370 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ May 1*?, 1877. 



mend three applications during the enmmer, but if one is given 

 before the Vines come into bloom I am of opinion that it will 

 be effectual. The bottles sold at Is. Ciil. each are worth ten 

 times that sum to any gardener who is troubled with this 

 terrible malady. Bed spider, mealy bug, and other insEcts are 

 as effectually destroyed as mildew.^Q. Bead. 



AUKICULAS. 



So BucceEsful was the National Auricula Society's southern 

 Show; so welcome was it to see new friends made and old 

 friends exchange pleasant greetings ; so willingly was aid ren- 

 dered, and so generally just were the criticisms, that under such 

 circumstances it would be utterly to lack grace to exhibit a 

 trace of unfriendliness to anyone ; and on the part of the 

 gentlemen I had the honour to be associated with and for 

 myself I disavow all feelings except those of good fellowship. 

 The few words I have to say to my friend " D." of Deal will 

 be words of brotherly love. I will not dwell on the fact that, 

 though he says " seven exhibitors competed," I paid prize 

 moneys to eleven, for our friend is not great in numbers. But 

 I do ask him to tell me what I am to understand by hia state- 

 ment that "No Auricula grower would, I believe, subject his 

 plants to a higher temperature than that of au ordinary matted 

 frame if he could help it," prefaced as this statement is by the 

 assertion that " The general character of the exhibits bore in 

 many instances unmiatakeable evidence of having been subject 

 to a higher tem]iernture than the Auricula hkes, and there 

 were many plants which, had they not had their Clutches, would 

 have been gracefully nodding to the visitors, so drawn were 

 the stems." 



Mr. Horner, whose prowess " D."j of Deal most properly 

 eulogises, writing of the Auricula in the "Florist" for April, 

 page 74, saye, " The work with these plants in April is indeed 

 welcome work, guiding thera through their bloom in constant 

 recollection that, though the pls' t itself is hardy enough, yet 

 the bloom is tender and easily iuj ared. Every grower, whether 

 of a dozen or a thousand plants, and whether he means to 

 exhibit or not, should be determined to take as much pains as 

 if he did. Nothing less will make the bloom satisfactory to 

 him. It is the poorest mistake and the most pitiable of excuses 

 to say 'I do not grow for exhibition, so they will do well 

 enough for me.' No one is fit to be trusted with a plant any 

 more than with a dog if he ru' ans to ill-treat it. Like a dog, 

 it is a good thing thrown away upon him, and the sight is 

 grievous." Mr. Horner had previously told us his plants were 

 growing in a greenhouse, and that he had " thought it well to 

 take the chill off " certain nights " with their 12' to 18' of 

 frost," so " kept a quiet tire on." 



I ask " D." of Deal therefore to tell us, first, what is the 

 "higher temperature" of the ordinary "matted frame" to 

 which the Auricula may alone properly be subject ; and 

 secondly, is he prepared by experience to assert that the bloom 

 can be as successfully developed and the plants less drawn iu 

 the ordinary matted frame, subject to the fluctuations of our 

 most variable seasons, than iu the house prescribed by Mr. 

 Horner? These are questions worthy of discussion and far 

 removed from personal considerations.— E. S. Dod^-ell. 



OUR BOEDER FLOWERS— ALKANETS. 



We admit that the Alkanets are a little coarse in habit and 

 appearance, and for that reason they are not always admitted 

 into what are termed dressed grounds. Whatever ideas may 

 be entertained respecting the family in hand, there is that about 

 many of them that is a suflicient recommendation for them 

 to be placed iu large borders and other out-of-the-way places 

 which are to be found about both large and small residences, 

 and which require brightening-up a little with the presence of 

 some hardy free-growing plants. Take for instance Aachusa 

 italica ; when well established and growing from 3 to 5 feet in 

 height and properly staked, we have not a more attractive 

 herbaceous plant in our borders. It blooms a long time, is of 

 a beautiful light-blue colour, and lives for many years. It is 

 increased by division in the spring. 



The Evergreen Alkanet (Anchusa sempervirens) is a useful 

 plant for covering naked spaces in shrubberies, and for borders 

 too, where its intense blue flowers are very attractive ; being a 

 native species, when established it only requires to he left 

 alone. It is increased by seed and division. 



There are many more kinds from other parts of the world, 

 enoh as Anchusa orispa, A. paniculata, and A. officinalis, which 



are worthy of cultivation. Anchusa tinotoria is possessed of 

 colouring properties, and is valuable as an article of commerce. 

 The colouring principle is insoluble in water, but imparts to 

 alcohol, wax, and other unctuous substances a deep red colour ; 

 it is sometimes used to give colour to adulterated wines, oils, 

 lip-salves, &c. It is a native of France, the Levant, and other 

 parts of Europe, and thrives in good sandy loam. When 

 planted the ground should be well broken-up to the depth of 

 2 feet. The Alkanets are gross feeders, but are impatient of 

 wet; they wOl bear partial shade, hut are the better for having 

 full exposure. — Yekitas. 



OUR GARDEN FRIENDS AND FOES— No. 1. 



Some few weeks since I read with something like astonish- 

 ment a letter signed " A Master Gaedenek," in which he 

 alluded to squirrels, hedgehogs, and bullfinches. I did not 

 think that the writer could have been in earnest when he wrote 

 the letter in question, and I also failed to perceive anything 

 like a good joke in it. I think, however, that it would be well 

 to endeavour to disabuse the public mind of some of the many 

 prejudices which unfortunately exist against various birds and 

 animals, as they very often form the excuse for the perpetra- 

 tion of great and unnecessary cruelties upon them. Your 

 columns are without doubt one of the very best mediums 

 through which to disseminate the necessary information, and 

 I beg to contribute my mite, which may induce other readers 

 who may be better qualified for the task to take the matter up, 

 so that the truth as regards the habits, &a., of some of the 

 many winged as well as four-footed frequenters of the garden 

 may be correctly ascertained. 



I will first speak of the bullfinch, and as regards him there 

 does not appear to he the slightest doubt as regards his posi- 

 tion, lie must certainly come under the denomination of a 

 garden enemy; indeed, I feel quite sure that your kind-hearted 

 correspondent, the " Wiltsuike Eectok," would not have 

 passed so sweeping a condemnation upon him had there been 

 the least chance of finding extenuating circumstances in his 

 case. Or had " A Master Gardener's " statement regarding 

 him been correct, I for one should have been very sorry to have 

 either shot or in any way molested him, as he is without doubt 

 a fine handsome fellow. Unfortunately for him, however, in- 

 stead of shunning the garden he is, I am quite inclined to think, 

 more likely to be found there or in the orchard than in any 

 other locahty, and wherever you find him you will be sure to 

 find him iu mischief. I have frequently shot him in the very 

 act of picking off buds from Apricot trees. Plums, Gooseberries, 

 &a. , and have found the buds in his mouth as well as in his crop. 



I have more times than once subjected the tomtit to a 

 similar examination, although this method, by-the-by, of 

 ascertaining the guilt or innocence of an individual must be 

 admitted to be objectionable, and something akin to what was 

 in former times familiarly known on the border land as 

 " feathered justice," or hang first and try afterwards. But in 

 the poor little tomtit's case it was absolutely necessary that 

 the punishment should precede the trial, and on the establish- 

 ment of his innocence a free pardon was granted to the victim 

 of an unjust suspicion. I am now quite inclined to exonerate 

 him from anything like disbuddinp proclivities, although he is 

 so frequently blamed and mercileeoly destroyed by many on this 

 account. I quite consider him as one of our best garden 

 friends. He is frequently supposed to be in the act of injuring 

 fruit trees, Ac, when he is m reality benefiting them to a 

 great extent by carefully freeing them from insects of various 

 kinds. As an illustration of this, there is in the conservatory 

 at the place where I now write a large Orange tree, which a 

 week or two since was just coming into bloom, but the flower 

 buds as well as the young shoots of the tree were very much 

 infested with a small green aphis, so much so that it was re- 

 solved to fumigate the structure. But as some of the bloom 

 was expected to be required for a wedding it was considered 

 that even the shghtest traces of tobacco smoke emanating 

 from a bride's bouquet might not be considered appropriate, 

 and on this account fumigation was delayed for a time. 

 During the interval a pair of the common blue tomtits found 

 access to the interior of the house, and in the course of two 

 or three days they did not leave a single aphis upon the tree. 

 The tomtit may without doubt be considered as strictly insect- 

 ivorous. He delights in the small green caterpillars which 

 wrap themselves up in the loaves of the Eose and other plants, 

 lie eats flies of all kinds, is by no means afraid of a wasp, and 

 may even sometimes take undue liberties with bees. But 



