502 Queries and Answers. 



again, although apparently perfectly healthy and vigorous, I have been 

 induced to grub up several, after waiting two years to see the result. Can 

 you assign any cause as well as remedy for it ? — A Subscriber. Farleigh, 

 near Maidstone, Kent, June 24. 1830. 



A Blight amongst the Oaks. — - Sir, If you, or some of your numerous cor-> 

 respondents, can satisfy my curiosity on the following points, you will much 

 oblige a subscriber to your Magazine : — Whether a blight amongst the 

 oaks has been observed throughout the kingdom the last two springs. 

 Whether it has, as in the east of Sussex, been peculiar to some districts. 

 What is the name of the insect whose caterpillar causes such destruction 

 amongst the oaks. Whether it is the same as the caterpillar that destroys 

 the leaves of the quickset hedges and the gooseberry. What is the cause 

 of some oaks remaining uninjured in the midst of groups that are stripped 

 of their leaves and young shoots. Whether the trees are permanently 

 injured, or only cheeked in their growth for one year. Any other inform- 

 ation that can be given on the subject will be valued. I am, Sir, &c. — 

 Quercus. June 12. 1830. 



The Eucalyptus, of which a specimen was sent us by H. J. Hi, with a 

 request to know its name and culture, is an Australian genus of the natural 

 order ikfyrtaceag, easity known by its dotted leaves. There are a great 

 many species, but few of them defined, so that the whole family is in a 

 state of confusion. In their native countries they form the most gigantic of 

 the timber trees, but in Britain they are generally kept in a green-house or 

 pit, and have not yet flowered. They are easily propagated by cuttings, are 

 much hardier than the common myrtle, grow freely in any soil, and though 

 they are killed down to the ground most winters, when planted in the open 

 air, in the neighbourhood of London, they seldom fail to spring up again. 

 With Mrs. H., at Belfast, in the south of Ireland, and in Devonshire, we 

 have no doubt they would attain the size of forest trees. — Cond. 



The following Species of Tris are still wanting in my collection : — /Vis 

 livida Sweet, longiflora Sweet, flavescens, flavissima, iberica, gracilis, longi- 

 spatha B. M., ventricosa Pall. Itin,, torn. iii. t. b. f. 1., tenuifolia, Pall. Itin., 

 torn. iii. t. c. f. 1., and lacustris NuttalL I shall be obliged to you if, in a 

 future Number, you would direct the attention of nurserymen to these 

 plants, and also give me any information regarding /ilium pulchellum lately 

 introduced by Messrs. Young. I hope you will continue to insert the new 

 plants introduced by these gentlemen, whose exertions in the cultivation 

 and introduction of new. and rare plants deserve the gratitude of every 

 zealous botanist. — David Falconar. Carlowrie, near Edinburgh , June 24. 



Hybrid Melons. — My object in addressing you now is to call your atten- 

 tion to what I conceive an anomaly in good gardening, and which I have 

 met with, in several instances, this summer, in the gardens of the nobility ; 

 and that is, the cucumbers, melons, gourds, and pumpkins, all growing in the 

 same space, and, in fact, fast approximating. Now, I am persuaded that 

 strange hybridous productions must be the result of this. What flavour can 

 these melons be expected to acquire ? It is true, according to present im- 

 pressions, when size only seems a desideratum, the object will be fully 

 attained. I hope to see this remarked upon in your next Number, by your- 

 self or some of your able coadjutors. — P.Lauder. Cardiff, June, 1830. 



We believe that the melon will not mule with either the cucumber or the 

 pumpkin ; but every gardener knows the difficulty, where different sorts of 

 melons are grown in the same melon-ground, of preventing their muling. 

 Possibly, however, all the Cucurbitacese may mule : we shall be glad to 

 learn the experience of others on this subject. — Cond. 



Ants on Melon Plants. — Sir, I should wish much to have your own 

 opinion as to whether ants are injurious to the growth of melon plants 

 when they abound very numerously in the frames ; and what is the best 

 method for getting rid of them ? — A Constant Reader. May 4. 1830. 



