240 
CONTEMPORARY WRITINGS. 
moist heat : as soon as the}' are well rooted, 
they should be potted into foui'-inch pots, in 
some light rich sandy soil, and potted succes- 
sively as they require it. They must be kept 
growing in a moist house or frame, as near 
the glass as possible, to cause them to grow 
short-jointed and vigorous ; and at the last 
potting, about the end of July, they must 
have pots large enough to suit the trellis they 
are to be trained on, which may be of any 
shape, but none is better than a cylinder of 
two and a half or three feet high, and a foot 
in diameter, turned outwards at top. Always 
use the soil in a sweet healthy state, and as 
rough as circumstances will admit of : let it 
consist of rich loam and peat, a little cow-dung 
in a well decomposed state, with a liberal ad- 
mixture of sand ; have plenty of charcoal 
mixed with the drainage. If these simple 
rules are adhered to, the result will amply 
repay the trouble. 
The Double Yellow Rose. — The fol- 
lowing passages from old books, relating to 
this flower, which it puzzles everybody to grow 
well, are interesting : — " "Whereas all other 
roses are best natural, this is best inoculated 
upon another stock. Others thrive and bear 
best in the sun ; this, in the shade : therefore, 
the best way that I know to cause this rose to 
bring forth fair and kindly flowers, is per- 
formed after this manner. First, in the stock 
of a Francfort rose, near the ground, put in 
the bud of the single yellow rose, which will 
quickly shoot to a good length ; then, half a 
yard higher than the place where the same 
was budded, put into it a bud of the double 
yellow rose, which growing, the suckers must 
be kept from the root, and all the buds rubbed 
off, except those of the kind desired, which, 
being grown big enough to bear (which will 
be in two years), it must in winter be pruned 
very near, cutting off all the small shoots, 
and only leaving the biggest, cutting off the 
tops of them also, as far as they are small. 
Then in the spring, when the buds for leaves 
come forth, rub off the smallest of them, leav- 
ing only some few of the biggest, which, by 
reason of the strength of the stock, affordeth 
more nourishment than any other, and the 
agreeable nature of the single yellow rose, 
from whence it is immediately nourished, the 
shoots will be strong and able to bear out the 
flowers, if they be not too many, which may 
be prevented by nipping off the smallest buds 
for flowers. The tree should stand something 
shadowed, and not too much in the heat of 
the sun, and in a standard by itself, rather 
than under a wall." That which follows is 
from a book called Systema HortieuUwts, 
dated 1688 : — " There is no flower-bearing 
tree that yields blossom so beautiful as the 
rose, whereof the yellow Provence rose is the 
most beautiful where it brings forth fair and 
kindly flowers, which hath been obtained by 
budding a single yellow rose on the stock of 
a flourishing Francfort rose near the ground : 
when that single yellow is well grown in that 
branch, inoculate your double yellow rose ; 
then cut off all suckers and shoots from the 
first and second, leaving only your last, which 
must be pruned very near, leaving but few 
buds, which will have the more nourishment, 
and yield the fairer and more entire blossoms. 
This tree, or a layer from a rose of the same 
kind, delights most, and blows fairest, in a 
cold, moist, and shady place, and not against 
a hot wall." 
Gooseberry Caterpillars. — These trou- 
blesome larvae may be destroyed by the use of 
the white hellebore (Veratruvi album). It 
may be applied either in powder or in decoc- 
tion. A pound weight of the roots of the 
hellebore infused in a gallon of water, a good 
handful of elder-tops being added, will form a 
suitable liquid for application in that form : 
it is to be applied with a syringe sharply to 
the trees, so as to wet every part, the under 
side of the leaves as well as the upper ; in 
fact, the insects are usually found most nume- 
rous on the under side of the leaves and 
branches. The infusion is to be made with 
hot water, and applied when cold. "Where 
the powder is used, it is applied to the parts 
of the trees with a puff or fine dredge : it 
should be very finely ground, and quite dry, 
and in that case the puff disperses it most 
economically. 
Begonia ixcarnata. — This desirable spe- 
cies will, under proper treatment, furnish a 
supply of flowers from the middle of Novem- 
ber till April, in a temperature of from 50 to 
55 degrees. Take cuttings of the strongest 
shoots about the beginning of April, and plant 
them in peat and sand, and plunge them in a 
frame where there is a moist bottom heat of 
80 degs. In about three weeks they will be 
rooted, and are then to be potted into small 
pots in peat, silver sand, and charcoal, and 
returned to the frame, where they are to be 
grown during summer, keeping them shifted 
as they require, so that by the end of August 
they may be in eight-inch pots : at the two 
last shiftings add a little chopped turf and 
leaf mould, and also then afterward use a 
little weak manure water. "Whilst kept in 
the frame in a moist heat, they must have 
plenty of air. Top any of the shoots that 
grow straggling and spoil the symmetry of 
the plant. When their growth is completed, 
remove them to a cooler place to harden. In 
October introduce them to the stove, and in 
about a month they will show flower. They 
are best raised annually from cuttings, which 
maybe selected from the vigorous young shoots. 
