■144 



JOURNAL OF HORTtCULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 18, 1875. 



these organs are invisible, being concealed by the body, and its 

 filime or jelly. . . . Daring the greater part of their exist- 

 ence these slug-worms seem quite destitute of that rambling 

 propensity which is commonly observable in the larva of Lepi- 

 doptera; indeed, in them rambling would be useless, since the 

 upper cuticle and the parenchyma of the leaf, which constitute 

 their principal food, are always within reach without the 

 trouble of moving. These they consume in a very methodical 

 manner, leaving the lower cuticle entire ; this very soon dies, 

 withers, and turns brown, making the whole tree look as 

 though covered with dead leaves." After four or five changes 

 of skin the slug reaches maturity, and " at the last change it 

 loses the jelly-like surface, and appears in a neat yellow skin 

 without any viscidity. This occuis nearly a month after the 

 escape from the eggshell. The head and segmental divisions 

 are now quite as perceptible as in any other species of saw-fly. 

 Henceforward it eats no more, but crawls down the trunk of 

 the tree and buries itself in the earth ; at the depth of 3 or 

 4 inches each forms a neat little oval cell in which to undergo 

 its final changes to a chrysalis and perfect fly. This cell is 

 formed of earth, lined and intermixed with liquid glue secreted 

 in the stomach." 



The species is checked in its increase by parasitic enemies of 

 the Hymenopterous sorts, of which nothing very definite is 

 known. Of remedies applied by man the only effective one 

 seems to be powdered hellebore, though sand, ashes, and lime 

 have been perseveringly tried. Oar-American friends will do 

 things in their own way, and the approved method of ad- 

 ministering hellebore to this pertinacious slug is to raise a kind 

 of platform ; .from this .the mixture^of hellebore and water is 

 thrown downwards on the affected branches from the rose of a 

 watering-pot. The dose is given at different times, as it serves 

 to kill the fly as well as the slug. Some varieties of the Pear 

 suffer more than others. The proportion of hellebore em- 

 ployed is 1 oz. to one and a half or two gallons of water. 



NEW BOOK. 



The Hose Garden. By William Paul. Fifth Edition. 

 London : Kent & Co. 



This is a new, an enlarged, and a very handsome edition of a 

 work has been many years before the public, and which has 

 become a guide-book to the Rose-cultivators of the present 

 generation. In its present form the work forms a handsome 

 imperial octavo volume of 324 pages, printed on excellent 

 paper, and illustrated with fifteen life-size coloured portraits 

 of some of the finest varieties, and numerous woodcuts. Some 

 of the coloured portraits are beautiful specimens of modern 

 chromolithography, and so beautifully are they executed it is 

 difficult to detect that tbey are not water colours of the highest 

 artistic flower-painting. Those of Firebrand, Louis Van Houtte, 

 Madame La Baronue de Rothschild, St. George, Madame 

 Levet (very beautiful), and Marie Van Houtte are those which 

 please us best, though all are good. 



Of the letterpress we need say nothing ; Mr. Paul is so well 

 acquainted with his subject, and is so experienced an autiior, 

 that such a work coming from his hands comes with authority. 



CHEEBIES IN SWITZERLAND— FKUIT- 

 CULTUBE SCHOOLING. 



" C. P. P.'s " description of his journey from Lucerne to 

 Paris contains statements which, if not slightly corrected, 

 might convey erroneous impreesions as to that part of the 

 Continent. Having been resident in those districts for many 

 years I am able to supplement his notes. 



The traveller admires the immense quantities of Cherries, 

 and is very much surprised that the birds have not eaten 

 them. " C. P. P." comes, therefore, to the conclusion that 

 there are no small birds in that country. Your correspondent 

 says, " Bat we miss abroad our British songsters and robins, 

 and that most useful of all birds the starling." My own 

 observations, however, point quite in a different direction, as 

 not only are the songsters found in Britain represented there, 

 but robins and, as " C. P. P." truly says, that most useful bird 

 the starling, are also found in considerable numbers. 



The protection of useful birds is very rigorously carried out 

 in Switzerland and its adjacent countries, and anyone found 

 in the possession of a blackbird or its kindred would speedily 

 be mulcted in a severe fine, the informer receiving half the 

 amount. 



But " C. P. P." mentions the birds in relation to the de- 

 struction they would cause to the Cherries. It must be borne 

 in mind, however, that were birds to come in such numbers so 

 as, like the arrows of Xerxes' army, to obscure tho sun, they 

 would cause no perceptible difference, so enormous are the 

 crops of that luscious fruit produced. 



Your correspondent says he believes that that famous liqueur 

 " Kirshenwasser" is produced from the kernels only. In that 

 he is misinformed, as the Uqueur is produced from the whole 

 fruit. lu fact, several owners of distilleries told me that unless 

 the crops were very scanty they would prefer the kernels to 

 be cast aside. 



There may be some idea formed of the extent of the culture, 

 when fine luscious fruit may be bought at one halfpenny per 

 pound. But this holds good with other kinds of fruit, such 

 as Apples, Plums (Quelchen), &c., thousands of tons of the 

 former being annually exported to Northern Germany. 



But how is it, it may be aSked, that we do not attempt the 

 culture of those fruits on the same scale ? So long as tenants 

 are not reimbursed for the improvements carried out on their 

 farms, so long will fruit cultivation on an extensive scale 

 remain in its infancy. 



In the countries referred to the land is divided into small 

 holdings, each occupier being the owner ; consequently he is 

 constantly endeavouring to make the most of his plot. All 

 his land, whether pasture or under tillage, is planted with 

 fruit trees, tall standards, so as to admit the oxen with the 

 plough to pass beneath them. You may see the peasant 

 trudging home with, perhaps, a dozen of young trees on his 

 back to till up any vacancies, or to stock a fresh piece of land 

 he has acquired. Lanes and highways in this country, dotted 

 here and there with crooked Elms, are there advantageously 

 lined with Walnuts, Apples, Chenies, <ic. 



The peasants acquire the love for arboriculture while yet 

 at school. A plot of ground planted with an assortment of 

 fruit trees being generally at the disposal of the schoolmaster 

 and his pupils, he will give them lessons on grafting and 

 budding ; explain to them the relative merits of the different 

 varieties, and thus implant knowledge into the young minds 

 which generally bears fruit in after-life. On one occasion I 

 saw half a dozen youngsters clambering up a wild Cherry tree 

 which had previously been looped, and under the direction of 

 the long-coated spectacled wielder of the rod ; and they com- 

 menced grafting the tree with some new varieties that had 

 been received. 



If some such system were adopted in the schools of our agri- 

 cultural districts it would diffuse practical knowledge among 

 our rising generation, the importance and the results of which 

 could with difficulty be estimated. — A. W., Iluii/Jiinytoii. 



FKOST IN IKELAND— WOBMS IN STBAWBEBBT 

 POTS. 



We had frosts here on seven nights during October — viz., 

 10th, 4" ; 12th, 3' ; 13th, 1" ; 14th, 4° ; 15th, 1° ; 17th, 1" ; and 

 on the 23rd the mercury fell to the freezing point. The highest 

 minimum on the ground was on the 7th — viz., 47'. Rain 

 fell on twenty-two days out of the thirty-one, the last week 

 being particularly heavy, the quantity being 5.002, or a little 

 over 5 inches.' The result is the trees are being fast denuded 

 of their foliage, and a wintry aspect put on. I may mention 

 that the common Beech trees have been singularly beautiful 

 the past three weeks ; the coloration of their leaves in their 

 decay has been crimson and gold, giving the landscape a 

 charming effect. Bedding plants are mostly cut-up, but 

 Dahlias are tolerably good as yet where sheltered, but the con- 

 tinual rain is making sad havoc amongst them. One row of 

 eighty plants of Ruby Queen is particularly full and bright ; 

 they are screened on the north side by a close bodge. 



In answer to "J. H." (page 377 of our Journal), when I 

 forced Strawberries extensively I always contrived to put a 

 good handful of soot over the drainage when putting the plants 

 into their fruiting pots, and, like Mr. Douglas, I found it a 

 good preventive of worms entering the pots, as well as a fine 

 stimulant when the roots reached it, which the glossy foliage 

 soon told. If worms were troublesome, which will sometimes 

 occur if the soil is not carefully picked over when preparing 

 for potting, the best treatment is to turn the plants out of the 

 pots and pick the worms ont ; or to mix a little lime and soot 

 water, not too strong, and when it has become clear give a 

 watering with the liquid; the worms will rise to the surface, 



