JODRNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



[ April 13, 1877. 



Beactt of GLiZENWooD RosE. — We have received from Mr. JohuFerme 

 Haddington, a flower of this Rose. Its petals are yellow at the hase, with 

 rose-coloured edge and veins. The colours are not quite as bright as those 

 in the published portraits, and the flower is much smaller. 



Pit in Front op Greenhouse iKittie).—'The pit would be very useful 

 for wintering bedding plants, but the lights should not be above, upon, or 

 level with the gutter of the greenhouse, but beneath it, which will form a 

 capping for the lights. This will, of course, give you less depth in the pit at 

 the back. The front wall need not be higher than a foot, and the wall plate 

 upon it will raise it 2 or S inches. The height or depth of the pit at the back 

 need not be more than 2| feet. Two openiuga, one at each end of the front 

 wall of the greenhouse, '.i feet square will not be suflacient to warm the atmo- 

 sphere of the pit 80 as to exclude frost ; the openings should be at least four, 

 and even then you will need to cover the pit with mats in severe weather. 

 We have a eimiiar pit, and in severe weather double matting is Deoeasary 

 over the hghts. It will depend enturely upon the number and size of the 

 openiug.s with the temperature of the house as to whether you will he able 

 to exclude frost from the pit, but we think you will not be able to do so 

 with two openings, and the temperature of the greenhouse an ordinary one 

 — viz., 45' to 40' from fire heat. 



Plants for Window Box (Mem).— As the aspect is north plant the sides 

 with Sempervivums tectorum and californioom, the centre with Winter 

 Heaths, Thujas, and Retinosporas kept dwarf. 



Begonias iEaU Surrey). — We cannot name "plaats from loaves !only, nor 

 florists' flowers at all, they are legion. 



Brown Scale on Ferns (C. Codings).— Ferns are very susceptible of 

 injury from an insecticide powerful enough to destroy the scale. The safest 

 remedy is to syringe them with water at a temperattu-e of 140", but the fronds 

 must be fully developed, any young tender growths being unable to endure 

 the water at so high a temperature. The plants should be laid on their 

 Bides, and turned over so as to reach all the insects with the hot water, being 

 careful to keep it from the roots. A tedious but a safe mode of riddance is 

 to remove the scale with the point of a knife, crushing it between the finger 

 and thumb. The brown powder beneath the skiuj corresponds to insects, as 

 numerous as its grains appear to be. The plants should be gone over fre- 

 quently, and the scale removed before it becomes brown and hard. 



Feather Grass Sowing (T. Gardner).— It is perfectly hardy, and does not 

 require to be raised in heat, though gentle heat brings the plants up quickly. 

 Prepare a bed or piece of ground in an open situation by digging, and making 

 very fine, especially the surface. If poor add some leaf soil ; if heavy, sand. 

 The stu-face being fine, water gently. Scatter the seed evenly and rather 

 thinly, and cover it very lightly with fine soil. All that is needed is to main- 

 tain the seed in position. If the weather be showery no water need be given, 

 but if dry shade from sun and sprinkle with water every morning, applying 

 it through a tine rose. -Ifter the blades appear all that is necessary is 

 occasional watering in dry weather. Grasses often fail from seed being 

 buried too deeply and not keeping moist, so as to ensure speedy germination. 



Flv in ViNEEr (Ja.,Iii»61in).— Theflyisoneof the sev-iral hundred species 

 of Anthomyia, to which also belongs some of our common house fly. They 

 will do no injury to your Vines, and will in all probability not propagate in 

 the spent seaweed laid over your Vine border. — I. O. W. 



Peach Tkee not Settiso its Fruit (G. C.).— Is the tree well exposed 

 to hght and air ? if so there is no reason why the fruit should not set as well 

 as that on pot trees. Rivera's Early York usually sets well. Try artificial 

 setting with pollen from another tree next year. It is easily done with a 

 oamel-hair brush. 



Peach and Nectarine Blossom not Setting (S. E. C.).— It is ex- 

 tremely difficult to account for the two Peach and one Nectarine trees not 

 Betting, whilst another tree in the same house has "set beautifully." The 

 cause is probably duo to an imperfect development of the buds in embryo 

 during the previous year's growth, and may have resulted from overcrowd- 

 ing of the foliage. As your trees have blossomed well we think the non- 

 setting is a consequence of imperfectly-formed buds. Perhaps the tree 

 suffered from overcropping last year. Again, when trees suffer for want of 

 water during the summer the buds are not well formed, usually giving flowers 

 devoid of ovaries, though the flowers have large petals, vigorous stamens 

 with anthers laden with pollen, but the pistil is weak, its stigma never 

 viscous, and if the calyx be opened the ovary will be found wanting. Never 

 before have we noticed so many barren flowers on Peach and Nectarine trees, 

 especially iu late houses, as this season. Some kinds of Peach and Nectarine 

 trees are much more subject to the defect in setting than others. The most 

 certain setting of Peaches is Royal George, and the best setting Nectarine is 

 Elruge — the finest of all Peaches and Nectarines respectively for forcing. 

 Grosse Mignonne, one of the finest of Peaches for any purpose, and Noblesse 

 are good setting sorts, but they cannot endure dryness at the roots, attacks 

 of red spider, or overcropping without giving way to barrenness for a time 

 in order to resuscitate their wasted energies. We had this year the finest 

 blossom conceivable upon a Nectarine tree, many ilowers having the stamens 

 transformed into petals, very beautiful, but not a flower has set— they had 

 no ovaries, The small-flowered kinds are usually the best setters. 



Names of Plants (C. F. T.).— The Azalea is a form with variegated 

 leaves of Madame Miellez, but we could not be quite sure of it, as there are 

 80 many varieties. t,A. Campbell). — The Rhododendron sent is aseedUng form 

 of R. Dalhousianum. We could not judge of Us value from a smglo branch 

 with a couple of flowers. (C. Sei/moiir).— Triteleia uuiflora. 



POULTRY, BEE, AKD PIGEON OHEOITIOLE. 



THE DANGEBS OF BIRDS. 



OcK atteation has been called to the columnB of a contem- 

 porary, where we read that among all the mauy perils to which 

 our wild birds are subject, the network of telegraph wires, 

 which are everywhere to be found, beiir an important part. 

 While we most assuredly lament tj find that many beautiful 

 Bpecies are rapidly becoming scarce, and that the dangers to 

 which our feathered tribes are subject are very considerable, 



still we have good reasons for knowing that the telegraph wires 

 do not do now one-tenth of the damage that they did twenty 

 years ago. In those times the wires were comparatively few, 

 and only one or two were seen along the sides of the railway ; 

 but to-day there are in most places very many more, and along 

 most lines we see a very large number. The birds are able to 

 see these, while they did not notice a single wire or even two 

 wires, and so they are more able now to avoid flying against 

 them. We have made inquiries, and are well able to sub- 

 stantiate what we say. 



Of all birds we find that Partridges were most frequf nlly the 

 victims, and we will mention one or two cases which we know 

 to be true of this bird alone. On the L. and S. W. B. on eight 

 and a half miles of line within one season three of the Company's 

 servants picked up 361 Partridges. It hardly seems credible, 

 but it is a fact, and they were picked up in the following 

 numbers. We will call the three men A, B, C, and of them A 

 picked up 77, B 84, C 200. In one morning alone A picked np 

 15 Partridges and 32 Larks on half a mile only of road. This 

 was in the first year in which the wires were put up, and 

 there were then only two of them. We have only spoken of 

 Partridges. Other birds in nearly the same proportion fell 

 victims. Larks especially; Owls, too, and Hawks, and many 

 other rare birds. We can fall well imagine the slaughter when 

 there were but one or two wires on the great and longest lines, 

 when we consider that within eight and a half miles 3G1 Part- 

 ridges alone fell victims in one season ; but now since the wires 

 have been so extensively increased in numbers the average 

 number picked up in a season is five or ten along the same 

 quantity of road. Among the many means, then, which there 

 are of lessening our feathered friends, we can hardly say that 

 the telegraph wires are an increasing danger. Among the 

 many birds which have met their death by these means we 

 can find no recorded instance of a Rook or a Crow having been 

 picked up. 



We hear, too, at Berlin a wholesale destraetion has been 

 going on, by all birds which passed within a certain distance of 

 the engines connected with the pneumatic post being sucked in 

 and vanishing from sight, appearing again no more. We under- 

 stand that the Society for the Protection of Birds in Germany 

 have addressed a memorial to the postmaster to have this 

 matter inquired into. Disastrous as this must have been, and 

 we suppose still is, yet we feel that the extinction and destruc- 

 tion of so many of our species of fe.athered friends is not doe to 

 these means. We can look nearer home, and without difficulty 

 trace the chief mischief. Bird-catchers sally forth from London 

 and other large towns with nets and appliances, and catch in 

 wholesale numbers anything they can. Many of their captives 

 die at once, others pine away in their own or in the cages 

 of foolish purchasers who buy them, supposing they have been 

 accustomed to cage life. It is grievous to go into some places 

 and find bird life so scarce. We have such a place in our mind 

 now, where Blackbirds are few and Thrushes too, and as for 

 Goldfinches and Bullfinches, they are almost unknown. About 

 four miles off is a large town, and a regular gang make a 

 living by taking young Blackbirds and Thrushes from their 

 nests, and catching anything they can to sell for cages and 

 aviaries. It is the great number that die before they are tamed 

 which makes this system so obnoxious, for if all the bird-i which 

 are caught only lived to go into aviaries we should imagine that 

 an aviary was as necessary an appendage to every establishment 

 as is a front door. And then the rarer birds ! If one appears in 

 a neighbourhood, some idiot (for they can be called nothing 

 better) immediately writes to the county papers in this way ; — 

 " It may interest your readers to hear that a Golden Oriole (or 

 a Bustard, or whatever it may be) was seen yesterday in the 

 Dashborough Woods. From its movements I should think there 

 were a pair, and that they probably are nesting." Out rash 

 the interested readers with pistols and guns, and cease not till 

 another Golden Oriole or rare bird is numbered with the past, 

 and one more specimen of a rare breed in England is sent to a 

 bad bird-stuffer to be set up as a trophy of prowess. How much 

 better would it be if the fact was merely mentioned to one or 

 two reliable persons, who might be able to substantiate the case 

 in after days, and then when the breeding season was over allow 

 the " interested readers " to hear how some rare specimen of 

 our wonderful feathered creation had been bold enough to 

 give its species one more chance of establishing itself in ooi 

 British Isles ? 



In back numbers of this Journal we find recorded instances of 

 the Bustard being seen in Wiltshire ; but the dwellers on Salis- 

 bury Plain, what did they do? Theyheardof thebird, andas if it 

 had been a lion seeking to devastate their homes, they went out 

 to murder this magnificent creature, and then sent the corpse 

 to adorn some local museum. The Northamptonshire people 

 are wiser surely than those of Wilts, for when a male Bustard 

 was found in their locality, instead of setting forth to slay it 

 they let it be, and the head of a noble family famed for his love 

 for and collection of the fe.ithered race procured a hen bird and 

 let it loose in the marshes to try and acclimatise the breed. 



