July 22, 1875. J 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



vaaquislied in fair fight with wireworms any more than the 

 king of beasta is beaten by a jackal. 



Any suggeetiouB as to the cure of the disease may well be 

 reserved for another time. It does not, however, follow that 

 becanso a man knows the nature of a disease he can cure it. 

 The complete knowledge of a disease often only assures the 

 doctor of its perfectly incurable character, although it would 

 be premature to say that nothing can be done to mitigate the 

 Potato mnrrain. — Woethington G. Smith. 



DRYN ARIAS. 

 Beactiful and elegant stovo Ferns are the Drynariaa. They 

 are by their distinct features worthy of cultivation wherever 

 graceful plants of chaste form and quiet colour are cherished. 

 They are of a class 

 which possess a sober 

 airy beauty and are at- 

 tractive in themselves, 

 and they also, by con- 

 trast, bring out the 

 charms of other plants 

 to greater advantage. 

 Plants whose principal 

 beauty rests in the form 

 or colour oi their fo- 

 liage rather than the 

 mere brilliancy of their 

 flowers, are now sought 

 for with considerable 

 zeal. It is commend- 

 able, too, for the beau- 

 ty of buch plants is 

 not transient, but is 

 ever growing, and is 

 continually refreshing 

 and lastingly attrac- 

 tive. Of this nature 

 are Ferns, and of these 

 the genus Dry n aria 

 possesses claims to cul- 

 tivation. 



The Drynariaa are 

 not to be seen in every 

 collection of Ferns, yet 

 for the various pur- 

 poses to which this 

 class oi plants are de- 

 voted some of the spe- 

 cies might fitly play a 

 part. If a pendulous 

 basket Fern is required 

 D. diversifolia is par- 

 ticularly suitable, its 

 beautiful green pinnate 

 fronds, from 2 to 3 feet 

 long, being very orna- 

 mental. D. coronans 

 is a plant of more no- 

 ble aspect, its fronds 

 being large and spread- 

 ing; it is worthy a 

 place in all ferneries of 

 any extent, and makes 

 a nice specimen for ex- 

 hibition. D. quercifolia is a distinct and attractive species. 



Most of the Drynarias are suitable for planting on rock- 

 work, their creeping rhizomes clinging to rocks or roots in a 

 natural manner, from which the fronds spring freely. When 

 grown in pots they should be potted liigh, and the rhizomes 

 merely be pegged on the surface. They require a stove heat 

 and moist atmosphere. The fronds of some of the species 

 are contracted and fertile in the upper part, the lower fronds 

 being distinct and barren, which gives to the plant a pecu- 

 liar yet agreeable appearance, and adds a feature to their 

 interest. This is weU shown in our illustration, which is of 

 one of the best species. 



free the trees from mosses, which favour the woolly aphia. — 

 W. F. Radclyffe. 



'^^^^^ 



Fig. 10.— DKTNAKIA C0E0NAN3. 



THE POTATO CROP IN THE NORTH-WEST 



OF ENGLAND. 

 In the Potato districts of north-west Lancashire, Cumber- 

 land, and Westmoreland the present prospects of the crop are 

 very cheering. Last year the disease in those districts was 

 almost nil, so much so that in all the principal markets good 

 sound tubers were sold at Gtl. per atone of 11 Iba. This year a 

 diseased Potato is scarcely to be found amongst the garden 

 sorts, and field Potatoes up to the present time look very pro- 

 mising. Although we have had rather more than an average 

 of rain, yet it has not been accompanied by intense heat, which 



usually, following upon 

 liberal rains and aided 

 by rich manures, pro- 

 duces rot or disease in 

 the Potato. My old 

 opinion, some time ago 

 enunciated in the co- 

 lumns of the Journal, 

 remains still the same, 

 that the disease in Po- 

 tatoes may be arrested 

 and overcome by sim- 

 ple and natural means 

 — namely, by the use 

 of moderate quanti- 

 ties of manure and the 

 avoidance of rich stim- 

 ulating manures, the 

 following-up of the use 

 of which have rendered 

 both the soil and the 

 tubers rotten. 



Up to this time we 

 have fortunately been 

 free from the curl 

 spoken of in the south- 

 ern districts, and new 

 Potatoes are selling in 

 our markets at 10^2. per 

 14 lbs., and it must be 

 remembered that the 

 season for them is with 

 us only fairly com- 

 menced. By breaking 

 up new Potato land, 

 and allowing the old 

 rich soils to exhaust 

 their rottenness and 

 regain their original 

 state — by the use of 

 almost dry farmyard 

 manure, and by es- 

 chewing rich manures, 

 which induce rotten- 

 ness of both sou and 

 Potato sets — a very few 

 seasons would enable 

 this useful esculent 

 to regain its former 

 health. In all the ve- 

 garden and the farm we have 



American Blight. — If " Agricola " will mix in water quick- 

 lime and salt, and apply it with a brush, rubbing it well into 

 the cracks, it will completely free his trees. It will, moreover. 



getable products of the garden and tlie larm we nave a 

 very plentiful season ; and though some gardeners may re- 

 pine that we have not had a sufficiency of warm sunshine 

 to fully ripen fruit, yet we have more than compensating 

 advantages in the enormous crops of both fruit and vege- 

 tables of every description, and the work of giving support 

 to overladen trees has to be performed in every garden and 

 orchard. 



From the commencement of April np to the present time 

 we have had constantly recurring showers alternated by days 

 of sunshine, whilst ever and anon a day or two of winter- 

 like severity would arrest too free growth. On the evening 

 of Wednesday, the 14th inst., a cold east wind prevailed, 

 which reminded us strongly of October. It continued through- 

 out the night, but was banished by the next day's bright sun- 

 shine. The hay crop, a good breadth of which is now under 

 cover, is the heaviest known for many years. Up to this 



