356 
THE GARDENERS 
CHRONICLE. 
[May 27, 
it always attracts notice. Latifolia is so much like it, 
as scarcely to be distinguished except by its petals being a 
little crimpled ; Madame Nerard, Celimene, and Timo- 
cles, are also of the same rigid habit, with flowers of the 
palest silvery blush—a term which will perhaps convey 
that peculiar glossiness which seems to lay on the surface 
of the petals; Emile Courtier, Madame Margot, Ida 
Percot, and Madame Aude, are all beautiful rose-coloured 
varieties, of different shades ; and last, but not least, the 
Queen of the Bourbons, which originated in a cross with 
some fawn-coloured tea-scented Rose, as it is slightly 
tinged with fawn—a colour quite foreign to this family, 
and has a slight “ Odeur de Thé,’’ as the French say. 
All the Roses here named have a uniform growth, and 
are admirably adapted for a bed, either as dwarfs on their 
own roots, or on short stems ; they are not so well cal- 
culated for tall standards, as they do not form large heads, 
unless in very rich moist soils. 
To some of these Bourbon Roses, which bear seed very 
freely, we owe a new race, now distinguished as hybrid 
Bourbons, blooming but once in the summer; but their 
season of blooming is prolonged, owing to their origin 
in part from Roses that continue to bloom till autumn. 
Most undoubtedly these will form the finest of all stand- 
ards, as their habit is so remarkably robust ; one variety 
in particular I anticipate will, if budded on large stocks 
of the Dog-rose, soon form a large umbrageous tree. This 
unique and splendid Rose was raised by Monsieur Laffay 
from Celine, and has been named by him, the Great 
Western—laughably spelt in some of the French cata- 
logues ‘‘ Grande Wistern,” a name the origin of which I 
have no doubt has puzzled many a French gardener. This 
Rose has leaves and shoots of astonishing luxuriance, and 
flowers of a deep and peculiar red, rivalling the largest 
Peonies in size; a standard or a bush of this Rose, 
highly cultivated, will form one of the wonders of the 
Rosery. It should be budded on a very stout stock, 
otherwise the plant will soon become top-heavy : in men- 
tioning this, J am reminded that cultivators often do not 
pay enough attention to thehabits of their Roses when 
selecting stocks for them. Stout old stocks should always 
have some robust-growing varieties worked on them, for 
if a tea-scented or some delicate-growing Bourbon Rose 
is worked on alarge stock, the sap is engendered faster 
than it can be taken away by the bud; many shoots are 
consequently repeatedly taken off; the producers 
of sap, the fibrous roots, then rot and die 
away; the sap-vessels close, and the plant, after 
languishing a season or two, also dies; therefore, on 
all large stocks the cultivator should bud the most luxu- 
riant-growing varieties, such as the above and some of the 
following, which rival the Great Western in vigour 
of growth, and surpass most Roses in the beauty of their 
flowers. The first in beauty is Coupe d’Hébé, colour 
delicate glossy rose; form, perfection. This Rose has 
been called by a gentleman, a first-rate judge, “the most 
beautiful Rose in the world.”” Charles Duval is almost 
equally beautiful; in colour rather deeper. Capitaine 
Sisolat, Edward Delair, Paul Perras, Franklin, Lady 
Montgomery, and Henri Barbet, are all calculated to form 
standards of the largest size: there seems no limit to 
their growth. The following are of secondary luxuriance, 
but remarkable for the peculiar and brilliant red in their 
flowers ; of these red Roses, Colonel Combes, Daphne, 
Ernest Ferray, La E Ida, and Domb ki, are the 
most distinguished. 
Of about the same range as regards habit are Riche- 
lieu (Duva!), Belle de St. Cyr, Hortense Leroy,'with rose- 
coloured flowers of the most perfect shape, Sylvain and 
Legouvé with flowers of brilliant crimson. Hortensia 
and Triptoléme are remarkable for blooming in very large 
clusters, having a fine effect on standards. Lord John 
Russel, Brillante, and Miss Chauncey, the same for their 
rigid flower-stalks which keep their brilliant flowers erect, 
eyen in the heaviest showers. The above, and indeed all 
the Hybrid Bourbon Roses, form first-rate standards, 
their habits are so exceedingly luxuriant and yet pecu- 
liarly compact, quite different from that tendency to make 
long straggling shoots so remarkable in most of the 
hybrid Chinese Roses. The Great Western will undoubt- 
edly prove valuable for stocks, as, like its parent Celine, 
it strikes freely from cuttings planted in a shady border 
in October. The cuttings should be made about nine 
inches long, eight of which should be in the ground, 
leaving one bud out ; the following autumn they should 
be potted or bedded out, cutting off all roots but the tuft 
of fibres, which will be formed at the bottom of the cutting, 
and potting or planting them only from one to two inches 
deep, so that the bud may be inserted in the stem close 
tothe ground. Exactly the same treatment may be applied 
to the Boursault stock, which will'strike readily under the 
same treatment ; this is more simple and requires much 
less trouble than some other modes recommended.—Z. 
ENTOMOLOGY.—No. XLIV. 
Acarus cunicunatus, Linn.; (the Bark Mite).— 
Fruit-trees are sometimes infested with a minute, red, 
shining Mite, which is gregarious, and congregates in the 
spring upon the bark at the base of the twigs, looking 
mmy exudation. These little animals are fre- 
found improdigious quantities, and by extracting 
they BOs: oubt render the trees sickly, and in, all 
ility’ redtice the size of the fruit. There were 
mé thousands-of them upon a small branch of a Plum- 
forwarded, t& me the beginning of May (fig. 1); they 
lowly, ‘but were running over each other, and 
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WS PAPE 
(the varied in, size, colour, and outline, some being pale 
red; others, were of a deeper tint, with three brown spots 
Howards the apex ; and the older ones were still darker, 
NI — 
Xi 
being of a deep chesnut colour, with the abdomen more 
globose. These mites appear to be separated from the 
Linnean genus by Latreille, under the name of Oribata 
geniculata, and I imagine they have been described by 
De Geer as the Acarus corticalis. This distinguished 
naturalist found them from November to March constantly 
beneath the slightly-detached bark of an old Pear-tree, 
where they lived in society, remaining very quiet during 
the winter months; they also secrete themselves and 
breed under the lichen which often covers the trunks and 
branches of fruit-trees. 
Acarus geniculatus appears to be horny, but it is tender 
and easily crushed, being filled with a pale rosy fluid; 
there are a few hairs scattered over the head and thorax, 
and the former is conical, with two strong bristles on the 
crown, and two incurved, articulated, and hairy palpi on 
each side of the mouth: the thorax has some transverse 
sutures, and the hinder portion forms a thickened semi- 
circular margin, which encompasses a great part of the 
abdomen ; this is shagreened, often bearing a transverse 
brown spot in the centre, towards the apex, and a more 
circular one on each side. It has eight legs, not long but 
hairy, and of a dirty, ochreous colour ; they are, appa~ 
rently at least, five-jointed, the second joint being thick- 
ened, and the last produces a slender process, which is 
terminated by two (De Geer says by three) long, slender, 
curved claws, looking like one only in repose (fig. 3, mag- 
nified). ‘These mites are about the size of a little grain 
of sand, or the finest gunpowder, and are larger than the 
Acarus telarius (fig. 2, the natural size). 
On different parts of the bark I observed minute, glo- 
bular, white egg-shells, from which no doubt the Acari 
had emerged; and as they grow they cast their skins, 
which were sticking in numbers where the mites had 
congregated, and with them were some smaller and more 
active Acari, of an oblong form; their colour was dirty 
yellowish white, with a dusky spot towards the apex: the 
vibrating palpi were very visible; they had eight legs, the 
anterior pair appearing to be the longest, the second pair 
the shortest. For what purpose this species attended 
upon the other is very uncertain; it might be for the 
purpose of feeding upon the eggs or the young, as soon 
as they are hatched. The A. geniculatus is very different 
to any other species that I have observed upon plants, 
which generally bear a greater resemblance to the mites 
of the Lime (vide Gard. Chron. vol.i., p. 164), it has 
more the appearance of a tick; its body is globular, it 
has some indication of a thorax, and the Jegs approach at 
their base. 
The following methods of destroying the Red spider 
have been suggested by various writers upon gardening, 
and they are equally well adapted for the destruction of 
this Acarus. If the bark of the tree and the branches be 
well brushed over with a mixture of tobacco-liquor, sul- 
phur, and a little turpentine, it will speedily kill the bark- 
mites and gas-tar, or ammoniacal liquor would, in all pro- 
bability, answer the same purpose. The best period is 
when they leave their winter-quarters, and gregate on 
the tree, as shown at fig. 1. Salt and water seem to be 
also a good remedy; a tea-spoonful of common salt is to 
be dissolved in a gallon of water, with which the trunk 
may be washed, and the leaves syringed with safety, but 
it is recommended to wash the foliage of the tree with 
pure water a day or two after the application of the salt. 
It may be inferred from the economy of these mites, that 
keeping the trees clean must prove the best security 
against this and most other similar diseases. I have been 
astonished in the cider counties to see the trees in 
orchards laden with moss and lichens, which harbour 
these Acari and multitudes of injurious insects. I believe, 
also, that they assist in exhausting the trees and more 
speedily accelerating their destruction, by retaining 
moisture on the trunk and branches, which eventually 
rots the bark, induces decay, and renders them more 
likely to suffer from high winds and tempestuous weather. 
Woodpeckers and other birds are likewise attracted by the 
insects, and thus, probably, unwelcome agents are 
required to keep down an enemy which a little pains 
would relieve us from. I admit that an old Apple-tree 
clothed with rich green moss and grey lichens is"ttrost 
picturesque object, and I always regret to see the trunks 
whitewashed and rendered hideous to the tasteful eye; 
the above application, however, after the extraneous 
clothing has been removed is not subject to this objection. 
—Ruricola. 
AMATEUR’S GARDEN.—No. XXI. 
Wao is there that does not admire the Violet 2—and 
yet how little care is taken of it after it is out of bloom! 
Every one complains, when it is impregnating the air with 
its delicious fragrance, that he has not half enough of it, 
and notwithstanding at the proper season neglects to 
increase his stock. 
How different is it with those who grow Violets for the 
supply of Covent Garden Market. They cultivate it— 
but private gardeners allow it to cultivate itself. Of the 
kinds grown for market, the Russian and Neapolitan are 
most cared for. The first, which is a single dark-blue 
variety, will produce flowers in abundance throughout the 
winter, even when the ground is covered with snow ; and. 
the Neapolitan will, if properly treated, produce flowers 
late in autumn and early in spring, but not through the 
winter, unless the season is very mild or it receives some 
little artificial assistance. 
The proper way to manage both kinds is as follows :— 
About this time, having prepared a piece of ground—which 
should be rich and friable—by digging it over, and dividing 
it into plots one foot square, proceed to take up your old 
plants, shake the soil from the roots, and divide them into 
the number of plants required, taking care to retain as 
much root as possible to each plant, and to divest them 
of all their runners, They are then ready for planting, 
and may be placed, one strong plant or two weak ones, at. 
the corner of each square. They must receive a copious 
watering to settle the soil about their roots ; and if the 
weather is sunny, must be shaded for a few hours in the 
middle of each day. A rather shaded situation is proper 
for them through the summer, though a north aspect is 
not to be recommended. 
Through the summer, the principal care will be to keep 
the ground free from weeds, to divest the plants of all 
runners as fast as they are produced, and to water them 
occasionally in dry weather. It is highly important that 
the runners be regularly removed. Mr. Knight, many 
years back, in regard to the preparation of Strawberries 
for forcing, asserted that the production of every runner 
was the loss of a bunch of flowers; and it is very pro- 
bable that the same cause will produce the same effect in 
the management of the Violet. The great secret of pre- 
paring all plants for winter forcing and flowering is to get 
all the organisable matter possible deposited in the plant 
during the previous season’s growth, and this can only be 
effected by having a healthy breadth of foliage, properly 
exposed to the light, and by preventing the plant from 
expending its energies in the production of useless 
branches: this is the theory of preparation, but there is 
another fact worth marking :—In the forcing season the 
excitation must be gradual and regular, or the matter 
which, under proper management, will be expended in 
flowers and fruit would, under warm, moist treatment, 
produce nothing but leaves and branches. This I have 
frequently experienced in the management of the Violet S 
from the same bed of plants, one set introduced into the 
foreing-house would produce nothing but leaves, while 
another in the comparatively dry air of the greenhouse 
would be all flowers. Flowers, it must be recollected, are 
but leaves or branches, in the state of metamorphosis 5 
moderate growth is conducive to the production of flowers 
—luxuriant growth to the formation of leaves and branches. 
In September such plants of the Neapolitan Violet as 
it is intended to force should be taken up with good balls, 
and potted in 48 or 32-sized pots, or planted on a very 
gentle hot-bed, under the protection of a frame. The 
best way to make the bed is to use old spent dry dung and 
leaves : it should be formed about three feet deep, and be 
covered with any light soil, such as leaf-mould and sandy 
loam, in which the plants may be plunged. During the 
winter the plants must have ali the air possible in mild 
weather, but must be carefully protected from rain and 
frost, and a gentle lining must be applied to the bed when 
it is wished for the plants to bloom. After the number 
of plants required for pots or flowering in frames is pre- 
pared, the remainder, with the Russian kinds, may be 
planted under a south wallor in the borders of the flower- 
garden: this treatment is suitable for all the various kinds 
of Violet; but the two mentioned are the best adapted 
for winter flowering. —W. P. Ayres. 
“~~ HOME CORRESPONDENCE. 
RRATA,—In the article on Draining, by “‘ W. W.,” at p.335 a, 
for the ‘‘ pound become,’ &c., read the * ground become.””*—For 
“not to take up,’’ read “ not to bake up.”” 
Whence do Plants derive their Nitrogen? — It has 
been a matter of surprise to me that some able and enter- 
prising Chemist has not undertaken to solve the following 
question, in a manner open to no objection on the score of 
accuracy—* Do plants derive the whole of their nitrogen 
from the ammonia of the atmosphere and the decomposing 
nitrogenous matters present in the soil? or have they not 
the power of appropriating the nitrogen which forms sO 
large a constituent of the air? This question has often 
been proposed, and the opinions of scientific men have 
been expressed on either side; and it is certain that 
neither vegetable physiologists nor chemists are at the 
present time agreed on this point. The resolving of this 
question seems to me of great importance, as it yee 
tend to throw much light on the functions of plants, a” 
on their capability of inducing combinations not imitable 
by the most refined processes of art. The enerally 
received opinion is that of Liebig—that plants Sore 
appropriate nitrogen unless it has previously assumed ¢ 4 
form of ammonia, and the arguments he adduce 
in support of his views are, it must 
fessed, novel, ingenious, and, 
convincing. 
on any mere opinion, how 
is in our power to obtain positive proof? 
it is much easier to adopt an opinion, 
be by a great name, than to enter upon 
ginal and perhaps painful investigation to tes 
ness? The human mind—accustomed to repos an 
e 
to a certain extent, 
