January 13, 1S63. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



33 



the disease is most virulent. Mr. Carson's account of the 

 Australian blights, unchecked as they are by winter, makes our 

 English ones appear insignificant. 



From having; been some twenty years among chemical experi- 

 ments, I have had some practice in watching results ; and yet 

 must confess that the Gishurst action sometimes fairly puzzles 

 me. That it does more than soap, and sulphur, and tobacco, 

 and any combination of all or any of them, I have heard and 

 seen too much to doubt ; but to obtain the full action on trees at 

 rest strong solutions must be used, and then some care must be 

 used not to injure the buds. 



For several years past, I have made it a point of honour to 

 dress all my own trees with either a stronger or more thorough 

 Gishurst washing than I recommended, and I never gave them 

 any after- waterwashing, so that any injurious action might be 

 at once perceived. 



Early last month I very thoroughly drenched my trees with a 

 solution, eight ounces to the gallon, laid on by means of a large 

 painter's brush. One portion of the trees had the soiutiou, fresh 

 from the box, used directly it was dissolved ; another portion 

 had it dissolved forty-eight hours before, as recommended. 

 Yesterday, on carefully going over the trees, I found that 

 Apples, Nectarines, Cherries, Peaches, Apricots, are all crowded 

 with their fast-swelling perfectly-healthy buds and the Plums 

 quite untouched ; but some of the Pear-buds are browned and 

 will fall. jN t o\v the trees seemed all at rest when the solution 

 was applied. Some of the Pear trees have not a bud injured, 

 others a few buds, others a large proportion. Last year — and I 

 doubt not a similar result will obtain this — increased vigour in 

 the buds left made the trees bear as much fruit as was good for 

 them to carry ; but the result of this second year's experience 

 would lead me in future to recommend not more than sis-ounce 

 applications (unless followed by a waterwashing) to Pear trees, 

 even when at rest. — George Wilson". 



Extract from a paper read in the Athenceum, Keio, hi/ 

 Mr. Carson. 



"But, fortunately for those now about to plant, about three 

 years since Mr. G. Wilson, of Belmont, having a desire to free 

 his sister's Roses from the aphis, discovered a most effectual 

 remedy that is now sent out under the name of Gishurst com- 

 pound, at a cheap rate, by the company that he is connected 

 with, and can be so prepared and applied as to meet every case 

 of attack from any of the insect tribe, and with not the slightest 

 injury to the trees. The benefit this invention has been to the 

 gardening world may be conceived when I state that the year it 

 came out I had made up my mind to root-np all the Orange 

 trees and put them in the fire, for all our spare time did not 

 suffice to keep them clean. 



"At this time I was burning my blighted Apple trees, and 

 lately I have been told by several gardeners that they had con- 

 demned their Apples when they learned from me of this cure. 

 But for this the axe, they said, would have settled blight and 

 trees together." — {The Yeoman and Australian Acclimatiser 

 27th Sept., 1S62.) 



wore; foe the week. 



KITCHEN GAEDEN - . 



V\~heee a systematic rotation of crops is carried out it is an 

 excellent plan to trench all the kilehen garden successively in 

 the course cf every three years, the trenching to be performed 

 each year to be on the ground intended for tap-rooted plants — 

 such as Carrots, Parsnips, &c. ; also in laying-down new planta- 

 tions of Strawberries, Raspberries, bush fruit, &c. s if the sub- 

 soil is stiff and sour it should be left at the bottom, and a good 

 coat of cinder ashes worked in amongst it, which would serve to 

 facilitate the passage of water and the admission of the atmo- 

 sphere. Beans, Broad, sow some Longpods to succeed the crop 

 sown in November. Carrots, sow Early Horn on a sloping 

 bank thoroughly prepared for the purpose. Peas, sow a good 

 breadth of any of the early sorts to succeed the November 

 sowing. Potatoes, Ashleaved Sidney and Early Manly may be 

 planted on a warm border ; sets of these may likewise be planted 

 in small pots for the purpose of being forwarded for pianting- 

 out in the open grouud. 



TLOWEE GAEDEN. 



As the weather is mild the planting of trees and 6hrubs may 

 be proceeded with, as may also the pruning where pruning is 



necessary. This is a good time to lay new turf, or repair turf 

 edgings. See that all half-hardy plants are secured against 

 severe weather. Regulate herbaceous plants, reduce Phloxes, 

 &c, where they require it, and replant them after well digging 

 the ground ; take care not to plant too thickly, and leave room 

 for more tender plants in summer. 



PETJIT GARDEN. 



If Tines on walls have not been already pruned the operation 

 should be no longer delayed. Protect Figs, if not already done. 

 The method generally adopted is to unnail the trees, tie them 

 in bundles together, wind some straw ropes around, and cover 

 them with mats. Regulate the heads of Filbert trees, and 

 remove suckers. 



STOVE. 



This is a good time to prune and regulate the heads of the 

 specimen plants. Many — such as Justicias, Poinsettias, Aphe- 

 landras, &c. — had better be cut down altogether, and kept dry 

 for a few weeks ; if the stock of Euphorbia jacquiniteflora is large 

 cut down some of them also, which will enable them to make 

 an early growth, and, consequently, come into flower earlier 

 next winter. Look at the Gloxinias and Gesneras on the dry 

 shelves, and set a few roots of each into growth to produce a- 

 succession of flowers. 



GREENHOTTSE AND CONSEEVATOEY. 



The conservatory should present a gay appearance now if the 

 forcing-pit has been well supplied. Examine daily every flower- 

 ing plant, remove every decaying flower as it appears, and 

 see that the foliage of Camellias, Rhododendrons, Oranges, and 

 similar plants is perfectly clean. The contrast produced by 

 the fine, clean, large leaves with the numerous blossoms at this 

 season especially gives increased interest to the houses, and 

 renders them doubly capable of yielding enjoyment. Keep the 

 Pelargoniums in the greenhouse in a quiescent Btate, give as 

 little water as possible — in fact, none, unless the plants show & 

 disposition to flag in the leaf. Abundance of air is requisite, 

 avoiding, however, cold currents, which are very liable to spot 

 the leaf when in a tender state through close confinement. Eeep 

 Cinerarias, Heliotropes, Calceolarias, and all softwooded plants 

 in the lightest part of the house and as near the glass as 

 possible ; Correas, Epacrises, Heaths to be placed on a bench 

 by themselves in the most airy part. This is a good time for 

 collecting the droppings of deer, sheep, and stall-fed oxen j 

 these and such like manures as can be procured should always 

 be had in store. 



FORCING-PIT. 



The principal point to attend to here is to keep the tempera- 

 ture, with a moderate supply of moisture at 60" at night. Let 

 the maximum be 65° ; and to keep up the supply of such plants 

 as can be forced successfully, and be made available in the con- 

 servatory either for decoration or perfume, bring in Persian and 

 common Lilacs, Azaleas, both the hardy and Chinese sorts, 

 Lily of the Valley, Hyacinths and other bulbs, Acacia armata, 

 Epaeris, hardy and Nepal Rhododendrons, Daphnes, Deutzias- 

 and the early sorts of Pelargoniums, Roses, &c. 



PITS AND EEAMES. 

 Examine your stock, and such plants as you are short of 

 should now be placed in a gentle heat for the purpose of exciting 

 their growth for cuttings — Verbenas, Petunias, Salvias, Helio- 

 tropes, Ageratums, Pelargoniums of sorts, and all other such 

 plants for filling beds and borders in summer. Prepare soil for 

 potting-off' store pots. Auriculas require great attention just 

 now. Care must be taken to remove decayed leaves, the surface- 

 soil to be kept stirred, and the plants allowed all the air possible, 

 bearing in mind that drip or too much moisture at this seas^;. 

 is their destruction. Polyanthuses to have all trusses of flowe-r; 

 removed, if good blooms are to be expected at the proper season. 

 Tulips are peeping up, and will require to be covered on frosty 

 nights with mats or hoops placed across the bed. Carnations 

 to have all the air possible ; if they are well established and of 

 a fine glaucous hue they require but little attention in compa- 

 rison with those that have been potted late ; bricks to be put at 

 each corner of the frame, raising the woodwork at least 4 inehes- 

 from the ground to secure good ventilation. Ranunculus-beds 

 to have a dressing of old cowdung and old leaves slightly 

 forked-in preparatory to planting in February. Examine Pink- 

 beds, and where the pipings have been raised by worms they 

 must be carefully fastened. W. Keake, 





