Marcli 80, 1871. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOKTICOLTDKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



231 



twenty to thirty worms from one trap, and in this way destroyed 

 hundreds weekly. I know of nothing so fatal to them as 

 plenty of these traps and a strong thumb nail. — C. C. E. 



P.S. — Many may be caught feeding on the roots of the com- 

 mon Dandelion. 



HOP CULTIVATION FOR ORNAMENT AND USE. 



No. 3. 



Insects and Diseases. — No plant with which I am ac- 

 •quainted so often falls a prey to the attacks of enemies as the 

 Hop, for frequently the set has scarcely been put in the ground 

 ere the zoireworms find it out, and injure if not kill it. As a 

 preventive, a Potato is often cut in two, placed in the ground 

 near the set, and examined frequently for the larvaa, which 

 adhere to it in preference to the Hop. 



A more formidable enemy attacks the plant when its shoots 

 are emerging from the ground ; it is tlte Flea, or jumper beetle, 

 which, by eating into the young leaves and shoots, does much 

 liarm. Some growers endeavour to catch it, by using a common 

 glass bottle with a funnel in it, and sweeping the fleas from the 

 plant with a hand brush or a fowl's wing. They thus catch a 

 large number, as the insects, when once in, cannot easily escape 

 from the bottle. Making the ground fine round the hill also 

 deprives them of the shelter of the rough lumps, and when the 

 plant has fairly made a start up the poles, it is usually safe. 



A worse enemy comes next — the Aphis, or fly, which has on 

 many occasions entirely destroyed every prospect of a crop. 

 This makes its appearance, more or less, every year, usually 

 from the middle to the end of May. It begins on the under 

 side of the young leaves near the top of the plant, and follows 

 up the growth as it is made, sucking the juices out of the 

 foliage and stem, and leaving young in the shape of " lice " or 

 " nits," as they are called, beneath every leaf, their excrements 

 creating that blackness which is often called blight. Honey- 

 dew is also created by the same means. The plant, if vigorous, 

 will for a time struggle against the attack, and if the weather 

 be dull it will outlive it, but if a dry, hot, sunny period set in, 

 then comes a trying time. The plant very often seems to be- 

 come scorched, further hopes of a crop being then out of the 

 •question, and, on the other hand, it sometimes recovers in a 

 remarkable manner, and a fair crop is the result. This evil 

 was one which until recently was supposed to be beyond the 

 control of the grower ; but the exertions of a few planters in 

 Sent have certainly given a stimulus to others, and the means 

 adopted to counteract this formidable foe deserve to be noticed 

 by all gardeners who have green fly to contend with. 



It is unnecessary to describe in a gardening paper the mis- 

 chief which aphides are capable of iuflicring; Peach walls as 

 well as Hop plantations too often experience their destructive 

 powers. The limited area of the Peach wall often enables the 

 grower to devote the necessary attention towards arresting the 

 progress of the evil, but a hundred acres of Hops are more diffi- 

 •cult to manage ; nevertheless, of late years the attempt has 

 been made, and the crop in many instances has been saved. 



Before entering into the details of the mode of cure, I will 

 state the opinion of Hop-growers regarding this persistent 

 ■snemy, which in some respects differs considerably from the 

 aphis, so troublesome to the gardener — the Hop-grower affirms 

 that however severe the blight of aphis may have been one 

 season, the plant is rarely, if ever, attacked in the same way in 

 the next year. This is certainly not the case with the Peach 

 tree, which is often persecuted to death ; but I am not sure 

 whether the Hop-grower's once-passive treatment of his plants 

 did not tend more to prevent the recurrence of the evil in 

 the following year than the activity of the gardener. The 

 latter, in all probability, goes over his trees several times, 

 removing all curled and affected leaves, while the Hop-grower 

 iet his plants alone ; and although the leaves were so blackened, 

 shrivelled, and deformed as to scarcely resemble leaves, I be- 

 lieve they still fulfilled the office of supplying the root with 

 that food which foliage only has the power of giving. The 

 Hop plant when in an insect-ridden or diseased state was never 

 cut down till much later in the season than it would otherwise 

 have been, so that, whatever semblance of leaves there might 

 be left, they could do their duty to the last. I therefore par- 

 ticularly call the attention of gardeners to this fact, and ask 

 them whether they do not too hastily condemn and remove the 

 diseased part of a plant before it ought to be taken off, especially 

 in the case of various exotics, thus weakening the plant, and 

 rendering it likely to be attacked again. 



The day, however, of allowing the fly to ran its course has 



passed by, and expensive and energetic remedial measures 

 are now adopted by the bulk of growers where necessary; 

 neither must Hop-growers be harshly censured for not having 

 done so sooner, for peculiar features in the Hop trade deterred 

 them. The buyers of Hops imposed certain rules which checked 

 experiment ; indeed they may be said to have tyrannised over 

 the grower, and some years ago a gentleman who, in order to 

 counteract the effects of threatened mildew, had the temerity 

 to break through the laws which that body thought fit to im- 

 pose, found himself mulcted in several thousands of pounds by 

 a lawsuit which followed the sale of his crop. Fortunately the 

 light that was thrown on the matter at the time, and since, has 

 partly removed the oppression of which the grower had just 

 cause to complain, and he can now use what remedy he likes 

 to prevent the scourge of aphides, instead of being obliged, as 

 he formerly was, to trust solely to that most useful natural one, 

 the Fhj Golding, or Ladyhird as it is sometimes called, which 

 is found in Kent in much greater numbers than elsewhere ; and 

 being the Hop-grower's especial friend, it is, like the favoured 

 birds or animals of some eastern countries, never killed on any 

 account by him or his family. I fear the same consideration 

 is not shown them by housewives, whose window-frames, &o., 

 are often lined with them in autumn. Their utility in destroy- 

 ing the fly is unquestionable, and the abundance or otherwise 

 of fly goldings in spring is often taken as a token of the crop ; 

 but there have been seasons when the severity of the attack of 

 aphis was beyond the power of the ladybird to combat, and a 

 failure, or next to total failure, was the result. Several years 

 might be mentioned as being more fraught with blight than 

 others, and there have been seasons when the Hop plant has 

 recovered from the attack, and a moderate crop followed almost 

 unexpectedly ; yet unless this change takes place by the 20 th 

 of July it is thought too late to do any good that season. The 

 period alluded to is the turning point, as it is called. 



Before any attempt was made on the part of the Hop-growers 

 to prevent the ravages of the aphis, attention had been drawn 

 to another evil of equal extent, and one for which, unforta- . 

 nately, there did not seem to be any natural antidote like the 

 ladybird or fly golding ; this was the Mildew, or what in local 

 phrase is called the mould. This enemy does not attack the 

 Hop till much later in the season, when the plant begins to 

 show flower, or burr, when mildew is suddenly perceived. Every 

 plant, healthy and vigorous as well as weak, is alike attacked ; 

 and as it attacks the Hop itself, and more especially the stalk 

 which supports it, the growth of the crop is checked, and in- 

 stead of swelling, as it otherwise would have done, it attains 

 no more than one-fourth of its size, being often not worth pick- 

 ing. The mould on Hops and the mildew on the Vine are re- 

 markably alike, only the Vine mildew is more under the com- 

 mand of the grower. The severe losses caused by the Hop 

 mildew, some grounds being entirely useless year after year, 

 led to experiments with sulphur, but in too many cases when it 

 was first applied it was used too late to be of service, and the 

 outcry raised by the Hop-merchants prevented many from 

 employing it. At last some spirited individuals called public 

 attention to it, and challenged those who asserted it was in- 

 jurious to Hops for brewing purposes to prove their views. 

 The lawsuit above alluded to, although unfortunate to the 

 party engaged in it, enlightened the public on the matter, and 

 experiments with sulphur became common. It soon became 

 evident that its influence in arresting the progress of the mould 

 was so important, that its use is now general. While all this 

 was going on, the attacks from the aphis were as numerous as 

 ever, and it was found that the dusting with sulphur for the 

 mildew was of no avail in arresting the progress of the fly; 

 on the contrary, many affirm that the fly thrives and fattens 

 amongst the sulphur. Here, then, is another pUl for our gar- 

 dening friends to digest, and the question arises, Are we justi- 

 fied in mixing sulphur with anything that is intended to kill 

 greenfly? Does the sulphur neutralise the effects ? However 

 this may be in the Hop garden, it is thought the best practice 

 to destroy the fly first, and then apply the sulphur. — J. Eobson, 



Magnifioent Ehododendkon. — In the centre of the great con- 

 servatory of the Kojal Horticulttiral Society there stands at this 

 moment what is probably the most magnificent floral object that has 

 ever been beheld in Europe. This consists of a plant, or we should 

 rather call it a tree, for it is upwards of 20 feet hiph, of the old 

 Rhododendron arboreum which is now covered with innnmerable 

 trusses of deep blood red flowers, realising all that the late Dr. 

 Wallich ever wrote of the glorious effect produced by it on the northern 

 s!o;)es of the Himalaya, where vast tracts are entirely covered with 



