386 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ May 28, 1868. 



ing table, compiled for my own guidance in selection, may be 

 of service to others. It is only of value, of course, in relation 

 to such seasons as the past. The soil is a sandy loam, 15 inches 

 deep, with just sufficient clay to insure its cracking very slightly 

 in dry weather when the surface has not been previously 

 stirred with the cultivator. The subsoil is clay. 



With the exception of Dr. Hogg Strawberry, which I did not 

 remove till spring, they were all transplanted in balls in the 

 mouth of September last year. Had this been done in the 

 middle of August the results would have been much more 

 favourable, both as to frequency of bloom and strength of 

 plant. — Fkuit-eatek. 



Sept 



Sir Charlea Napier . . 21 



Sir Josepli Paxtou . . 23 



Fairy Queen 20 



Wonderful 20 



Savonrense 15 



Marquise de la Tour 20 



President 20 



Rivers' Eliza 19 



Dr. Hogg — 



Sir Harry 21 



Lady 21 



Virginie 15 



Scarlet Pine 20 



Prince Imperial .... 21 



Magnum Bonum . 20 



Admiral Duudas .... 28 



John Powell 24 



Empress Eugenie .. 30 



British Queen 23 



Carolina Superba . . 17 



So? 



o P. 'a.o.5 



Sept 



La Constante 20 



Sonvenii- de Kieff . . 15 



Crimson Cluster . 30 



ComtedeZans 20 



Cockscomb 20 



Cox's Hybrid 19 



Koyal Hautbois .... 20 



Madame Vilmorin . . 15 



Emma 27 



Lucas 28 



Leon de St. Lannier 28 



Frogmore Late Pine 20 



Goldliuder 20 



Marguerite 30 



Keens' Seedling .... 17 



Elton Improved .... 30 



Princess of Wales . . 15 



Crimson Queen .... 24 



Elton. 30 



60.6 

 .59.3 

 58.7 

 57.4 

 50.0 

 50.0 

 47.0 

 42.8 

 41.U 

 38.7 

 35.0 

 34.0 

 31.0 

 21.9 

 20.0 

 14.3 

 12.5 

 9.5 

 5.7 



INSECTS. 



{Continued from page 357.) 



The green ajjliis on Peach, Plum, and other fruit trees, on 

 Roses, and all kinds of trees, shrubs, and plants iu the open 

 air, is best overcome by dusting them with tobacco powder ; 

 and now that we have preparations of tobacco duty free, the 

 expense is not a serious obstacle. Tobacco has "long been 

 known to horticulturists as a powerful agent in the destruction 

 of insect life, but the heavy duty on that of foreign or colonial 

 growth, and the almost total prohibition of growing it in this 

 country, prevented horticulturists from using it extensively, 

 although the best, safest, and most easily applicable remedy 

 for insect enemies. 



In applying tobacco powder iu the open air, the tree, shrub, 

 or other plant should be lightly sprinkled with enough water to 

 make it wet, and the parts aiifected with aphis should be dusted 

 with the tobacco powder by means of a distributor, which is 

 made of indiarubber in the form of a wine decanter or water 

 bottle, only smaller, and having a broad bottom on which it 

 stands well. It has a moveable brass nozzle, or jet, with seven 

 holes iu it, answering to the stopper of the water bottle. The 

 way to use the distributor is to fill the indiarubber flask about 

 half full of the powder, using a tin fimnel to prevent waste, 

 then to replace the jet or nozzle, and on pressing the flask the 

 powder will be forced out through the holes in a cloud of dust, 

 which may be directed against the parts infested, and par- 

 ticularly the under sides of the leaves. The tobacco powder 

 ■will destroy all the fly it touches and does not injure the plant. 

 A calm day is best for dusting plants, for the wind does not 

 blow away or divert the course of the powder, and the plants 

 damped remain longer moist. The operation should be per- 

 formed in the evening or late in the afternoon. It is not 

 necessary for the destruction of green fly to have the plants 

 wet, only the powder adheres better ; and acting to some extent 

 as a decoction, its effects are extended to parts not easily 

 reached by dusting, and any danger of injury to the plant is 

 lessened. Although the powder is not injurious to the foliage 

 when put on whilst dry, yet when it is so applied it is well to 

 give within six hours afterwards a slight wetting with water 

 from a syringe. In forty-eight hours the trees or plants should 

 have a good syringing so as to thoroughly clean the foliage. 

 The powder is as applicable to plants in-doors as in the open 

 air, only for plants and fruit trees under glass I consider fumi- 



gation more cleanly ; but there are instances where fumigation 

 cannot be practised, then dusting with tobacco powder wUl be 

 an effectual means of freeing the plants of insects of the aphis 

 family. The tobacco powder and distributor here referred to, 

 and which I employ for freeing plants of green fly, are those 

 of Mr. Pooley. 



The tobacco powder may be employed upon trees in blossom, 

 it does not do them the least harm, but the flowers and foliage 

 should be dry, and a light dusting given. 



ilr. Pooley has also invented a compound called tobacco 

 soap. This is for those preferring to syringe their plants ; 

 2 ozs. should be dissolved in a gallon of soft water, and with 

 that strained through a hair sieve the trees or plants should be 

 syringed, thoroughly wetting the parts infested with green fly, 

 which the tobacco soap destroys. Jly experience of it is limited 

 to trees and plants with smooth leaves, such as the Peach and 

 Rose, and I cannot, therefore, say what its effects would be on 

 such plants as Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, and others having 

 soft, hairy, succulent leaves, and I may, therefore, whilst doing 

 full justice to Mr. Pooley's invention, ask the readers of the 

 Journal to exercise caution, especially as the green aphis is 

 easily destroyed on such plants by fumigation with tobacco, 

 and dusting with tobacco powder. 



There is not, so far as I am aware, any means of preventing 

 the attacks of green fly. The best natural destroyer is water. 

 The plants cannot be too well syringed, and syringing should, 

 therefore, be extensively practised. Some birds are great 

 devourers of green fly. They should be protected. 



Black Fly or Aphis. — This is smaller, shorter, and less com- 

 mon than the green aphis, its attacks being chiefly confined to 

 the Cherry, hence its name, Aphis cerasi. It is of a bright 

 black, and next to the blue aphis is the most difficult to 

 destroy of the aphis family. The trees should be syringed, 

 and dusted with tobacco powder, forcing it well under the 

 leaves. In forty-eight hours they may be well syringed, and if 

 any insects remain dust with tobacco powder as before. A 

 syringing with a solution of tobacco soap, 3 ozs. to the gallon 

 of water, will also destroy it. A decoction of tobacco, 8 ozs. 

 to the gallon, is an effectual destroyer of this pest. 



Sroicn Peach Aphis. — This very much resembles the black 

 aphis, only its colour is dark brown ; it is very troublesome on 

 the young shoots and buds, both when the Peach and Nec- 

 tarine is leafless and in foliage. The most eligible method of 

 destruction for plants under glass is fumigation with tobacco, 

 but it is of little use to fumigate unless the house can be filled 

 with smoke, and it can be retained round the trees. Do not 

 syringe the trees the following day, but keep close (without in- 

 juring the trees), and the next evening but one after the fumi- 

 gation examine them, and if the insects are dead give a 

 thorough syringing; if some are alive repeat the fumigation, 

 syringing forcibly the following evening. 



Dusting with tobacco powder will also free the trees of this 

 pest, previously syringing them, but not so as to force off the 

 aphides, for in that case they only find their way back again, and 

 are out of harm's way for a time at least. For the destruction 

 of aphides the tobacco powder must come in contact with 

 them, for it only destroys those it touches. For destroying 

 this aphis in winter, or when the trees are leafless, nothing 

 answers so well as dressing them with a composition formed 

 by mixing boiling water -n-ith tobacco powder until it is of the 

 consistency of thin paint, which should be applied with a 

 brush drawn upwards so as not to dislocate the flower buds. 



Blue Plum Aphis. — This resembles the green fly, but is 

 flatter and of a bluish hue. Of the aphis family it is the 

 most difficult to destroy, for it causes the leaves to curl and 

 fold over, thereby shielding it from outward attack. The best 

 means is to force tobacco powder into the lodgment of the 

 insect on the under side of the leaves and points of the shoots 

 with a distributor, having previously made the tree wet._ The 

 following evening give a thorough syringing with a solution of 

 soft soap at the rate of 2 ozs. to the gallon of water, or the 

 trees may in the first instance be syringed with a solution of 

 tobacco soap, 3 ozs. to the gallon of soft water, forcing it well 

 into the curled portions of the leaves from their under sides, 

 making the parts quite wet with the solution. The tree should 

 have a good syringing with clear water in the following evening. 



There are manv species of aphis besides those named, but 

 the preceding are the principal. All are destroyed by dusting 

 with tobacco powder, the trees being previously wetted or 

 dusted after a shower. 



It must not be supposed that the tobacco powder will free a 

 tree of aphides at the first application, for there may be some 



