July 26, 1864. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



73 



the opportunities of mutual acquaintance and united labour 

 amongst the members resident in the different districts." 



He then proceeds to remind the members of their various 

 tours during the past year, of which chatty interesting por- 

 tions we will only give one relish. 



" The second meeting of the Society, which took place on 

 the 7th of July at the Craven Arms, near Ludlow, was one 

 that will be long remembered by those who were present. 

 It was a joint assemblage, in fact, of not less than five socie- 

 ties, consisting of the Oswestry, the Dudley, the Bridgnorth, 

 and the young and promising Caradoc Club, with our own. 

 The place chosen presented several attractions — the ruins 

 of Stokesay Castle, for the inspection of the archaeologist ; the 

 Wood of View Edge, said to be the only place in England 

 where the Astrantia major is supposed to grow wild, of which 

 abundant specimens were found, and to the judgment of 

 some, rather cruelly brought away, suggesting to the mind 

 of our late Secretary the very just remark, that ' it is not 

 wise to talk too loudly about a scarce plant ;' for several of 

 our number who climbed the heights of the wood in search 

 of it, came out of it with the rare Astrantia ruthlessly torn 

 up, in some cases by the roots, and borne in ruinous triumph 

 on their hats, and other parts of their dress. ' I took two 

 specimens — for I do not like to exterminate ' — adds his com- 

 munication; but if all the septuagint of naturalists assem- 

 bled on that day were equally forbearing, the exterminating 

 process will hardly have received a very exemplary check. 



"But the Wood of View Edge contained another attrac- 

 tion in its celebrated quarry of Aymestry limestone, where 

 nearly the whole of the rock, exposed to a thickness of from 

 30_to 40 feet, is composed of Pentameris Knightii cemented 

 together." 



We pass through many such pleasant passages, until we 

 come to the chief contents of the pamphlet, entitled " The 

 Day at Malvern and the Mistletoe in Herefordshire." It is 

 the work, the exhaustive work, of Dr. Bull, for very little 

 relative to the Mistletoe is not here collected and recorded 

 attractively. Here are detailed its mode of propagation 

 and growth, the trees it lives upon in the county, the re- 

 corded instances of its growth on the Oak in England, and 

 the romance of its history in times past and present. Gladly 

 would we publish each of these sections entire, for they are 

 full of interesting information; but we cannot afford the 

 space, and must confine our further extracts to some from 

 the notes on the Mistletoe on the Oak. Dr. Bull says : — 



"The occurrence of the Mistletoe on the Oak is at once 

 so rare and so interesting, that I have not confined myself 

 to this county in my inquiries about it, but have taken some 

 pains to ascertain its existence, at the present time, in all 

 the instances which have been recorded as occurring in 

 England. The following instances I have been able to get 

 well authenticated : — 



" The Oak at Eastnor. — Ten days since, I visited this 

 Mistletoe-bearing Oak. It is situated by the side of the 

 drive leading from the park up the Ridgeway hill towards 

 Malvern, about 200 yards beyond the lodge. The Oak may 

 be some eighty or ninety years old, and the Mistletoe grows 

 freely upon it. It is most luxuriant high up in the tree, 

 where three large branches grow very near each other, 

 having in each instance destroyed the bough beyond the place 

 where it is situated. It is also growing in four other places 

 in the tree, one fresh yearling plant shooting straight out 

 from the main stem of the tree about 12 feet from the ground. 

 One large bunch of Mistletoe growing in a large branch 

 many feet from the main stem was dead and decaying, but 

 without having killed the branch. The Mistletoe plants are 

 of both sexes, and the females bear berries freely. It is 

 more slender and pendulous, with smaller .and thinner leaves; 

 or, in other words, it is not so stiff and rigid, and short- 

 jointed, as it usually is when growing on the Apple tree. 

 During the twelve years I have known this tree the Mistle- 

 toe has increased upon it, and the Oak is already beginning 

 to show signs of suffering severely from the parasite. Upon 

 the large moss-covered branches it was curious to observe 

 the great number of Mistletoe seeds which had been depo- 

 sited by the birds." 



Dr. Bull gives similar notices of specimens on Oaks at 

 Tedstone Delamere ; Badams Court, Sedbury Park, near 

 Chepstow ; Burningfold Farm, Dunsfold, Surrey ; Hackwood 

 Park, near Basingstoke, Hants ; and the Plymouth Oak, by 



the South Devon Railway. These are the only six instances 

 which Dr. Bull has been able to authenticate ; and he, as 

 well as ourselves, will be much obliged by any of our readers 

 informing us of other instances within their own knowledge. 



T70EK FOE THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Dig in haulm, stumps, and the refuse of crops directly 

 they are over. At this season there is seldom any ground, 

 to spare, for it should be remembered that the s apply for 

 several months in winter and spring will depend on the 

 diligence now exercised in planting out as large a supply 

 as possible of those vegetables most likely to be in demand. 

 Potatoes and other crops soon coming off may be inter- 

 lined with Broccoli or Winter Greens ; and where there is 

 not sufficient room, a quantity may be planted at 1 foot apart 

 to remain till ground comes in by the removal of other crops, 

 when the whole may be again planted at proper distances, or 

 every other row and each alternate plant of the remainder 

 removed to vacant ground. The above will answer well 

 where the space is limited, more particularly for those kinds 

 coming into use in spring. Cabbage, make a sowing of East 

 Ham Cabbage for early spring use, and the last sowing of 

 Coleworts. As soon as the caterpillars attack any of the 

 Cabbage tribe, give them a slight dredging with white 

 hellebore powder in the morning. Celery, pay strict at- 

 tention to the early crops. Let it be gone over with the 

 hand and all the offsets taken off, and, where practicable, 

 let it have a thorough drenching with manure water, after 

 which, on the following day, give a slight earthing-up to 

 prevent evaporation. Peas, make a sowing of Early Frame ; 

 if the autumn is fine, they may be useful. Shallots and 

 Garlic, when they are ripe take them up and hang them 

 in bunches in a dry shed previous to placing them in store 

 for use. Make a sowing of White Stone Turnips. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



The tendency to excessive luxuriance frequently exhibited 

 by espalier trees, renders the operation of stopping and 

 shortening shoots more particularly essential. The whole 

 principle of pinching is merely this — in the first place to 

 pinch all young shoots not necessary for the framework of 

 the tree ; secondly, to stop those shoots which threaten to 

 overgrow their neighbours, by which means a due equilibrium 

 of the branches will be maintained ; and, finally, having 

 commenced a system of repression, to continue it in regard 

 to the lateral shoots which are developed by reason of this 

 system of stopping. When time will permit, Currants, 

 Gooseberries, and Raspberries will be benefited by the re- 

 maining wood of the present year's growth being thinned, 

 leaving only sufficient to furnish next season's crop. Straw- 

 berry-runners that were laid some time ago in three-inch 

 pots are now ready for shifting into five-inch ones. For this 

 purpose use a compost of two parts friable yellow loam and 

 one part of well decomposed dung. Take care that the pots 

 are well drained, and have them placed in the south aspect, 

 and on boards or slates raised a few inches above the surface 

 of the ground to prevent the worms getting into them. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



Climbers on walls to be attended to as they advance in 

 growth, keeping the young shoots neatly tied-in, &c. The 

 climbing Roses wDl also require to be gone over occasionally 

 for the purpose of cutting off decayed blooms, and any 

 weakly old wood should be cut out at the same time to 

 allow of laying-in the strong young wood which will bloom 

 much finer next season than the old wood would do. Any 

 of the Perpetual Roses that have flowered very freely, to 

 be assisted by a liberal watering with manure water from 

 the stable or farmyard-tank ; indeed, too much of this can 

 hardly be given to any of the autumn-flowering varieties. 

 Carnations and Picotees will require copious waterings 

 during the present dry weather. Earwigs are extremely 

 destructive to this class of flowers by eating off the lower 

 part of the petals. It is usual to trap them in tobacco-pipe 

 heads placed on the tops of the sticks which support the 

 plants. These, however, must be new, for if they have been 

 smoked with, the smell of the tobacco will prevent the earwigs 

 entering and thus defeat the object in view As the seed- 

 pods of Pansies ripen they should be gathered, and dried in 



