Jana 7, 1877. ] 



JOORNAIi OF HOBTICOLTOaB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



427 



neighbour ehoald be allowed, for the sake of email profit he 

 can make out of his ohafE heap, to preserve such a fooaa of in- 

 fection to destroy my future crops ? He should be compelled 

 to barn it. In Uke manner we want some one to compel the 

 burning of the heaps of couch-grass and weeds gathered from 

 foal laud instead of keeping them to rot into manure. These 

 are the focus and shelter-place of wireworms and other pests, 

 and contribute largely to their spread. 



To the same class of remedies belongs the local treatment 

 which I have recommended for the Onion fly. The plants 

 attacked are readily distinguishable from those that have 

 escaped. The former are sickly, flaccid, and yellow ; the latter 

 firm, erect, and green, and those attacked can easily be picked 

 out and burned. Each plant attacked contains a nest of larvffi 

 in the stem or bulb. If these are destroyed the whole future 

 family is annihilated. The Carrot plants attacked by the 

 Carrot fly are equally easily distinguished and destroyed, but 

 it is not certain that the grubs in them keep always to the 

 same root. But both with them and similarly destructive in- 

 sects that infest the Cabbage and Turnip, a year's avoidance of 

 that crop throughout the district will relieve it from them. 



Next comes the remedy, in the shape of some application 

 that is fatal to the insects. This is the plan adopted in 

 America for the destruction of the Colorado beetle, where 

 Paris green is dusted in powder or sprinkled in solution over 

 the larvfB on the Potato plants. It is the plan used by our 

 horticulturists to get rid of the red spider in their hothouses 

 where sulphur is the medium. Manufactured into Gishurst 

 compound or made up into some soapy solution sulphur is 

 also largely used by them to destroy green fly. Sulphur has 

 also been successfully used on a small scale against the Hop 

 fly, and might be advantageously used on a large scale. There 

 are various other supposed specifics (such as hellebore for the 

 Gooseberry caterpillar, Ac.) which are more or less in favour 

 with different individuals. As a remedy, however, such appU- 

 catious seem better adapted for individual protection than 

 combined stamping-out, although it would be foolish to forego 

 the advantage of ueiag them where they seem to meet the 

 requirements of any special case. 



The picking and gathering of the individual caterpillars or 

 perfect insects is a remedy that has been tried largely on the 

 Continent, but without any marked success. For ordinary 

 crops it is much more clumsy than a change in the rotation, 

 and for crops which cannot be so dropped out of rotation, as 

 fruit or forest trees, it is almost impossible to collect the larvoe 

 efliciently. At the same time it is right to add that this 

 ecliettiUiKje or caterpillar-collecting can scarcely be said to have 

 ever (any more than any other plan) had a fair trial, it having 

 generally been conducted without regular system or combined 

 and simultaneous action over a wide extent of country. 



There remains the last refuge of all invaded countries — • 

 namely, destroying the resources of the country before the in- 

 vaders, that they may perish for want of food. This can rarely 

 be necessary, but beyond doubt it will be the proper course to 

 follow should the Colorado beetle gain a footing in this country. 

 In that event the flrst that we shall hear of it will be that the 

 larva has appeared in some Potato patch near Cork or London- 

 derry, Liverpool or Glasgow. The instant this is perceived 

 the vines of the Potato field should be cut to the ground and 

 Paris green scattered over the field. 



But that is not a course that can be adopted even in a case 

 of such urgency and importance, unless there is some central 

 motive power having the necessary authority to act, for the 

 notice that the Colorado beetle will give will be very short ; 

 the larval stage in which alone it can be successfully en- 

 countered only lasts about a fortnight, and, if no previous 

 preparations have been made, I leave anyone who knows the 

 slow grinding of our administrative mills to say what chance 

 there is of the larva having grown big enough to be noticed ; 

 of somebody having noticed it and reported it ; of the report 

 being considered and a course of action resolved on ; of officers 

 or agents being appointed to act ; of their providing the neces- 

 sary apparatus ; and of their reaching the spot and putting 

 them in operation — all within the short space of fourteen days. 



COMPOSTS AND WATERING. 



Under the above heading yon have published some remarks 

 on page 271 which practical cultivators will appreciate for their 

 soundness and common-sense character. Elaborate formulce 

 for composts were once regarded as of great importance. Even 

 now inatructiona as to the relative proportiona of particular 



aoils for certain plants are eo precise as almost to lead to the 

 supposition that the soil is eaten by the plants. The soil, it is 

 well to remember, is not food but only a vessel for containing 

 it. Various soils contain different relative proportions of plant 

 nutriment, for there are rich soils and poor ; and plants, like 

 animals, differ in their alimentary requirements — hence the 

 different characters of soils as containing particular food be- 

 come necessary in plant cultivation. 



For all practical purposes there are only two distinct kinds 

 of soil — namely, loam and peat. As a rule plants which are 

 evergreen in character and which have hair-like roots thrive 

 best in peat soil. Such plants are not robust growers, and do 

 not require strong food ; deciduous plants, being quicker growers 

 and greater soil-exhausters, require a richer larder — loam. To 

 a practised eye the nature of the plant and the character of 

 its roots are sufficient to indicate the proper soil for its re- 

 quirements. Some plants, such as evergreens of free growth, 

 like Camellias, succeed well in a mixture of peat and loam. 

 Peat alone, except it is very good, is not sufficiently sustaining 

 — the larder is too scantily furnished. Some free- growing 

 plants with very fine roots also flourish with a share of loam 

 in the peat, such as Achimeues and Gloxinias. All the plants 

 named will also grow well in all peat it it is good, and in all 

 loam if it is suitable ; but all peats are not good, and all loams 

 are not suitable, hence the mixing of the two soils becomes 

 necessary. 



In plant cultivation as much depends on the condition of 

 the soil and its management as upon its nature. A good cul- 

 tivator can grow plants well in almost any kind of soil, whereas 

 an indifferent grower cannot grow them when he has soil at 

 his command exactly suitable were it well managed. The best 

 of soil can be rendered inert by incorrect management, and 

 poor soil can be made sustaining by skilful treatment. Much 

 excellent soil is ruined by slovenly or inefficient drainage and 

 careless watering ; while, on the other hand, soil poor or in- 

 different in its nature is rendered fertile by applications of 

 liquid manure. 



There are scarcely any loams but which, with the aid of 

 manure in a solid or liquid form or both, will grow ordinary 

 softwooded decorative plants well, such as Fuchsias, Geraniums, 

 Balsams, Chrysanthemums, Cinerarias, and plants of a like 

 nature ; but to grow Heaths well good peat is indispensable. 

 The cultivator can increase the fertility of loam, but he can- 

 not make bad peat good, because the value of peat for such 

 plants consists in its mechanical as much as its chemical 

 nature. It is no use, therefore, purchasing good sorts of Heaths 

 unless good peat is provided to grow them in, and it is no use 

 purchasing good peat unless it is placed in the hands of one 

 competent to manage it. 



Where one failure occurs in plant cultivation from unsuit- 

 able soil there are ten which arise from incorrect watering, and 

 nearly as many from insect ravages and general uncleanliness. 

 In the potting of plants it is natural for the manager to pay 

 particular attention to the suitability of the soil, also to the 

 drainage of the pots and to the manner of potting. The 

 soil may be of the best, and the plants may be potted in the 

 best manner ; he may have potted them himself, but he can- 

 not always water them, and all the good that has been done in 

 soil-selection, preparation, and application is undone in water- 

 ing if a competent and careful man is not in charge. A plant 

 that has taken years to grow may be ruined by a day's neglect. 

 I should be sorry to fall in with the vulgar error that young 

 men are necessarily careless, for I know that many of them, 

 are both attentive and skilful, and are valuable aids to the 

 responsible manager, but others again I know are not ao. It 

 were well if all young gardeners would reflect that not only 

 their own success depends upon their assiduity and care, but 

 that the reputation, character, and livelihood of others are 

 often in a great measure in their keeping. I think if that were 

 so fewer plants would be injured by careless watering, and 

 fewer complaints would be heard of " wrong sort of soil."— 



A NOKTHEBN GaKDENBE. 



METROPOLITAN TREES. 

 Never before was the importance of trees so fully reco gnised 

 as now, and especially in towns and their vicinity, where the 

 disposition to plant them is greater than ever it was before. 

 We need not wonder at this, for there are few objects in nature 

 having richer points of beauty than a well-grown tree. With- 

 out trees our parks and gardens would be flat and monot onous, 

 but with them the surface is made picturesque and the beauty 



