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JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



I November 13, 1873. 



this plant were impregnated with pollen frcm A^ave deusiflora, 

 then blooming in a neighbouring collection. The result from 

 this cross is a plant with somewhat narrow leaves, entirely 

 destitute of spines saving at the apex, but profusely orna- 

 mented with long, broad, filTery-white filaments, and the 

 edges have a continuous white marginal border; indeed, 

 saving in the somewhat narrower leaves, these hybrids re- 

 semble the plant known in our collections as Agave Sohidigera, 

 and it therefore becomes a question whether the last-named 

 kind has been obtained by this same cross at a former period, 

 instead of being introduced from Mexico, as is generally sup- 

 posed. The plants, I understand, will be exhibited at the 

 next meeting of the Eoyal Horticultural Society, when those 

 interested in this tribe of plants will be able to inspect them. 

 — ExpEETO Ckede. 



EXHIBITING EOSES NOT GROWN BY THE 

 EXHIBITOR— BRIAR STOCKS. 



TouB impression of October .30th was of a character to 

 gladden the heart of every rosarian. Not only " More about 

 Koses," but " Much More about Eoses," and by very able 

 pens ; and, in this mouth of all others, especially welcome. 

 Even Sombreuil, that most persistent of all autumnals, has at 

 last given over blooming ; and Koses must be talked about, for 

 they can no longer be gathered. There is a negative character 

 in general about November. Some of your leaders will re- 

 member Hood's famous lines. Por those who do not I will 

 venture to quote them. It is the experience of a Londoner, 

 but almost of others. 



" No sun, no moon, 

 No moi-n, no noon. 

 No dawn, no dark, no proper time of day; 

 No sky, no earthly view, 

 No distance looking blue ; 

 No road, no street, no t'other side the way. 

 No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees, 

 No fiuits, no flowers, no leaves, no buds on trees. 

 November."' 



Like Mr. Farren, I am tempted to ask you to let me say my 

 say ; and first about exhibitions. I imagine all your readers 

 will endorse what he says most emphaticaUy. It is incon- 

 ceivable to me how anyone with any self-respect can conde- 

 scend to contend, much more to take a prize, with a flower in 

 his box that does not fairly belong to him ; but I incline to 

 hope that the practices Mr. Farren alludes to are comparatively 

 rare. I have been on the committee of two Rose associations 

 for the last seven years, and I do not recall any flagrant case 

 of the kind; and certainly we should have made "things" 

 very " unpleasant " if we had met with such. Wo have had 

 to make our rules more stringent to meet exceptional cases, 

 but the new rules have always been readily accepted. I have 

 been told that it is considered quite fair to get flowers anywhere 

 for a table decoration, though even to this allowance I have 

 always demurred. 



I most heartily hope the Crystal Palace authorities read 

 " onr Journal." I also, like Mr. Farren, fasted from 7 to 1 p u. 

 on the morning of the last Rose Show. In answer to some 

 anxious inquiries I was told I could have spirits, but nothing 

 else ; and breakfast deferred added to hope deferred on such 

 occasions is really trying. 



May I venture to remark further that " D. D.," of Kelso, 

 makes a most valuable suggestion '? There are good, bad, and 

 indifferent among Briar stems, and the latter two iiredominate. 

 It is quite time that our nurserymen turned their attention to 

 finding out the best kind of Briar and also to propagating it. 

 Seedling Briars are not very easy to obtain. I sowed a large 

 number of Briar seeds last year with the poorest possible 

 results. Seedling Biiars maybe the coming stock, but I think 

 it will be very long before they oust those of the hedges. A 

 well-rooted two or three-year-old Briar will give a branch to 

 bud on that cannot easily be equalled. As to Briar versus 

 Manetti, Sir Roger do Coverley would have remarked with his 

 wonted wisdom, " There is much to be said on both sides." A 

 batch of Roses on Briars is more likely to have some bad plants 

 among it than an equal number had in from a nurseryman on 

 the Manetti. But until the general public begin to plant the 

 Manetti properly, and until people get the idea that all that 

 comes up is not to be kept, Manettis will betray, and purchasers 

 will wonder. I hardly ever inspect an inexperienced person's 

 garden without having to point out a huge plant towering in 

 triumph, with the poor budded Rose all but suffocated. Some- 

 times in spring such plants wiU have been pruned, moreover, 



and are looked after most carefully. It is, perhaps, best for 

 each person to state his own experience. Mine is that there is 

 nothing like the Briar even on light soil such as my own, when 

 it likes the situation, but that Manetti stocks are safer in the 

 winter and give less trouble. I also incline to agree thatwh.en 

 once started they will stand very heavy manuring. 



I should like also to say that I think all Rose-growers must 

 feel gratitude to Mr. Hinton for the great trouble he has again 

 taken in the Rose election. Many of us want some educating 

 into what are each year's Roses. — Alan Cheales, Surrey. 



PHYLLOXERA VASTATRIX. 



The number of The Jourkal of Horticultuke of December 

 lUth, 1872, contains a most interesting and valuable article, 

 giviug all the details at present known of the new Vine pest. 

 Phylloxera vastatrix. As one of the members of the Bath 

 Microscopical Society, who were anxious to render their soiree 

 worthy of the visit of the members of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society at their recent visit to this city, I wrote to a friend in 

 Bordeaux, asking him to procure me specimens to exhibit that 

 evening, as we had not been able to procure any specimens 

 among our friends or in the ordinary ctiurse of trade. My 

 friend, writing on June 4th, states, " The Phylloxera vastatrix 

 which has destroyed so many Vines in the Rhone wine country, 

 and more especially in the vineyards about Nines, Montpellier, 

 Ac, is, happily for us, completely unknown in the Medoc 

 districts. On the vineyards opposite Bordeaux, on the other 

 side of this river, in what is called the Cutes and Palus wine 

 district, this iusect has made its appearance, and has done 

 even a good deal of harm. Of late, however, it seems to be 

 less frequent. These effects, unlike what has happened in the 

 south-east of France, have not been general, attacking only 

 a few estates and vanishing without injuring the very neigh- 

 bours of its victims. My cousin will only be able to find 

 them in a month, when the effects of the Phylloxera will be 

 apparent on the attacked Vine." 



My friend M. de Luze sent me a map showing which parts 

 of the Bordeaux wine district had been specially injured by 

 the Phylloxera. In a letter dated August Ith he stated that 

 the Phylloxera had been found in some parts of the St. Emi- 

 lion country, where it had never been seen before. 



M. de Luze kindly sent me a bottle containing the roots of 

 some afl'ected Vines ; part of these I forwarded to Professor 

 Westwood, but, unfortunately, the box sent to him was smashed 

 in transit. The oth'er jjart was safely delivered to the Rev. 

 M. J. Berkeley, of Sibbertoft. His letter is so lull of interest, 

 and so condenses all that is known at present of the mode of 

 increase of this pest, that it is worth copying. " Sept. 28, 1873. 

 With some difficulty I at last found the female Phylloxera on 

 the roots which you sent, dift'eriug in no respect from what 

 I have seen in specimens from British Vines. So fai' as 

 the females are concerned the histoiy is well known. The 

 female attaches itself to the under side of the leaves, iu which 

 it produces a protruding sac, within which it emits a multi- 

 tude of eggs. These hatch and produce lively mite-like young, 

 which run about in every direction. Other females attach 

 themselves to the roots, in which they cause a slight depres- 

 sion ; but whether the active young are first produced on the 

 roots and then go upwards to the leaves, or whether from the 

 leaves to the roots, has not, I believe, been ascertained. The 

 curious point is that the male has never been observed in this 

 country. The Phylloxera has been destructive in many of our 

 gardens. Mr. Malcolm Dunn, when at Powerscourt, sent a 

 paper on the best mode of destroying the plague to the London 

 Horticultural Society, which is published in the Journal. I 

 am not aware that any certain remedy has been discovered." 



To this lucid description I can add nothing. The small 

 portion of the affected roots I kept for myself gave me some 

 specimens, which, unfortunately, 1 did not at once preserve, 

 for on going to my bottle for specimens to exhibit to our 

 Microscopical Society I could find none, part having become 

 mildewed, which would be fatal to these insects. I may, how- 

 ever, say that the drawing given in the Journal of December 

 I'Jth, 1872, is very correct. My impression was when exa- 

 miniug the roots whereon I found the insect, that having made 

 an entrance or found a gap in the bark, that they to some 

 extent burrowed their way, and so separated the outer thin 

 bark from the woody central portion of the root, thus destroy- 

 ing its power of properly transmitting the juices from the 

 terminal fibres. I may mention that in plate 24 of Smee's 

 "My Garden" is a very clear drawing of the terminal fibres 



