S88 



JOUfiNAL OF HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ June 6, 1867. 



times I have found the variegated portion extend too rapidly, 

 especially when it begins to develope itself on very young 

 plants or in an early stage of their growth. In this case, I 

 always pinch portions of the variegated foliage away to enable 

 the green leaves of the plant to recruit its strength, and when 

 it is found necessary to check the predominance of the green 

 part, portions of the fohage on this part of the plant are 

 picked off. To such plants as these I give the preference. I 

 have found, after the sports tbey produce are fixed, that they are 

 propagated much more easily, and grow much more freely, 

 than do the cuttings from plants that are perpetuated from 

 seedlings which have become very much variegated in an early 

 stage of their growth. In these, the constitution of the plant 

 becomes very much crippled by variegation. 



A curious instance of sporting is seen in a large plant of the 

 bronze and gold section, named Her Majesty. The female 

 parent of Her Majesty was one of the green seedlings from The 

 Queen's Favourite, which I have before referred to. The plant 

 was two years old when it was used as a pollen parent, and 

 did not exhibit the slightest signs of variegation at the time I 

 selected it for fertilising with the pollen of Beauty of Oulton, 

 on account of its having a very deep zone. Two months ago 

 it threw out a white sport near the position of one of the coty- 

 ledons. I took it off, struck it, and it is now to be seen in my 

 collection. Another white sport appeared shortly afterwards ; 

 this still remains on the plant, and may be seen by any one 

 who will examine the beautiful specimen named Her Majesty 

 in my collection. 



The preceding, I think, abundantly shows the way in which 

 Tariegation is transmitted from one generation of plants to 

 another ; also that although it may not appear in the first, 

 second, or third generation, it may in the fourth or fifth. 

 This, I think, goes far to prove that variegation in plants is a 

 disease. 



In a future paper I will describe the results of some experi- 

 ments I have now in hand. They will, I am sure, prove very 

 interesting. I have inoculated some strong-growing plants 

 with pieces of several kinds of both Golden and Silver Tri- 

 color Pelargoniums. It will be curious to note what will be 

 the resxilt — whether they will be perpetuated singly or not by 

 the plant, and what the effect on its flowers may be, and, above 

 all, how the progeny will be affected. 



I think I have stated enough to show that our old variegated 

 Pelargoniums originated from sports, and that from them the 

 numerous varieties now in cultivation have been perpetuated. 

 I will now leave the subject to be dealt with by some of our 

 scientific gentlemen, and hope they may be able to find out the 

 causes of variegation. — J. Wills. 



at the roots in hot weather, you would not be so plagued with 

 mildew. Mildew is called " the daughter of drought," because 

 in such weather the leaves put forth sticky secretions, to which 

 the sporules of the fungus adhere, and in due time take root, 

 and spread with wonderful rapidity. As soon as you see the 

 slightest " haze " on the leaves, or even before you see it, you 

 had better pour the vitriolic lotion over those plants whieh 

 are more liable (as some are) to fungoid diseases. — W. F. Ead- 

 CLYIFB, Oheford Fitzpaine.] 



THE LEAFING OF THE OAK AND THE ASH 

 INDICATIVE OF THE SUMMERS WEATHER. 

 WuicH comes into leaf first in the year ? Is there any truth 

 in the adage that if the Oak break leaf before the Ash it will 

 be a wet summer, and if the latter show leaf before the Oak a 

 dry one ? In this neighbourhood the Oak is fully clothed and 

 the Ash bare, and it usually is so — I think always so ; but I 

 have been contradicted in this saying by a person who professes 



to know. AsmON-UNDEE-LVNE. 



[The popular opinion in the midland counties is, that if the 

 development of the leaves of the Oak precedes that of the Ash 

 the weather during harvest will be fine ; but that the weather 

 will be wet if the Ash-leafing precedes that of the Oak. The 

 rhymed form of the proverb is — 



" If the Oak 's before the Ash 

 Then you'll only get a splash; 

 If the Ash precedes the Oak 

 Then you may expect a soak." 



The leafing of the Oak usually precedes that of the Ash.] 



MILDEW ON ROSE TREES. 



Though not a " rosarian," I am a lover of Roses, and in 

 spite of deaths from last winter's frost, have considerably more 

 than a thousand plants still flourishing. 



The one enemy which I cannot subdue is mildew. It shows 

 itself here and there at this time of year; but the time when 

 it really works mischief is when the flower-buds are forming 

 on the second growths early in August. Some varieties of the 

 Boss are more affected by it than others. Prince Camille de 

 Bohan, for instance, becomes with me so unsightly, and so 

 debilitated by mildew, that I have half resolved to throw it out, 

 although for hardiness iu resisting low temperature, and for 

 freedom in blooming, it is surpassed by none of its colour that 

 I know of. 



I notice that the Rev. Mr. Eadclyffe recommends " vitriol " 

 as an antidote to mildew and funguses in general. I have 

 ionnd the usual remedy, black sulphur, to be of inappreciable 

 efiect, and should be glad to try what Mr. Eadcliffe recom- 

 mends ; but what is it? Sulphuric acid, sulphate of iron, and 

 sulphate of copper, are respectively known as oil of vitriol, 

 green vitriol, and blue vitriol. — Monticola. 



[Either blue vitriol (sulphate of copper), or gi'een vitriol 

 (sulphate of iron), will do. You can purchase either of a di'Uggist, 

 who should pound it fine, and put it up in two-ounce packets. 

 Two ounces are sufficient for a stable-bucUetful of water. 

 Before the vitriol is put into the cold water, it should be 

 thoroughly dissolved in hot water, and well stirred when added 

 to the cold wa'er. 



I never found any benefit arise from applying to the Bose 

 mildew either yelljw or black sulphur out of doors. If you 

 would supply joui plants with water, both over the leaves and 



THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION. 



I SUPPOSE that while veiy different views wUl be entertained 

 of the Exhibition generally, there never has been and never 

 can be but one opinion as to the building itself — that it is 

 ugliness exemplified. People have compared it to a gasometer, 

 &c. ; but in truth it can be compared to nothing, for you can 

 (unless you choose to motmt the lighthouse, or some eminence), 

 only see the exterior arcade. All the inner portion of th» 

 building, being lower, is of course hidden from view ; and from 

 its circular construction, as has been already oftentimes said, 

 no vista, no lengthened view, can be obtained ; while for the 

 same reason the contents are shown off to the least possible 

 advantage ; yet withal it is a wonderful place. In the exte- 

 rior portion, by courtesy called The Park, but really a vast 

 conglomeration of every possible thing, lighthouses, churches, 

 cafes, stables, farmyards, theatres, are brought together, and 

 so completely cover the ground that all idea of a park is done 

 away with. Therefore a contributor to The JonESAL op Hob- 

 TicoLTURE has no excuse for dwelling on this portion of the 

 undertaking. 



Of the Jardin reserve, however, we have a right to talk, and 

 of this different opinions will also be entertained. It seems to 

 me that the one predominating fault of the whole Exhibition 

 has been that of forgetting the legitimate objects for which 

 such gatherings were instituted, and, by attempting too much, 

 spoiling the whole. What object, I may ask, can a Tunisian 

 cafe or a Chinese theatre have in view so far as affording in- 

 struction and profit ? And then in the horticultural depart- 

 ment there are incongruities which ought not to have been 

 tolerated, and which give a cocknified aspect to it. What legi- 

 timate object in connection with horticulture has a marine 

 aquarium '! and yet this grotto, stocked with sea anemones and 

 fish, occupies a central position in the garden, and has been 

 erected at the cost of some 300,000 francs. The mania for 

 aquariums, which prevailed here some years ago, seems now to 

 have seized the French ; and in a prominent position on the 

 Boulevards is now to be seen a large shop fitted up in a grotto, 

 where you are invited to enter and see the animals fed at par- 

 ticular times, as the beasts at the Zoological Gardens. In the 

 Jardin d'Acclimatation you find a whole house devoted to the 

 same oliject; though what end is to be gained by acclimatising 

 Crassicornis and Dianthus, &c., I am unable to say. I suppose 

 it is this that has led to what I look upon as a great blemish. 

 There may be some excuse for admitting Mr. Frank Buckland's 

 salmon-breeding apparatus into the Eoyal Horticultural So- 

 ciety's gardens at Kensington, but why this grotto should have 

 been admitted to Ihe jardin rescri'c I know not. 



We have been always so ready and willing to defer to the 

 French in matters of taste, and to beheve them to reign para. 



