Novcnilij?r 12, 18C8. 1 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIOULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



359 



us — to look buck it seems but yesterday. These years present many 

 happy and pleasant resting placea for my mind to rest upon, ami 

 though elomlH and j^loom — tbo common lot of us all at times — have 

 passed over my tiresiJo, wo can always look back with {gratitude and 

 thankfulness to the kindly fuoliut^ and many acts of disinterested kind- 

 ness which wu have oxpeiienced in Dirlcton. The fvont of thia after- 

 noon ban brought these many expressions and acts of good will to a 

 climax, and for theso all, and especially for this, 1 beg to thank you 

 with a sincerity of which I am profoundly conscious. Reference has 

 been made to my professional lal)Ours and ability. Whatever of these 

 can bo laid to ray credit has been acquired, to a very considerable ex- 

 tent, by contact with the loui;-celebrated gardeners of Kast Lothian, 

 and to them 1 owe a double debt of gratitude for ranch substantial aid 

 and good fellowshi]). I Icavo this district with great reluctance, and 

 not for the sake of greater emolument, nor for any hankering after 

 change. Circumstances have, however, arisen which have made it 

 not consistent with self-respect for mo to remain any longer here. In 

 the kind providence of CJod 1 have been succcssfal in getting into tbo 

 service of an employer wlio stands unrivalled as a noltleman of high 

 honour, good sense, and Jdndly feeling, and I trust I may bo enabled 

 to fill that situation with as much credit to myself aud satisfaction to 

 the Duke of Bucclcnch as Mr. Mcintosh has tilled it for the long 

 period of twcntv-eight years. Mr, Thomson concluded by again tbauT:- 

 iug his friends for their great kindness and good feeling towards him, 

 in making such a splendid present. 



PLANTS IN BLOOM DURING OCTOBER;, 



Oct. 5. Q'.iiothera missonrensis 

 Chiococca raceniosa 

 Ecrberis Darwiuii 

 Vinca major 

 Aster paiiiculatus 

 Chcloue barbata coccinea 

 Eryngium planum 

 Parnassia palustris 

 Ajilga reptuns varicgata 

 Sedum Sieboldii 

 S. Campanula garganica 

 Zaubchnerla califoiuica 

 Dianthus laciniatua 

 Geum splendens 

 Saponaria officinalis plena 

 Badbeckia fulj^ida 

 Polygonum amplexicaulo 

 Seabiosa columbaria 

 12. Acbillea millefolium rosea 

 Helianthus diffusus 

 Verbena venosa 

 Aster tenellus 

 Lupinus niutabilis versi- 

 color 

 IMimulus tigrinus 

 Centriiutbus ruber 

 bose. Maria Leouida 

 various 



„ 14. Phloxes 



Cheirantbns 3Iarsh.alli 

 Gilia tricolor 

 Agrostemma barba-Jovis 

 liinaria bipartita 

 Koniga maritima 

 Petunia graudiflora 

 Artemisia annua 

 Corydalis lutea 

 Double Lilic Primrose 

 Sweet William 

 Viola tricolor 

 Mentha rotundifolia 

 Statice aruieria 



„ 16. Fuchsia cocciuea 

 gracilis 

 fulgcus 



— M. H., Acklam Hall, ^fidiUf 



Oct. 16. Salvia patens "ff.' 



fulgeus '' 



Aster duniosns 

 Escbscboltzia calijornica 

 Moriiia pcrsica 

 Rhododendron ponticnm 



„ 19. China Asters 



Acroclinium roseum 

 Phlox frondosa 

 stolonifera 

 Oinothera macrocarpa 



„ 22. Campanula puoiila alba 

 Krica ranienficea 

 Gnaphalium lanatura 

 Laurus Linus 

 Liniim fiavura 

 Anemone .iapunica 

 Arbutus unedo 

 Daphne lanreola 

 Rhododendron dauricnm 

 Stachys hinata 

 Lobelia speciosa 



„ 23. Liaaria cymbalaria 



Tradescautia virgiuica 

 Asperula odorata 



,, 28. Tritoma uvaria 



Gj'uerium argenteum 

 Pyrethruui i)artheuium 

 Viola montana 

 Silene rubella 

 Aster hevis 

 Sedum dentatum 

 Virginian Stock 

 Calandrinia umbellata 

 Centaurea moschata 

 ■\Vallflowers : , ,- i 

 Viscaria oculnta i , .y-,,, 



,, 30. Reseda fiuticulosa 

 Eriza maxima 

 Silene compacta 

 Ivy 



Lonicer.x .ljiu ,lj,' ■ 

 Schizostylis CQCcln^ji , 

 Viola lutea 

 cornula 



■sboroiigh-on-Tecs. 



CLAKKES INSECT-DESTROYING COMPOUND. 



In answering questions in reference to my Compound, I wieh 

 to remark that I do not recommend Grapes to be syringed 

 after the bloom has begun to form, which it generally com- 

 mences to do before they begin to colour. They may be 

 syringed up to this time without injury to the fruit, but imme- 

 diately the Vine has been syringed every bunch .should also 

 have a good syringing with clean water in order to wash the 

 solution out of the bunches, or it would lodge between the 

 berries, dry on them white, and spoil their appearance. 



I had last year one or two Peach trees much infested with 

 scale, and in the spring of the present year I thought I would 

 try a decoction recommended by one of your correspondents. 

 It consisted of soft soap and bitter aloes, at the rate of 2 ozs. 

 to the gallon, boiled ; but I found it discoloured the fruit, and 

 how to remove it I did not know. The scale was also making 

 lis appearance again. The fruit was in its second swelling 

 when I discovered my Compound. I gave both trees and fruit 



a good syringing, and it not only cleansed tlio fruit but killed 

 all the scale. Nothing more was required until the fruit was 

 ripe, when the red spider attacked them ; but when it was 

 gathered I gave the trees another dressing, and next morning 

 not a red spider could be found. — T. C. Clabke. 



THE MIU.\nELLE PLUM. 



Von very many years I have admired this charming little 

 Plum, and have often felt surprised that it is so seldom culti- 

 vated in England. It is not to be thought of as a dessert 

 Plum, for uncooked it is rather dry, with a dull sweetness, and 

 of no taking flavour, but when cooked or made into jam its 

 flavour is delicious ; and what is very remarkable, although 

 there are hundreds of varieties of Plums, not one has the 

 peculiar aroma of this sort. If bottled (without water), the 

 flavour is fully preserved, and a tart or pudding of Mirabelle 

 Plums at this season is a real treat. 



Some years since, when Louis Philippe was king, I happened 

 to visit the pntafteri:' at Versailles, and there to my surprise 

 I saw scores of baskets of this sort of Plum gathered ready for 

 the Pioyal kitchen. On inquiry I found it was the favourite 

 Plum of the Royal Family, no other variety equalling it in 

 flavour for compotes, &c. I afterwards learned that in the 

 east of France it was equally esteemed, as it is now — it is, iu 

 fact, called Mirabelle de Metz. Its small oval fruit, bright 

 yellow mottled with red, are most ornamental on the trees, and 

 its stone the smallest of all Plum stones, being smaller than that 

 of the Morello Cherry. The tree is best cultivated as a bush, and 

 when in blossom should have a covering of light flannel when 

 the nights are frosty. It requires a dry warm situation, and 

 is well worthy of extra care. — T. 1!. 



LUMINOUS INSECT. 



I csuallt walk round my garden paths in the evening, and 

 continually have my attention attracted by finding one at my 

 feet — I think a glowworm. First it is the bright body in a 

 round mass ; it then appears to separate, aud part of it like a 

 thread moves away from what was the main body, leaving an 

 illuminated piece behind, which, with the part in motion, 

 gradually becomes feebler iu light uutil it ceases altogether. 

 The peculiarity is, that it makes a circuit aud returns to the 

 first spot, the whole train being slightly illuminated. 



Sometimes two are performing the same movement simnl- 

 taneously. — E. .1. S. 



rTho insect above described is not a glowworm, but one o£ 

 the small species of centipedes, which in the autumnal months, 

 which is the pairing season, become luminous. From the 

 last paragraph it would seem that both sexes have the power 

 of emitting light. The species is scientifioally named Gco- 

 philus electric:!.^. — Vf.] 



NEW BOOKS. 



The Miniatxin Fmit Garden. London : Longmans. 

 It is with great pleasure that we announce the appearance 

 of the fifteenth edition of Mr. Eivers's " Miniature Fruit Gar- 

 den," just issued from the press. After passing through so 

 many editions as this useful little work has done, it may ap- 

 pear superfluous to say anything in its praise. There are new 

 generations always arising to whom all things are new, and to 

 whom " The Miniature Fruit Garden " forms no exception. 

 To them we will convey an idea of what the work is, by an 

 extract from page 83. "A French pomologiEt," says Mr. 

 Kivers, "who visited me in 1S61, said, 'Ah! nov/ I find an 

 Englishman planting for himself as well as for his children.' " 

 This is the text of the treatise, to teach a man how he may eat 

 the fruit of trees which his own hand has planted. For the 

 benefit of those who already are acquainted with this work, we 

 may state that they will find in this new edition much useful 

 matter which has not appeared in any of the former. 



Tlia Gooneberry-Grower's Register. 

 Tnis is the new edition of an annual which has appeared, we 

 believe, without intermission for more than a century. It is a 

 most unpretending little volume, and, therefore, is not so much 

 known as some of its more pretentious cotemporaries, but it is, 

 nevertheless, to fruit-growers one of the most interesting and 

 useful publications, while to tho general public it is an object 



