180 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



r August 29, 18C5. 



Thrips on Carnations— Mildew on Roses (D. C).— Your only plan 

 of removinp tlirips from your Carnation blooms will be to bave a cap 

 made to fit over tbe plants and resting on the pround. Fill the cap witb 

 tobacco smoke and allow it to remain on until the smoke vanishes. This, 

 repeated once or twice, will generally clear them sufficiently. Your Roses, 

 we should think from your description, are severely attacked with mildew. 

 The cause is want of moisture at the root, and wetting the foliage in dr>' 

 weather. The preventive is to keep well watered at the root, and to 

 syringe over the leaves. The cua'e after disease gains possession is to 

 dust the pai'ts affected with flowers of suljibur, and to wash this off 

 forty-eight hours after the application. Should any vestiges of mildew 

 remain dust the parts affected as before, and syringe it off with a solution 

 of Gishurst compound at the rate of 2 ozs. to the gallon of water. Black 

 sulphur, or sulphur \-ivum, is the best. We bave found that what will 

 prove efficacious one time will not do so at another, but the Rev. Mr. Rad- 

 clyffe's remedy we have found effectual when others have failed — viz., 

 2 ozs. of blue ^it^iol dissolved in a little hot water, then mixed with four 

 gallons of cold water, and poured over the tree with a rose watering-pot 

 BO as to thoroughly wet cvei-y part. This is a certain remedy, and wiU 

 root out the evil after it obtains firm hold, and so will sul'phm- ; but 

 Gishurst and lime water require to be applied in the early stages. 



Propagating Single and DonsLE White Brugmansia (A Lady Sub- 

 scriber). — Take the points of the shoots not flowering, and when about 

 lialf ripe as they will be now, and with two or three joints in addition to 

 the gi-owing point, remove the leaves from the two lowest, and cut trans- 

 versely below the lowest. Inserted in light soil with a large per-ceutago 

 of sand and plunged in a mild bottom heat, they will soon root. Another 

 method is to take off the shciots when a few inches long with a Uttle heel 

 to them, and after removing the lowest paii' of leaves to insert in sandy 

 loam and plunge in a bottom heat of 75' or 80^. They may also be pro- 

 pagated from eyes or cuttings of the old wood, put in after the manner 

 of Vine eyes and cuttings, a brisk I>ottom heat being necessary to plunge 

 the pots in. February is the best month for this mode of propagation ; 

 May for the second; and July for the first, but now will do, or when the 

 euttings can be had. 



Stuart's Bean Tree Seedling, When Will it Flower? (Idem).— 

 If by Stuart's Bean tree, Stuartia virginica is meant, it will not flower 

 for the next six years, and may just as likely be longer before it does so. 

 If it be the one we mean, it is a deciduous tree with white flowers, and 

 nearly if not quite hardy, quite as much so as Camellias of the hardier 

 sorts. It will be best grov,-n-on for about three years, and after that kept 

 closely pinched-in and pot-bound so as to induce bloom. It requires a 

 compost of turfy loam two-thu-ds, and sandy peat one-third, with a free 

 admixtm-e of shan> sand. Water freely when gi-o\ving. gi-adually with- 

 holding moisture in autumn, and keeping just moist over the winter. 



CuTTiNG-iN Oleander— Stopping Crassulas (W^m).— The Oleander 

 done blooming, or if it has not bloomed, may be cut-in to the lowest shoots, 

 it being best to cut to shoots at this late season. The cutting-in will not 

 then injure the bloom of next year; but if you cut-in closely so as to 

 cause shoots to come from the" old wood, they will not be sufficiently 

 ripened to Idoom well, if at all, another year. It would he better to defer 

 the heading-do«-n until May or June next year, if it be found necessai-y 

 to cut so that no young shoots may be left. The plants will not be in- 

 jured in the least by cutting-in. The Oleander, however, is a bad-habited 

 plant at its Iiest, it being very difficult to form it into a shapely specimen. 

 By stoppiH'^' the Crassula now you will put an end to the bloom of next 

 year for the most part, and those shoots that bloom will be late. They 

 will, however, make bushier plants for blooming the season after next, 

 any shoots showing next year being stopped. 



Soil for Calceolarias and Fuchsias (J. Nooitos). —'Lo^m from rotted 

 tui*ves (cut 3 inches thick, laid up for twelve m<^nths in alternate layers 

 with fresh manure, and turned over twice), chopped with a spade but not 

 fiifted, two-thirds; leaf mould, three-parts reduced, one-third; and one- 

 sixth of river sand well mixed together. In speaking or writing of 13-inch 

 pots or other sizes, the diameter at top within the pot is meant, and not 

 the depth. If you will oblige us \vith a communication we shall then be 

 able to decide what to do with it. 



Frcit Trees foh SoUTH-WEST-BV-sorTn Wall iBramley Oakn\.~YonT 

 wall will answer perfectly well fur Peaches and Nectarines! Apricots on 

 low walls do not do well from the necessity of pruning. If you have them 

 the trees will need root-pruning or lifting to chock their vigour and keep 

 them fniitfiil. Peaches and Nectarines being what you chiefly wish, we 

 will say ten of them at 20 feet apart, the first tree at 10 feet from the end 

 of the wall. Peaches :— One Early York, one Early Grosse Mignonne, one 

 Grosse Mignonne, one Royal George, one Noblesse, one Bamngton, and 

 one Walburton Admirable, the seven succeeding each other. Nectarines : 

 — One Elruge, one Pitmaston Orange, and one Violette Hiitive. If Api-icots 

 are wanted, then you will have one Royal in place of Walburton Ad- 

 mirable Peach, and one Moorpark in place of Pitmaston Orange Nec- 

 tarine. Copings have been advocated, but we find the trees are healthier, 

 thefi'uit as plentiful, and eiiuallyfine on uncoped walls as on those whose 

 coping projects beyond the wall. They are unnecessary, and in om* case 

 worse than useless, for they nre injurious. We have a splendid crop on 

 our Peaches this year on the south walls, and they are fully better where 

 the wall is low (8 feet as in your case), than on the general walls, which 

 are 12 feet. Our soil is light and gravelly, the reverse of a good Peach 

 soil, and we find all they want in snch land is to keep the roots near the 

 surface and out of the gi-avel, or fi-Om going deep into it, Uberal dress- 

 ings of manure, syringing the trees in dry weather to keep down red 

 spider, and copious supplies of water, in addition, to keep mildew under. 

 When the roots penetrate deep into the gi-avel, the trees become stunted 

 in gi-owth, bear little, and are much affected with mildew, and the points 

 of the shoots constantly die back in winter. Those having trees in this 

 condition should take them up just when the leaves fall (it does not 

 matter how old the trees are), and plant again with the roots about 

 6 inches below the surface, in the top spit of a pasture if it can be had, 

 and in the year afterwards thei*c will be more fruit than in the preceding 

 ten years. We mention this for the benefit of those having Peaches on 

 walls, and who cannot induce them to bear fruit plentifully and with 

 certaintv, and especially for those ha\'ing a light gi-avelly soil to contend 

 with.— G. A. 



FouR-LEAVED Clover (J. H. T.).— It is only a sport, and a rare one, of 

 the Common Clover. When foimd by the peasantry in some parts of 

 Ireland and Scotland it is used by them as a charm. The only English , 

 name we know of Viscaria oculata is "Dark-eyed Rock Lyclinis.'' 



Erecting Vineries and Piping for (T. £.).— If you want a house 

 cheap at first cost, procure one on the orchard or Sir Joseph Paxton sys- 

 tem; if you want one to be lasting, that will cost little or nothing for 

 annual repairs, and which will always look nice and light, get one o^f Mr. 

 Beard's— see last column of "Doings of the Week" a fortnight ago. It 

 would not be fair for us to recommend builders. You will not err if you 

 employ such as advertise with us. but make all sure beforehand, and that 

 makes the best friends. To have Grapes in July vou would need about 

 240 feet of four-inch piping. If you want them in May and June you had 

 better have from 350 to 400 feet of piping. The greenhouse would require 

 200 feet of piping, and more if you wished the heat in cold weather to be 

 from 40 to 45 and onwards. 



Various {Peepy).~Yon would see that your ease was mostly met ia 

 our last answer. A small boiler would have suited, and the expense at 

 9<Z. to Is. per toot for piping would not be great. A brick Arnott's stove 

 would answer well enough fitted either in the house or the shed behind, 

 and the top could easily be turned into a propagating-box. A portable 

 iron one you can carry out in summer. We think either would keep out 

 the frost. The frigidomo covering, however, would be useful on the roof 

 and ends, and would do for shade in summer. But if vou could do with- 

 out the covering in winter, a httle whitening in milk" painted once over 

 the glass would give you shade enough in summer. A couple of Vines on 

 the roof, with greenhouse treatment, will not hurt the plants below. Of 

 course if you covered the roof the plants would suffer. From one or two 

 stems of Vines planted outside, and taken in through the front wall, we 

 still think you will have more success than from Vines in pots, but try ■ 

 the pots by all means if you like that plan best. The glass roof will be a 

 great addition to your porch. AVe admire yom- arrangements as to windows 

 and boxes. As evergreens we would adWso Acacia armata and lophan- 

 tha, and, as a sub-evergi-een,Passiflora coerulea. Your Uttle propagating- 

 boxes, &c., will do better if the top is not hinged, but merely laid on. We 

 like to turn them over, which sweetens the air and presents a dryglaes to 

 the plants and cuttings, and saves all wiping of the glass. 



Blistered Pear and Plum Leaves i0.t£ Sons). —The brown blisters on 

 the leaves are caused by little caterpillai-s the larvie of a beautiful little 

 moth, of which a coloured drawing is in the now-defunct "Gardeners 

 Magazine of Botany," and where Professor Westwood thus described it :— 

 "The moth measures about a quarter of an inch in the expansion of tiie 

 fore wings, which are of a glossy silvery white colour, the terminal por- 

 tion being orange with white fringe, but varied on the fore margin near 

 the tip with two white triangular spots, edged with black lines, and with a 

 trident-like black mark r.t the tip, and with the inner margin terminated 

 by a black spot glossed with purple; the hind wings are silvery white, 

 with long fringe. Thahistory of this species, (under the name of Tinea 

 Clerckc-lla,butnow called Ai-gjTomyges scitella), was first made known by 

 the late Mr. Knight, The perfect insect generally appears at the end of 

 May. when the female deposits her eggs on the under surface of the leaves, 

 the young larvaj penetrating the under cuticle, and feeding on the paren- 

 chyma, leaving the two surfaces of the leaf untouched, and thus forming 

 large oval or rounded patches, several of which often unite together, and 

 thus the greater part of the leaf assumes a blistered appearance. Mr. 

 Johnson states that the Chaumontel is especially subject to the attacks 

 of this larva, as he had observed a standard tree of this variety annually 

 attacked, whilst a Swan's Egg, and an Easter Bergamot in the immediate 

 vicinity were comparatively xmtouched. It is at the beginning of the 

 autumn that the leaves are obsei-\-ed to be most afiected by the ravages of 

 these larva?, which are fleshy, yellowish-white, hairy, and with six pec- 

 toral, eight abdominal, and two anal feet depressed. When full grown 

 the larva pierces the upper cuticle of the leaf, and comes into the open 

 air, it then spins some longitudinal threads close together on the upper 

 side of the leaf, and beneath these forms its cocoon, which Mr. Curtis 

 describes as boat-shaped, with the keel upwards of a very close texture, 

 and with a slit at each end, the cast-off larva skin being thrust through 

 one of these slits, and the moth escaping by the other. Sometimes these 

 insects abound to such an extent as seriously to affect the growth of the 

 trees, and the size and flavom- of the fruit ; indeed, Mr. Knight's Pear 

 trees were so much injured that he at one time resolved to remove them. 

 The chief remedy for preventing the mischief caused by this species 

 seems to be the picking off" the blistered leaves before the larv® have left 

 them, or by sharply pinching with the fingers the blistered parts, in the 

 case of small and valuable trees. The collecting, also, of fallen leaves at 

 the close of the autumn is sei"viceable, as the chrysalides will thus be 

 destroyed, and the propagation of the species ia "the following spring 

 prevented." 



Bedding Geranicsis BLooanNG Indifferently (An Old Subscriber). — 

 We think, as your Geraniums make good growth and but little bloom, that 

 the sou is too rich. Either the soU is too rich or the plants are planted 

 too closely and watered too freely. Yom- remedy will be to make the soil 

 less rich ; add nothing to it at the winter dressing in the shape of manui-e 

 or leaf-mould, unless the soil is heavy, when a dressing of sandy loam 

 would be advisable. If the soil is very lich, and naturally moist or heavy, 

 the plants would do better as to flowering if plunged in their pots so as to 

 cover the rim three-quarters of an inch to an inch deep ; this will check 

 their tendency to produce foliage and cause them to bloom more freely. 

 Punch is a strong gi-ower at its best, but free-blooming generally; the 

 others named are free-blooming generally. Stella is the very best dark 

 scarlet bedding Geranium. We have it edged with a dwarf variegated 

 Grass (Dactylisglomerata elegantissima), and the bed is indeed gorgeous. 

 Lord Palmerston. another of the Nosegay section with crimson scarlet 

 flowers and a good truss, we think inferior to Stella as a bedder, though 

 fine for pot culture. Cybister is a superior bedding variety. Paul I'Abbe 

 is a white Zonale kind, good for bedding, but does not stand sun and rain 

 better than Madame Vaucher. A good pure white Geranium that will 

 endm-e sun and wet is much wanted for bedding. Diadematum, when it 

 can be had true, and that is Beaton's variety, is a very free-blooming bed- 

 ding Geranium with rose-coloured flowers. 



Storing Fecit (L. T. IT.).— We shall publish some general hints on 

 the subject before the time ari-ives for storing fruit. 



Crataegus prunifolia variegata {J. Major d .S'OH,s-).~The variegation 

 is well marked and ven- pretty, and the colour is really golden and not that 

 sicltly hue too frequently met with in so-called golden plants. 



Rose Grower (P.).— You will be quite safe if you give the order to the 

 florist you name. 



Onion Grub (H. A. F.). — There is no cure for this. See what we said at 

 page 8S of om- Number pubhshed on August 1st about prevention. 



