October 6, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



260 



well supplied with good and useful Pears, that new varieties 

 seem scarcely to be required. It would appear, however, that 

 good as our supply may be, and satisfied as we have been, 

 there is yet room lor improvement — yet room for another good 

 Pear, Brockworth Park. 



This is an English seedling, and far in advance of nineteen- 

 twentieths of the continental trash which is year by year 

 forced upon us. It is, indeed, a first-class Pear, and the 

 standard is now placed high. It has been awarded a first-class 

 certificate by the Fruit Committee of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society. At the first glance it greatly resembles a pale Louise 

 Bonne of Jersey. The fruit is large, pyriform, rather bulged 

 in the centre. Skin smooth, pale yellow, slightly flashed and 

 streaked with crimson on the exposed side. Eye small, close, 

 segments of the calyx pointed, set in a shallow basin, the end 

 of the fruit being frequently blunt. Stalk about an inch long, 

 stoutish, obliquely inserted without any depression. Flesh 

 white, delicate, buttery and melting, very juicy, rich, and 

 vinous, exceedingly pleasant to eat, greatly resembling in tex- 

 ture the well-known Marie Louise. This we welcome as a 

 valuable addition, and congratulate the raiser on his success. 

 We believe it will be sent out by Messrs. J. C. Wheeler & Son, 

 of Gloucester. 



THE DODDERS. 



Last week the Dodder plant was found growing luxuriantly 

 on the Hop, in this parish (Lamberhurst). It appeared to me 

 to be the same variety that attacks the Clover. I am not 

 aware that the Dodder has been found before as a parasite on 

 the Hop, and there has been no Clover near the field in question 

 for some years. — W. C. Morland. 



[We have received another query relative to the Dodder, our 

 correspondent asking, " Is there more than one kind of Dodder, 

 or is the Dodder which I have had on my Parsnip crop here 

 (Jersey), the same Dodder that attacks the Clover ?" So far 

 from there being only one, there are at least fifty known species 

 of,Dodder, Cuscuta of botanists, and all of tbem have been well 

 described as "plants like fine, closely-entwined, wet catgut." 

 The following is one of the more recently discovered : — 



Cuscuta California, raised from seeds received from Mr. 

 Hartweg, and said to be collected in fields near Sonoma, in 

 California. This little parasite clings by its delicate thready 

 stems to any branch or leaf within its reach. Its minute 

 flowers are at first in close heads, but as it grows older they 

 separate, and eventually form short loose racemes ; their colour 

 is white, and their smell very agreeable. Although Professor 

 Choisy regards it as a true Dodder, it probably ought to con- 



stemmed annual in pots ; and when strong enough, and before 

 it destroys the annual plant which it first grew upon, some 

 softwooded shrub, such as Lotus Jaeoboea, or Pelargonium, 

 should be brought within its reach ; it will soon adhere and 

 grow freely upon it. 



It is a free-blooming little parasite, more curious than 

 ornamental. 



The Dodder we have known on the Jersey Parsnips is the 

 Cuscuta epitbymum, or Lesser Dodder, and most frequents 

 Furze and Heaths, but less frequently fixes on Thyme and 

 some other plants. Cuscuta europiea is a much larger and more 

 robust plant, having stout red stems, attacking especially the 

 Flax crop, but it rarely occurs in England. Both species have 

 been observed growing on Hop plants ; and, in fact, if the seed 

 of a Dodder be sown near any softwooded plants it will attach 

 to them, and the jniees of the Dodder partake in some degree 

 of the qualities of the plants on which it is parasitical. The 

 common name is thus explained in our " Wild Flowers of 

 Great Britain : " — 



"Dodder, the most common name in England, is derived 

 from the Dutch and German name for the plant, Dodern or 

 Todern. Dodd signifying a bunch ; and dot, a tangled thread. 

 Its ancient British name, Cwlm y cadd, tangle upon wood, and 

 the French name Goute de Lin, a bit of flax, all refer to the 

 form of the plant, which old Turner well describes as ' lyke a 

 red harpe stryng, and it wyndeth about herbes, folding much 

 about them.' It is so destructive to the plants upon the saps 

 of which it lives, that it ha6 received the local names of Devil's- 

 guts and Hell-weed."] 



stitute a new genus ; for it has but one style, the peculiar 

 scales within the corolla of the genuine Cuscutas are deficient, 

 and the upper part of the flowerstalk is fleshy and transparent. 

 In the accompanying cut — 1, represents a flower magnified ; 2, a 

 corolla laid open ; 3, a pistil ; and 4, a cross section of trie ovary. 

 The seeds should be sown along with those of some soft- 



WOEK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Let all Asparagus be cut down as soon as decaying, and the 

 surface of the beds dragged off into the alleys with a rough 

 rake or fork. The beds may have a slight salting at once, and 

 decayed manure may be wheeled on them and spread as soon 

 as an opportunity occurs. Pot and prick out sufficient Cauli- 

 flower plants immediately. A considerable quantity of Endive 

 should be tied forthwith, in order to avoid any check to the 

 heart through early frosts. All spare frames and pits should 

 be taken advantage of. If they covered Melons or Cucumbers 

 the haulm may be removed, and the strong Endive, half 

 blanched, may be planted with good balls of earth as thickly 

 as they can stand by each other. Do not, however, water them ; 

 if the soil is dry, so much the better. Make provision for pro- 

 tecting in frosty nights Kidney Beans in full bearing; their 

 season may sometimes be prolonged for some weeks by avert- 

 ing a single night's frost. Continue to secure plenty of the 

 August-sown Lettuces; an old frame or pit should be filled 

 with the latest sowing. They may be pricked out as thickly 

 as they can stand by each other, choosing small and compact 

 plants. Let autumn Lettuce be tied up to blanch as soon as 

 ready. Go over the Sorrel, and cut down all overgrown plants, 

 to provide young leaves for winter supply. 



fruit garden. 

 The general impression among practical men is that autumn 

 planting is superior to spring planting, and as an advocate of 

 the former I would advise those who intend making new or- 

 chards, removing large fruit trees, or replacing decayed young 

 ones, to commence preparatory operations immediately. In 

 the first place secure fresh, sound loam, and if it can be ob- 

 tained with some rough turf in it, so much the better; if not, 

 it will do to mix rough stable litter, straw, or any other coarse 

 material with the loam when filling it into the holes. The loam 

 being provided, and thrown ioto a high and sharp ridge in 

 order to throw off the rains, the next proceeding is to thoroughly 

 drain the site intended for planting ; without this all subse- 

 quent operations will only end in disappointment. Stations 

 may then be formed by making a bottom of broken stone 

 rubble, broken bricks, or other hard materials, placing a coating 

 of cinders on this hard surface to prevent the soil from enter- 

 ing the porous materials beneath. As to depth, great modera- 

 tion is advisable if the kinds are in any way tender and designed 

 for the dwarfing system. For such, 18 inches in depth of soil 

 will be sufficient, and if the ground is of a moist character, 

 one-third of the bulk of soil should rise above the ordinary 

 ground level ; indeed, in all cases it is well to raise it consider- 

 ably. A trench should be thrown out without delay round very 

 large trees intended for removal. This will at once check late 

 growth, and induce a disposition to produce fibres. 



