August 27, 1871. ] 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTUKB AND OOTTAQE GARDENER. 



187 



say that in my high and exposed situation in the open, and 

 without any protection whatever, we gathered Black Prince 

 on the 8 th of Jane in quantity, but had some odd berries ripe 

 before that time. I have grown many so-called earliest Straw- 

 berries, including Knight's Princess Alexandra and Nicholson's 

 May Queen, but for earliness have given all up in favour of 

 Black Prince, and this year they have been better in quantity 

 and quality than usual. Our last Strawberries in quantity 

 were gathered July '27th, although we continued to get a few 

 good fruit up to August 8th; these last were from Cuthill's 

 Prince of Wales, a most excellent sort for general cultivation, 

 being hardy, and a good grower on light as well as strong land, 

 a handsome fruit, also a good cropper. 



Brown's Wonder has again been a real wonder for quantity 

 this year, some of the plants having as much as a hundred 

 ripe and ripening fruit on at one time ; the fruit has also been 

 better flavoured and better shaped than usual. — H., Belpcr. 



NOVELTIES IN THE BOTAL GARDENS, KEW. 



SoLANUH VENUsroM is a beautiful and little-known climber, 

 flowering in the Palm house. The stems are slender, and 

 •with the foliage light green. The leaves are piunately 

 3-5 foliolate, though the first produced on the young shoots 

 are usually simple. The flowers are light mauve colour, and 

 are borne in large terminal panicles. They much resemble 

 those of S. jasminoides, to which it is nearly allied. It is sup- 

 posed to be a native of Brazil, and so far as kaown requires a 

 warm greenhouse or stove. Cuttings root easily. Close at 

 hand a fine plant of Passiflora macrocarpa has about a dozen 

 huge fruits. In this country the fruit is not so good as that 

 of P. quadraugularis, but in South America it is much valued 

 for the table. 



The very rare Rhexia virgiuica is in flower at the Rockwork. 

 It is the only hardy member of the order Melastomacere in 

 cultivation. The flowers are rosy purple. It has a neat bushy 

 habit, and grows about 1 foot high. It is difficult to cultivate 

 in pots, and should be planted in a deep bed of peat where 

 there is plenty of moisture. But few of the nurseries have a 

 good stock ; Messrs. Osborn, of Fulham, have, perhaps, the 

 largest and in the best condition. Micromeria Piperella has 

 received but little attention. It is aa extremely pretty Thyme- 

 like plant, very suitable for rockwork. The stems are wiry, 

 about 6 inches long, and produced in a tuft. At the extremities 

 are borne numerous pinkish flowers. It grows readily from 

 seed, and may also, doubtless, be increased by means of 

 cuttings. A young plant of Aconitum heterophyllum has a 

 ■lew flowers. It was figured in the " Botanical Magazine " for 

 April of this year, and though apparently of not much value 

 ■Jor the ornamental border, is of importance for economic col- 

 lections. " Is a very interesting plant, as being, though a 

 member of a most poisonous genus, in extensive use as a tonic 

 medicine throughout North India, under the name of Atees or 

 Atig." — (Dr. Hooker, Bot. Hag.) It is a native of the Western 

 Himalaya. 



Cienkowskia Kirkii, a new plant introduced by the Royal 

 Gardens, is flowering in the stove. It much resembles a small 

 •Curcuma, to which genus it is allied, but the flower instead of 

 the bract is in this case the chief ornament. The flowers are 

 pink and very pretty, though not sufficiently striking, and of 

 too short duratioa for general cultivation. 



Hicmanthus coocineus is a great ornament in the Cape 

 house from the brilliant crimson leaves of the involucre. It 

 is an old plant far too rarely grown. There is no difficulty in 

 its cultivation. Like most other Cipe Liliaceie, it does best 

 when the pots are full of roots. The bulbs should be potted 

 with porous loam, in pots or pans that will but little more 

 than contain them. If carefully done they should remain in 

 good condition, and will not require repotting for several 

 years. When at rest they should be kept dry, a very occasional 

 watering in fine weather excepted. After the flowers are over 

 the leaves appear, and from their massive character the plant 

 as still of value for decoration. 



Of the species of Clematis in the Herbaceous ground, C. aethu- 

 sifolia is one of the most elegant and graceful. The leaves are 

 light green and delicate in appearance ; the flowers are freely 

 produ3ed, they are somewhat tubular and yellowish white, not 

 brilliant in colour. Lavatera unguiculata is handsome from 

 its numerous rose-coloured flowers. It grows strongly, reach- 

 ing a height of about 6 feet, and would be excellent for shrub- 

 beries and rough corners. Trachymene (Didiscus) ca;rulea 

 and Emilia sagittata are worth the atten'ion of those who 



care to grow annuals. The former is of some interest as 

 having showy blue flowers, and belonging to the UmbelliferiB. 

 It grows about 18 inches high. The stems are erect, and the 

 leaves three-parted, each division again divided ; both clothed 

 with soft hau-3. There is uo disagreeable smell. Emilia 

 sagittata is an Indian Composite with orange-scarlet-flowered 

 capitula, much like those of Kleinia fulgens. The leaves are 

 light green and rather succulent. It grows from 1 J to 2 feet high. 



DESTROYING WASPS. 

 Ik my locality these insects have been the great con- 

 sumers of my fruit this season, but their destruction I have 

 found anything but diflicult. Cyanide of potassium is sold 

 by all druggists at moderate cost. I place a piece of this, 

 about the size of a lump of sugar, in a piece of sponge suffi- 

 ciently large to fill the hole of the wasps' nest, and thus I 

 close the entrance. I leave it for some hoars, and every wasp 

 is killed. I then dig out the nest, and destroy the comb, so 

 as to prevent the hatching of tho grub. The remedy is easy 

 and infallible, at small cost. — Gaedenek in the South. 



If instead of the squib or other devices which require pre- 

 paration, about 1'2 or 18 inches of the ordinary fuse used by 

 miners for blasting rock, etc., and which may be procured at 

 any ironmonger's at a trifling cost, were introduced into the 

 nest, and a light applied to the outside end and immediately 

 covered with a turf, it would bo found to be a much more 

 simple and efficacious way of disposing of these pests. The 

 nest must be dug out after allowing a few minutes for the fuse 

 to exhaust itself. As the fuse will burn under water it does 

 not require any air to complete its combustion. The fumes 

 are more deadly than those of ordinary powder. I have never 

 known this plan fail, and its great advantage is its easy 

 mode of application. — ^Admaston. 



TouK correspondent Mr. J. Robson has mentioned the most 

 convenient way of destroying wasps, but I think that if nitre 

 in a fair proportion is added to the sulphur and gunpowder 

 the strength of the squib is greater. I have used the above 

 often with great success, and a few years ago I remember de- 

 stroying eleven nests in the sandy turf banks at Formby Hall, 

 near here, on one evening, and I dug every one out next morn- 

 ing at six o'clock without finding a wasp that could fly. The 

 mixture should only have enough powder to make it burn 

 fiercely, and a little pure powder in the top of the squib to 

 start it well ; and directly it is well alight insert it into the 

 hole, and tightly press a turf, previously cut, ready over all. 

 There is no fear of the squib goiug out if properly mixed, to 

 be sure of which take a very small portion of the whole, make 

 it into the shape of a pastile, and apply a match ; if it burns 

 fiercely and slowly it is right, and you can fill your cases made 

 as Mr. Robson describes, putting a little dry powder at the 

 mouth as above stated. — J. W. 



THE DROUGHT AND ITS LESSONS. 

 The very dry and hot weather we have so lately experienced 

 will no doubt induce many owners of gardens to make provi- 

 sion for a better water supply, for I cinnot agree with Mr. 

 Taylor in his conclusions about watering, nor care much to 

 see flower-beds covered with chopped straw. In my case, to 

 keep up the supply of vegetables — they are mostly grown in 

 trenches — all hands were kept at the waterpots, sometimes 

 throughout the day. The flo->'er-beds were watered at night, 

 and next morning the soil was stirred with a fork or hoe. 

 Cauliflowers were the only failure I had ; all were indifferent 

 after the first lot. As we have had very little rain in the 

 south, and even now the surface is only damped without water- 

 ing, my failure in keeping-up a supply of vegetables would 

 have been complete. My plan is to give a soaking if possible; 

 if not, to give what I can, and stir the soil afterwards. Even 

 if the soil is not stirred the water will not all pass into the 

 air, some will be taken up by the plants; and I think that this, 

 though perh.aps not sufficient for a healthy growth, is better 

 than none. There is much advantage in growing vegetables in 

 trenches as for Celery, and less water is required. — ^W. S. 



MEP.ccRY.^We are informed, but cannot believe the in- 

 formation, that some of our readers have thought we igno- 

 rantly recommended tie common Doj Mercury (Mereurialis 



