May 28, 18C8. ] 



JOURNAJi OF IIORTICOLTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



387 



of them which it does not reach, and in that case it is absurd 

 to expect them to be destroyed, for they breed very fast. 

 Actual contact is needed, and then one application ia as effectual 

 as half a dozen. A good look-out must, therefore, be kept, and 

 remedial measures at once adopted, and if one application fail 

 another must be given. There is no species of aphis that 

 tobacco will not kill, and after using many remedies considered 

 the most effective, I have arrived at the conclusion that they 

 must all give way to tobacco in the form of a powder, in smoke, 

 or as an infusion. Other remedies I have discarded, because 

 I have prepared for me, from duty-free tobacco, a cheaper, 

 a simpler, and a more effectual remedy. ^G. Aisuey. 

 (To be continued.) 



MEI.ON CULTURE. 



Ix the number for May 7th, page S-lfi, "E. F." stated that 

 he was perplexed as to the cause of his Melon plants in two 

 lights losing their leaves ; and having in my own practice 

 experienced the same evil, I will endeavour to describe how it 

 takes place, and the means by which I prevented it. 



The pit in which we grow Melons is very similar to that 

 referred to by "R. F.," save that it is heated by a brick flue 

 instead of by hot-water pipes. In the inside wall of the hot-air 

 chamber over which the beds are made is a slide, and on open- 

 ing this hot air will pass from the chamber into the atmosphere 

 of the pit. There are also ventilators in the roof. 



Early in spring about six years ago I observed some red 

 spider attacking the plants, which are trained on a trellis ; and 

 in order to check its progress the plants were syringed on the 

 under side of the foliage when closing the pit at night, and 

 having occasionally let rather too much hot air escape from 

 the chamber while the jilants were wet, I found the leaves 

 perish in just the same way as " R. F." has described. Since 

 that time care has always been taken to have the plants dry 

 before closing the pit, especially on cold frosty nights, when we 

 have to raise the temperature a little by fire heat ; but at other 

 times one of the ventilators in the roof is left open to allow of 

 the escape of any superabundant heat and moisture. Ever 

 since this precaution has been adopted excellent crops of Melons 

 have been produced, the plants being clothed with large healthy 

 clean leaves to the very roots, with not a brown spot on them. 



Now these precautions, like many other valuable lessons, 

 were derived from observing a natural occurrence ; for on a 

 certain day early in spring, about 2 r.ji., a heavy snowstorm 

 occurred, which, lasting only half an hour, was succeeded by 

 bright sunshine ; and the foliage of deciduous trees being then 

 barely expanded, and consequently rather tender, the sudden 

 sunshine proved too strong for some Damson trees in the open 

 garden. The foliage on the south-western side of these was 

 very much scalded, and next day had the very same appearance 

 as the damaged Melon plants in the pit. — H. Hall, Gardener 

 to W. Dickens, Esq., Clierrington. 



gregation usually carries at this service a bouquet of flowers, 

 the effect is most pleasing, and the service is rendered espe- 

 cially interesting. — {City Press.) 



WISTARIA SINENSIS. 



Not remembering to have seen this glorious old climber on 

 any but southern aspects, I fancy few people are aware how 

 well it is adapted for northern exposures. 



I have a plant about 30 feet by 30 feet on the north-east 

 Iront wall of my dwelling-house, now. May 13th, about in per- 

 fection. It seems to me the colder have the following advan- 

 tages over the warmer aspects for this plant. The blooming 

 season is quite a fortnight or three weeks later, the buds are 

 consequently not so liable to injury by frost, the flowers retain 

 their colour, and remain very much longer in beauty, and, 

 above all, the plant is clothed with its charming foliage at the 

 same time with the blossom, which is not the case when it is 

 grown on the warmer aspects. — Jonx Ingk.\5i, Iluntingdun 

 Nurseries. 



[We have seen the Wistaria doing well on east and west 

 aspects. — Eds.] 



The Flower Seemon. — According to custom, the Rev. Dr. 

 Whittemore will deliver a sermon on " Flowers," on the even- 

 ing of Whit-Tuesday ; but this year he will preach at the 

 church of St. Catherine Cree, Leadenhall Street, and not at 

 St. James's, Aldgate, as hitherto. The musical portion of the 

 service will be undertaken by fifty members of the St. Paul's 

 Special Evening Service Choir. As each member of the con- 



SPRING FLOWERS AT NUNEHAM PARK. 



" Anh when those flowers unfold their bloom ' may I be there 

 to see.' " That was a wish I expressed last November in page 

 405. On the 17th of April my very good friend Mr. Stewart wrote 

 me, " Our spring garden will be in its beauty by Thursday 

 week ; can you run over and see what we are doing ?" I and 

 two friends readily obeyed the summons, reached Nuneham, 

 and much we marvelled and admired to see the common flowers 

 of our childhood so cherished and so prominently shown forth. 



We saw in a circle sixteen large escutcheons, having their 

 fields consisting of two beds of Alyssum saxatile and Arabia 

 albida, two of Silene pendula, three of Myosotis alba, five of 

 M. sylvatica, one of Phlox frondosa, one of P. prostrata, and 

 two of Cliveden Blue Pansy, broadly and alternately bordered 

 with Cerastium tomentosum and the double pink Aucuba-leaved 

 Daisy. The general effect was certainly most striking. I had 

 the pleasure of seeing these beds in a blaze of beauty last 

 autumn when furnished with their summer bedders, and now 

 in May they are certainly more brilliant. Eight months in 

 flower, and for the other four the soil covered with green and 

 variegated foliage ! At the end of May Mr. Stewart will take 

 the first safe opportunity — but there will be no hurry, for the 

 beds are gay — to plant out his Pelargoniums, &c. ; and then 

 the present occupants of the beds will be divided and planted 

 in back borders and out-of-the-way nooks and corners, or, if 

 seed be required from any of the plants, they will be left intact 

 and planted somewhere out of sight to mature it. I do not 

 know if it is intended to let the Daisy and Cerastium remain 

 for edging the beds during the summer, but they would be 

 appropriate for the purpose ; the Daisy, however, wherever it 

 may be, must be kept in moist soil. Mr. Stewart informed me 

 last autumn that he thought of dispensing with Cerastium 

 tomentosum, as it would not stand the shears here ; but how- 

 ever that may be, it looks exceedingly well and neat at the 

 present time. I observed also that the Roses around were 

 " breaking'' strongly and healthily. 



We now proceed to "Mason's garden," and are confronted 

 by a group of round beds, five in number, having their centres 

 occupied with vases on pedestals, which are surrounded with 

 Myosotis sylvatica and M. alba, Trentham Blue Pansy, and the 

 Aucuba-leaved Daisy. Plants of Dielytra spectabilis, much 

 injured by a destructive frost, occupy the vases above. In the 

 round Cupid bed I observed that his dart pointed to a border 

 of Stachys lanata, and under the protection of his weapon were 

 Phlox frondosa. Heartsease, and blue and white Forget-me-nots. 

 Upon the greensward Magnolia purpurea and Soulangeana 

 were in fine bloom, and Magnolia conspicua was about to 

 follow. To the right, like the principal jewel in a crown, the 

 arrangement on the site of the old orangery was in a full blaze 

 with large scarlet Pelargoniums in pots, and other plants ; and 

 trained on the back trellis and in bloom was that sweet Rose 

 Gloire de Dijon, ever the first to welcome us in the open air. 

 The parallelogram beds in front of the above are occupied by 

 ottomans of varieties of Tulips, havingViolacornuta just coming 

 into bloom for a carpet, bordered with Cerastium tomentosum. 

 I conclude the last two will be permanent, or, if not, they 

 should be. 



On passing away from here, under a magnificent weeping 

 Pine, Abies pendula, endowed with two leaders high in the air, 

 which must long before its natural time prove the destruction 

 of the tree— a most unfortunate neglect — we notice on a me- 

 morial pedestal to the planner of this part of these fine 

 grounds, the inscription — "George Simon, Earl Ilarcourt, 

 Consecrates this Cenotaph to the Memory of his Friend, the 

 Rev. William Mason." 



Passing some fine clumps of Rhododendrons well knotted 

 with bursting blossom buds, with Rhododendron Cunningham! 

 in full flower, and many new hybrids freshly introduced, we 

 are once more arrested by " Mr. Harcourt's bed," in shape 

 something resembling the letter X, with an elongated waist, 

 which fits into a cosy nook of sward. Liliiims and Gladioluses 

 bordered with Vinca elegantissima are springing up in it for 

 the summer decoration, the present field of colour being Myo- 

 sotis sylvatica, M. alba, and the Aucuba-leaved Daisy. 



Then we wander to the north terrace garden. The effect 

 required to be seen ; no written description could depict its 



