Octobor !Hl, 18(10. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



329 



spite of tho assurance she would be dead before morning, and I 

 refused, though longing, for a long array of cooks and nurses, 

 with their warning words, " horse Mushrooms, and poison," 

 passed before my mental vision — not that Mrs. Nicholls came 

 to any harm ; she survived the night, ate up next day all that 

 were left, laughed at her husband, and is living still. 



Oh, for the days when we were children, and cooked our 

 Mushrooms on tho bar, without dish, or pan, or spoon, or 

 plate, carrying them about with us in our pockets until our 

 nursery tire was our own ; thankful for pepper and salt, over- 

 joyed if a little butter was added, for then our feast was com- 

 plete ! No thought of danger or poison ever troubled us then. 

 All were Mushrooms that grew in those far-away yet over green 

 pasture fields. — Mai n. 



LATE PEAS. 

 Has any one tried the Ne Plus Ultra as a late Pea ? With 

 mo it has proved a valuable one for that purpose, having 

 had gatherings from it since the 20th of September. To-day, 

 October 22nd, I have gathered a large dish. The flavour is all 

 that can be desired. Should the weather prove favourable, I 

 shall be able to gather Peas for another fortnight, as I have 

 the British Queen just now r«ady, and quite au ornament to 

 the garden, being green and free from mildew, and as full of 

 bloom as if in the month of June. The seeds were sown in the 

 first week in July, and the plants are growing in a strong, heavy 

 soil, but not rich. I gathered Peas last year until the second 

 week in November. — Tnos. Becord, Hawkhurst, Knit. 



SPRING LIDDING. 



Read before the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, 

 September 4th, 1866. 



I desire to call the attention of the Society to a method of 

 spring budding, which I performed upon the large branches of 

 some old Pear trees during the spring of this year — a method 

 which has, I think, some advantage over those in common use. 



It is often found that one has an old and vigorous-looking 

 Pear or Apple, which has become covered with unproductive 

 spurs, and is a good subject for renewal, by cutting back or by 

 grafting. The usual plan is to remove many of the larger 

 limbs, expecting new growths to spring out by the development 

 of accidental buds, from which some are selected to form the 

 future tree ; the difficulty of, and the objection to this is, that 

 the disposition to the development of buds is confined princi- 

 pally to the terminations of the limbs, in many cases leaving 

 the lower parts bare. Where grafting in done, only tho ter- 

 minal part of the large limbs can be operated upon, so that 

 a similar method of cutting back is necessary to get new wood 

 on which to graft nearer the stem ; this occasions the delay of 

 one season. 



I have pleasure in mentioning a plan which I believe will in 

 either case accomplish the result aimed at with certainty, with 

 regularity, and in a singlo season secure the foundation of a 

 symmetrical tree. The process I have called spring budding ; 

 hut, to prevent confusion of terms, will name the " bud " an 

 insertion. 



We will suppose a long and exhausted Pear limb, compara- 

 tively denuded of branches ; such a one as we so commonly sec. 

 The first preparation will be to remove one-third of the length ; 

 and if it is desired to change the variety, two grafts will be 

 placed in the cut end, then at several places along the course 

 of both sides the dead outer bark should be scraped away. A 

 triangular incision is now made at the points selected, extend- 

 ing down to the wood ; it should be of considerable size, vary- 

 ing with the diameter of the limb, and be finished by removing 

 the bark included in the incision. The object of the removal 

 of the piece of bark is to enable the insertion to be introduced 

 beneath the thick bark, and to check the flow of sap at the 

 part for the benefit of the bud. In branches of -t inches dia- 

 meter the triangle should be 11 inch at the base. 



The preparation of the insertion is made by taking a scion 

 cut from well-matured wood of the previous year's growth, 

 which need not be removed more than a few days before wanted ; 

 it must have been kept cool and fresh, and the buds be plump, 

 but unstarted. The knife should be entered at the side oppo- 

 site the selected bud, about half an inch above, and so directed 

 as to split the scion in the middle for the greater part, covering 

 1 inch or more below the bud, and on the same side with it ; 



after tho removal of a very small part of the outer bark at each 

 side of the insertion it will be ready for introduction. 



A slit is now made from the base of the triangular cut down- 

 wards, to enable the bark to be slightly raised ; the insertion is 

 next pressed down so as to bring the bud exactly to the base of 

 the triangle. Grafting-wax is now laid upon tire incision last 

 made, and all tho cut parts completely covered by the wax ; 

 when a piece of wood the size of au ordinary label is laid over 

 the last cut, and bound down tightly upon it by a wrapping of 

 twine, securely tied, so as to counteract the disposition of the 

 bark to curl away from the insertion, which tendency is uni- 

 versal. Indeed, so important is this tying, that success can- 

 not be expected if it is omitted. 



The advantages of the method above described are so mani- 

 fest, that any attempt to mention them would be superfluous ; 

 each one accustomed to such processes will know when he can 

 use these insertions with advantage. — Louis Jack, M.D. 



NEW ORCHIDS IN CANTERBURY NEW 

 ZEALAND. 



Mi;. Brookes paid Mr. Sales a visit, and found me in a drain 

 covered with mud from head to foot ; in fact, I could not see 

 properly, and did not recognise him at first, as I had my eyes 

 spattered with mud. However, I came out, and he wanted some 

 Orchids to take back to Stewart, so I took the opportunity of 

 sending some living plants back by him to divide between 

 yourself, Stewart, and Armstrong. I hope you received them. 

 They are not such good ones as I would like to have sent, but 

 it so happened, a day or two after he came here, I met him in 

 Hokitika, and he had had his case over, and was off the next 

 morning. It was a wet day, and very dark in the bush, so that 

 I had some trouble in finding the little Angracum-looking 

 plant ; it took me all the afternoon to do so, and gave me a 

 proper drenching. I had to change all my clothes, and then 

 carry the plants to town in the dark. They will give you a 

 better idea than dried ones. 



I made a mistake in calling tho Angracum a Phalamopsis ; 

 however, it resembles them both. As to your only making out 

 five species, I have found so many terrestrial ones on the 

 plains, and I consider that there are here six epiphytes or 

 true air-plants, all growing on trees, and the Angra-cum-looking 

 one only on the tops of high trees ; the others are growing at 

 various heights right down the trunks of the trees. 



Two of the kinds are very much alike, they are the Dendrobe- 

 looking ones, only one is much shorter in the growths, and 

 flowers much later. I consider its fragrance sweeter than that 

 of the Lily of the Valley. 



It is useless for me to attempt to describe them, as you will 

 have the plants themselves; but I must tell you that the 

 Angraeum, and a fine-leaved kind, something like the other 

 two Dendrobe-like Orchids, are now putting out their flower- 

 stems. Then there is the fifth, a very long, slender-growing 

 plant with the seed-pods very round ; and the last is the most 

 diminutive Orchid I ever saw. It is an Orchid in miniature, 

 and very much resembles the Ccclogynes. I will obtain flowers 

 of them as soon as possible, and in the meantime shall be glad 

 to hear your opinion of them. 



We began to trench the ground about ten days ago ; there 

 is half an acre. The weather here has been splendid for 

 the last two weeks ; bright sunshine, and sharp white frosts, 

 and no rain until last night it broke down once more, and I am 

 afraid will now be very miserable. — James Marshall. 



[The preceding letter, dated July 29th, was written to a 

 friend by the gardener of the Government Superintendent of 

 Hokitika, the gold-field district of Canterbury.] 



PARIS. 

 The Bois de Boulogne is just now [second week in October] 

 worth a visit. The heavy rains have kept the trees green this 

 year, and the skill of the Paris horticulturists appears very 

 conspicuous. Not only in the Bois, but all along the Champs 

 Elysees, the beds and plots of earth which circle the fountains 

 are supplied with plants, and shrubs, and large flowers, many 

 of which are new to Paris. I do not know their names, but I 

 am told that they are imported from various parts of the 

 world, and are being acclimatised in the public gardens. Ion 

 see here and there a cluster of broad leaves spring out of the 

 ground in healthy greenness, and spreading their grand fans a 



