Jane 20, 1867. ] 



JOUENAL OP HOETICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



48S 



from four to five acres under culture with the Gladiohis alone. 

 Nor does he practise succession o£ crops, for he allows the 

 portion of his land not occupied to be fallow, so that every 

 year his roots are planted in not only fresh soil, but in soil 

 that has rested. This soil is very light, and he does not hesi- 

 tate to enrich it with considerable quantities of manure, 

 although he believes that this may be overdone. We some- 

 times talk of our difficulties in the cultivation of the flower ; 

 but what are they to his ? Who knows what the " ver Wane " 

 is ? Happy those who are in perfect ignorance of the pest, 

 which is no other than the larva of the cockchafer, or May bug 

 of our school days. This is a tremendous pest in France, 

 especially in those parts nearest the forest. The perfect insect 

 strips m my of the trees quite bare ; but the larva is the fellow 

 for miscJuef. No schoolboy has a more accommodating appe- 

 tite than he has. Let him once find his way into the ground, 

 and shrubs, young trees, roots, allvauish before him as rapidly 

 as the three-cornered tarts, jam puffs, and Bath buns do before 

 the hungry scholars of Dothoboys Hall. As we went thi-ough 

 the grounds of the chateau we passed Lilac trees, young Coni- 

 fers, &c., all in a state of decay. "Ah!" said M. Souchet, 

 "that is the 'verblauc.'" As we were leaving him for Paris 

 in the dusk of the evening he said, " Ah ! my woik is not yet 

 done for the day. I must be off to my grounds, for I have 

 fifty or sixty women and boys coming in to gather ce taiTible 

 enfant." At this time of the year it is on the wing. The 

 female drops on the ground, and, if time is allowed her, deposits 

 her eggs, aud thus the mischief is done. Hence M. Souchet's 

 plan is to " catch them alive " before they have time to effect 

 their amiable object, and to destroy them. This is actually 

 done by bushels at a time, and thus he escapes with compara- 

 tive impunity. 



This cockchafer grub, however, is not M. Souchet's only 

 enemy. I observed that his bulbs were planted in very shallow 

 trenches. Supposing this to be for the convenience of water- 

 ing them, I made an observation to that effect. " Oh, no !" 

 was his reply, "but it is to avoid the attacks of a grub which 

 we have here ; and I find that if the bulb is planted shallow 

 it is not attacked. I afterwards, when the bulbs have well 

 started, fill in the trenches with earth." Plague No. 2, thought 

 I, from which we are pretty well free. I then asked him about 

 plague No. 3, which we do know something of — the spot. 

 This he believes to arise in a great measure from the practice 

 of planting the bulbs in the same ground in successive years. 

 Whether this be quite so or not I cannot say, but his lengthened 

 experience entitles him to speak as with authority; and he 

 assured me that he was himself very little troubled with it, 

 attributing that to the practice of changing his ground, which 

 he so rigidly adopts. Where bulbs are slightly affected by it 

 there is a chance of recovery ; but even then they ought to be 

 planted in some place apart, and not in the beds. When they 

 are deeply affected by it nothing avails, and ihe bulbs perish. 



I asked M. Souchet with regard to the size of the bulbs, and 

 how it affected their blooming, and found that he quite agreed 

 with me, that the medium-sized bulbs (which indeed would be 

 called small), gave the best blooms. Large bulbs are pretty 

 sure to throw up several trusses, and for those who wish to 

 propagate them this is all very well ; but simply for bloom the 

 smaller bulbs are best. He showed me, for instance, some 

 about the size of a large Filbert. These, he s-iid, will bloom 

 well, and they will make beautifully symmetrical bulbs for 

 next year. Even little " bulbules " not bigger than a Marrow- 

 fat Pea he said would bloom ; and, as I mentioned last autumn, 

 this had been confirmed by my own experience. In some 

 varieties this is more remarkably the case. Beine Victoria, 

 for example, a fine white, never blooms well from a large bulb ; 

 and small ones, which a buyer would, did he not know this, 

 invariably reject, are sure to give a satisfactory spike. There 

 are the same idiosyneracies in these as in every other flower — 

 some blooming early and some late, some always certain and 

 others uncertain. Thus that noble^variety Shakspeare, which 

 was let out last year, is a very early bloomer, will always start 

 in its dry state, and requires to be planted long before the 

 others ; while MarCchal Vaillant again, another fine sort, was 

 so uncertain, that M. Souchet had some doubt whether at one 

 time he would send it out. These are peculiarities which the 

 grower of every florists' flower knows about, and which he can 

 only know by the lessons of experience. These lessons are 

 sometimes gained at a severe cost ; they make one the more 

 careful when they have been learned. 



I found that as to varieties we had not much difference of 

 opinion. He was exceedingly modest as to his own merits in 



the matter, but at the same time stated what we all know, that 

 the best of those now grown are his productions ; and he has 

 promised to supply me witli a list of lbo.se sent oat by him in 

 each year, and which I hope at some future time to lay before 

 the readers of the Journal. On speaking to him of the defec- 

 tive form of some of his flowers, such as Lord Byron, he 

 frankly acknowledged it ; but then added, " But what a colour ! 

 Could I discard it?" Ad. Broigniart and Princess Marie de 

 Cambridge, both flowers of this year, he thought very fine, and 

 likely to be general favourites; the foimer for its peculiarly 

 novel colour, and the latter for its great purity. At the samo 

 time he added he was quite astonished at the manner in which 

 old varieties that he should long since have discarded are still 

 inquired after : possibly their chea^mess is the cause of this. 

 I should, however, state that M. Souchet does not himFelf sell 

 his bulbs. They are supjilied by him to five Paris houses — 

 Messrs. Vilmorin, Andiieux, et Cie., Quiii de la Mfigisserie ; 

 Messrs. Thibaut et Kettleer, Kue de Churonne; Moos. Charles 

 Verdier, Rue de Marche aux Chivaux ; Mcins. Engeno "Verdier, 

 Eue Dunois ; and Mons. Lui-e, Qnai de la Megisserie; and 

 English buyers can deal direclly with these houses. 



Many of the readers of the .Journal will doubtless be visiting 

 Paris this summer. I would advise any lovers of the Gladiolns, 

 if they possibly can. to make tlitirs about the middle of August, 

 and take a day at Fontainebleau. I was requested by Mons. 

 Souchet to say that he should be most hapjiy to vhow his col- 

 lection to any amateur at that time; but I must at the same 

 time warn them that they must lie prepared to speak with him 

 j in his own language, tor neither he nor his amiable wife 

 understands a word of English, and I ciin assure them that 

 they will meet with a kindness of reception which cannot be 

 excelled even in the wide and generous hospitality of the 

 Emerald Isle. — D., Deal. 



DUTY-FREE TOBACCO. 



I .\ii obliged by Mr. T.ife's courteous notice of my inquiries 

 on this subject. In common with all cultivators of flowers, I 

 hail the boon which he aunouucfs as a kind aud graceful con- 

 cession from the Government. There are, however, one or two 

 further points on which, as an nmateur gardener, I solicit in- 

 formation. Perhaps Mr. Tafe will be so good as to assure us. 



The advertisement speaks of the prepared tobacco, " either 

 as a powder, or". . . . as a wash ; " but are we limited to 

 these two modes of'application ? I fear neither would be of 

 much avail for houses in which costly and delicate plants are 

 grown. Who would powder his floweiiiig plants with snuff, or 

 syringe them with tobacco water? And the anointing of each 

 leaf and twig with a sjionge or !)tush is hopelessly tedious. Pre- 

 suming, however, that the powder can be burned on an iron 

 plate, or on coals, for fumigation — ihe only mode likely to be 

 of much use for plant-houses — an irMportant question arises 

 from the presence of t'ue sulphur. The fumes of burning sul- 

 phur are fatal to plants, tmless appbed with extreme caution. 

 Is the proportional amount of sulphur in a given quantity of 

 the new powder so small as to permit the mixture to be burned 

 in a plant-house without danger? We need to have distinct 

 assurances on this point before we can expose our valuable 

 plants to risk. It it prove that there is no danger im this score, 

 then it seems probable that the coarser form advertised for 

 agriculturists, at 28o;. per cwt., would be the most suitable for 

 fumigation, unless there is some Intent objectif^n. All this we 

 shall be glad to know. — P. H. Gosse, P.E.S., Torquay. 



That the public is now enabled to obtain ground tobacco 

 free of duty, is owing solely to the exertions of the inventor of 

 the " Ground and Cylinder Vineries." — Oeseevee, 



The Eecent Fkost. — I was fishing a few days since in the 

 Bray, which runs through one of the most warm and sheltered 

 valleys in our usually genial climate (Barnstaple). I was 

 amazed and grieved at the melancbolv appearance of the woods 

 which clothe the hill sides. The Oak coppices appeared as 

 if a fire had passed over them, the leaves brown, the young 

 shoots quite killed. The shoots of the .Ash were as much 

 damaged ; the Alder shoots not quite so much injured. The 

 only vegetation that appeared to have entirely escaped injury 

 was the Hazel and Mountain .Ash, Verns of all sorts were cut 

 down and brown as in winter, and in some places the Gorse 

 was entirely killed. The damage to the growing woods and 



