November 11, 1869. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



377' 



quisite, an American variety ; it has yellow fleeh ; it is also 

 rather shy in setting its fruit. Mr. Rivers has raised some 

 very fine late varieties. I'rinoe of Wales succeeds the mid- 

 season varieties; it sets its fruit freely, and is a very useful 

 variety. Princess of Wales has large flowers ; the fruit sets 

 freely, is of large size, and of excellent quality. It ought to he 

 in every collection ; it ripens after Prince of Wales. Lord 

 Palmerston bore half a dozen fruit for the first time here this 

 year. Mr. Elvers describes it very truly. '■ Very large, the 

 largest of Peaches ; skin creamy white, with a pink cheek ; fiesh 

 firm yet melting, very juicy, and rich. Flowers very large and 

 beautiful." It ripened with Princess of Wales, and is slightly 

 a clingstone. The last Peaches to ripen were Comet and Sal- 

 way ; they ripened about the same time, and have a great resem- 

 blance to each other ; both are yellow-fleshed, melting, and good. 

 I can say very little that is new about cultivation. It is a 

 good plan to have the trees potted early. I pot them directly 

 the fruit is gathered, so that they make fresh roots in the new 

 soil before the leaves fall. Overpotting is to be avoided, but 

 the soil must be very firmly rammed in. — J. Douglas. 



GRAPE VINE CULTURE IN CEYLON. 

 We are informed by a gentleman just returned from Ceylon, 

 that there the Vines are taken np annually, great care being 

 necessary to avoid breaking the roots, this operation being best 

 performed by grabbing away the earth with the hands. The 

 roots are then exposed to the full rays of the sun, until the 

 leaves shrivel and fall. The Vine is then cut down, and re- 

 planted in fresh soil. The time, as far as he remembers at 

 present, for exposing the roots to the sun, is at the end of the 

 dry season, when there is not so much sap in the wood — this 

 would correspond to our autumn, preparing to a certain extent 

 the plants for the shock of the frost — in the tropics of the sun. 



THE COCKCHAFER GRUB, THE "VER BLANC" 

 OF THE FRENCH. 

 YouK correspondent, "Y. B. A. Z." (page 307), must have 

 but a very slight acquaintance with this very troublesome pest 

 in our gardens, else he would not have written as he has done 

 respecting it. " E. F." and "D., Deal," are both right in 

 saying that it feeds on the roots of plants ; there is no ques- 

 tion at all with respectto that. " Y. B. A. Z." says " he has 

 never found it in garden soil." Well, neither have I very 

 often in this country. I^t your correspondent visit France, 

 however, and see the wholesiile destruction which it there 

 causes, both in fields aad garden?. Very few plants are safe 

 from its depredations. Not only grass, but all sorts of 

 vegetables, also fruit trees, youngConiier.'e, and Rhododendrons, 

 especially the last-named, the young roots of which and the 

 bark the grubs peel off quite to the surface of the soil. Vast 

 sums of money have been expended in France on their destruc- 

 tion, yet with no apparent diminution. Tiiey ara becoming a 

 perfect curse. Long may your correspondent, and many others 

 in this country, live in their present blissful ignorance, and be 

 spared a more intimate acquaintance. Hear what Mr. Spinks 

 (late of Chiswick), the very intelligent gardener at the Chateau 

 de Chantilly (Oise, France), says on this subject: "In this 

 country the insect, and its grab or larva, act as a complete 

 plague to almost every species of vegetation, and large sums 

 of money are annually expended in its destruction, but still it 

 seems as plentiful as ever. Last year was noted for the quan- 

 tity of the perfect insect (harmetom), and this year for the 

 grub (ci'!- blanc). Although the former commits great ravages 

 upon the leaves of trees, especially the Oak, it is the latter 

 that is most dreaded. As an example of their numbers, I may 

 state that I was witness to the digging up of a piece of lawn, 

 not more than 5 yards square, wherein were found ICOO of 

 these grubs ; the roots of the grass were all eaten off, and the 

 dead and dying turf could be skinned off as if cut with a turf- 

 cntter. They prey upon the roots of our fruit trees and Eho- 

 dodendrons, which are destroyed in great quantities, and, in- 

 deed, nearly all sorts of flowers and vegetables. Lettuces have 

 for them a great attraction, so much so, that they are grown 

 and planted in our flower beds, &c., as traps for these pests. 

 The grubs invariably attack the soft succulent roots of the 

 Lettuces before anything eh-je, which soon tell by their appear- 

 ance of the marauders' visits. With the aid of a little stick 

 they are soon discovered close to the root and destroyed, and 

 another bait planted. In this way only, by continued per- 



severance in hunting them up, can we battle against our enemy 

 or keep our plantation perfect. 



" With respect to the destruction of the perfect insect, we 

 find the best plan is to shake the trees or branches every morn- 

 ing, when the insects will fall in great quantities to the ground, 

 and may then be swept up and destroyed by pouring boiling 

 water over them. Pigs and fowls devour them greedily, but it is 

 said to give the flesh of the former, and the eggs of ihe latter, 

 a very disagreeable taste. This, however, I cannot vouch for." 



I tliink this is evidence snfficient to convince " Y. B. A. Z," 

 that these grubs do cat roots, and are, without doubt, one of 

 the greatest scourges gardeners have yet had to contend with. 

 — Aechameaud. 



APPLICATION OF MANURES. 



Os page 342 I see a notice of an article of mine by Mr. 

 Graves. When I read it I thought it was by Mr. P. Grieve, and 

 seeing it was intended as an answer to me, was surprised to 

 find it was anything hut an answer. Hard-headed Scotchmen 

 have generally a reason to give for their opinions, and I read 

 it through, hoping to see some good reason to reconsider the 

 question. It is anything but disagreeable to me to be con- 

 vinced of error, and I hold it no proof of superiority to be able 

 to say I never change an opinion onco formed. If truth is our 

 object, new light on any subject ought to bo welcomed. When 

 I saw an editorial note at the foot of my paper that seme 

 difference of opinion with what I had written existed, and in- 

 viting discussion, I expected we should certainly have a consi- 

 deration of the whole subject of manures and their application, 

 which would be both interesting and instructive. 



An argumentative replyis a compliment to any writer, because, 

 however severe, it at least presupposes the paper worth an an- 

 swer. A mere ipse di.eit, except as to fact, is not so satisfactory. 



I shall not review the whole subject till my previous argu- 

 ments are answered, because those interested can read the 

 article, page 221, and recapitulation will not give them force ; 

 but I will answer as well as I am able Mr. Graves's question, 

 Why I consider the popular ideas on the subject of manures 

 lead to injurious practice ? 



As long as persons think that fresh manure or fermented 

 manure loses much of its strength by being thinly spread on 

 the ground it is intended to enrich, manure will be treated in 

 much the same way, whatever the nature of the land or kind 

 of crop it is intended to benefit, or whatever the season in 

 which it is applied. Those who wish to grow good Turnips on 

 light soil know by experience they must use manure in a moist 

 well-decomposed state ; to expect to grow Turnips above dry 

 unfermented manure would be as reasonable as to sow seed on 

 a truss of dry hay. To obtain manure in a fit state for Turnips, 

 the farmer of sandy land submits of necessity to a certain loss. 

 It is impossible to ferment manure in large heaps without any 

 loss, though with proper precautions that loss might be much, 

 reduced in amount. Who has not seen black streams running 

 from a manure heap ? How few know that such streams are 

 not merely the water which was held in the manure, but in 

 many cases are formed of what was once the solid manure 

 itself, some of the results of fermentation being carbonic acid 

 and water ? Though by the intermixture of layers of soil in 

 the heap much loss might be prevented, still the fermentation 

 of manure is, I think, in this case, though necessary, a neces- 

 sary evil. But for strong soils decayed manure is not a neces- 

 sity. Unfermented manure keeps such soils open ; and as 

 strong land of good quality will retain manure fur any length 

 of time, no loss can be sustained, however long the time between 

 its application and the sowing of the crop it is intended to 

 benefit. Besides, all gases in a nascent state — that is, recently 

 released from their combinations, unite with greater energy : 

 therefore new compounds are more readily formed between the 

 elements of the manure and those already in the soil. For 

 these reasons I think it an unnecessary and useless waste of 

 manure to ferment it in heaps before putting it into strong 

 soils, and would prefer its being decomposed in the soil, which 

 seizes with such avidity gases given off by decaying animal and 

 vegetable matter. Bat supposing I have a field of strong soil 

 which wants manuring, that there is plenty of good dung ready 

 to be carted upon it, but the land is so hard and dry that no 

 plough will enter it. If I believe that manure will be injured 

 by sun and wind, and that to prevent serious loss it is neces- 

 sary to cover it up at once, of course the idea of spreading 

 manure under these circumstances will be dismissed. What 

 generally happens in such a case ? The manure is either left 



