254 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[April 7, 1863. 



almost suffocated, the door has to be opened aB, half choked, he 

 leaves probably before the work is complete. There is another 

 objection : the smoke hangs about a person's dress, while the 

 smell does not improve by age, and lasts for several days. To be 

 inside the house during the operation is by no means necessary, 

 as I have always found : consequently, I never use the ordinary 

 famigating-bellows and dislike them, although some are so firmly 

 attached to them as to prefer them to every other appliance for 

 fumigating. 



Now, the various ways and means of fumigating which have 

 some under my own immediate observation convince me that 

 more depends upon the way in which the smoke is applied, 

 and on adapting the quantity to the space to be fumigated, than 

 on the material itself. I have used the different sorts of tobacco 

 and also tobacco paper, and find that nothing belter could be 

 wished ; yet one is no better than the other. I once wished to 

 try the pastils, but at the nursery where I applied for them they 

 said they had not any at the time, and that their experience of 

 them was that they destroyed everything but the insects. How 

 true this was I had no opportunity of proving. I have heard 

 from those who have tried them that they are unsafe ; but, as I 

 mever take the bare word of others in such matters, having known 

 several instances of plants being killed or injured, as was alleged, 

 •with bad tobacco or tobacco paper, but in reality, as I am pretty 

 certain, through the quantity being disproportioned to the space, 

 I can, therefore, say nothing in their favour or otherwise. With 

 regard to tobacco and tobacco paper, I have used both in several 

 different ways ; and if I have found the leaves of plants marked 

 or the insects not killed, I blame myself, and not the material, 

 for that is entirely blameless. 



In the first place, it is alwayB best — at least, I have found it 

 so — to fumigate towards night, when the house is shut up and 

 there is no fear of the sun shining on it, and then, as it has been 

 often recommended, it is better to smoke two nights in succession 

 than to depend on one fumigation, especially when it is for 

 thrips, because it takes a strong dose to kill these all at once, 

 and the quantity of smoke necessary to do so may injure the 

 3>]ants; but when the insects have had a weaker dose it makes 

 them sick, and before they have recovered, a similar dose the 

 following night settles them. 



It is, then, worth while to take the measure of the enclosed 

 space, and find out, if possible, just the exact quantity of tobacco 

 or paper that will give the required quantity of smoke. This is 

 advisable, both on the score of economy and to 6ave time and 

 trouble in doing the work effectually. There is more tobacco 

 •wasted through doing the work ineffectually than many would 

 helieve. I have been surprised myself when told that 7 or 8 lbs. 

 of tobacco had been used, or rather misused, for smoking two 

 small houses within three weeks, and this in cases where the 

 operators were supposed to understand the matter. I have 

 found half a pound of tobacco, or the same weight of paper, 

 quite sufficient for a house 30 feet long by 16 wide and 9 (eet in 

 height; and this" made into two fumigations, with, perhaps, 

 a trifle the most at (he last performance. A pit or frame will 

 srequire much less, for it must be remembered that the height 

 makes a great difference in the quantity of material requisite ; 

 for the farther the plants are from the roof the denser the smoke 

 should be. In a pit the plants are generally within a few inches 

 of the glass, and it is in such structures that plants are generally 

 injured from an over-strong application of smoke. It is, there- 

 fore, advisable to use but a very small quantity of tobacco in 

 smoking pits and frames, and to increase the quantity if the dose 

 m fotmd ineffectual. 



In applying the smoke, the plan I generally prefer is to take a 

 common flower-pot— a 32 size is very convenient — place it on a 

 larger one that stands on the ground inverted, so that the 

 apertures of both are clear for the draught of air. Put in the 

 upper one a few pieces of charcoal ignited, and when they are 

 thoroughly slight tear up some brown paper and put in, and 

 then put on the tobacco or tobacco paper, which will consume 

 gradually and give out a good smoke. Another plan I have 

 generally adopted with regard to small houses, frames, &c, is to 

 take some coarse brown paper, steep it in a solution of saltpetre, 

 dry it, then spread out the tobacco on pieces of 6 inches or a foot 

 square, roll both together, and tie with twine or matting. Then 

 suspend by one end and light the other; let two or three of 

 these be lighted according to the size of the house or pit, and let 

 them smoulder. If properly done, this will be found as clean 

 and effectual a method of fumigating as need be. 



E. CHnrr. 



RHODODENDRON CULTURE. 



In your article on the above subject in your Number for the 

 24th ult., I was surprised to find it mentioned that the Sikkim 

 Rhododendron ciliatum did not succeed well out of doors. 

 With us, about 550 feet above the level of the sea, it, with 

 several others of its class, grows and blooms far better outside 

 than in pots in the conservatory. I may instance Ealconeri, 

 fulgenB, Thomsoni, Hookeri, besides the three arboreums, scarlet, 

 rose, and white, Russellianum, &c, as sorts that have been out 

 here for from five to eight years, and are growing luxuriantly, 

 but have not all flowered as yet. One, ciliatum, has been out 

 thirteen years, and is now covered with bloom, being about 

 2| feet high and more than 3 feet in diameter ; I enclose a flower 

 and a leaf of it; the latter is, I think, double the size I have 

 ever seen the foliage of it on house plants. 



With respect to hybridising generally I do not entirely agra$ 

 with Mr. Robson. I have found the best results from avoiding 

 too much similarity between the parent plants ; for instance, in 

 crossing two Euchsias — say Clio and Queen of Hanover, the 

 progeny, from seventy to eighty plants, were wretched, with 

 leaves like microphylla, and worthless flowers; while in crossing 

 a dark and light variety the progeny were often good, while some 

 took after the one parent and some after the other. 



Recollecting that the original Euchsias gracilis, globosa, &c, 

 which now grow 7 feet high outside, were once considered green- 

 house plants, E planted-out several of the improved varieties 

 about six years since, which I find do nearly as well as the 

 common sorts. For instance : Venus di Medici in the open 

 ground is about 3 feet high now and as much in diameter. 

 Some are still killed to the ground in a hard winter, but come 

 up again strong before the 1st of April, and are beautiful objects 

 in the flower garden. — H. H. Glekyikde, 



SENSATION NAMES. 



Peat give a little wholesome advice to some of your con- 

 tributors and advertisers with regard to the naming of novelties, 

 &c. Our nervous system had scarcely recovered itself from the 

 weekly attacks of the "Roaring Lion Strawberry" when we 

 were as much astonished, as we had been terrified before, by the 

 announcement of the " Good- Gracious Polyanthus." Some of 

 your readers, if we recollect rightly, were rather shocked at the 

 last-named epithet ; but we are free to confess we were not 

 morally sensitive on the point, but merely regarded the name as 

 simply ridiculous. We have, however, been slightly startled by 

 the sudden appearance in your No. 104 of the " Phantom 

 Bouquet," the subject of which is a review of a book of that 

 name on the art of skeletonising leaves, &c. The author has, 

 probably, taken a leaf out of Mr. Home's book, or accompanied 

 that spirited individual in an aerial exploit, hovering occasionally 

 over garden rubbish-heaps, and holding communion with de- 

 parted vegetation. How this may be we know not, but this we 

 know, that it would be well to check the prevailing taste for 

 such absurdities; and if you would be instrumental in doing this 

 you would confer a favour on the majority of your readers, and 

 especially — R. T. E., Shrewsbury. 



THE WARDEN OE WINCHESTER'S GARDEN. 



The readers of The Jofenal op Hortiotltube are no 

 strangers to this garden, or at any rate to its gardener, for Mr. 

 Weaver has oftentimes given them the benefit of his lengthened 

 experience and ripened judgment ; and as I heard much of him 

 from a valued friend and earnest horticulturist, I determined on 

 a late visit to the old cathedral city of William of Wykeham to 

 pay him a visit. And although March is but a poor month for 

 seeing gardens, even though after a mild winter, I was, as I 

 was assured I should be, most pleased with all I saw and heard ; 

 and perhaps a few reminiscences may not be uninteresting to 

 your readers. 



When I speak of the Warden's garden, it should be borne in 

 mind that we are not talking of one with acres of glass, miles 

 of hot-water pipes, and with a mint of money at command to 

 meet all the requirements of a first-rate place. The motto of 

 the Wardens seems to be utile et dulee — a little more of the 

 former than the latter. The place is not a show place, but 

 an ordinary quiet but pretty garden, having the charm of a fine 

 lawn and a nice stream of water; giving one, perhaps the notion 



