FOREIGN NOTICES. 



141 



Method of removing avts. — Ants in gardens 

 are, as is well knovra, very injurious, when they 

 settle themselves at the foot of vegetables. Seve- 

 ral methods are used to destroy or remove them. 

 It happened this year that while trimming the 

 branches of tomatoes, I threw a handful upon a 

 little anthill; at the end of a few days I observed 

 that the ants had disappeared. I did this early in 

 July; I have repeated it since, and have obtained 

 the same results. I wish that this simple means 

 may be tried by many persons. There are few 

 gardens in which the tomato is not cultivated, 

 and the effect produced is easily explained. Its 

 leaves and stalks have a strong and nauseous odor, 

 which is by no means agreeable to the ants, and 

 drives them awa}-. For myself, I propose to try 

 it again next year, and have reason to think that 

 the results will be the same. 



M. Philippe, gardener at Meyeux, n^ar Naugis, 

 writes us that he has succeeded in ridding himself 

 of the ants which infested his gardens by watering 

 the anthills several times in two days with water 

 in which he had dissolved sulphate of potassium, 

 in the proportion of fifty grammes to twenty-five 

 litres of water. The sulphate of potassium used 

 in this proportion exerts no injurious action on 

 plants. On the contrary it renders them greener 

 and more vigorous. Its price is very small. — 

 Pepin in Revue Horticole. 



Propagation of Gooseberries by cuttings. — 

 The Belgian Journal of liorticulture points out as 

 infallible, a method of propagating gooseberries, 

 by cuttings in August. It consists of cutting, in 

 that month, branches of the same years growth, 

 well ripened, and about a foot in length, and 

 simply planting them in the soil in a shaded spot. 

 They succeed better and more surely than those 

 made in spring. I also have tried this method 

 and have observed that this period is really better 

 suited than any other to the propagation of goose- 

 berries by cuttings, and probably for that of a 

 great number of trees and shrubs. The operation 

 is most commonly performed in spring. A great 

 number of trials do not answer the expectation of 

 the cultivator, for in that season the heat and 

 dryness often prevent success. Many roses, and 

 above all, Bengal roses, are subject to the same 

 conditions, and succeed much better from cuttings 

 in August than in spring. There are, regarding 

 this process of propagating by cuttings in the 

 open soil, many useful observations to be made, 

 which would be applicable to a large number of 

 plants. — Pepin, in Revue Horticole. 



New Garden Plants. — Azalea Squamata. Sca- 

 ly-stalked Azalea. Green-house Shrub. From the 

 mountains of Hong Kong, China, whence it was 

 sent by Mr. Fortune, as a fine and distinct species. 



With the habit common to all the Chinese Aza- 

 leas, they present the following peculiarities : — In 

 its natural state it blooms without leaves, produ- 

 cing at the end of every little shoot a large solitary 

 flower of a clear rose color, tlistinctly spotted with 

 crimson on one side, and guarde<l at the base by a 

 large sheath of bright brown scales (whence its 

 name.) Its calyx, unlike that of the neighboring 



species, is reduce*! to a mere five-toothed rim. Its 

 ovary, immediately after the fall of the corolla, 

 projects in the form of an oblong body quite co- 

 vered with coarse brown hairs. The leaves when 

 young are somewhat like those of A. indica, and 

 have nothing distinctive in their shape or surface; 

 but when old they are oval, sharp at each end, 

 perfectly hairless, and as even on the upper sur- 

 face as those of Rhododendron punetatum. This 

 plant has been long known from dried specimens 

 and drawings sent from China by Mr. Reeves, the 

 latter of which are preserved in the library of the 

 Society : but it has never before been introduceil 

 alive. At present its flowers have only been pro- 

 duced by plants out of health, and therefore they 

 have given no just idea of the beauty of the plant, 

 which is one of the finest in cultivation. It will pro- 

 bably prove hardy. In a case, containing several 

 plants, Mr. Fortune sent home a portion of the soil, 

 brown loam, in which this species was found wild, 

 and for the purpose of try ing its effects one plant was 

 potted in it ; but it has by no means the healthy 

 appearance of those potted in rough sandy peat. 

 It strikes freely from cuttings of young wood un- 

 der ordinary treatment. The beautiful spotted 

 flowers (although not large) and the neat foliage, 

 together with a dwarf habit, will render this a 

 plant of considerable importance either in a green- 

 house or in the shrubbery- — Jour, of the Hort. Soc. 



Drainage of Pots. — Almost every body who 

 writes on growing plants in pots recommentls good 

 drainage; but how this is to be effected, and of 

 what sized materials the drainage is to be com- 

 posed, is seldom mentioned. Now, as the health 

 of the plant in a great measure depends on the free 

 circulation of water through the soil, it is essen- 

 tial that the strictest attention be observed in the 

 formation of drainage. The materials for this pur- 

 pose should be perfectly dry and free from dust, 

 whether these be crocks, charcoal, or sandstone ; 

 they should be broken into different sizes, each 

 size being placed separately by itself ; thus if I 

 were using three inch pots, I should first clean the 

 pot well inside if required, then place a piece of 

 crock at the bottom, nearly as large as will cover 

 it, but concave, so as to allow the water free 

 egress; on this I would place a layer of broken 

 crocks, or other material, about the size of Beans, 

 and on this again a slight layer about the size of 

 Peas. And when I used pots of a larger size, I 

 would use larger pieces, always keeping the coars- 

 est at the bottom and the smallest at the top, and, 

 with very few exceptions, the plants will be bene- 

 fitted by placing a thin la}'er of turfy loam or peat 

 over the drainage, as this keeps the smaller parti- 

 cles of earth from being carried down among the 

 drainage. Although there is no fear of the drain- 

 age being impaired, if properly constructed, 5-et, 

 to make doubly sure, let each pot be crocked as 

 regularly as possible, one having no more drain- 

 age than another, so that in the next shift each 

 may get the same proportion of soil as well as 

 drainage. Pieces of sandstone mixed with the 

 soil are very useful in drainage for hard-wootled 

 plants, as are also pieces of charcoal and bone-dust 

 for soft-wooded ones; in either case the roots will 



