276 THK C.ARDKXER. [June 



experience any one can readily tell which berries will swell large and 

 wliicli remain small ; and of course, as all desire evenly swelled 

 bunches, the latter will be removed and the former left. As insects 

 generally increase with the hot weather, the utmost care should now be 

 taken that Vines do not get overrun with any kind of pest. Preven- 

 tion is always better than cure in this. In fact, the first is easy, but 

 the last most difficult to accomplish, as a rule. To begin and syringe 

 Vines with insecticide stuffs when the fruit is advanced in growth is 

 generally to blemish its appearance; but by keeping an eye daily on the 

 foliage, and sponging off all insects on their very first appearance, damage 

 to the wood, leaves, or fruit, may certainly be averted. J. MuiR. 



" CONSIDER THE LILIES." 



Your correspondent " F. W. B.," p. 145, indulges in a grim joke on the 

 price of Lily bulbs, possibly deriving his inspiration from the well- 

 known but misleading advertisement which has appeared in the col- 

 umns of a horticultural journal ever since its first published number, 

 and will appear, so we are informed, unaltered till the last number of 

 that journal is issued, which, judging from its present success, will not 

 be till the end of time. 



But lest your readers should fail to see the joke and be deceived by 

 the statements of " F. W. B.," permit me to state that good bulbs of 

 the Lilies be mentions — viz., Xeilgherriense, Wallichianum, Polyphyl- 

 lum — may be obtained from the New Plant and Bulb Company, Colches- 

 ter (and I doubt not from many other firms), at the low price of 5s. 

 each, and 10s. 6d. for the best bulbs. When, therefore, " F. W. B." 

 indulges in such tall talk as 36 to 50 guineas a dozen, he is simply 

 drawing a very long bow. Lilies may be " considered " at a much 

 more reasonable rate. Alexander Wallace. 



Colchester, April 20, 1881. 



N.B. — The three above-nampd Lilies are abotit the rarest and most highly 

 priced of all. A fairly good representative collection may be obtained in the 

 autumn for three guineas, well wf»ithy of " consideration." 



SUGGESTIONS FOR YOUNG GARDENERS. 



There seems to me to be one point in the successful management of 

 gardens too much overlooked in gardening literature generally — that is, 

 the important part which young men play in large or moderate-sized 

 gardens, where there is necessarily so much committed to their care. 

 However well-appointed a garden may be, it is almost impossible that 

 it can be successfully managed without every detail — which it is im- 



