leaves with soap 

 and water, then syringe, and as soon as 

 the plants are toler:ibly dry from the 

 operation, put tiiem out in a cold frame, 

 on a bed of cocoa-nut dust. — Sjforza. 

 — If you will try and write a short 

 letter, and say on what particular 

 subject out of the fifty or more enume- 

 rated in your communication, we will 

 give it our best attention. If your 

 plants die before our next number ap- 

 pears, you must not blame us f^T with- 

 holding information, but yourself for 

 sending a letter which consumed half 

 an hour to read it, and was then unin- 

 telligible. '1 here is no task we so much 

 enjoy as attending to correspondence, 

 hut long letters are like east winds, they 

 chill the very marrow in one's bones. — 

 J. F. — The tan catching fire does not 

 seem to need explan?ition. The fogging 

 off of the plants was owing to the bed 

 being too damp and too cold ; whenever 

 this begins raise the heat and sprinkle 

 the bed with silver-sand or peat dust. 

 Such a place ought to strike cuttings, 

 and will when you get used to it. You 

 had best resort to dung- heat, the cost is 

 little. You cannot do much in garden- 

 ing without manure. '1 he best book for 

 you is theFLORAi- Wokld itself; if you 

 jn'oc'.n-e the complete set of six volnmes, 

 you will have plenty of advice on hot- 

 beds, frames, etc. — JVewark. — The shrub 

 is Euonymus Americanus — the blue 

 flower a Pulmonaria, the yellow Doroni- 

 cum calabricum. 



