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JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEK. 



[ June 27, 1867. 



witb golden yellow foliage and bronze zones of different shades — 

 and other Zonal and Variegated Pelargoniums ; also Calceola- 

 rias, RuUisson's Unique Pelargonium, and the newest and best 

 varieties of Verbenas. Mrs. PoUoclt, Lucy Grieve, and other 

 Pelargoniums were planted out before the severe frost of May, 

 and although they lost a few leaves, they are now growing freely, 

 which will go far to prove that they are not so tender as gene- 

 rally supposed. 



In the quarters on each side of the main wall; are five acres 

 of nursery stock, consisting of dwarf-trained fruit trees of 

 various sorts, also two large beds of the beautiful Spanish Iris, 

 several beds of border Tulips and other bulbs. Lilies of the 

 Valley, Helleborus niger, and upwards of a thousand Provence 

 Eoses well furnished with bloom. The pits contained Ca- 

 mellias and Azaleas, which succeed well placed on a cold 

 bottom. There was also a large collection of Verbenas, mostly 

 the new varieties of 186G. Conspicuous amongst them were 

 Crimson King; Junius, a rich Indian red ; Mrs. General Lee, rich 

 magenta, with crimson centre ; Eosy Circle, brilliant crimson, 

 tinted with rose, white eye ; and Scarlet Nonpareil, soft lake 

 scarlet, with large white eye. Variegated Hollies and other 

 evergreens are piopagated extensively in small pots, and in the 

 propagating and other houses are Mrs. Pollock, Lady Cullum, 

 Lucy Grieve, and the other new Zonal and Variegated Pelar- 

 goniums. Each cutting is inserted in a thumb-pot, and when 

 rooted (which they are in a week or two with bottom heat), they 

 are shifted into larger pots. I noticed a good Lobelia called Blue 

 King, also Arabis mollis variegata, invaluable for eJgings to beds 

 and borders, and very freely increased. The two varieties of 

 Viola cornuta can be seen here. 



This nursery has been established only four yeai-s ; for the 

 last two it has been in the possession of Mr. Hooper, who adds 

 to his stock everything worthy of notice in floriculture. — 

 W. Keane. 



VIOLA CORNUTA. 



As I wrote to you last year respecting my being disap- 

 pointed in Viola cornuta, I wish to say a few words now in its 

 favour. 



The plants have been in the gronnd thronghoutthe winter, and 

 are now looking perfectly lovely. From present appearances 

 they will continue to bloom for some weeks. I have a circular 

 bed of about 3 feet in diameter, and it is all covered with beau- 

 tiful mauve-coloured blossoms, and is not surpassed by any- 

 thing in my garden. Perhaps it is only equalled in efiect by its 

 neighbour bed of Cerastium. 



Tou advised me last season to take cuttings of the Viola. I 

 did so, but they do not bloom so well as the parent plants that 

 have been exposed to the long and severe winter. —A. 0., 

 Exeter. 



GISHURST COjMPOUKD. 



In a wood of nine hundred acres of young Fir trees, only 

 1, 2, or 3 feet high, I noticed two years ago the presence in 

 numbers of a sort of insect, the name of which I did not know 

 and could not obtain from any one. These insects were then 

 (in 18C5), confined to two or three acres, scattered about in 

 the wood in several parcels, and they did some harm, destroy- 

 ing several hundreds of trees. The insects lasted the whole 

 year, notwithstanding the cold and the warm weather. 



Last year (18(56), I noticed that the insects had much in- 

 creased, and that they covered twenty or twenty-five acres, 

 also scattered about in the wood in many parcels ; and at the 

 end of the year I ascertained that many thousands of trees were 

 destroyed by them. 



Finally the Easter of 18G7 came, and I saw with terror that, 

 contrary to what had ever been teen in this country, all these 

 insects were still living, although the winter had been very 

 cold and very long, and that the trunks of the trees were lite- 

 rally covered with millions of nests of twenty to thirty eggs 

 each ; so that it was to be feared that the whole of the wood 

 might be overwhelmed by them, and millions of trees de- 

 stroyed. 



I tried several applic.itions to kill the insects, but nothing 

 succeeded, or when it really killed the insects it also killed the 

 trees at once. I finally heard of Gishurst compound, and 

 used it in brushing the trunks and dipping the branches. It 

 succeeded admirably, killing immediately the insects without 

 doing any harm to the trees. I determined, although the cost 

 of Buch work was considerable, to do it all over the twenty or 



twenty-five acres when it was necessary; but I had nearly 



done two or three acres, when after some extremely hot days, 

 I was happily prevented continuing the task by the arrival of 

 thousands of small insects, which I think are mealy bugs, and 

 which destroyed in a week all the insects and their nests. — A, B. 



CULTIVATION OF THE TOMATO IN COLD 

 FRAMES. 



Thep.e are some dozen or more varieties, Powell's Early Bed 

 we consider the best ; it answers well for frame culture. 



The experience of the past season has sufficiently shown 

 that we ought not to depend entirely on out-door culture to meet 

 the demand. There may be exceptional cases in favourable 

 localities, but in Scotland generally, from tho information I 

 have been able to gather, tho Tomato crop may be considered a 

 failure last season. 



Where abundance of glass is at disposal, few difficulties 

 attend tho proiitable cultivation of the Tomato ; it will produce 

 abundantly, protected by glass, with or without the aid of arti- 

 ficial heat, if provided with an open exposure. The back wall 

 of a vinery. Peach-house, or orchard-house affords grand scope 

 to its luxuriant growth, from which we sometimes see enormous 

 crops gathered ; but in our opinion, cropping in such houses 

 is sometimes carried too far, and we think some restraint 

 should bo put on the roots. The necessity of this will at once 

 be manifest when we refer to the gross-feeding nature of the 

 Tomato, and its innumerable rootlets, which spread themselves 

 in all directions, extracting the richer qualities from the soil. 

 To avoid this consumption of what is essential to the proper 

 health and development of the permanent plants, boxes 2 feet 

 square by 8 inches in depth (inside measure), plunged level 

 with the surface and filled with rich soil, would be sufficient 

 accommodation to meet the requirements of the Tomato, with 

 the addition of good waterings of liquid manure from time to 

 time. 



In many eases none of the accommodations mentioned are 

 at command, and still the demands for Tomatoes are the same. 



Cold frames would assist many out of this difEcnlty if pro- 

 perly applied. But the question may be urged, Where, in 

 that case, are Pelargoniums, &c., to be grown '.' — they must be 

 displaced or sacrificed before this can accomplished. 



The system we yearly practise with good success is as 

 follows : — In the beginning of February a frame is put in order 

 to receive our first batch of cuttings, early Melons, &c. As 

 soon as the bed is reduced to a proper heat, a sprinkling of 

 Powell's Tomato is sown in a six-inch pot and plunged in the 

 leaves along with the Melons, both getting the same attention 

 on to the time the Tomato requires to be singled out and 

 planted individually in pots 3 inches in diameter. The soil 

 used for this operation has been previously warmed by lying a 

 few days in the hotbed. The plants are returned into heat 

 again, and at the next potting they are shifted into 4^-inch 

 pots, the compost employed being one-third light loam, one- 

 third well-rotted manure, and one-third equal portions saud 

 and leaf mould. The plants are again returned to their old 

 quarters, and are similarly managed for a few weeks more, 

 giving larger shifts when their roots have filled the pots. The 

 last potting ought to take place at the commencement of May, 

 and this time into eight-inch pots, by which time the plants 

 are vigorous and are pointing out their laterals (side shoots). 

 They are again put back to the frame and kept in an active 

 condition till the middle of the month, when they are removed 

 to a dry cool pit, placed on boards, and shaded for a few days 

 until they recover the change. 



After-culture. — In the last week of May, the arrangements 

 are completed for their final shift into cold frames in the follow- 

 ing manner. A line of boxes is placed at proper distances along 

 both ends, and also the back of the frames, and other lines cf 

 boxes are placed running from south to north directly under 

 each rafter. The boxes are plunged level with the surface of 

 the sawdust which covers the bottom. They measure ISinchtS 

 long, 15 broad, by 8 deep, and are stiiHy filled with a mixture 

 of equal portions of rotten turf and old mushroom-bed dung, 

 chopped well up but not riddled. The plants are next intro- 

 duced and planted at a distance of 2} feet apart along the batk 

 and ends, as well as in the boxes placed immediately beneath 

 the rafters. Strong stakes are next placed at convenient dis- 

 tances underneath the rafters to tie the shoots to, making the 

 tops of the stakes press hard against the rafter, while the points 

 are secured in the soil below, which acts as a support, and keeps 



