96 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August S, 1S76. 



mon Pennyroyal), it is close, dense, and of the brightest green, 

 quite superseding Tagetes, Cerastium arvense, and all other 

 dwarf green carpet plantB. It grows freely, is perfectly hardy, 

 and requires no pinching. In these beds not a flower is to be 

 seen, and two of them are noticeable as containing no yellow, 

 the colours being all soft neutral tints. Conspicuous in this 

 pair of beds are a series of eardrops formed with succulents 

 and " gems " of Nertera. This small garden is highly worthy 

 a visit as containing the most perfect type of carpet bedding 

 near the metropolis, and Mr. Legg isto be congratulated on 

 his success. 



We have received from Messrs. Rivers & Son"of Saw- 



bridgeworth fruit of the Pine-apple Nectarine, the largest we 

 have ever seen. Indeed it is the largest. Nectarine of any kind 

 we have ever seen. The longitudinal circumference was exactly 

 9 inches, and the latitudinal 8J inches ; the weight being 6 ozs. 

 and 3 drachms. The fruit was grown on a>tandard cordon. 



We very much regret to hear that the numerous small 



nurserymen and florists in the vicinity of Tottenham, Hornsey, 

 and Leyton have had their crops muoh injured by the recent 

 severe hailstorm, which was noticed in our columns last week. 

 For this we think a subscription justified, and we are glad that 

 a Committee, consisting of Mr. Fraser, Mr. Ware, Mr. Sweet, 

 and Mr. Mailer, is formed for raising it. These nurserymen 

 have suffered extensively, and the assistance and support which 

 they are enlisting on behalf of those who are less able to bear 

 the losses to which they have been subjected is urgently needed. 

 A meeting was announced to be held yesterday evening at 

 the Green Dragon, Bishopsgate Street, London, to take into 

 consideration the best means of raising a fund to relieve the 

 pressing necessities of the sufferers, the ciroular convening the 

 meeting stating, after a visit to the places named, that " the 

 injury done to the glass and plants is of such a deplorable 

 nature that it is almost or quite sufficient to ruin " many who 

 were overtaken with the violent storm. Calamities such as 

 these show the importance of insuring in the Hailstorm In- 

 surance Company, and similar losses will doubtless be provided 

 against in the future ; but in the meantime assistance is greatly 

 required and will be appreciated. Mr. Fraser, The Nurseries, 

 Lea Bridge Road, London, will receive subscriptions and com- 

 munications. 



The programme of the International" Horticultubal 



Exhibition to be held at Amsterdam in the April of next year 

 has been issued, and may be had from Mr. H. Granewegen, 

 General Secretary, 5, Oetewalerweg, Amsterdam. The value of 

 the prizes to be awarded should be announced. 



Before concluding (see p. 82) that nothing will de- 

 stroy the Onion maggot, let your readers pour over the bed 

 attacked water just off thejboil, and perhaps they will be sur- 

 prised to find how much more heat the vegetable can stand 

 than maggot life. — Joseph Withebspoon. 



■ • A cobbespondent, "A. Y.," writes as follows: — "J. 



Muir, in his able article on protecting fruit, recommends sour 

 beer in bottles to be hung up in the house for the destruction 

 of Wasps. If any of your readers were to place in the house 

 two or three Tomato plants or more, according to the size of 

 the structure, they would be proof against wasps without going 

 to the expense or trouble of netting, tiffany, or paper bags." 



It is the beautiful and unrivalled forms of Fern-lite 



which fling over Devonshire scenery its almost indescribable 

 charm. Peer at low tide into yon dark and dripping cavern which 

 yawns upon the sea ! The bright sunshine that danoes upon the 

 rippling waves pauses at the cavern's mouth, as if not daring to 

 penetrate its gloomy depths. But one tiny gleam of light has 

 ventured to cross the threshold; and sparkling on the dripping 

 water, it flashes through the opaque blackness a kind of electric 

 light. As the water falls, drip, drip, into the pool below, the 

 light increases, and then — oh, glorious sight ! — you see at the 

 side and on the roof of this lonesome sea-cave the beautiful 

 Sea Spleenwort (Asplenium marinum), hiding its roots in the 

 cavern walls, and spreading out its bright-green and shining 

 fronds that they may luxuriate in the dark humidity of its 

 chosen retreat. Or peer over yonder cliff, whose inaccessible 

 sides overhang the seething waves ! Look closely into the 

 shady cleft which nestles under yon projecting spur ! There 

 you may see, far out of your reach, one of the most rare and 

 exquisite of the British Ferns — the Maidenhair (Adiantum 

 Capillus-Veneris.) Could you venture near enough to grasp it 

 in your hand you would indeed recognise that it is one of the 

 most exquisite of plants. Its fine, black, wiry frond-stems, 

 like a dark maiden's hair — it is most appropriately named — 



rise in clusters from its crown ; the main frond-stems being 

 branched with smaller and more beautiful hair-like stems, 

 which bear upon their tender points the delicate light-green 

 fan-shaped leaflets. Wandering through the cool lanes of 

 Devonshire you may, too, meet with the fragrant hay-scented 

 Buckler Fern (Laetrea amula) which emits so beautiful an 

 odour when pressed in the hand ; with the delicately and trans- 

 parently leaved Marsh Buckler Fern (Lastrea Thelypteris) ; with 

 the Mountain Buckler Fern (Lastrea montana) , whose Bilvery 

 fronds make the air fragrant when you tread upon them in 

 their insipient unrolled state. But these varieties are not 

 to be commonly encountered in every Devonshire lane. And 

 still rarer — though found in Devonshire — are the Lanceolate 

 Spleenwort (Asplenium lanceolatum) , the tiny Forked Spleen- 

 wort (A. septentrionale) , the Tunbridge Filmy Fern (Hymeno- 

 phyllum tnnbridgense), and Wilson's Filmy Fern (H. Wilsoni) 

 The Moonwort (Botrychium Lunaria) , and the common Adders- 

 tongue (Ophioglossum vnlgatum) , are also Ferns of Devonshire 

 growth. — (Heath's "The Fern Paradise.") 



A writer in "Nature" states that "one of the most 



valuable products both of Bosnia and Servia, as at present de- 

 veloped, lies in their Pltjm crops, many of the peasantry de- 

 pending entirely on these fruits as the means of subsistence 

 through a great part of the year. The Plums, after being 

 gathered, are mostly dried in the form of prunes, the secret or 

 art of drying being known only to themselves. The Bosnian 

 Plums are considered of a better quality than those either from 

 Servia, Croatia, or Austria. A quantity of spirit is likewise 

 prepared from these fruits. Amongst other vegetable products 

 of the country may be included Tobacco, Potatoes, Flax, Hemp, 

 Walnuts; and amongst cereals, Wheat, Maize, Barley, Oats, 

 Rye, Millet, &e. Wheat and Maize are the principal food 

 plants consumed in the country, some of the other products 

 being exported in comparatively large quantities." 



As proof of the hardiness of the newer kinds of the 



tuberous-rooted Begonias raised by Messrs. James Veitch 

 and Soub, there are now to be seen flowering in the Chelsea 

 Nursery rows of plants in the open ground, and where the 

 tubers have remained throughout the winter without any pro- 

 tection having been given them further than that afforded by 

 the walls of the houses near which the plants are growing. 

 Other and choicer varieties, whioh are extremely beautifnl, 

 which are being grown in pots, have the lights removed from 

 them whenever the weather is favourable, and under this cool 

 treatment the plants flourish admirably. That the plants re- 

 quire no other accommodation than that afforded by cold 

 frames, renders them additionally valuable. Many errors are 

 made in keeping these elegant and brilliant summer-flowering 

 plants too warm and close. They do not require more heat 

 than Fuchsias and Geraniums. In the Orchid house is now 

 flowering the new Zygopetalum Sedeni, the result of a cross 

 between Z. maxillare and Z. Mackayi, and partaking of the 

 qualities of both parents. The lip is purple mottled with 

 white, the sepals and petals being very dark. This is a distinct 

 and beautifnl Orchid, and is as sweet as a Lily. Lselia elegans 

 alba is also flowering, and is as beautiful as it is rare, the 

 petals and sepals being exceedingly pure, and the Up of the 

 richest violet-purple imaginable. A most valuable plant. 



CHAPTERS ON INSECTS FOR GARDENERS. 



No. 10. 

 I think if there is one insect above others which the majority 

 of gardeners regard with an especial hatred it is the aphis in 

 its multitudinous varieties. Many are the names expressive of 

 dislike which I have heard hurled at these " vile vermin," but 

 I do not remember that I ever heard anyone insult them by 

 calling them " bugs," though bugs they are properly according 

 to our entomological classification. " I am afraid," said I in 

 sympathising tones to a friend the other day, "that this will 

 prove a great aphis year." With a deep sigh he reflectively 

 answered, " When is there a year that isn't a great aphis year?" 

 True enough, not a season is free from visitations of these pro- 

 lific and persevering parasites ; still there are differences, and 

 in certain years some of our garden plants enjoy a comparative 

 repose from aphis attacks, while in other years the cry is, 

 " Aphis, aphis everywhere ;" and gardeners are tired of 

 smoking, washing, and syringing. My usual prognostic is a 

 cold May with not much rain and plenty of wind. When that 

 occurs I expect to find aphides abundant ; heavy rainfall is ob- 

 jectionable to these insects, and I do not think they like very 

 hot weather. 



