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JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 26, 1872. 



troduced of late years, producing, as it does, its gorgeous 

 Roman-standard-like spathes, it may almost be said, through- 

 out the year) which appears at our spring, our summer, and 

 our autumn exhibitions, and which is welcome at all alike, was 

 still in its most splendid garb, relieving the preponderance of 

 green. Several plants of Psychotria cyanococca assisted by 

 then- violet berries in securing the same result. A very good 

 plant of Cochliostema Jacobianum, was also noticeable, though 

 not in flower, also the rare Lindsasa Lowii. In the next 

 division are tanks, one of which contains the Madagascar 

 Lace Plant (Ouvirandra f enestralis) , though not the fine 

 spseimea which was one of the sights of Dangstein some years 

 back ; another, Nynaphajis, Limnoeharis Plumieri, and other 

 aquatics, of which N. dentata was in flower. Various fine- 

 foliaged plauts, among we particularly noticed excellent ex- 

 amples of Alocasia Lowii and Veitchii ; a number of Pitcher- 

 plants intended to be trained to the roof ; and Platyceriums 

 grande, Stemmaria, and alcicorne, constitute the chief of the 

 other inmates of this division ; whilst Gold and Silver Gymno- 

 grammas are the main feature of the fourth compartment, in 

 which, as well as in that just referred to, it may be mentioned 

 in passing, there are two or three bell-glasses filled with some 

 of the tiniest Ferns and other plants in the tiniest of pots. 



At the end of the main range, at which we now arrive, there 

 is a small house, about 12 feet square, through which we must 

 pass on our way to the Orchid house, which has been already 

 noticed. Nidularium Innocenti, Tillandsia zonata, and other 

 singular Bromeliads attract attention, and would more were 

 it not that the Orchids at once catch the eye. 



Next to the Orchid house is an orchard house 45 feet long, 

 with beds back and front, and a bed in the middle, in which 

 are planted oat Peaches, Nectarines, Apricots, and Plums. 

 Vines cover the roof, and Vines are planted all round the 

 central bed by the side of the path, forming a cordon. This 

 house, besides yielding a good supply of fruit in summer, also 

 contains a number of Orchids and other plants imported from 

 Natal, Leucocoryne ixiodes, and a variety of rarities. From 

 this we pass into an orangery, 36 feet square, containing a fine 

 healthy stock of fruiting Orange trees, chiefly of the Tangerine 

 variety, though others are grown as well, with Bougainvillrea on 

 the roof. Gloxinias and Gesneras are also here stowed away 

 for the winter. 



As within the limits of one article justice cannot be done to 

 the whole of the noble collection at Dangstein, we must defer 

 till next week the notice of the remainder, meanwhile giving 

 a view of a portion of the houses and gardener's residence. 



EXTRACTS FROM PAPERS COMMUNICATED 

 TO OUR GOVERNMENT 



HESPECTING THE PHYLLOXEEA VASTATRIX, OR" NEW VINE 

 SCOURGE. 



Sir C. Mueeay to Earl Gbanvllle. 



Cintra, June 12th, 1872. 



This new scourge, that has recently attacked the Vines in 

 France as well as in Portugal, threatens to be as desolating in 

 its effect as the disease called Oidium, which for some years 

 destroyed viniculture in Madeira, and has inflicted serious 

 damage on it both in France and Portugal, notwithstanding the 

 partial remedy that has been discovered and adopted in the free 

 use of sulphur. The insect which has lately been making such 

 ravages in the vineyards, Phylloxera vastatrix, seems, according 

 to the report of those who have examined it carefully, to be of 

 the same species as the aphis, but the Phylloxera appears to 

 be not only particularly destructive, but also very difficult of 

 extirpation. A printed paper states (I know not whether cor- 

 rectly or not) that the French Government has offered, and 

 hitherto without sucoess, a reward of 20,000 francs to anyone 

 who can discover an effectual remedy. According to the state- 

 ment of the paper above referred to, the injury inflicted by this 

 scourge on some of the vineyards in the Douro district has been 

 terrible, and one vineyard is specified, the average produce of 

 which had been seventy pipes of wine, and whichlast year only 

 produced one ; and a certain Senhor Avelino, who was sent into 

 that district to examine and report upon its condition, estimates 

 the total loss on last year's vintage there at five hundred pipes. 



The Portuguese Government has named a Commission, under 

 the presidency of the Director-General of Commerce and In- 

 dustry, to examine into thn progress of this dangerous evil, and 

 to gather from all quarters (whether scientific or practical) 

 suggestions for the best mode of extirpating it. One French 

 Vine proprietor reports that he has tried with some success the 

 expedient of digging a hole round the stem of the Vine, which 

 he half fills with chimney soot and then covers over with earth. 



If this should ultimately prove an effectual antidote to ihe 

 malady, it is much to be regretted that the Vine-growers of 

 France and Portugal are not somewhat nearer to London, where 

 it could be cheaply and abundantly supplied. 



Sir C. Mueeay to Earl Geanvelle. 



Cintra, July 3rd, 1872. 

 I addressed a despatch to Mr. Consul Crawfurd, at Oporto, 

 desiring him to make all the inquiries necessary in his neigh- 

 bourhood. I have received his report, and enclose it herewith. 

 Your Lordship will observe, on reading it, that Mr. Crawfurd 

 seems of opinion that the fears, amounting almost to a panic in 

 some districts, which have arisen concerning the ravages of this 

 insect, are very much exaggerated, and he attributes this very 

 much to the recent publication of a pamphlet on this subject by 

 Senhor Oliveira. I am inclined to agree in this opinion to some 

 extent. I trust that the grounds on which Mr. Crawfurd ex- 

 pects that the Portuguese vineyards will enjoy an immunity, total 

 or partial, from the scourge, may prove correct. In reference to 

 the case specially mentioned in the 6th page of Mr. Crawfurd's 

 report, it is a curious circumstance that I have, within the last 

 few weeks, had one precisely similar in my garden in Lisbon. 

 An old, strong, healthy, and hitherto very fruitful Vine, began 

 suddenly to wear a sickly appearance ; the leaves began to wither, 

 and to assume first a yellow and then a reddish appearance. 

 My gardener had never seen this or any other Vine in my gar- 

 den attacked in a similar manner (although we are obliged to 

 sulphur all our Vines several times yearly to preserve them 

 against oidium) ; so, thinking I had received my first visit from 

 the Phylloxera, I desired the gardener to uncover and carefully 

 examine the roots, but they appeared perfectly sound and 

 healthy, and the disease which has destroyed this year's crop of 

 fruit and leaves remains a mystery. I have surrounded the 

 roots with a bed of soot overlaid with earth ; but whether the 

 Vine -will recover or die remains to be proved. 



(Report by Consul Ceawfued upon Phylloxera vastatrix.) 



The attention of the Portuguese wine-growers has not been 

 called until the last two years to the existence of a new enemy 

 of the Vine in the shape of Phylloxera vastatrix. 



The discovery in France of this supposed importation from 

 Arherica was not made till the year 1855, since which time its 

 natural history and the effect of its ravages upon the Vine plant 

 have been industriously investigated by French entomologists 

 and cenologues ; and in the opinion of some persons the extent 

 of these ravages has been not a little overstated. 



There is little doubt however that, after making due allowance 

 for the exaggeration common to those who make a long study of 

 special subjects, the injury done by this insect to vineyards in 

 certain districts of France, and under certain circumstances of 

 Vine cultivation, has been considerable. 



Phylloxera vastatrix is a small insect of the sub-order of 

 Homoptera. The adult female only has, as yet, been discovered; 

 it is found in the apterous and also in the winged state. The 

 eggs would appear to be generally deposited in galls formed by 

 the insect on the leaf of the Vine, and the newly-hatched grub 

 finds its way to the roots of the plant upon which it feeds. 



The first symptom of the Vine being attacked is the reddish 

 yellow colour of the leaf. No means of checking the progress 

 of the insect has yet proved effectual. 



Senhor Oliveira, junior, has quite recently published a pam- 

 phlet upon the subject, which, though a hasty and ill-judged 

 compilation from French authorities, may, perhaps, have the 

 effect cf arousing observation on the part of the Vine-growers. 

 This work, however, is full of unpardonable exaggeration, tend- 

 ing only either to encourage undue alarm, or, as is more probable, 

 to excite utter unbelief in the writer's assertions : e.g., the author 

 begins by stating that a plague has fallen upon the Vine industry 

 of the country one hunched times more destructive than the old 

 Vine disease — the Oidium Tuckeri. 



The food of Phylloxera vastatrix being the roots of the plant, 

 it is obvious that it is only where the young and more tender 

 roots of the Vine are near the surface of the ground that they 

 can be destructively fed upon by so small and delicate an insect. 



This is proved by the experience of French observers. 



In vineyards where the soil is of little depth, in those where 

 the drainage is deficient, and particularly in those French vine- 

 yards where, quantity rather than quality of wine being sought 

 for, cultivation by the plough and frequent manuring are em- 

 ployed, the presence of the insect has been found to be more or 

 less accompanied by damage to the Vine ; for in all these cases 

 the fine root-fibres are near the surface and within reach of the 

 issect. The same, of course, applies to newly planted Vines, 

 which are especially liable to destruction. 



On the other hand, Phylloxera vastatrix is never observed to 

 attack Vines allowed to creep over pollarded trees, or over 

 trelliswork; and Vines so trained form, probably, nineteen- 

 twentieths of all that are grown in North Portugal — the Vines in 

 such cases being usually well-established plants of many years' 

 growth, with deep-reaching roots. Again, in the district in 

 which port wine is produced, although the shape of the Vines is 



