264 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



[ October 3, 1872. 



arising from the same cause took place on the Continent. In 

 1709 another instance occurred in France. "When taken into 

 the hospital the patients showed all the signs of hopeless 

 drunkenness, and after this their toes mortified and fell off. In 

 some cases the decay proceeded towards the trunk, so that 

 the limbs had to be amputated. — (Rhind's Vegetable Kingdom.) 



RED BEET FOE DECORATIVE PURPOSES. 

 In some situations and arrangements it has been used with 

 good effect as a bedding plant, and it is not less effective when 

 used for the purpose I am about to mention. As a receptacle 

 for bulbs, such as Hyacinths, &c, it is what we might term 

 a living basket, which forms a very curious and interesting 

 object to hang in the conservatory or plant house during 

 the spring. months. This being the usual time at which pre- 

 parations are being made for the bulb season, the hint may 

 induce some to try the experiment ; not that I mean to say it 

 is anything novel, but if successful it cannot fail to please. 

 Select a few well-matured moderate-sized Beetroots, being 

 careful not to injure the crowns ; cut a few inches from the 

 bottom end, leaving, say, a little more than one-half ; then 

 hollow this bottom end out, leaving just room enough for a 

 little compost or silver sand, and one bulb of a Hyacinth ; but 

 do not scoop out more than is needful, that as much nourish- 

 ment as possible may be left for the crown. To prevent the 

 bulb falling out, place a little green moss close around it, and 

 fasten the whole with some small wire. A handle to this 

 Beet-basket, by which to suspend it, can easily be formed by 

 twining a piece of galvanised wire, fastening the ends in the 

 opposite sides of the Beet. This will also answer as a support 

 for the flower-spike. It will require to be kept constantly 

 moist to induce the Beetroot to send leaves freely from the 

 crown, which faces downwards. The result of this is that the 

 foliage twines gracefully round the sides in an upright direc- 

 tion, shrouding everything from view, the dark leaves being 

 intermixed with the inflorescence of the Hyacinth, which by 

 that time will be in its perfection. The effect is exceedingly 

 pretty. — C. J. White, The Gardens, Femiehurst. 



NOTES OF A WANDERER.— No. 3. 



OHAHONIX TO PAEIS. 



A thtjndebstoem in the neighbourhood of Mont Blanc, how- 

 ever grand it is — and no one can dispute its grandeur — is 

 oftentimes the prelude to wet weather, and I was therefore 

 somewhat gratified to think that, although we lost the fine 

 view of the great mountain from Sallanches, we had the thun- 

 derstorm as we were returning on our homeward journey; in 

 fact we heard that the week after we left, our friends had been 

 kept in-doors for nearly a week, this day being the only wet 

 one we had during our trip. Hence, on arriving at Geneva, I 

 could not explore it in order to see if there were any horticul- 

 tural matters worth noting, and had to hasten over to Neufchatel, 

 whence on the following morning we started by Pontarlier and 

 Dole. Much has been said of the beauty of this route, and 

 doubtless it is very beautiful, but I hardly think it equal to 

 that from Geneva to Culoz ; both routes run through the chain 

 of the Jura. But the route to Lyons is grander. You have 

 for a time the rushing waters of the Ehone, and the passes 

 themselves are grander. Those who know the railroad route 

 from Derby to Manchester through the Peak district, can form 

 a good idea of these routes if they will regard the English as 

 but a miniature of the Swiss scenery. We halted for the night, 

 or rather until early morning (leaving again about half-past 

 two), at Dijon, and took the opportunity of paying a visit to 

 M. Henri Jacotot, in whose nursery the famous old Eose Gloire 

 de Dijon was raised, a Eose to which, take it all in all, we have 

 not an equal ; so that if I could only grow one Eose this would 

 be that which I should select. 



Dijon itself, the old capital of Burgundy, is well worth a 

 visit. It is a thoroughly French town with its cafes, public 

 gardens, and quaint old houses ; and after the mongrel sort of 

 table d'hotes one gets in Switzerland now-a-days, it was a 

 pleasure to sit down at the Hotel de Jura to a regular old- 

 fashioned French one, where the fare was ample and the 

 cookery good, and where mine host himself did the honours ; 

 it was pleasant in the evening to drive round the city, visit the 

 old churches, and witness the enjoyment of the people in their 

 public garden ; pleasanter still to pay a visit to Jacotot and 

 enjoy a chat with him. He told me that Gloire de Dijon came 

 up by chance in a bed of seedlings, that he had no idea of its 



parentage, and was very much astonished himself to find its 

 excellence, as he had sowed seed of Hybrid Perpetuals ; and it 

 is somewhat curious that no other Eose has emanated from 

 the establishment which is worth cultivating. The home 

 nursery is not a large one, but contains amongst other things 

 a nice collection of Begonias, which form a specialite of M. 

 Jacotot; and also Delphiniums of several excellent kinds, 

 amongst which we would note Madame Henri Jacotot, having 

 been raised here. 



It was not pleasant to be aroused about two o'clock and to 

 get down to the railway station and take one's seat for Fon- 

 tainebleau ; it was, however, especially enjoyable to get to the 

 latter place and have a comfortable chat with good Monsieur 

 Souchet and his admirable wife. I was glad to find him some- 

 what better than at my last visit, but withal he is a constant 

 sufferer. I have seen for the first time the effects of the terrible 

 frost of last winter. The Ehododendrons which had been 

 planted with such care were cut to the ground ; all round the 

 neighbourhood the Vines which supply the famous Chasselas de 

 Fontainebleau to the Paris markets were killed to the ground, 

 so that the supply must fall very short. As I have before 

 stated, M. Souchet's chief growth of Gladiolus is not here, but 

 at Montereau ; and as it was too early in the season to see any 

 in flower, I have nothing to communicate respecting this grand 

 flower. He has some good flowers to come out this season, 

 and I think I may say that the set sent out last autumn con- 

 tained some of the best flowers he has as yet raised, so that 

 we may hope for some fine flowers still. 



And what have I to say about Paris? We could not remain 

 long here, as I was dse at home ; but what I did see impressed 

 me with the feeling that I did not consider that the Parisians 

 preferred the Empire to the Bepublic. Although not relapsing 

 into the Paris of fifty years ago, it was no longer the Paris of 

 the second Empire, bright, gay, clean, and prosperous. Afficlies 

 fixed on the walls of all the public buildings ; windows broken 

 and blinds torn in the Louvre and Tuilleries ; dirty unkempt- 

 looking men and women lolling out of the windows ; cheap 

 Jack shops occupying the places where splendid magazins would 

 have been in the new thoroughfares ; and although nothing 

 can ever deprive the city of its marvellous beauty, yet one 

 could not help saying, " Thou art no more what thou hast 

 been." The gardens are assuming somewhat of their old ap- 

 pearance ; but one can see that economy has had to be studied, 

 and cheaper plants have taken the place of the fine plants of 

 former days : but what can one expect after the desolations of 

 a foreign and civil war ? One thing I am glad to be able to 

 say — that the gifts of seed and Potatoes have proved a great 

 boon, and caused the name of England to be held in grateful 

 remembrance. And so ended a pleasant run, the like of which 

 I am not likely to have for many a long day. — D., Deal. 



SOME PREDATORY INSECTS OF OUR 

 GARDENS.— No. 36. 



Though my thanks are tardily rendered through an over- 

 sight, I gladly offer them now to Mr. J. J. Weir for his in- 

 teresting note, elicited by observations of mine upon certain 

 caterpillars. I cannot set my experience against his as to the 

 " natural selection " shown by the caterpillar-destroying birds, 

 for, in truth, being somewhat short-sighted, I can rarely 

 approach near enough to birds thus engaged on the hedges or 

 elsewhere to ascertain what they are picking up. Of course, 

 I might make researches by the aid of a telescope, yet this is 

 not always a convenient companion on a walking excursion ! 

 But I am quite willing to accept Mr. Weir's conclusions as 

 based upon facts he has noticed, though, perhaps, we are hardly 

 justified in assuming that birds universally neglect bright- 

 coloured larva?. I have seen a bird carry off a larva of Sphinx 

 Ligustri, a conspicuous species ; and, moreover, it is un- 

 questionably true that birds do seize gaily -plumaged moths, as, 

 for instance, Zeuzera /Esculi and Arctia Caja. 



At this season we find various larva? of the Noctua family 

 feeding freely in the kitchen garden, and intruding themselves 

 occasionally amongst the flower-beds, or here and there dis- 

 figuring a shrub. From no list of predatory insects should 

 the Dot Moth (Mamestra Persicarire) , be excluded or omitted, 

 yet I find no record of it in most of the books upon horticul- 

 ture which profess to give also an enumeration of the gardener's 

 enemies. This larva feeds on a great variety of plants. Mr. 

 Newman has pointed out that it is specially found on the 

 Elder, which may be its primary food. I have also frequently 

 seen it on the Syringa, but it generally prefers low-growing 



