JOURNAL Oi)- HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t March 12, 1874. 



HoUins, Dr. J. Kennedy, George Paul, Henry Webb, Hev. B. 

 Winthrop, Mrs. J. F. Wyee. 



THE BROWN SCALE ON ORANGE TREES. 



TuE only mode I have found euccessful in exterminating 

 this pest has been to cut down all the branches to 5 or Ij inches 

 when the wood is ripe ; we then scour the leafless branches 

 five or six times with soft soap and water. In about nine 

 months after this severe operation the tree becomes as large 

 as before, and the shape, by a little tying, perfectly symme- 

 trical. I have at this time model specimens which had been 

 treated in this way. The same plants had undergone the same 

 operation eight or nine years since, when the scale had been 

 exterminated for about seven years ; but these plants, having 

 been placed in an orchard house with trees infested with scale, 

 bore leaves covered with black sticky matter which no washing 

 could remove. It is impossible to wash oS the young of the 

 scale so as to get rid of them entirely. The plan I have men- 

 tioned destroys them for ever. It is almost worth whUe to cut 

 down an Orange tree in this way merely to form handsome 

 bushes. The only sacrifice is one year's, not growth, but black 

 leaves. The trees become even larger than before. 



My trees are the Tangierine ; they bear from five to seven 

 dozen of fruit, considerably larger than those for sale in Covent 

 Garden. The trees are in fiat tubs, which are capable of 

 carrying a large amount of well-rotted dung on the surface. 

 These tubs were made of common creosote barrels cut into two, 

 the inside having been plastered over with thick limewash. 

 These model trees wUl shortly be a mass of bloom, all of which 

 I have ordered the gardener to retain for a wedding, which 

 melancholy (?) event is shortly coming off in my family. After 

 this the bloom will be thinned to the necessary quantity. — 

 Observee. 



PORTRAITS OP PLANTS, FLOWERS, AND 

 FRUITS. 



Odontoolossum Eoezlii. Hat. ord., Orchidacea\ Linn. 

 Gynandria Mouandria. — " It is stated to be a native of New 

 Grenada, where it was discovered by M. Eoezl, whose name it 

 bears ; and was flowered by Mr. Bull in October last, to whom 

 I am indebted for the opportunity of figuring it. It is a 

 superb plant, and in respect of the pearly whiteness of the 

 flower more admired by some than even 0. vexUlarium." — 

 [Bot. Mari., t. C085.) 



Bauhinia natalensis. Nal. ord., Leguminosa'. Linn., 

 Decandria Monogynia. — " My first knowledge of this elegant 

 little shrub was derived from specimens collected in Natal by 

 Mr. Moodie, and communicated by Mr. McKen, the late ener- 

 getic Curator of the D'Urban Botanic Gardens, in 18G9. These 

 were followed by pods with ripe seeds in 1870, plants from 

 which flowered for the first time in September last. It is 

 closely aUied to the African and Indian B. tomentosa, Linn. 

 (tab. nost. .5560), and especially to a nearly glabrous and 

 small-leaved variety of that plant from Port Natal, but the 

 leaflets are perfectly free, the flowers much smaller, and the 

 stamens quite difierent."— {Ibid., t. 6086.) 



Aeabis blephaeophylla. Nat. ord., Crucifera?. Linn., Te- 

 tradynamia. — " Of the large genus Arabis almost all have 

 white flowers ; in a very few species they are yellow, and in 

 this alone of those known to me do the colour (pink) and size 

 of flower together recommend it for cultivation. It is a native 

 of San Francisco, in Califurnia, where it was discovered by 

 David Douglas in 1833, and has since been collected by Bridges, 

 Brewer, Bolander, and others, and is described as a great orna- 

 ment in March on the bills of that State. Professor Asa 

 Gray, of Cambridge, was, I believe, the first to send ripe seeds 

 to England — this was in 1865 — from which plants were raised 

 at Kow, and by Mr. Thompson, of Ipswich, if I recollect aright ; 

 but it was not till quite recently that the plants throve (from 

 seeds sent by Commissioner Watt, of the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment of Washington), and appeared in their full beauty. It 

 flowered at Kew in .January in a cool frame, where it has 

 hitherto thriven better than in the open border or rockwork ; 

 it is, however, doubtless quite hardy, and would succeed equally 

 well out of doors, where, from its beauty and early fiowering, 

 it is sure to become a great favourite."— (7/; irf., (. G087.) 



NuNNEZUARiA GEON03I.EFOEMIS. Nat. ord.. Palmeffi. Linn., 

 Dioecia Hexandria. — " This little Palm was received at Kew 

 from the Royal Gardens of Berlin in 1856, and flowered in the 

 Palm house in May, 1859, and repeatedly since. From its 



dwarf habit, abundant foliage, and graceful male inflorescence, 

 it is one of the most elegant of the beautiful genus to which 

 it belongs. It is a native of Guatemala, whence it was intro- 

 duced by Warsiewicz, and named by Wendland. The Kew 

 plant, which in 1858 had a stem only a few inches high, with 

 four naked joints, has now a stem 3J feet high, which presents 

 sixty-four joints between the rootlets and lowest leaf base. 

 It is stated to have borne sometimes male and sometimes 

 female spadices." — {Ibid., t. 6088.) 



Khipsalis Houlletii. Nat. ord., Cactacea?. Linn., Ico- 

 sandria Monogynia. — Believed to be a BraziUan plant. " This 

 PihipsaUs has been cultivated for some time in the Royal 

 Gardens, where it flowered first in November, 1872, and it has 

 been received also from Mr. tiorderoy, who sent us flowering 

 specimens to be named in the same month of 1873. Quite 

 recently Mr. Green contributed a fine plant of it from Mr. 

 Wilson Saunders's late collection, which came from Paris 

 with the name I have adopted. I have failed to find any 

 description of this species in any horticultural or botanical 

 work. I may here mention that the difficulty of running 

 down names of garden plants is, through obvious causes, be- 

 coming immense, and will soon he insuperable. I can recom- 

 mend no more useful object to a horticultural society than the 

 organising a committee for the collection and classification 

 (with references) of the names of all plants introduced into 

 cultivation, together with the countries the plants come from, 

 and their date of introduction." — {Ibid., t. 6089.) 



Alpine Auriculas. — Najmleon III. and Susie Mathatm. — 

 " Few of our popular flowers, have, during the last few years, 

 made greater strides towards perfection than the Alpine Auii- 

 culas, of which wonderfully fine groups have been staged each 

 succeeding spring by Mr. Turner, of Slough. It is to this 

 well-known successful grower of florists' flowers that we are 

 indebted for two of the most distinct and attractive of these 

 alpine forms, both of which were awarded first-class certificates 

 by the Royal Horticultural Society in May last. The variety 

 named Napoleon III. is remarkable for its dark crimson- 

 maroon ground colour, and clear, smooth, golden paste ; it is 

 a richly-coloured and highly-attractive variety, of extra fine 

 quality. Susie Matiiains is quite distinct, and is also a very 

 pleasing flower ; the ground colour is a deep purple, shaded 

 off at the edges to bright lilac, and the paste is smooth and 

 straw-coloured. Though not considered equal in value to the 

 Show varieties, these Alpine varieties are exceedingly pretty 

 objects, and most desirable as decorative plants from their 

 well-marked colours." — {Flor. and Pom., a. 3., vii., 49.) 



SYDNOPE HALL, 



THE RESIDENCE OF R. B. BABROW, Esq. 



The beauties of the cluster of villages of which JIatloek 

 consists have been so long and so much descanted on, the 

 virtues of its waters so extolled, that there is little to be said 

 upon them that is fresh, but no one on entering Matlock-Bath 

 for the first time can fail to be impressed with the aspect of 

 this the only one of the group which is entitled to rank as a 

 town. The high steep hill directly facing the raOway station 

 has an imposing effect by day, and one still more so at night, 

 when the lights twinkle from the windows along its face ; we 

 say from the windows, for, be it known, the streets are not 

 lighted with gas — in fact not Ughted at all. But we must not 

 pause at Matlock, nor stay by its High Tor, a precipitous rock 

 more than 300 feet in height, nor stop by the Derwent, whose 

 rapid current courses through the valley between the rocks, at 

 times becoming a torrent; our way is farther on to Sydnope, 

 which overlooks a dale celebrated for its beauty — that of Darley. 



Sydnope Hall is situated on the southern side of a steep hill, 

 which northwards partakes more of the character of a table- 

 land. The position is well chosen to secure warmth and shelter, 

 independently of plantations made with the latter object, and 

 for ornament as well ; it is also well chosen, as commanding the 

 view of a wide and deep valley, of a steep hill beyond, and wood 

 and water Ukewise enter into the scene. The kept grounds 

 are entirely in the vicinity of the mansion ; and in laying them 

 out the natural conformation of the ground has been followed 

 by throwing them into terraces, the one overlooking the other, 

 and the whole the valley with the wooded hill beyond. In 

 this valley, be it noted, there are thousands of Rhododendrons, 

 many planted, but the overwhelming majority seedlings which 

 have sprung up everywhere, the soU being extremely favourable 

 to this plant. What a gorgeous display they must make when 

 in flower, those who have seen the Knap Hill and Bagshot 



