426 



JOUENAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ June 7, 1817. 



at dinner he has an ingenioua way of lighting it with gas. 

 What In most honsea is a blank wall is here obscure glass, 

 placed about 2 feet from the wall and parallel with it ; a gas pipe 

 inns between the wall and the glass, studded with eighty jets, 

 and after dusk these are all lighted, and the reflection among 

 the Ferns and other plants has the appearance of very powerful 

 moonlight. The Ferns are in luxuriant health. Cibotinm spec- 

 tabile in a IG-inch pot has fronds 10 feet long by 3 feet wide; 

 Cyathea medullaris in an 18-inch pot has fronds 12 feet by 3 feet 

 wide ; Aleophila excelsa has fronds 7 feet long by 3 wide, a 

 noble plant; Cibotium princeps, fronds 7 feet by 3 ; and Dick- 

 sonia antarctica is in fine condition. There are also numerous 

 smaller plants deserving notice. Adiantum farleyense, the 

 king of the Adiantnms ; A. cuneatum, A. formosum, A. con- 

 cinnnm latum; Lomariagibba, GymnogrammaLancheana.Da- 

 vallia Mooreana, and many others are in admirable condition. 



The next house we entered is the early vinery, and here we have 

 proof of Mr. Ward's skill as a fruit-grower. The first Grapes 

 were cut on the 26th of April, and at the same time there were 

 a few bunches still left of Lady Downe's preserved in bottles 

 of water. Mr. Ward had managed to " circle the year " with 

 Grapes. Nearly all the bunches were cut at the time of my 

 visit, but thone left were of a splendid colour and were perfect 

 in bloom. Under the Vines I observed a large assortment of 

 Camellias making their growth. The adjoining house is the 

 second vinery in order of forcing, and is planted entirely with 

 Madresfield Court, two-year-old Vines, each carrying three 

 bunches. In this house Epacrises and Azaleas were making 

 their growth. In an adjoining greenhouse I noticed Erioste- 

 mons, Correae, Nerinms, Khynchospermums, Abntilons, Val- 

 lotas, Statices, and Fnchsias. Near this is the Azalea house 

 60 feet long and 14 feet wide filled with Azaleas, which were 

 making their srowth. The pleasure grounds are not extensive ; 

 Hollies and Yews appear to grow with great luxuriance, and 

 are trained with as much care as Azaleas. 

 ^We next crossed the village to what is called the fruit garden. 

 Here is another village of glass houses. The first, a small 

 Peach house 24 feet long by 14 feet wide, contains a Peach 

 and Nectarine tree, each carrying a heavy crop of fruit that 

 would be ripe by the end of May. The second house is of the 

 same size as the last, and contains the same number of trees, 

 the fruit to come in for succession. The trees are making 

 capital growth, and promise well for another season. The late 

 vinery is 80 feet long and 14 feet wide. The border is inside 

 the house, and there is no provision for the roots to go outside. 

 The sorts chiefly grown in this house are Black Alicante, Treb- ' 

 biano, and Lady Downe's. It was from these Vines that 

 Grapes were preserved till new Grapes were ripe. The orchard 

 house is 80 feet long and 14 feet wide. Pears and Plums are 

 grown in pots, and Peaches and Nectarines on the back wall. 

 I have here to record a slight failure, for only a few of the 

 Pears were carrying any fruit. There is no heating apparatus 

 in the house, and Mr. Ward attributes the scarcity of fruit to 

 the wet autumn and tho want of sunshine ; the trees are in 

 excellent health. Passing out of this house we entered a vinery 

 130 feet long and 14 feet wide. The Grapes were all thinned. 

 The foliage is fine and the bunches regular, and will average 

 4 lbs. each. The syringe has never been used since the buds 

 were just breaking, but no trace of red spider is to be seen. 

 The roots are all inside, and during the growing season the 

 border has had repeated drenchings of tepid water diluted with 

 guano and sheep dung. The surface of the border is frequently 

 dusted over with guano previous to sprinkling it with water, 

 and to this practice Mr. Ward attributes his freedom from 

 red spider. On the back wall is a row of Vines in pots for 

 early forcing, partly to take the place of the early house 

 which is to be replanted. A few Figs in pots are well loaded 

 with fruit. The next house in order is a span-roofed green- 

 house, containing a choice collection of Heaths and other 

 greenhouse plants. All the Heaths are trained with the greatest 

 care, and every plant is in robust health. Among the Ericas I 

 noticed Erica Candolleana, E. jasminiflora alba, E. mutabilis, 

 E. Aitoniana, E. tnrgida, E. Parmentieriana rosea, E. tricolor, 

 and E. Spenceriana. Besides the Ericas there are some fine 

 Boronias, Aphelexes, and Dracophyllums. 



Strawberries are forced in abundance, and for this purpose 

 a house is provided 70 foot long by 14 wide, in two divisions. 

 The first division was cleared out and planted with Cucumbers 

 and Melons. From this range Mr. Ward has three different 

 crops; first Strawberries, succeeded by Cucumbers and Melons, 

 and next French Beans, which continue to produce pods till 

 the house is required again for Strawberries. The Pine stove 



is 60 feet by 16, with a path down the centre, and the Pines 

 plunged in beds on each side. They were in excellent 

 health, and gave promise of useful fruit. In proximity to 

 the above is a pit 40 feet by 18 for suecessional Pines, and so 

 constructed that all the plants are near the glass. They are 

 in 8 and 10-inch pots, and in capital health. I omitted to 

 mention when speaking of the greenhouse 70 feet by 20, that 

 it is surrounded by a useful pit heated by hot water. It is 

 serviceable during the early part of the winter for preserving 

 Strawberries and, when they are removed, for forcing Potatoes. 

 Mr. Ward, besides his extensive charge at Biddings House, 

 has the care of the gardens of C. Oakes, Esq., and there I saw 

 some excellent Peach houses and vineries. During his lengthy 

 career at Chatsworth he was well trained in fruit and plant 

 culture by Mr. Speed, and now he does honour to his excellent 

 master. Mr. Ward is also greatly aided by a liberal employer, 

 who is interested in everything connected with horticulture, 

 of which he is a great patron, as the extent and condition of 

 his gardens testify. — Q. R. 



THE EXTIRPATION OP INJURIOUS INSECTS. 



The following is abridged from an important paper read by 

 Mr. Andrew Murray at the Society of Arts on the 5th inst. : — 



The great majority of vegetable-feeding insects do not feed 

 on all kinds of plants indiscriminately ; most of them are 

 restricted to one kind of plant, and if by cultivation of that 

 plant its numbers are enormously increased, so will naturally 

 be the number of the insects that feed upon it, while, if wo 

 should cease to grow that plant, the number of the insects 

 would correspondingly diminish. Thus, for instance, it a 

 district U almost entirely in pasture there will ba very few 

 Wheat-feeding insects in it, but if it is turned into a Wheat 

 country ihey will be in myriads. If these numbers reach 

 such a pitch as to deteriorate the crops the remedy is plain. 

 Change the rotation, and grow some other crop instead of 

 Wheat. Allow me to illustrate this by an actual example. 

 There is nothing like a real instance for bringing a fact home 

 to our minds. Last summer I spent the month of July at 

 Broadstairs. In my rambles about the place I was immediately 

 struck with the Wheat crops. At a little distance they looked 

 tall and strong, bat on examining the ears I found them only 

 three-quarters filled. The blade or leaf was throughout almost 

 entirely white and dry, and I have no doubt that if I had asked 

 any farmer what was the cause of the poor ears he would have 

 said drought, as shown by the bleached and dried-up leaves; 

 and if his assumption, that the bleaching of the leaves was dne 

 to drought, had been true his conclusion would have been quite 

 right. It was the deficient action of the leaf that stayed the 

 flow of nutriment to the ear. But although he would be quite 

 right in describing the deficiency of weight in the ear to the 

 failure of the leaf, he would in this instance have been wrong 

 in ascribing the failure of the leaf to drought. It was due to 

 the mining of the larva of a small fly named Agromyza gra- 

 minis, which lays its eggs under the skin of the leaf at its tip. 

 From thence the young larvje mine downwards, feeding on the 

 parenchyma of the leaf, leaving nothing behind them but the 

 empty husk, consisting of the upper and under walls of the leaf. 



Now a change of crop, if carried out over a sufficiently wide 

 district, supplies an easy and effectual cure for the attacks of 

 this insect. Its habits lend themselves to such a remedy. It 

 feeds only on Wheat and a few allied pasture Grasses. The 

 insect is only an annual. If it could be banished for one year 

 it would be banished entirely, or until reintroduced. Now, if 

 there were a controlling authority in that district, what would 

 be easier than to say to the farmers, " Gentlemen, in the com- 

 mon interest yon will substitute Barley for Wheat in your next 

 year's rotation ?" The fly, deprived of its proper nidus, mnst 

 then cither lay its eggs in an unsuitable place where they will 

 perish, or have recourse to the pasture fields for Triticum 

 repens or other suitable Grasses. By this of course the fly 

 would not be exterminated, but its numbers would be so re- 

 duced as to render it comparatively harmless. 



The next means of extirpation to which I shall advert is 

 burning the nidus, in which the insect, in whatever stage, 

 passes the winter, and I may take as my example the species of 

 ri small fly belonging to the genus Chlorops, some of which 

 attack Wheat, others Barley, others Rye, &c. The fly remains 

 about the ear for many weeks after it is thrashed, and may 

 be found in great numbers in winter in a semi-torpid state 

 ninong the chaff. Now is it not an intolerable abuse of the 

 privilege of doing what a man likea with bis own, that my 



