December 21, 1876. ) 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



527 



the agency is still held by his widow. I resolved to try it, and 

 on one application cleared tie house of the pest without injury 

 to the fruit, which had already commenced colouring. I may 

 state that the seedling bunch of Grapes which was awarded a 

 first-class certificate by the Royal Horticultural Society on the 

 6th was one of the buncbes so operated on, and what I look 

 upon as remarkable is that in a very few days after the liquid 

 was applied the Vines began to assume a fine healthy appear- 

 ance, which continued during the whole of the season. 



In a Hamburgh house 40 feet long the disease made its 

 appearance as the fruit was ripening, and I decided not to 

 apply the " cocoon liquid" until the fruit was cut, by which 

 time the disease had spread very generally throughout the 

 house, but I found that one application was quite as effectual 

 in removing it aB in the former case. I intend using it also as 

 a winter dressing for the Tines, and believe it will prove a most 

 valuable preventive as well as cure for mildew. — D. P. Bell. 



CULTURE OF POINSETTIA PULCHERRIMA. 



This plant is now very extensively cultivated, and well it 

 deserves to be, as there are few subjects more showy and better 

 adapted for deoorative purposes at this Bea?on of the year. 

 The system of culture I have adopted is different from that 

 of many cultivators, but as I have been successful with it 

 for many years, I thought a few remarks on culture would be 

 useful. 



The plant is a native of Mexioo, having been discovered in 

 that country by Mr. Poinsetti in 1828, and whether different 

 varieties of the species were sent over, or whether the difference 

 in cultivation has the effect of improving the quality of the 

 floral bracts I know not, but I have certainly not seen better 

 or more brilliant specimens anywhere than have been produced 

 by the culture here described. 



When the flowering period is over the plants are gradually 

 dried off, and the pots laid on their sides underneath the stage 

 in a cool stove, where they remain until the end of March. 

 In that month the young growths of last season are cut down 

 to within three or four eyes from the base of the growth. No 

 water is applied to the roots until the wounds are dried up, 

 but the pots are removed to the greenhouse, where they are 

 placed on the stage near the glass, and there they remain, 

 water being applied to the roots when it is required, but no 

 more than is neosssary to maintain a healthy growth. They 

 do not require nearly so much water here as they would in the 

 plant stove, where the heat would be 55° or 60* at night. 

 When the buda have started about half an inch the plants 

 must be turned out of the pots and repotted ; and to grow 

 this plant well it requires a rich compost. The following 

 answers admirably: rich turfy loam five parts, one part de- 

 cayed Btable manure, one part leaf soil, and an 8-inch potful 

 of crushed bones to each barrowload of the compost ; a little 

 sand is necessary if the loam is of a close texture. Drain the 

 pots well, and place over the broken potsherds some of the 

 fibrous part of the loam from which the clayey particles have 

 been well shaken out ; if the finer portion of the compost 

 beoomes mixed with the drainage tho plants will not retain 

 their leaves to the end of the season. After potting, the plants 

 should be kept near the glass and be fully exposed to sun- 

 shine, and the house be freely aired ; this will cause the growths 

 to come strong and short-jointed, the leaves to be thick and 

 leathery, and the wood will be of a reddish tint. When the 

 pots are filled with roots, which will be by the middle of May, 

 the plants may be repotted in similar compost to the above, 

 and by the middle of June they may be removed to a position 

 out of doors where they are partially shaded from the sun. 

 I have found they do best on the north or west side of a low 

 house where the tops of the plants are exposed to the sun and 

 the lower portion ohiltered from its rays. If they are exposed 

 to the direct force of a strong gale of wind many of the leaves 

 are injured. In thi3 position they must not at any time suffer 

 by want of water at the roots, as this would also cause some 

 of the leaves to drop off, and the objeot of the cultivator is to 

 see that this does not occur, as the loss of the lower or any 

 leaves very much impairs the beauty of the plants. 



About the middle of September we remove the plants to a 

 house where there is a night temperature of 50° or 55°, and 

 this ought not to be exceeded until the floral bracts begin 

 forming, when the night temperature Bhould be 65° until they 

 are fully developed. I ought to mention that as soon as the 

 plants are taken indoors they may be well watered with manure 

 water ; every alternate watering may be of guano water. This 



deepens the green of the stem and leaves, and adds brillianoy 

 to the floral bracts. 



Propagation is effected by cutting the stem into short lengths 

 and inserting the eyes in the same way as Tine eyes; they 

 thus grow as freely aB Tines, requiring very similar treatment. 

 Another method equally simple is this : When the young 

 growths are 3 or 4 inches in length it will often be found that 

 there are more on the plants than ought to be allowed to 

 remain. Let the surplus growths be taken off with heels and 

 be placed in a gentle bottom heat under a bell-glass, where 

 they will, if Ehaded from the Bun, very soon strike out roots. 

 If each cutting is potted in sandy loam in a thumb pot the 

 plants will not suffer anything when they are repotted. In 

 three weeks from the time of putting in the cuttiDgs the 

 plants will be ready to be repotted. After being established 

 they may gradually be inured to a oooler atmosphere, and be 

 ultimately placed out of doors and be treated as has been re- 

 commended for the established plants. 



The Poinsettia does not require very much pot room ; the 

 summer-struck cuttings may be placed in pots 4 inches in 

 diameter, or three may be potted in 6-inch pots. We have 

 some in 6-inch pots from cuttings struck in June ; each pot 

 contains three plants, which stand 15 inches from the surface 

 of the pots, and the floral bracts are as much as 15 inohes 

 across. 



There are several varieties, some of them from seeds ripened 

 in this country. The Messrs. Teitch of Chelsea exhibited as. 

 distinct form at the December Committee meeting at South 

 Kensington, and the same enterprising firm have this year 

 introduced the marvellous and distinct variety P. pnloherrima 

 plenissima. I have grown this variety during the present 

 season, but the plants were not obtained until it was too late 

 to put them under the above system of cultivation, and they 

 were not placed out of doors at all. This variety seems to be 

 later than the old sort, and the bracts take a much loDger 

 time to develope themselves ; so that I shall not be able to 

 report fully on this variety for at least six weeks, for it will 

 be that time before our earliest specimen has attained to its 

 full development. — J. Douglas. 



[We have seen Poinsettias which have been grown by Mr. 

 Douglas, and have noted their superiority. — Eds.] 



THE RUSSIAN TRANSPARENT APPLE. 



Under the heading of " Greasy Coat " Apple a discussion 

 was lately conduoted in this Journal, and the Transparent 

 Codlin was then noticed as poBsibly being the variety referred 

 to by "J. J., Lancashire." In that di3CUBsion I mentioned; 

 the "Transparent " aB having (in common with many others) 

 a greaBy skin, but I more particularly noticed it as being a 

 valuable Apple — a certain bearer, and the tree a " rent-paying 

 tree " when grown in cottage gardens. I had the best proof 

 for that estimate, for I was intimately connected with a fine 

 standard tree which for a great number of years unfailingly 

 contributed materially in defraying the rent of the garden in 

 which it grew. I have since learned something of the history 

 of this valuable Apple. A farmer in Lincolnshire (Mr. Beau- 

 lah), who has a great knowledge of hardy fruits, and cultivates 

 a large number of new and old varieties, has favoured me with 

 information which he has special reason to consider as being 

 perfectly trustworthy and reliable. 



In the first place Mr. Beaulah thinks that the " Transparent " 

 which I referred to on page 298 (and of which he and myself 

 both think so highly), is not in commerce further than possibly 

 having a place in a few small local nurseries in the district of 

 its introduction. The history of this Apple is as follows : — 



During the occupation of the district around Moscow by the 

 invading army of the first Napoleon General Boucherett, the 

 representative of an old Lincolnshire family still existing in 

 the county, noticed this Apple growing freely in Russia, and 

 being attracted by its fine appearance and presumptive hardi- 

 ness, considered that it would be a valuable variety for English 

 gardens. A large number of grafts were therefore brought by 

 the General to Lincolnshire, and thus the Russian Transparent 

 obtained a footing on our shores, and has proved in the locality 

 of its introduction one of the most profitable of our fruits. 

 Mr. Beaulah's authority for this statement is that orie of his 

 relatives was in the suite of the General, and has left it on 

 record that he had a distinct recollection of the facts referred 

 to, and of the arrival of the " faggot " of grafts at Willingham 

 House. 



The spread of this Apple in north Lincolnshire is attribut- 



