November 17, 1870. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



391 



liked it better if it had been 14 feet square, instead of 14 by 10, 

 and as much in depth, instead of 9 feet. However, the size is 

 not the chief cause of failure. That we believe is owing to the 

 free access of the air in summer all round between the outer 

 and the inner wall. The heat of the surrounding ground, and 

 the heat of the warmest air in July and August, have thus had 

 free play on the 9-inch wall surrounding the ice. For practical 

 purposes, the ice-house might almost as well have been a build- 

 ing with a 9-inch wall above ground. The great advantage of 

 the double wall is to enclose a body of still air, and then that 

 air is a non-conductor of heat. It loses that quality when it is 

 not confined. We would first, then, shut up all the air-openings 

 between the two walls ; in fact, be quite as anxious to beep a 

 breath of fresh air from getting there, unless, indeed, it were a 

 severe frost, as you would b9 to admit air into your own bed- 

 room. It is on tli9 complete isolation of that air that its non- 

 conducting power depends. 



Secondly, If the roof does not extend to the ground, bring it 

 over the outside wall so that the drip shall fall considerably 

 beyond it. Thirdly, in such a house we would use no straw 

 for packing, but pack the ice at once against the inside wall. 

 When finished we would place a layer of clean dry straw on the 

 surface. As the days lengthened in spring we would open the 

 house, and if the straw were at all damp we would remove it 

 and replace it with fresher, and do so again if necessary. 



If, as the days became very warm, on opening the ice-house 

 there should be any appearance of misty vapour, which acts 

 rapidly on ice, we would have one or two small openings in 

 the top of the doorway, say an inch in diameter, furnished 

 with a cork so as to let this vapour out when present, and keep 

 the holes shut when there was no vapour. A pipe coming out 

 at the roof would even be better to be stopped at pleasure. In a 

 house of the size referred to, keeping ice will greatly depend 

 on having the air over the ice dry, whilst the ice itself is not 

 directly exposed to it. We believe the chief cause of failure is 

 the air moving in the open space between the two walls. We 

 presume the drain from the bottom is trapped. — R. F.] 



STOKE NEWINGTON CHRYSANTHEMUM 

 SOCIETY. 



This Society's twenty-fourth annual Show was held on the 

 15th and 16th inst, in 'the New Assembly Rooms, Defoe Road, 

 Stoke Newington. The specimen plants were arranged in the 

 orchestra, and there proved very effective as a whole, while in- 

 dividually they were without exception of high excellence, as 

 may he imagined from the fact of several of them having from 

 seventy to eighty blooms. The best six came from Mr. Drain, 

 Southgate Nursery, De Beauvoir Town, and consisted of Prince 

 Albert, Annie Salter, Christine, Little Harry, Alma, and Mrs. 

 G. Bundle. Mr. Forsyth, of the Brunswick Nursery, was second, 

 with fine plants of Golden Christine, Mrs. G. Rundle, Dr. Sharpe, 

 Prince of Wales, Lady Harding, and Annie Salter. The third 

 prize went to Mr. Little, Cambridge Park, Twickenham, who 

 had tall-stemmed plants, which are less effective as specimens, 

 but with very fine blooms. For three plants Mr. Drain was 

 again first with Mrs. G. Rundle, Dr. Sharpe, and Prince of 

 Wales, Mr. Forsyth being second. 



The specimen Pompons shown in Classes 3 and 4, respectively 

 for six and three plants, were also excellent. Mr. North, Manor 

 lane, Lee, and Mr. Forsyth, had the best sixes, consisting of 

 the different kinds of Cedo Nulli, Bob, Salamon, and Golden 

 Circle. Several of these plants were a yard across, and a mass 

 of bloom. Mr. Monk was third. The "prizes for three plants 

 went to Messrs. Monk, Butcher, and Forsyth. Standard Pom- 

 pons, as shown by Mr. Howe, of Shacklewell, were admirably 

 grown and bloomed. They were about 4 feet high, and with 

 heads nearly a yard across. The varieties were Bob, White 

 and Lilac Cedo Nulli, Mustapha, Golden Aurora, and Antonius. 

 Messrs. Monk and James were respectively second and third 



Cut blooms were very well shown, perhaps on the whole not 

 so large as in some years, with the exception of White Globe, 

 Queen of England, Empress of India, and a few others ; but the 

 blooms shown by Me;srs. Eowe, Slade, and Monk were not only 

 of remarkable s. : ze, but very perfect. The first prize for twenty- 

 four was taken by Mr. Rowe, of Roehampton, with Empress of 

 India, Prince Alfred, Princess of Wales, Bronze Jardin des 

 Plantes, White Globe, John Salter, Queen of England, Prince of 

 Wales, Mr. Gladstone, Plutus, Nonpareil, Lady Slade, and others 

 also fine, though those named were the most conspicuous. The 

 other prizetakers were Mr. Slade, Mr. Sanderson, and Mr. Drain. 



For twelve blooms Mr. Rowe was also first with magnificent 



examples of Empress of India, White Globe, Queen of England 

 Prince Alfred. Miss Mary Morgan, Lady Slade, Nonpareil, Rev. 

 Joshua Dix, Empress Eugenie, Prince of Wales, Princess of Teck, 

 and Jardin des Plantes. Mr. Monk, who was second, had also 

 a very fine stand. 



SUBSTITUTE FOE GRAFTING WAX. 



Not long ago, the Mastic l'homme Lefort, or cold grafting 

 wax, was first brought under our notice, and this we have 

 found exceedingly handy when grafting small things, on account 

 of its being ready for use at all times. Latterly we have been 

 using another material, which for certain purposes is infinitely 

 more handy, superseding, indeed, not only the grafting wax, 

 but the very matting or string by which we tie graft and stock 

 together. This material is nothing more nor less than sheet 

 indiarubber. It was Major Clarke, than whom there is no 

 greater nor more original horticultural experimentalist, who 

 first called our attention to it, and it is really very wonderful 

 how handy it is. Indiarubber may be purchased, in sheets of 

 about the thickness of brown paper at some of the London 

 shops which deal in articles of that clasB for a mere trifle — (id. 

 or Is. the square foot. The undressed sheets are the best. 

 Before using it wash it in clean water, and dry it by dabbing it 

 with a handkerchief or cloth. 



The sheets are cut as required into pieces of about an inch 

 in length, and about an eighth of an inch in width, according 

 to the space to be covered, and the little band so formed is 

 twisted round in the same way as a piece of matting would he, 

 and, of course, elongates considerably, encompassing the stem 

 two or three times. The end is simply yet securely fastened, 

 by just pressing it firmly into the other with the thumb nail. 

 This forms it into a simple elastic band, which keeps its hold 

 as long as required. For grafting choice little subjects, and for 

 delicate operations, the small strips of sheet indiarubber are 

 extremely handy and useful, and far more easily fitted than a 

 piece of matting. — A. F. Barron. — (Florist and Pomologist.) 



Paullinia sorbilis. — In a recent number of the Pharma- 

 ceutical Journal a paper appears, by Mr. Cook, on the Guarana, 

 the seeds of a tree termed the Paullinia sorbilis, belonging to 

 the order Sapindacea?, and abundant in the province of the 

 Amazonas. The fruit is scarcely as large as a walnut, and 

 contains five or six seeds, which are roasted, then mixed with 

 water and moulded into a cylindrical form resembling a large 

 sausage, and finally dried in an oven. Before being used it is 

 grated into a powder, very like powdered cacao in appearance. 

 Two spoonfuls of the powder are mixed in a tumbler of water, 

 ?.nd this drink is regarded as a stimulant to the nerves, and like 

 strong tea or coffee, is said to take away the disposition to 

 sleep. The active chemical principle is an alkaloid, which Dr. 

 Stenbouse has shown to be identical with theine. Guarana 

 contains more than double as much of this alkaloid as good 

 black tea, and five times as much as coffee, the proportion 

 being 5-07 per cent, in Guarana. It is rather a singular coinci- 

 dence that the same alkaloid should prevail in all the principal 

 substances employed in a similar manner as beverages in 

 different parts of the world, in the tea of China and India, the 

 coffee of Arabia, the cacao of Central America, the mate of South 

 America, and the Guarana of Brazil. Guarana is a nervous 

 stimulative and restorative. — (Xature.) 



NOVEMBER CATERPILLARS. 



The entomologist has many opportunities for verifying the 

 popular proverb, that "in looking for one thing you find an- 

 other," so often does he go out intent upon discovering some 

 insect, the locality of which he thinks he knows, and while he 

 fails to get this, lights upon other species he did not dream of 

 finding. Also, while searching for insects in one particular 

 stage, specimens turn up in other stages ; when hunting for 

 imagos especially we come across caterpillars, and if seeking 

 caterpillars we very frequently discover chrysalides. Amongst 

 other choice chrysalides taken this month, by what we call a 

 fortunate accident, the insect- hunter, between united leaves of 

 Birch, Beech, or Oak, finds the cocoon of the Lobster Moth, 

 the caterpillar of which we described last month. The chrysa- 

 lis is without any notable singularity. 



The cabinet of the entomologist i3 not likely to derive much 

 advantage from his researches among the caterpillars in No- 

 vember, for though there are a few which may be taken now 



