270 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ April 13, 1871. 



not seen ; indeed, they are fat, sleeky fellows, more like half- 

 grown rabbits than rats. 



The Hanoverian rat is a perfect gourmand. Nothing comes 

 amisa — flesh raw or cooked, grain, Peas hard as bullets, and 

 Peas softened by moisture and just sprouting ; and his dex- 

 terity is shown in ascending Pea sticks, and nibbling ofi the 

 pods, taking them to a place where he can eat them at leisure. 

 Greens, especially young Cauliflower plants, he eats to the 

 stump, and salads are his delight. Lettuces being cut over as if 

 he were showing how to cut Mustard and Cress. To the juice 

 of the Vine many know to their cost his liking, and to Grapes 

 he is partial ; mounting the Vines he makes a point of more 

 than tasting, and generally prefers the Muscats ; of the Black 

 Muscat of Alexandria, or Muscat Hamburgh, he is peculiarly 

 fond. Apples and Pears please him well ; and Strawberries 

 must have been studied, for Black Princes are passed over, but 

 not so anything with the Queen flavour. Of his cunning I 

 could say much, of his skill more, while his sagacity is great. 



Eats and mice have taken the whole of four rows of Peas 

 well red-leaded before sowing, and what is most remarkable 

 iave selected for their early depredations the wrinkled Marrows. 

 They evidently know the flavour of Peas, having left early sorts 

 until the last. Tom Thumb under walls, and Dickson's First 

 and Best, they did not touch so long as there was a row of 

 wrinkled Marrows left. Last year, as already stated, they took 

 the Peas as soon as sown, and some of the rats I saw crawling 

 about during the day apparently repenting of what they had 

 eaten in such haste ; but this year they wait until the radicle 

 is from 1 to li inch long, and the plumule commencing its 

 upward journey ; then, and not till then, do they take the Peas, 

 leaving the outer red-leaded covering behind as evidence of their 

 skill in manipulation, indicating that they know what is in- 

 jurious to them as well as I do, or, at least, letting me see that 

 they have found out a way of obtaining what they want without 

 partaking of the repast I had provided for them. If I set traps 

 in the rows they take all the Peas except where the traps are, 

 being very careful not to put their feet on the " table." There- 

 fore, the older the wiser they are. The same is true of mice; 

 traps they will not take, and newly red-leaded Peas they will 

 not eat except when the radicle is taking hold of the soil, then 

 they split the Peas. 



Against the mice our cat does excellent service, and I have 

 -hope, for I occasionally hear an owl. Last summer we had an 

 ally ; weasels came to our aid, but by accident they have come 

 to their end, being caught in the traps set not for them but the 

 rats. It was pleasing to see them running about, stopping 

 every now and then to listen, advancing if no noise, retreating 

 if anything betokened danger. It was especially gratifying, for I 

 knew they were enemies of the rat. Weasels and owls are a 

 -boon to any gardener. They injure nothing belonging to his 

 charge, and it is a pity we do not find such helpers preserved. 

 Passing over such considerations, however, I have come to the 

 conclusion, that though I have hitherto found red lead a de- 

 ierrent, it is not infallible against rats and mice. They are too 

 sunning for traps, know how to split Peas, and have proved 

 proof against poison so called, eating enough to kill all there 

 were. But stUl, on they come. Query, Is there any poison 

 rats and mice will take when food is plentiful and when it is 

 scarce? The chemist must tell. — G. Aebet. 



VERONICA CHAJNLEDRYS. 



I THINE that this is a charming British plant, and as far as 

 I can see, the whole family of Veronica are inclined to give us 

 something in the way of variegation. I have four varieties of 

 Veronica Chamiedrys — namely, three Kentish, and one which I 

 found in Buckinghamshire last autumn. Two of the varieties 

 from Kent are inconstant, but one of a self colour — of a creamy 

 yellow tint — is very pretty in the spring, and I think it is the 

 most striking of the variegated forms of Veronica Chamo;drys. 

 It is of the easiest propagation, and is at its best in March and 

 April. When better known this plant must become a favourite. 

 Cuttings taken in November, seven or eight of them placed in 

 a 48.sized flower pot, struck in a cold frame, and planted out 

 entire in February, will make a very attractive edging for a 

 spring flower border, or may be planted out in patches in the 

 mixed herbaceous border. This Veronica loses its variegation 

 during the summer, but regains it during the autumn and 

 winter. There is also a very pretty white- margined variety in 

 the nursery trade, but in the mass the self-coloured kind beats 

 it by far, particularly at a short distance. 



I hope young gardeners will study Britioh botany when they 



are out on their evening walks. There is nothing very diflicnlt 

 about it. Collect, name, and mount, say, two hundred species 

 during each season ; for a beginner dried plants are much better 

 to refer to than trusting to memory or even coloured engravings, 

 for good engravings, well coloured, are very expensive, and gene- 

 rally out of the reach of the ordinary run of young gardeners. 

 — W. E. 



HOP CULTIVATION FOK ORNAMENT AND USE. 



No. 4. 



The antidote to the mildew was parent to one for the aphis. 

 An active body of intelligent and wealthy individuals like the 

 Hop-growers, were not likely to sit down quietly and see their 

 hopes blighted year after year ; and as they had by dint of 

 perseverance gained their point with the Chancellor of the 

 Exchequer in freeing Hops from the imposts of the Excise, 

 they tried to obtain tobacco duty free for the purpose of de- 

 stroying green fly, and to a certain extent succeeded. In the 

 meantime, however, the spirit of inquiry was aroused, and 

 experiments were made. Soft soap was a likely ingredient to be 

 distasteful to the aphis, if not fatal to it, and trial was made by 

 mixing it with tobacco ; the result being satisfactory, smaller 

 quantities of the dearer article were used, until it was found 

 that soft soap alone answered the purpose, and as the duty-free 

 tobacco did not act well as an addition to the soft soap, and 

 was still more inconvenient when employed alone, its use has 

 been in a great measure abandoned. The demand for soft 

 soap, especially in 1869, was so great that it is not unlikely to 

 influence the price in future years; thousands of casks of it 

 were used and with good results, for, as a Hop-grower justly 

 observed to me many years ago, that if he did not save his 

 crop the season he dressed his plants, still by keepiug them 

 healthy he felt he was doing his best to secure a crop in the 

 next year, and this has often been the case. Timely and 

 judicious washings, however, have not unfrequently been re- 

 warded with a fair crop the same season, where, in the absence 

 of such measures, a total blank would have been the result. 



I have stated that a season rarely occurs in which the aphis 

 does not make its appearance more or less ; if the insects are 

 only in moderate numbers and the ladybirds are about, the 

 grower is satisfied, provided the plant pushes on in its growth ; 

 nevertheless, he watches them daily. Taking off a leaf one 

 day he counts, perhaps, thirty lice on it, and on traversing his 

 grounds he finds that number about equal to the average. 

 The next day he repeats his visit of inspection, and finds he 

 can on an average count ten more enemies on each leaf tiian 

 he did on the previous day, and probably another day brings 

 another increase — he becomes uneasy, goes home, consults his 

 barometer, and looks at the sky to see if there is any prospect 

 of a thunderstorm, and very likely consults an old servant who 

 has the reputation of being a good judge of the coming weather ; 

 but if there is no hope of thunder, which is a great preventive 

 of insect depredations, he seriously prepares for the washing. 

 The materials he has by him. Some of the soft soap is boiled 

 in an extemporised copper, for it will not readily mix with cold 

 water, although the latter is used to dilute it afterwards. The 

 strength of the mixture is generally 10 lbs. of soft soap to 

 100 gallons of water. Engines somewhat resembling a small 

 fire-engine have been manufactured for the purpose, the most 

 common being made with two injection points, with a few feet 

 of flexible hose to each, and one working handle. One man 

 works the latter while other two guide the discharge. The 

 machine being on wheels and having to be moved very often, 

 other men carry the liquid to it in pails from some supply near 

 at hand. Of course, the men are directed to syringe only the 

 plants that are affected, and they quickly get into the way of 

 discerning those attacked. The consumption of soft soap on a 

 dozen acres is considerable, especially as the washing is gene- 

 rally repeated once or oftener ; nevertheless, the good effects of 

 the application are so generally admitted, that its use is aU but 

 general. Those not employing soft soap do not deny its utility, 

 but are simply deterred on the score of expense, or it may be 

 in a very few instances from prejudice. 



Having described the mode adopted to combat the aphis 

 scourge, I now come to a not-less serious evil — the Mildeic or 

 Mould, which, unlike the aphis, is much more difficult to 

 encounter, and in its visitations is both partial and mysterious ; 

 one Hap garden may be attacked wiih it, so that not a single 

 Hop will be worth picking, while another but a very short 

 distance oS will not be affected ; and yet both may have been 

 alike in every respect as regards site, cultivation, and other 

 conditions. Some grounds have been afiected with mildew for 



