144 



JOUENAL OF HOBTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GASbsilks. L Zebrnary 25, im 



held in more esteem than those produced nnder glass. A north 

 XTftH is a good place for the plants, but I do not think they 

 flower so freely in that position as when in the open ground. 

 Those we have, though sheltered, are fully exposed to the sun, 

 and the fohape of a healthy plant will endure it without the least 

 irowning. Those having a suitable soil and sheltered situation 

 might try a few plants with advantage out of doors, shading 

 them at first if they have been coddled nnder glass ; a year or 

 two must also be allowed to elapse before venturing an opinion 

 on their not doing well, for the Camellia is a slow-growing 

 plant, and perhaps more so out of doors than in, especially if 

 it flowers freely. The ont-door plants, therefore, must not be 

 too hastily condemned for not keeping pace with the coarser- 

 growing evergreens ; indeed, I would advocate the Camellia 

 not being in contact with them at all, but by itself, where its 

 fine glossy foliage will at all times render it a highly orna- 

 mental object, much superior in this respect to the most choice 

 of the Khododendrons, which are, nevertheless, the most suit- 

 able company for it. 



As so much has already been said on the character of the 

 soil suitable for this plant, 1 need only add that its wellbeing 

 while in a potted state is due to other causes tiian that of soil 

 alone. — J. Eobson. 



PEACH CULTIVATION.— Js^o. 9. 



Insects. — With good management guch as I have recom- 

 mended, the Peach will rarely be infested with insects ; but 

 with the most skilful and best of treatment the trees are some- 

 times attacked by them. The most common of the insects 

 attacking the Peach are aphides and red spider. 



Aphides are, perhaps, the most troublesome, and, increasing 

 with astonishing rapidity, prompt means must be taken to 

 check their advance. It is good practice to syringe, before the 

 flowers expand, not only the trees but the whole wall, with 

 the tobacco water of the shops diluted with six times its 

 Tolnme of water, and again after the fruit has set and begun to 

 swell. More cflectnal applications are Giphurst compound, 

 Powler's insecticide, and Clarke's insect-destroying compound ; 

 they may be applied at all seasons, except two — viz., when the 

 flowers are expanded, and after the fruit has begun to swell for 

 ripening, without injury to buds, foliage, or fruit. Another 

 good remedy is to syringe the trees, and dust them with 

 powdered tobacco ; but no means are so effectual as liquid ap- 

 plications, for however well powders may be applied they do 

 not reach every hole and crevice so well as solutions forcibly 

 syringed upon them. 



Had Spider is to be kept under by syringing copiously, and 

 upon its first appearance give a good syringing, wetting every 

 leaf, with a solution of soft soap, 2 02s. to the gallon, or one of 

 the applications named above. 



Ants are often very destructive to the ripe fruit. Their nests 

 rtionid be sought and destroyed, by pouring into them gag 

 ammoniaoal liquor, and if the base of the wall be sprinkled with 

 guano in the morning, and a little before dark, vast numbers 

 will be destroyed, or their ascent will be prevented. These de- 

 Btrnctive pests may be kept from ascending the wall by drawing 

 a line of coal tar an inch wide along the base of the wall. 



Earirins are not less troublesome than ants. They may be 

 trapped in pieces of bean stalk, cut into lengths of from 6 to 

 9 inches, and placed in different parts of the trees, blowing out 

 those secreted in the stalks every morning into a bottle of 

 water. Earwig traps arc also good, but none are better than 

 the old-fashioned pieces of bean stalk. 



Of CaterpiUam, the most destructive is that of the Peach 

 Saw-fly (Tentbredo populi, so called because it is very partial 

 to Poplar leaves). The eggs of the insect are deposited on the 

 leaves at the end of April, and in a few days a green grub is 

 hatched, which feeds on the foliage, and spins a web for its 

 protection; it continues there until of a full size, and then 

 passes to the ground, and forms for itself a cocoon, remaining 

 until the following spring. It is to be destroyed by picking off 

 the leaves on which the eggs are deposited, and burning them ; 

 hut if this be not done the caterpillars must be hand-picked or 

 destroyed by an inpect-destroying compound. The caterpillars 

 of the Figure-of-8 Moth (Episema ca-ruleocephala) are very 

 fond of the leaves, and may be destroyed in the same way. 

 Occasionally the Plum Tortrix (TortrixWa'beriann) attacks the 

 Peach, hand-picking is the remedy; and the Garden Chafer 

 (Anisoplia hotticola) sometimes feeds on the flowers and 

 leaves. It should be taken and destroyed ; but the sparrow is 

 Bo fond of it, that if that and other birds are preserved, the 



trouble of seeking for this destructive insect will hardly "fo 

 necessary. 



The Garden fJ'eevil (Otiorhynchus tenebricosus), a dimi- 

 nutive black beetle, often does great mischief by devouring 

 the buds, leaves, and young shoots. It hides all day in the 

 crevices of the wall, and in the soil round the stem of the tree, 

 and emerges at night. Hand-picking must be resorted to at 

 night, by the aid of a lantern. The best remedy, however, is 

 to remove the soil from the base of the trees and wall, and de- 

 stroy the larva; which feed on the roots. Salt sprinkled over 

 the larviB will destroy them, but it must not be left in the 

 ground close to the roots, otherwise it will injure them, though 

 a little salt is not injurious but benefioial to Peach trees. 



Diseases. — Blistered Leaves are very common on Peach 

 trees in spring, and result from cold. The circulation of the 

 sap receives a sudden check, the growth of the midrib is 

 stopped, and the leaves become swollen masses, through which 

 the sap does not circulate, or only partially so. It is a question 

 of prevention rather than of cure. All that can be done is to 

 pick off the worst leaves, and allow those least affected to remain 

 until warmer weather, or till fresh foliage is produced ; then 

 remove every blistered leaf, for if one is left the blotch changeB 

 from red to brown, and sometimes mildew makes its appear- 

 ance. The preventive is more effectual protection. 



ilildew very frequently attacks some kinds of Peaches, Eoyal 

 George, for instance. It is more prevalent on trees in poor, 

 light soils, than on those in a strong loam. The preventives, 

 in poor soils, are copious waterings and syringinga, and in 

 wet soils where mildew not only attacks the trees, but the 

 shoots die back in winter, Hfting and planting nearer the 

 surface, and taking measures to prevent the roots going down 

 into a bad soil, and too deep. Dusting with flowers of sulphur 

 the plants attacked, on the first appeajrance of mildew, will 

 destroy it, and the dusting must be repeated whenever the 

 disease reappears. 



Gumming is the worst form of disease to which the Peach is 

 subject. It is a result of planting in too rich soil, and of 

 allowing a large quantity of wood to be produced and then 

 suddenly removing it. Some plant in soils so rich that very 

 long rampant growths are made, and these are cut back at the 

 winter pruning to so many stumps, whereas a vigorous tree 

 ought by careful summer training to be so regulated that little 

 or no winter pruning will be necessary. The only cure is to 

 take up the trees and replant them in more suitable soil, or, if 

 the trees are much gummed, to replace them at once. — 

 G. Adbey. 



DENDEOBIUM SPECIOSUIVI. 

 As this shy-flowering Orchid is very seldom seen in flower, 

 I send you an account of one that is in fuU bloom in the stove 

 at Penllergare. The plant is growing in an 18 -inch pot, and 

 is 3 feet G inches in diameter. There are twenty-two spikes of 

 bloom upon it. On the largest spike there are fifty flowers, 

 and on the smallest twenty-five flowers. It flowers almost 

 every year, having missed flowering only three years out of 

 the last twelve. The house in which it grows is kept at a 

 temperature of from 50° to 55° in winter, and from 60° to 70° 

 in summer. I give very little water to the plant, but syringe 

 the pot and roots daily during the hot weather, and admit 

 plenty of air when the weather allows. — John Nunns, Penller- 

 gare Gardens, Swansea. 



NEW BOOK. 



Cottage Plans. Dedicated to the Landou-rtcrs of Carmarthen- 

 shire and Pembrokeshire. By John Fkedeeick VAUGHiU, 

 Earl of Cawdor. London : W. Eidgway. 

 This volume might have teen appropriately dedicated to the 

 landowners of the British islands, for in every county may be 

 found landed proprietors with disgraceful and degrading cot- 

 tages on their estates — disgraceful to the owner, and degrading 

 to the tenant. We commend this volume to the attention of 

 landed proprietors, for it gives plans and specifications showing 

 how to erect an excellent cottage for £72 ; so that a rent of 

 Is. Gd. a-week would be a good return for the outlay. To this 

 consideration is to be added the superior one, that a comfortable, 

 decency-securing home, is a fundamental requisite in rescuing 

 the parents from bad habits, and the children from immorality. 



CHIMONANTHnS FBAGKANS AS A BUSB. — In ThE JoUBNAL OP 



HoKTicuLTCRE for January 14th, " E. F." says, "We have 



