Queries and Ansxvers. 721 



to garden ; but in exposed situations, though even visited by the smoke of 

 manufactories, surely much may yet be done. I hnve been able to get to 

 blow at last (two flowers only) the Gentidna acu'ais, which Curtis says 

 never flowers near the city. Now, I live close to the city ; but. Sir, what 

 we wish most to be informed of, is as follows : — How to get the i?6sa 

 indica higher than 2 ft.; how to make the various fuchsias flower in the 

 open border. Query, by thinning tlie shoots ? this I have done, but to no 

 purpose. How to get good georginas. Mine, as soon as they are budding, 

 are eaten to a cobweb, yet no insect can I see, except once or twice a 

 green fly. Will pelargoniums strike by merely cutting them as usual, and, 

 after potting them, putting them on a high shelf in the green-house; I 

 mean without making a regular hot-bed for them ? Answers to these que- 

 ries will not only confer a favour on the lovers of gardeiiing in cities, but 

 mightily encourage that business, which is at present retarded by disap- 

 pointment and want of success in the employer. I am, Sir, yours, &c. — 

 A ivould-be Suburban Gardener. Juli/, 1831. 



The small Brown Scale, which infests the Fruit and Branches of Fruit 

 Trees. — Sir, at p. 378, 379. are some useful enquiries and remarks on 

 two insects which infest fruit trees. The one which is described as a small 

 brown scale, pointed at both ends, and smaller than flax seed, is very pre- 

 valent here on the pear trees, to which I take it to be injurious, and especially 

 to the fruit; by clinging to the rind (in the manner described p. 379.) it 

 prevents the fruit swelling to its full size. I wish some brother gardener, 

 versed in entomology, would comn;iunicate its name and history, and withal, 

 if he can, the readiest and most effective means of prevention or destruction. 

 W. D. DorfoldyUear Xantwich, Cheshire, August SQ. 1831. 



We refer our friend W. D. to Murray's excellent article on the blight of 

 the hop, p. 332., for the explanation of a sentiment we have some time en- 

 tertained ; namely, that, in many cases, insects follow disease in vegetables, 

 not occasion it. — /, D. 



A small grey Grub ivhich devours Carrots. — In this quarter the horticul- 

 turists are complaining of a most voracious grey grub ; so numerous as to 

 be devouring the carrots by acres. They are about a quarter of an inch in 

 length, and about the girth of a farthing pin. They are not the least affected 

 by lime-water, or any other solution that has yet been tried. The gardeners, 

 in consequence, employ a number of hands provided with small cans, who 

 repair to the most infected fields before sunrise, where they are crawling 

 on the surface in myriads, and they pick them up and destroy them after- 

 wards. It appears that they are weakened and rendered harmless by 

 drought ; for they are seldom seen after sunrise, and within those few 

 days, since the weather has become warm, few of them have been ob- 

 served. (Scotsman, May 14.) Wherever lime-water fails, tobacco-water is 

 sure to succeed, and should be used before sunrise. This grub, or one 

 answering very much to tiie above description, is not uncommon among 

 carrots in England ; but we never heard of any remedy for it, except the 

 removal of the diseased plants. Another season we should be glad of a 

 few from Edinburgh, put in a box with some earth. We should then, in 

 all probability, be able to discover the family or generic name of the insect, 

 if not its specific name, and, in consequence, something of its history; and 

 such knowledge can alone be depended on for leading to a preventive for 

 the future, or a palliative during the ravages of the insect. Probably, however, 

 some of our readers can give us the information desired, or some portion 

 of it ; and this we shall be most happy to receive. (See p. 336.) — Cond. 



Cause and Cure of the American Blight ; in answer to Judge Buel (p. 319.). 

 — Sir, Your respectable correspondent, Jesse Buel, Esq., treating of trees 

 and their diseases (which, however, are but imperfectly described), solicits 

 information respecting the causes of these diseases and their cures. He 

 says : — " We have lost many of our pear trees by what is here termed the 

 Vol. VII. — No. 35. 3 a 



