May 22, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



107 



yet unless the examples given bo backed by the fact of trees 

 in a like position also doing well for a number of years, I 

 would not recommend this tree being planted, except to 

 occupy a place for a few years as a nurse to something in- 

 tended to succeed it. Under such circumstances it may be 

 planted ; but it would be well on the part of thsse who plant 

 whether for shelter, ornament, or profit, to ponder well 

 whether they ouf,'ht not to plant something else instead, for it 

 must be borne iu mind that its failure is not confined to one 

 place, nor its disease to any particular season. It has been 

 gouig backwards, possibly before the time when its rapid fall- 

 ing away attracted general notice. 



The question naturally arises, How does it happen that a 

 tree that thrives well up to a certain point should so suddenly 

 cease to do so, before it can fairly be assumed that it has ex- 

 hausted the soil of the food which the latter contains '.' I do 

 not think that lack of constitutional vigour can be the cause, 

 and it is stiU more unUkely that the severe winters we have 

 now and then can affect it, for a tree that withstands a Nor- 

 wegian winter is not likely to succumb to an English one. I 

 am more inclined to believe that our hot summer has some in- 

 fluence in the matter, but I merely venture this as an opinion, 

 based on the fact of the tree appearing to thrive better in 

 places having a more copious rainfall. If my memory be right, 

 it thrives well at Alton Towers, in Staffordshire, and other 

 places where we know rain is more abundant than with us. 



Has any correspondent possessing good-sized specimens of 

 the more choice Conifers noticed indications of their dying 

 off in the same way as the Spruce has done ? The nearest 

 approach to it in affinity is the Himalayan Spruce, Abies 

 Morinda or Smithiana, of which, as it has been introduced 

 several years, there must be specimens about as large as the 

 common Spruce when it succumbs in so many places. I am 

 glad to say that amongst several we have here, .50 feet high or 

 upwards, I only notice one that is not densely feathered to the 

 ground with healthy foliage, and this one is in a very exposed 

 place, where its foliage is likely to be discoloured by high winds. 

 I do not assert that this Spruce will be exempt, and as a 

 Conifer it is inferior in beauty to many others ; but if it be 

 found to succeed where its. elder brother perishes, it will have 

 a greater claim on the attention of planters, for it certainly 

 must be admitted that the bad appearance so many plantations 

 of Spruce Fhs present at the present time has checked their 

 future extension. I have no faith in remedial measures iu the 

 generality of cases where there is an extensive plantation. 

 Artificial helps will enable a single tree or two to outlive the 

 natural term in a place not suited to it, but where thousands 

 of trees are planted it would be better to consider which 

 amongst the many spscies we have is best suited to the spot, 

 and plant that. 



I imagine the sites suited to the requirements of the common 

 Spruce Fir are becoming fewer and fewer, and that it would be 

 well on the part of intending planters to ponder ere they 

 commit themselves by adopting this tree to any great extent. 

 On the other hand, the Scotch Fir, though not perhaps making 

 such a nice specimen for our young friends to hang their 

 Christmas ornaments on, has an unquestionable claim to our 

 attention, in its old age almost equalling the Cedar of Lebanon. 

 At this stage its timber far exceeds that of its neighbour, and 

 if it could be had in quantity would compete with that from 

 the Baltic. — J. Robson. 



IBEEIS GIBKALTAEICA. 



We have received from Mr. G. F. Wilson, of Weybridge 

 Heath, a flower of Iberis gibraltarica, of the true blush colour, 

 to which " E. A." alluded last week. It is undoubtedly identi- 

 cal with the plant figured in the " Botanical Magazine." The 

 vai'iety with pure white flowers, and which has the same habit 

 as Iberis gibraltarica, may possibly be a seminal variety, but it 

 is certainly an inferior one in point of size. If this should 

 prove to be a white variety it ought to bo called Iberis gibral- 

 tarica alba, while the rose-coloured form retains the original 

 name of the species. 



I HAVE a plant of Iberis gibraltarica with rosy-tinted flowers, 

 which I have grown for many years, but I have never known 

 it distinguished as vera, neither have I ever seen a white 

 variety. — D. M. 



Prizes for M.\rket Cusdeneks. — At the Worcestershire 

 Agricultai-al Society's Show to be held on August the l'2th and 



following days, three £10 and three £5 prizes are offered for 

 the best market gai'dens of various sizes. 



PEESEKVING GAEDEN SEEDS EEOM MICE, 

 EATS, BIEDS, &c. 



I HAVE never heard of so many complaints as this season. 

 Whole rows of Peas have been cleared out in a night, and 

 small seeds, as of Cauliflower and Broccoli, have disappeared 

 from the attacks of the smaller birds. In some cases where 

 nets, from having been securely fixed, kept the birds away, the 

 attacks of various flies have left the seed-bed like a desert. 

 From what has been brought under my notice I should judgo 

 that the season has been a good one for seedsmen. Even 

 among cottage gardeners, who pride themselves on a few 

 rows of good Peas and Beans, some have been compelled to 

 go a thh'd time to the seed shop — no very pleasing thing to a 

 labourer, as every extra outlay, though small, teUs on the 

 weekly wages. 



At one time no one suffered more than myself. What with 

 rais and pheasants it was next to waste time to sow Peas and 

 Beans. Even when netted with string and wire netting a 

 pheasant would find its way in at one end, and clear out the 

 rows of Peas at leisure, as it knowing full well that if caught 

 at his pUfering I should be obUged to let him off with impunity. 

 For a number of years I have had no trouble at all with seeds 

 in the ground, simply by colouring them with red lead before 

 sowing them. I have frequently alluded to the subject, but 

 it will bear repeating, as some keen amateur farmers have 

 come and taken notice lor themselves, and resolved to apply 

 it to many of their seeds where birds are very plentiful. What 

 surprised them, and has often surprised me, is the simple fact, 

 that when seeds are thus leaded before sowing, and the ground 

 patted down, it is rare that mouse, rat, or bird will make a 

 hole to look for what is beneath. They seem to know there 

 is something there that will not agree with them. For a ijuart 

 of Peas shghtly damped, as much of the reil-lead powder as can 

 be held between the points of the thumb and two fingers will 

 colour the Peas well, if properly turned over and over with a 

 stick. It is as well not to use the hand in sowing if there are 

 wounds or cracks on the fingers, and in all cases the hands 

 should lie well washed afterwards. For small seeds, as Turnips, 

 Broccoli, Lettuce, &a., a mere pinch is ample, and it is ad- 

 visable not to lead any more than it is thought proper to sow. 

 A mere pinch of Lettuce seed will go a long way when there 

 is little chance of a seed being taken. 



When the seedlings are 2 or 3 inches above ground the red 

 lead to a certain extent loses its protective power. For the 

 first time this year I found some Peas rooted-up by rats. In 

 some few cases where the coating matter had fallen off, the rat 

 had nibbled out a portion of the centre of the pea, but in the 

 generality of cases, after pulling or rooting the pea up, the 

 swelled pea was left untouched. Altogether this was done to 

 a trifling extent. I have seldom or never known a red-leaded 

 seed touched until the plant came above ground. Then, of 

 course, there were insects and other enemies to contend with, 

 which greedily feed on the young shoots and leaves, one of 

 the most voracious being the wood pigeon where at all nu- 

 merous. The earliest Peas and a few later rows suffered con- 

 siderably from them this season. They came as soon as the 

 bu'ds began to sing at early dawn, and were gone before m.iny 

 men were out of bed. A slight sprinkling of ashes and a little 

 soot when the plants are damp makes them rather unsavoury 

 to such visitors, and does no harm to the plants. Pieces of 

 white paper tied to a suspended string act likewise as a de- 

 terrent. For small seedlings, as of Kale, Cabbages, Broccolis, 

 cfec, I found a sprinkling of ashes with a little soot in it, a 

 good preservative against birds and different sorts of flies. 

 Against Turnip and other flies a few small thin branches of 

 spruce with their needle-like leaves are also a good protection. 

 Years ago I protected early Turnips with hurdles placed over 

 each little sowing about a foot from the ground, the hurdles 

 having spruce branches thinly drawn through them. In such 

 a case I have never found the fly intrude, and after the stout 

 rough leaves become strong there is little more danger. Of two 

 men whom I lately saw, one has lost all his young C'oleworts ; 

 his neighbour who stuck a few spruce branches over his bed 

 has not lost a plant. 



The best-intentioned are apt to overlook some trifle that 

 may be of importance. One of the fanners to whom I have 

 alluded, thought it must be great labour to red-lead such a 



