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JOUKNAL OF HOKTICDLTUIIE AND COTTAGE GAIiDSNES. 



: [ September 21, 1871. 



aequaintanee with the " Demon Nettle," as it is called in the 

 island of Timor, another habitat of this ferocious weed. These 

 dreaded guardians of the wilderness attain a stature of 10 or 

 12 feet, the stems about as thick as a human arm ; they are 

 equally shunned by man and beast, and wherever their dense 

 columns are viewed, a hasty retreat is the rule. Occasionally, 

 a high wind will carry the invisible particles and spicula of the 

 pest into a clearing, and soon inflict pains and ailments on the 

 naked squatter. I never feared the plant by daylight, having a 

 quick eye and a ready hand ; but it is on those occasions of 

 being benighted or losing your way in such trackless regions 

 that the danger falls on the wanderer sudden and unexpected. 

 With thick backwoods clothing and stout buffalo-hide gloves, 

 my face ran the one sole risk ; but it was otherwise with my 

 half-clad native followers and the laden elephants. The latter 

 wise creatures I really believe are guided by acute powers of 

 smell, and I frequently noticed they seemed to swerve from the 

 straight line of travel in alarm at something unseen, probably 

 this vegetation, as we moved along in the darkness, with merely 

 a course set by the stars or the compass ! 



The Soowy Nettle (Urtica nivea), is unarmed, still more 

 common, and attains the same size as the last-described species : 

 it is known as Bun Ehea, or the wild Khea, in contradistinction 

 to BoEHMEEiA, or truB Ehea, to which it is closely allied. My 

 eanoemen, woodsmen, fishermen, &c., all used this very valu- 

 able fibre ; after beating and washing off the pulp, we employed 

 it for almost all the purposes of hemp, but it is very far superior 

 for all aquatic purposes, as it does not readily rot by moisture 

 or exposure. 



Boehmeria, the Ehea of commerce, is largely cultivated in 

 the frontier villages, being the material of which the nets, 

 fishing lines, &e., of the country are manufactured. The fibre 

 is solely stripped off by women and children with the rudest 

 tool imaginable, and hitherto no machine has been found to 

 equal it for cleanness of produce, though, of course, a very slow 

 mode of manipulation. It is one of the most handy plants, 

 also one of the many economic products which were originally 

 introduced into north-east India by the Shans, a people of the 

 Siamese stock. The tool above mentioned merely consists of 

 an old knife blade and a flat piece of bamboo, held together in 

 the fingers to act as a plane. — Eos. — {English Mechanic and 

 World of Science.) 



THE REV. JOSHUA DIX. 

 It is with the most painful feelings that we have to record 

 the decease of the Eev. Joshua Dix, M.A., which took place at 

 Langley, near Slough, on the 12th inst. Long a member of 

 the Council of the Eoyal Horticultural Society, ever taking an 

 active interest in horticulture, and especially in its floricultural 

 branch, his sympathies were too wide to be restricted to this 

 one branch alone, and as a member of the Council of the 

 Society, and as the first Chairman of the Floral Committee, we 

 have reason to believe it was through his iofluence that much 

 of the useful work which of late years has been carried out by 

 the Society was undertaken. As a member of Council and as 

 Chairman of the Floral Committee, he had at once an oppor- 

 tunity of rendering invaluable service to the Society by repre- 

 senting in the proper quarter any misunderstanding that may 

 have arisen between the governing body and the practical ele- 

 ment of the Society. His uniform courtesy and geniality 

 endeared him to all who had the privilege of his acquaintance, 

 and the active members of the Society will long cherish the 

 remembrance of the pleasant days when Mr. Dix laboured in 

 the midst of them. 



ArTBK the meetings of the Committees of the Eoyal Horti- 

 cultural Society yesterday for ordinary business, they adjourned 

 to initiate a memorial to the memory of the late Eev. Joshua 

 Dix. It was proposed by the Eev. H. H. Dombrain, and se- 

 conded by Dr. Hogg, that a portrait of the Eev. Joshua Dix be 

 procured, and, with the permission of the Connci], suspended 

 in the Council-room of the Eoyal Horticultural Society, at 

 South Kensington. A subscription list was opened in the 

 loom, and upwards of £20 was subscribed. Due publicity will 

 be given to the subject, and it is hoped that all who knew Mr. 

 Dix, and valued the work he has done for horticulture, will aid 

 jn this laudable object. 



Influence of the Scion upon Stock in Inducing Yi- 

 SlEGATioN. — A well-marked illustration of this has recently 

 heen noticed by ns at Mr. I^oble's nursery at Sauningdale. 



The Golden-variegated Weeping Mountain Ash, two years 

 grafted, standard high, on the common Mountain Ash (Pyrue- 

 Aucuparia), had in four separate cases thrown out from th& 

 stock variegated shoots — one from the very base close to the- 

 ground, and the others about half-way up, about 3 feet or 4feet 

 from the base. The variegation was whiter than that of the 

 graft, and seemed to be first developed along the midrib of the 

 leaflets, some leaves being only affected in this way, while 

 others had the colour also developed along the course of ilaei- 

 main veins. — [Florist and Nomologist). 



EUCHAEIS AMAZONICA CULTURE. 



The Eucharis amazonica is one of those plants which amply 

 repay all the attention bestowed upon them. When in bloom,, 

 who does not admire their snow-white flowers, contrasting so- 

 well with the fine glaucous foliage when in good health ? Oner 

 of its greatest recommendations is, that it can be had in flower 

 at any time by a little forethought and attention to its growth.. 

 We find them very useful to come in about Christmas and the 

 spring months. Now is a good time to look them over and see 

 if any require fresh potting ; if so, let it be done at once, care- 

 fully shaking out the bulbs, as the roots are easily broken off.. 

 Arrange the bulbs according to their sizes, putting the large 

 ones into their flowering-pots at once, but not too many bulbs 

 of the largest size in one pot ; if too close together the foliage 

 has not room to fully develope, and the flowers suffer. The- 

 smaller ones, being put into small pots, will require a shift 

 whenever the roots appear at the side of the pots. This lot 

 can be grown on in autumn — a month or six weeks later than 

 the large ones — and will make a flne succession of bloom the 

 following spring. We find a good fibry loam, chopped up 

 rather rough, with a good quantity of old Mushroom dung, 

 sifted through a fine sieve, with a sprinkling of silver sand 

 well mixed, suits them well. In potting, great care should- 

 be taken to have the pots well drained, as they are very 

 impatient of stagnant water, although, when growing, they 

 delight in plenty of moisture both at the roots and in the at- 

 mosphere. 



After potting they should be placed where they can have a 

 temperature of from 65° to 70° at night, with a rise of 16° by 

 day. They are all the better of a little shade on bright days„ 

 After they are in full growth a little manure water may be given 

 with advantage ; and if a little soot is mixed with the above 

 water, it gives the foliage a brighter appearance. Grow them- 

 on in this temperature until about the middle or end of Sep- 

 tember, the smaller bulbs later, as recommended before, and 

 gradually harden them off until they can stand in a tempera- 

 ture of from 50° to 55°. If there is not much room at com.- 

 mand, lay them on their sides under a stage where they can 

 have the benefit of light. Here they may remain for about sis. 

 weeks, giving little or no water, but syringing them well every 

 day. When wanted to start, let them be taken to the potting- 

 bench, examine the drainage, give them a rich top-dresfing ; if 

 found to be rather dry, place them in a bucket of tepid water 

 until the ball is thoroughly wet. By plunging the pots in a 

 bottom heat of 80°, with top heat at from 60° to 65°, attending 

 to them well with water both at the roots and syringing fre- 

 quently through the day, it properly treated before, they will 

 soon begin to throw up their flower stems. We have had 

 plants in bloom which stood for four and five weeks in an 

 entrance-hall in the month of January. — [The Gardener.) 



PROTECTING FRUIT FROM WASPS. 

 Wasps and large blue flies have been troublesome within the- 

 last fortnight. Before that we did not see a wasp without chase- 

 being given, and in most cases he was caught. Whenever Ihey 

 show themselves earlier, the true policy is to give them tempt- 

 ing bottles to go into and drown themselves in the sweet rich 

 liquid. When once their feet are wet and their wings drenched 

 they are powerless to ascend by a smooth glass surface. 

 When they come on us so suddenly there is little chance of 

 enticing them when comparatively few in numbers, though 

 such bottles will help to thin them. We have had as yet no- 

 opportunity of testing the mode of killing them advertised in 

 our pages. For a simple trap nothing is better than two- 

 hand-lights, the lower one set on four bricks, with a bole or- 

 two made in the apex of the glass; the upper glass is set 

 on the top of the lower one, and the space between carefully 

 stuffed with moss, and covered with sand.; or stiff clay may ho- 

 used. A saucer with sweet liquor and decaying fruit is placedli 

 in the centre of the lower glass. Wasps and large flies aooEi 



