April 28, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTXAGE GARDENER. 



311 



upwards of two hundred ; I say, who, with pny activity of mind, 

 would not have at once asked himself— If one species of fruit 

 tree can be thus cultivated with success, why should not all 

 kinds? 



Again : besides Orange trees, the observing traveller may Bee 

 in all parts of the Continent, except the extreme south, Pome- 

 granates, Loquats, Bays, Laurustinuses, Myrtles, and many 

 others, all of great age, but still full of health and vigour, and 

 all growing in tubs, and kept in luxuriant growth by surface- 

 dressings. 



The truth is, there is no limit to this mode of culture. Potted 

 fruit trees seem to increase in health as they increase in years. 

 My Apricot trees in pots, some of them now twelve years old, are 

 more robust and fruitful than ever ; and in the year 1883, when 

 they are being viewed, the young gardener of that day will say, 

 " Is it possible that this mode of culture was objected to by men 

 of a decent calibre of intellect ? " aud they will surely believe 

 that Jasper Standstill, M.P. for Dulltown, had numerous sup- 

 porters among the gardeners of 1863. 



I must, however, candidly confess that I fully excuse Messrs. 

 Keane & Co. for their peculiar mode of thinking. I have 

 imagined myself to be a thoroughbred and competent gardener, 

 and I have, in imagination, placed myself in what is called a 

 first-class place ; walls covered with well-trained trees ; every 

 shoot in its place, and all under my sole direction. Well, in 

 the course of time, the system seeming quite perfect, my mind 

 becomes so thoroughly imbued that I listen to a plan of growing 

 Peach trees as bushes, pyramids, and half-standards, without 

 training them flat to a wall or a trellis, as some bind of romance 

 (like Dana's adventures in Marquesas, truth-like, but not true), 

 for I find it impossible to tolerate the idea of growing Peaches 

 without crucifying the trees against walls. Such I believe to be 

 the mode of thinking of many good and clever men : their walls 

 have enclosed their gardens and their minds, so that their 

 gardens have been to them a sort of happy valley, in which, if 

 Johnson could have known them, he would have placed Rasselas. 



I hope I have shown that there is really no credit due to the 

 originator of orchard-houses. The idea is hundreds of years old, 

 and he must have been very dull not to have caught it up on 

 the continent. The only wonder is, that such men as Mr. 

 Keane, Mr. Robson, and many others were not in the field 

 before him. It seems almost incredible that they should have 

 Been trees cultivated in pots and tubs by surface-dressings for 

 years and years, and yet not have promptly extended the system 

 to all kinds of fruit trees. 



The author of the " Orchard-House," therefore, may think 

 himself a fortunate man to have escaped such rivalry ; for who 

 knows, the book instead of now being on the eve of its eleventh 

 edition (eleventh thousand), would, perhaps, after the first have 

 been forgotten ? 



Mr. Keane can, perhaps, inform us if any pamphlets were 

 published on Polmaise heating and Vine-coiling, and what success 

 they had. I only seem to remember those matters as the little 

 charlatanisms of the day. I have, in common with many others, 

 many thanks to render to Mr. Keane for his " Out-door Gar- 

 dening," a capital book which is always on my table, and without 

 which I should not know when to sow Cabbages or even Spinach. 



I observe that Mr. Keane has used a famous political phrase — 

 coup d'etat. This is, undoubtedly, a clerical error ; he intended 

 to have written coup d'eclat, which is much more apposite. 

 Following Mr. Keane's example I must conclude with a doggrel 

 rhyme — 



" Whene'er you write on knife or spade, 

 Confine yourself unto your trade." 



-R.,ofS. 



BLOWER DROPPINGS. 



Some time ago I read a question in this Journal about the 

 qualities of what goes here by the above name. Blower 

 droppings are the refuse of Cotton seeds and scales of Cotton 

 seeds, along with other vegetable substances, which come from 

 the Cotton in its first process of manufacture. I have used 

 much of it, and know many more in this neighbourhood who 

 have used it rather extensively. 



One friend says, that mixed with a little soil and a good layer 

 of it put under the mixture, it will grow better Early Radishes 

 than anything else. Another friend, who is no mean gardener, 

 says it is equal to cocoa-nut fibre refuse, and he has tried both. 



I have used it in a mixture of soil, ma xure, and sand, in 



about equal quantities, and I find it very good for Stocks, 

 Asters, and Calceolarias. Used half-and-half with manure, it 

 makes a first-rate compost for growing Celery. 



It is very plentiful about here at present, on account of there 

 being so much Surat Cotton used at such mills as are working. 



It heats well, but does not retain its heat a long time. 



I have a farmer friend, who says that, mixed with manure, it 

 will produce twice as much grass as manure will by itself. 



It can be had cheap enough, and I must say it is very useful 

 in any garden, especially where the soil is short of vegetable 

 matter. — John Hague, Gardener, Q-ridby Lodge, Ashton-under- 

 Lyne. 



THE BROWN PEACH APHIS. 



Week I inclined to make an assertion without having made 

 use of my eyes to gain experience, as too many writers aTe apt 

 to do, I should say this aphis must be a recent importation, but 

 it has, very probably, been with us a long time. Of late years 

 the cultivation of Peach trees under glass has increased to an 

 enormous extent, and this species of aphis seems to have in- 

 creased in proportion. 



It differs from the Peach aphis of the various works on gar- 

 dening, for that is described as being green ; and another dif- 

 ference exists — the green aphis attacks the young shoots in spring 

 and summer only, but our brown enemy is often found on the 

 bare young shoots of the Peach tree in November and December, 

 and this was why the Gishuvst compound was recommended as 

 a winter-dressing. It is certainly a most effectual remedy, and 

 kills the aphides and their eggs ; but owing either to its being 

 made of different degrees of strength, or from some other cause, 

 it has undoubtedly been occasionally productive of mischief in 

 weakening the blossom-buds and causing them to drop off: much 

 caution should, therefore, be used in applying it. In 1858 and 

 1859, 6 ozs. to the gallon of soft water were infused, and the 

 mixture was applied freely. Its effect as an aphiB-killer was 

 excellent, for not an aphis or an egg was left, and the trees were 

 clean all through the ensuing summer ; but in December, 1860, 

 and again in the same month iu 1861, with an infusion of the 

 same strength, the trees remained perfectly clean, but a large 

 number of blossom-buds dropped off: whether this was owing 

 to any inequality in the strength of the compound or from what 

 other cause I have never yet been able to understand. It shows, 

 however, that caution should be used in applying this excellent 

 aphis-killer. 



The month of December, when the buds are quite dormant, is 

 the most advisable season for washing Peach trees under glass 

 with it, and 4 ozs. to the gallon of water the proper strength. 

 Last December, 1862, my trees were so clean and healthy that I 

 did not dress them as usual with the compound. Their blossoms 

 this spring have been strong and beautiful, and have set well, 

 but within the last fortnight the brown aphis has made its ap- 

 pearance on many trees. Its increase, as stated by Mr. Fish, is 

 almost magical ; for in one night a shoot on which none could 

 be discovered the day previous will be a brown mass of aphides. 



I inquired to-day of the young man who has charge of my 

 large orchard-house, 100 feet by 24, in which there are some 

 hundreds of Peach trees, if he could keep the brown aphis down 

 without fumigation. He said, " Yes, by looking over the trees 

 rigidly." The following is the remedy applied — it is most satis- 

 factory, and has not the least injurious effect either on the young 

 leaves or young fruit — 4 ozs. of quassia chips boiled ten minutes 

 in a gallon of soft water, and while cooling dissolve in it 4 ozs. of 

 soft soap ; the mixture applied with a small painter's brush. 

 So efficacious was this found last year on trees out of doors 

 infested with aphides, particularly Plums and Cherries, that this 

 season I have ordered 56 lbs. of quassia chips from a wholesale 

 druggist. As Mr. Pish suggests, a few lines on the natural 

 history of this apparently new species of aphis would be of 

 much interest. — T. R. 



The Season in the Lothians. — What a splendid spring 

 we have had here ! Apricots on open wall are as big as pigeon 

 eggs. — D. Thomson, Archerfleld. 



EABLr Potatoes fboh Cobnwaix. — Several parties are now 

 (April 23) busily eDgaged drawing (digging-up) Potatoes in 

 the neighbourhood of Penzance for the London market, and the 

 crop is said to be above the average. — W. P., Camiovrne. 



