July 15, 1869. ) 



JODKNAIj of EOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



47 



burrow tiDcfer (he eoil, or do they not rather travel along the 

 surface of the earth under cover of the darkness and coolness 

 of night, and then, traversing the fiseures in the bark, arrive 

 in this manner at the extremities of the roots ? This conjectare 

 18 » probable one, and the follows ing experiment supports it : — 

 In a case a yaiJ lorg I placed some garden soil from Mont- 

 pellier, a place entirely free from the Phylloxera. In this 

 earth I carefully laid some pieces of Vine cane infested with 

 wingless " pucerons." I placed a hand-glass over each cane, 

 and slightly raifcd the glass on one side in order to allow the 

 insect to cieep out. At three centimetres' diftanco from the 

 piece of cane I put some fragments of root from a healtby 

 Vine, on which I had made fresh wounds. In twelve hours 

 the following results were obtained : Three " pucerons " had 

 found their way from one of the Vine canes to the nearest 

 piece of Vine root. Some days after, twenty young "puce- 

 rons " occupied the same fragment. A few insects were to be 

 found on the other fragments. One piece of root had attracted 

 none, but the Vine cane nearest to it bad very few inseota upon 

 it which were oapaple of changing their places. 



A similar experiment has been made by M. Fr<;deric Leydier 

 at the farm of Lancieux, near Sigondae, a part of the country 

 already infested by the Phylloxera, and by another person 

 near Sorgues. The results of these experiments have not been 

 satisfactory ; but this docs not prove that, under other condi- 

 tions, or with greater amount of perseverance, they might not 

 have been successful. It is fortunate that this new enemy to 

 the Vine attacks it in the first instance at the base of the 

 stem, and not underground at the fibres. As it is, a thorough 

 dressing of the bottom of the stem with coal tar will probably 

 prove an insurmountable obstacle to the progress of this do- 

 strnctive insect ; but were the case otherwise, it would be very 

 difficult to get down deep enough to reach an enemy so well 

 protected by the depth of the soil.— (T/ic Gardener.) 



CUCUMBER CULTURE.— No. C. 



There is so much ditHculty in procuring fermenting mate- 

 rials for beds, and so much labour and litter are occasioned by 

 them, that they must give place to pits and houses heated by 

 hot-water pipes, that being a less uncertain method of heating, 

 while any amount of heat can bo obtained at all seasons with a 

 sufficiency of pijiiiig and proper heating apparatus; indeed, 

 there are very few places where Cucumbers are required in 

 winter, or early in the year, in which pits or houses heated by hot 

 water are not provided. Of these, 1 shall describe one of each. 



The pit, Jig 1, is, perhaps, the best for general purpose.", 

 bat it has this disadvantage, as compared to a house — namely, 



> " ■ ■'"' ' '■' 1 w^'i'M 





Fig. 1. 



2 o 



w 



w'i 



mm 



$1 



that there is no pathway, so that access cannot be gained to 

 the plants in cold weather without drawing up or down the 

 lights. It is constructed iu the ordinary way, being partially 

 sunk in the ground. There is a chamber covered with flags, 

 resting on the side walls. Up to that height tho back wall is 

 9 inches thick, and half a brick thick for tho remainder of its 

 height. Tbe front wall is taken up much wider, to give a 

 proper width for thCsupport of the flags and the pioes, as well 

 as the ii wall dividing the bed from the pipes. The flags are 

 supported in the middle of the pit by a 4>-inch ':T:ai). Tbe 

 pipes for top heat, <i, are in front ; those for bottom heat, b, 

 in the chamber. Tlie pipes for top heat are flows, aud those 

 for bottom heat return pipes. The reason of having a chamber 

 is that one uniform heat may be afforded to the bottom of the 

 bed, and the joint.>j of the flags not being closed, the heat will 

 be commuuioated to the drainage, c, placed on the flagstones, 



aud he genial and regular, which is not the case when tlio 

 pipes are placed in contact with rubble. The diiEculty is to 

 make the heat spread, and it does so completely in a chamber, 

 the great heat immediately over tbe pipes being distributed, 

 and a uniform heat given throughout. To lessen the bottom 

 beat, if it should become too high, a 2-inch iron pipe is in- 

 serted at every 3 feet ; it must be long enough to reach from 

 the chamber b, through the draiuage c and soil, d, the upper 

 end being fitted with a vjooden plug, which can be taken otit 

 partly or wholly when it is necessary to reduce the bottom 

 heat. There is no waste of heat by doing so ; on the contrary, 

 a moist heat, at times desirable, is obtained in the atmosphere. 

 The heat of the bed should be ascertained by a ground ther- 

 mometer thrust in about 9 inches. Over the flags G inches of 

 rubble should be placed, pnd on that a thin layer of sods, or 

 the rougher parts of the compost, so as to keep the drainai^e 

 free ; then from 10 inches to a foot deep of soil, leaving from 

 12 to 15 inches between that and the glass for the plants. The 

 ground level is shown at e. 



Fig. 2 represents a house suitable for Cucumbers. It is 

 heated by hot-water pipes, and has a chamber, a, along whiel). 



Fig. 2. .-: 



j run two rows of 4-inoh pipes, and they give the requisite heat 

 ! to the bed above it, b. The chamber a is covered with slats or 

 flags, thick enough to carry the weight of drainage and soil. 

 In the side of the chamber next tho walk there are openings 

 at about every 3 or i feet, each of them fitted with a frame 

 and close-shutting door. This may be opened when the bottom 

 heat becomes too high, or shut, as required. Over the chamber 

 there is a depth of C iuches of draiuage, and then the soil, b 

 about 1 foot thick. In tho front wull openings are left at 4 feet 

 apart, or 3 feet between the openings ; these are about 1 foot 

 wide aud long, have a frame the thickness of the wall, and are 

 shut by close-fitting doors, as thown at d. They are for ven- 

 tilation, and the air entering beneath the pipes must have its 

 chill taken off before it comes in contact with the plants, and 

 when the top lights are open the thorough ventilation of the 

 house will be secured. The plants are to be trained to a wire 

 trellis fixed not nearer the glats than 9 inches, nor further 

 from it than 12 inches, the former distauce being preferable. 

 The wires may run up or across the rafters, and should be not 

 further apart than tj inches, for when they are wide apart the 

 shoots cannot be tied as could be wished. 



Tlie pipes giviug top and bottom heat, whether in pits or 

 houses, should be so fiied and contrived that a complete and 

 separate command of both top and bottom heat will be secured, 

 each being entirely cut oft' by stop-cocks or valves, or worked 

 little or much, according to ciioumstanees. 



The sides of the bed, for supporting the soil and drainage, 

 being of 4 J -inch brickwork, should tie set in cement. 



The scale to which the pit and house are drawn is 4 foot to 

 the inch. — G. Abbey, 



RHODODENDRON CULTURE. 



It is not surprising that a plant possessing so many good 

 qualities as the Rhododend lon should become a general lavouri te. 

 Almost exceeding many of our native plants in hardiness, all 



