BBIEF NOTES ANO CORRESPONDENCE. 71 



THE RED SPIDER. 



This pest in gardening is assuredly not so commonly met with now as it 

 was twenty years ago. And why ? Not because any recipe has become 

 of general and systematic application, but that a much greater humidity 

 of atmosphere is maintained in our hothouses than in former days. 

 Humidity alone is not however sufficient at all times to keep the spider 

 under; and I beg to remind the readers of the Cabinet that sulphur 

 risjhtly applied in conjunction with atmospheric moisture, is perfectly 

 efficient to that end. Apply it three times a year on an under pipe, 

 or on the least heated portion of a flue, thick as paint, and worked up 

 with soft soap water to make it adhere for some time. Do this in 

 February, in May, and again in August, and maintain a wholesome 

 amount of atmospheric moisture, not a sudden steam, but a slow, yet 

 permanent supply, and I will engage that the spider will be rendered 

 perfectly harmless. Do not, however, apply it on any surface that is 

 so warm at times as to produce inconvenience to the hand when grasp- 

 ing it : this is a simple but safe rule. 



THE FOXGLOVE TREE (Paulonia imperialis). 



This is a highly ornamental tree, which has not yet been fully esti- 

 mated in this country. It appears that for the first year or two, when 

 planted in congenial soil, it grows most vigorously, and continues its 

 growth late in the autumn. The shoots, from their extraordinary gross- 

 ness, are not properly ripened, and consequently get killed back to the 

 harder parts in winter. I have plants at this moment witli leaves 20 

 inches across, and shoots of the current year's growth six feet long. I 

 was informed that when first planted in the Garden of Plants at Paris, 

 it grew away in the same robust manner. This is not, however, now 

 the case, the original tree which first flowered there is 30 feet higli, the 

 branches are about 20 feet in diameter, with a clean stem 3 feet in 

 circumferenc. The leaves now upon this tree are about the size of the 

 Catalpa, and the shoot, scarcely exceeding a foot in length, which of 

 course ripen perfectly. This is (October) covered with a complete 

 mass of incipient blossoms, which do not expand until next spring, 

 when the tree exhibits an inconceivable picture of beauty. It is a 

 remarkable fact that this tree only flowers in alternate years, when it 

 ripens an abundance of seed. What an admirable subject this is for 

 shrubberies and general ornamental planting, both as regards its foliage 

 and flowers, and it may well be pointed out as an object deserving the 

 attention of planters. 



BRIEF NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



Araucaria imbricata. — Tr. Baher. — You may see fine specimens of this noble 

 tree in the gardens at Dropmore and Kew. The former one is believed to be the 

 largest in Europe. It is upwards of twenty-three feet high, and the girth of the 

 stem, close to the ground, is near three feet. The largest branches are each more 

 than twelve feet in diameter. The most suitable soil in which you can plant is a 

 rich loam, raised so as to form a mound of about eighteen inches above the surround- 



