r 



^^m m 



inarching, grafting, ana Duuumg ou uw m^i* *^* ~« 

 Middlemas red, cuttings of both of which strike readily. 

 These latter should be taken off in August or September, 



They are pre- i 



as Boon as the young shoots are ripe, 



pared by bring i'vvt through horizontally at a jotni, 01 



better taken off with a "heel," divesting them ot a 



few leaves at the base, and potting them in sand. Ihey 



should then be well watered, and the pots placed in a 



cold frame for a month or six weeks. They may then 



be introduced into a gentle bottom heat, and potted of! 



into small pots next spring ; still keeping them in heat 



until they have made their growths, then gradually 



hardening them off. Ill the succeeding season they 



will be ready to be inarched, budded, or grafted. 1 he 



best time for inarching is in the spring, just before the 



plant begins to grow.; and for grafting in August or 



September. /. M. H. 



soil will make a shoot of 6 feet, from a cutting of 



inches, in one season. The gardener, Brown, who 



possesses the above-mentioned specimen, has a method of 



inserting the graft, which appeared to me quite novel, 



Home Correspondence. 



Roses.— I consider that the following deserve a place in 

 "CritoV list of "continuous bloomers," viz. : 1. Hybrid 

 Perpetual, Com to d'Eu, than which no Rose with me is 

 more brilliantly vivid in colour, or more lasting in bloom. 

 I had good flowers here (Nottinghamshire) on one of 

 my trees the second week in November. 2. Hybrid 

 Perpftual, Ernestine de-Barante justly called by Rivers 

 "a perfect gera," &* beautiful as bountiful of its sweet 

 fairy flowers. Well grown on a half-standard tree, 

 •whore chall we find a more symmetrical or constant 



and at the same time successful— it amused me very 

 much when I first heard of it ; he bores a hole with a 

 gimlet (!) in the stock and therein inserts the graft. 

 On trying Brown's plan I found it extremely difficult to 

 retain the graft in the hole, in consequence of the con- 

 fined air forcing it out, and therefore invented a plan 

 which effectually removed the difficulty ; it consists in 

 inserting with the graft a fine tube— the hollow culm of 

 a Grass will do, and therewith sucking out the inclosed 

 air and liquid ; when the tube is withdrawn the graft is 

 retained, as the dentists say, « on the atmospheric 

 principle," and requires no bandages to keep it in it* 

 place. My advice to gardeners in England who wish to 

 procure gigantic specimens of slow growing Cacti in a 

 short space of time, is therefore to procure plants of 

 Cereus triangularis, plant them in any rich soil, give 

 them plenty of heat and water ; when high enough 

 stop the Bhoots in order to make the angles thicker, 

 at last graft as above, at a time when the stock is 

 attempting vigorously to sprout at every eye. As I 

 cannot find the paragraph above alluded to, and as 

 I may be mistaken as to the length of the stock, I send 

 you the dimensions of a plant of my own, grafted about 

 six months since. The stock was about six inches long, 

 and had been separated about six months previously, 

 hut WmA heen starved until shortly before it was grafted ; 



bouquet ? '>>. The Grenadier (bourbon) so conspicuous 

 in a Rose-garden, pn account of its splendid colour in the 

 bud, and so brave, like its name-ake, to resist the 

 advance of its enemies (winter and Jack Frost) ! 4 and 



about Midsummer, I pinch the tops off' the young shoots, 

 which induces them to double their number, each shoot 

 breaking at the two uppermost eyes. I now encourage 

 them to grow vigorously by giving them plenty of heat, 

 air, water, and root-room. I pot them in a mixture of 

 loam, peat, and manure, in equal parts, and keep them 

 growing on until November, when they begin to show 

 their bright crimson bracts, and they remain objects of 

 great attraction during the winter. I have a plant at 

 the present time with eight heads, or bunches, of red 

 leaves on it, each head measuring from 12 to 20 inches 

 across. The temperature I grow it in varies from 55« 

 to 70° in winter, and from 65 Q to 90? in summer. 

 /. Bust, PaMey, Ticehurst. 



Grafting. Your commencement of a series of articles 



on this subject leads me to suggest that nurserymen 

 would serve their own interests by selling scions or cut- 

 tings of the different varieties of fruits, as well as 

 worked plants. Many a man has healthy established 

 trees of second-rate kinds, which he would grudge to 

 root out, but which he would gladly cut back and graft 

 with better sorts, if he only knew where scions were to 

 be procured. His only resource at present is to go 

 a-begging from his neighbours, from whom he perhaps 

 does°not obtain the varieties he would like, and would 

 willingly pay for, but something that at least promises 

 to be better than his own. If scions were to be had at 

 the nurseries, they would not only be in demand for such 

 purposes, but there would be an opportunity of testing 

 the fitness for different soils and climates of many of the 



i 



it was then'planted in the hollow stump of a Eucalyp- 

 tus, filled with about equal parts of loam, white ants' 

 nest (a cellular matter of vegetable origin), and sheep- 

 dung, with about one-tenth part of burned sheep-bones 

 Dupetit Thouars and Cornice de mte i. m ixed : the whole well rammed in, in order to 



5 of the same family ___ __ 



Seinaflt Marne — two of the best and most continuous. f^ u Ytate the decomposition of the dung and to prevent 





_,.. sauce is concerned 



I had blooms <»f the lat v in my button-hole (side by 

 side with la belle Mrs. Bosanmie-t) the greater part of 

 November last. 6 and 7, to these I would add De- 

 vomeOBift and Comte de Paris (Teas). They are both 

 hardy (for out-door culture I prefer them worked on 

 the common briar), aud what can be more beautiful? 

 The former makes one feel that though the English 

 growers have not originated many new Hoses, they may 

 speak of this, as the lioness of her single offspring, " it is 

 a lion ;* and I quite commend Messrs. Curtis for 

 placing it A J, in their elegant publication. Thanks to 

 *' Crito" for reviving the ? wars of the Ron," so far as 



\ and thanks . to 

 Mr. Rivers for his most judicious pruning. I must say 

 that I cannot iind in his catalogue one Rose which has 

 not some distinctive claim to commendation* S. R. H. 

 Remedy for Blading in Vines.— In the case of a large 

 limb being removed, nothing more is needed to stop 

 bleeding than to rub the fresh cut over with a little 

 tallow. I was led to adopt this plan from seeing a 

 plumber use a tallow candle to stop a leak in a water- 

 pipe, which it did effectually. A. Melross, Ardgowan. 



Fountains for Aviaries. — In reply to your correspon- 

 dent, "Jay, Somerset/' who deprecates the use of zinc 

 fountains in aviaries, I would remark, that I had two of 

 them in daily use for 19 year*, and never experienced 

 any ill effects from their introduction. Quite the con- 

 trary. I have a > been in the habit of drinking water 

 myself, supplied from a cistern of zinc, which is con- 

 sidered, generally, as far superior to lead. Not being 

 a practical chemist, I cannot go minutely into the 

 u why and because" of the subject. I simply state 

 "facte," which are said to be * stubborn things." It is 

 somewhat singular — is it not? — that dogs, hounds, &c, 

 are, for the most part, supplied with water conveyed 

 to them in troughs of zinc I W. Kiddy New Road, 

 Hammersmith . 



Heating. — I had lately occasion to pass through 

 Guildford, where I saw, in Mr. Penn's shop, in High- 

 street, a model of an excellent heating apparatus for 

 horticultural purposes. It consists of an open tank for 

 bottom heat (or close if required), which sends up a 

 congenial heat, and at the same time warms a range of 

 pipes round the top of the bed. It was heated by 

 means of a jet of gas, and its action was perfect. The 

 amount of fuel required must be trifling, for the boiler 

 was not more than 5 inches in diameter, and it was set 

 so as to be nearly enveloped by the fire. I understood 

 Mr. Penn to say that he had erected many in the 

 neighbourhood. One gentleman, I know he told me, 

 had three. I had no time, or I should have examined 

 one of them : 



shrinkage. 



The graft was of the hybrid called C. Malle- 

 sonii, and was about 3 inches long. There are now 

 17 shoots, all pushing at the tips ; eight of the largest 

 are from 12 inches to 15 inches long, and none of the 

 rest less than 8 inches. The original plant with 3 shoots 

 of about 6 inches each, was planted in the stump at the 

 same time as the stock, and has barely replaced the 

 shoot I took off it to graft. By-the-bye, in this climate 

 mid-winter appears to be the time whenC. speciosissimus 

 and C. flagelliformis make all their growth; C. Mallesonii 

 also, of course ; so also Epiphyllum Ackermanni. This 

 place is in S. lat. 25*30, and there is occasionally real 

 frost in the fh , but not enough on the hills to touch 

 the Sweet Potato vines. J. C. Bidwill, Tinana, Mary- 



bwovrfhy N. S. Wales. 



jRaiw.— The monthly depth for the past year, accord- 

 ing to my rain gauge, is as follows : 



♦ . # 



• •• 



«** 



Inches. 



.. 1.28 

 99 

 0.60 

 1.43 

 2.25 

 0.61 

 1.89 



• • » 



• • • 



• • ■ 



... 



••• 



August , 

 September 

 October , 



November 

 December 



Inches. 



.. 191 

 ,.. 1.08 

 .. 1.77 



.. 1.46 



17.25 



January 

 February 



Marcb 



April 



May 



June 

 July 



The fall of rain last year is the smallest I have ever 

 noted. In the remarkably dry season of 1847, the quan- 

 tity here was 17.60 inches. Henry Dixon, Dorwards 



Hall, Witham, Jan. 1851. The popular belief here 



is, that this locality is dry ; but by comparing the fol- 

 lowing table with that furnished from Chiswick, it will 

 be seen that instead of this part of Sussex receiving 

 less rain than the average quantity which falls at other 

 places, the contrary is the fact ; for we have annually 

 more rain than the neighbourhood of London by from 



new varieties of fruits lately introduced, by inserting 

 grafts on the branches of established trees, before taking 

 the hazardous and expensive plan of throwing away old 

 trees to be replaced by new and untried kinds. If Mr. 

 Rivers, or some other of our leading nurserymen, avail- 

 ing themselves of the facilities afforded by the Post- 

 office, would advertise scions at— say 3d. or 6d. each- 

 free by post, newer sorts being higher in proportion, I 

 have no doubt that a good deal of money might be made 

 of what at present goes to the rubbish-heap. A Scotch- 

 man, Ford. 



Effect of different Localities on the Flowering of 

 Plants.— I am on the red marl of the coal measures, 

 but well drained ; the garden soil of course has not too 

 much clay ; now, I never get a flower on any of my 

 English Irises, or any broad-leaved flags. Can any of 

 your readers give me a probable cause of their failure ! 

 Their situations are various, and none over damp, dry, 

 or sunny, &c. Near Wells they cannot flower the Tro- 

 pseolum tuberosum well, whereas, with us, it has lite- 

 rally as many flowers as leaves, and yet it is a very rare 

 plant ; one root will cover as much wall or trellis as a 

 Cobrca and Maurandya together. If any of your 

 readers fail in their attempts to flower this very beauti- 

 ful creeper, let them mix some marl with the soil, ana 

 plant late in April. Jay, Somerset. 







^octettes 





8 to 1 5 inches. 



January 



February 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September 



October 



November 



December 



• . - 



• •• 



f * • 



«•• 



• • t 



• • • 



• w • 



til 



• • • 



• • ♦ 



• * » 



« 1 1 



« • ■ 



• * * 



• • • 



• t ■ 



■ " - 



• ft* 



1847. 1848. 1849. 1850. Mean. 



■ . . 



• • • 



* t ■ 



• • • 



In. 



2.37 

 162 

 1.22 



1.14 



2.29 

 1.95 

 71 

 2.02 

 1.70 

 2.73 

 2.42 

 4.58 



In. 

 2.10 

 5.07 



3.9* 



3 35 



0.41 



4.65 

 4.66 



4 88 

 3 83 

 4.95 



9.33 



4.01 



In. 



2.77 

 2.92 

 0.52 

 4.00 

 3.46 



Ut 



2.21 



0.74 



3.52 



4.76 



2.1W 

 3.77 





In. 

 1.00 

 2 96 

 0.50 

 3.65 

 3.59 

 2 24 

 2 t9 

 3.32 



2,69 

 2.48 

 4.15 

 2.94 



3. 



; bnt I am so satisfied with the contrivance 

 that I intend- to give it a trial ; 

 Grapes, Pines, Cucumbers, &c, 



as I imagine that 

 be grown easier and 

 cheaper by it than by any other plan I have seen. 

 Charles Phillips, Ealing, Hants, Jan. 6. 



Grafting Cacti, — I have observed, in the Sydney 

 Morning Herald, an account of a very fine specimen of 

 Cereus flagelliformis, measuring, if I recollect right, 

 360 feet, and the growth of only three years. I have 

 seen this specimen and many others grown by the 

 same person, and I may say that he is the most success- 

 ful grower of the commoner varieties of long Cacti 

 that I have ever met with. Brown, the man I speak of, 

 grafts, as does everybody else here, on Cereus trian- 

 gularis, and I doubt not but that if tried in England it 

 will be found a far superior stock to C. hexagonus 

 or any other of the slow growing kinds. Cereus trian- 

 gularis is a very common species out of England, in 

 consequence, I suppose, of its extremely hardy consti- 

 tution and rapid growth ; and I would recommend 



Annual amounts 



• • ■ 



3». 61 124.75 44.0S 132.11 132.21 133.952 



I 



— A. D. y Dale Park, Arundel. 



Destroying Scale. — I have found two parts boiled, and 

 one part raw Linseed oil effectual in eradicating the 

 mussel scale. I use it in a cold state. 



growers of trailing Cacti in England to try it as a stock 

 as soon as possible — it will bear great heat, considerable 



In cleansing 

 Pear and Apple trees, I loosen them from the wall, and 

 carefully anoint every part with the oil, which must be 

 dry before the trees are again nailed to the wall. Apply 

 it with a painter's brush. J. Johnston, Gledston Gardens, 

 Skiptonin Craven. 



Poinsettia pulcherrima. — All who have a stove should 

 cultivate this plant, whose beautiful floral leaves or 

 bracts create a gay appearance for about three months 

 during the dullest time of the year, and even a small 

 piece introduced into a bouquet is sure to be admired. 

 When I cut down an old plant, in January or February, 

 I select for cuttings those portions on which the eyes 

 are placed rather closely together, and make them into 

 lengths of about a foot, each having six eyes. I insert 

 the cutting over the two lowermost eyes into a tan bed, 

 in which Pine-apples are grown. The eyes above the 

 tan will generally all have pushed by about April, and 

 by that time roots will have been sent out from the 



Entomological, Jan. 6.— The President in the chaar. 

 Various donations to the library were announced from 

 the Royal Agricultural Society, the Linnean Society 

 and the Society of Arte and Sciences of Lyons ; and also 

 the new Catalogue of British Macro-Lepidoptera, printed 

 for the British Museum by Mr. J. F. Stephens. Addi- 

 tions to the museum were presented by the Itev. Mr- 

 Kuper and Mr. F. Smith. Mr. S. Stevens exhibited 

 fine specimens of both sexes of the rare Dynastes 

 Jupiter from Columbia, and also an exotic moth within 

 which a parasitic Tinea had been reared, the cocoon ot 

 which was attached to the head. Mr. Thomas Allis 

 exhibited a specimen of the very rare Drepanepteryx 

 Phalsenoides, from Bowness. Mr. Douglas stated that 

 since the last meeting he had observed several in- 

 stances of the occurrence of the curious small Lepiaop- 

 terous larva, which forms a movable case of the dried 

 flower-buds of Origanum, so exactly resembling the 

 buds as to escape ordinary notice. Dr. Waliich, F.B.&* 

 read a translation from the Transactions of the Royal 

 Danish Academy of the remarkable memoir of Dr. 

 Schiodte on the subterraneous Fauna of the Adelsburg 

 caverns in Illyria, the mammoth cave in Kentucky, &c, 

 Hi \ the great peculiarity of which consists in the want of eyes 

 ' of almost all the species of animals of which it is com- 

 posed. In addition to the singular Proteus anguinus, 

 several Crustacea and beetles had been previously ob- 

 served in Europe, whilst in America several blind 

 species of fish had also been observed, and a consider- 

 able number of Crustacea, spiders, and insects. 

 Dr. Schiodte had himself investigated the Alpine 

 caverns, and had succeeded in detecting several most 

 remarkable Crustacea, Arachnida, and insects, the minute 

 description of which, with observations on their phy- 

 siology and relations, formed the chief subject of the 

 paper translated by Dr. Waliich. One of the species ot 

 Coleoptera is especially interesting, as it forms the 

 type of a new and distinct family allied to the Silphidse- 

 — Papers were also read by F. Walker, Esq., on a* 

 new British Dipterous insects ; by Mr. Dallas on the 

 genus Acanthosoma (one of the Pentatomideous Hennp- 

 tera), with descriptions of four British species ; by f^ r ' 

 Douglas on the genus Gelechia (belonging to the Tineid#* 

 including Tinea cerealella, a species destructive to 

 Cereals^ : and bv Mr. Stainton on some new species o 





Id. 



2.748 

 2.974 

 1.6h8 

 2 854 

 2.3G4 



2.2*0 



2.522 



3,070 

 2.980 

 4.306 

 2.714 



lower eyes. I then take the plants up carefully^ and 

 pot them, shading them from the sun for a week or so ; 

 amount of wet (above ground)* and in rich when they have become well established in the pots, or 



Gracillaria 





Botanical of Edinburgh, Dec. 12.— The President 

 in the chair. Office-bearers for the ensuing yj*jj 

 were elected. Several donations to the library #** 

 museum were announced. A specimen of AnaetatiC 



