HORTICULTURAL NOTES. 
141 
The Clover Dodder. — Dr. Lindley, in a 
very interesting paper on this subject, in the 
Gardener's Chronicle, gives the following par- 
ticulars : — 
" As soon as the seed of the Dodder is ripe- 
it falls to the ground, and usually seems to lie 
dormant till the succeeding year. "When the 
spring returns, the embryo sends one end 
down into the earth to form a root, and with 
the other it rises upwards, like a small white 
thread or worm. At this time it is not a 
parasite, but seems to derive its food from the 
soil, like ordinary plants. It cannot, however, 
do so long, but withers and perishes, unless it 
touches some living branch or stem. If it suc- 
ceed in doing so, it immediately seizes the 
live stem by means of a sucker, which is pro- 
truded from the point of contact ; and then, 
twining from left to right, and forming more 
suckers as it twines, it establishes itself on its 
victim, and ceases to have any further con- 
nexion with the soil. From that time forward 
it is a true parasite, feeding on the juices of 
the plant it has seized upon. After making 
a few turns round the branch, and securing 
itself firmly in its new position, it again 
lengthens, and catches hold of some other 
branch, when more suckers are protruded ; 
and thus it goes on — branching, and twining, 
and sucking, and branching again — until it 
forms that appearance which Professor Hens- 
low well describes as resembling ' fine, closely- 
tangled, wet catgut.' Now the Dodder has a 
new and independent seat of life wherever it 
has twined round a branch ; and as it is in- 
cessantly twining and separating, and twining 
again, a single plant is speedily in the con- 
dition of a polype — so that if it be cut into a 
thousand pieces, each piece will immediately 
go on growing, as if nothing had happened to 
it. Tearing the Dodder to pieces, then, so 
far from extirpating it, only multiplies the 
mischief, instead of arresting it. 
" This short statement will show that it is 
a formidable enemy that has been thus unfor- 
tunately introduced to our fields; and, as these 
things are not very nice in their food, it is not 
impossible that the Clover Dodder may next 
take a fancy to our wheat-fields, unless we 
can speedily put an end to its presence. It is 
of little use to cut it in pieces, — it is of no use 
whatever to do so, if the fragments are left 
where they can catch hold of anything else. 
" As it is only an annual, it would be killed 
if we could prevent its flowering ; but that is 
difficult, because of its hiding itself among the 
lower branches of plants, where it cannot well 
be seen : and a few heads of flowers will soon 
renew it in a succeeding year. The right 
plan would be to dig up the clover where the 
Dodder appears, so as to form a circle con- 
siderably beyond the patch apparently formed 
by it, and then to burn it in heaps ; or, in 
cases where the entire field is infected by it, 
to sacrifice the whole crop, and burn it. This 
may appear a violent remedy, but it is the 
only one likely to be effectual ; and even this 
will fail, if (which is not yet the case, but soon 
will be) the Dodder is allowed to form its 
seed ; for they will fall on the ground, lie hid 
in the crevices, and reappear with the next 
crop, — when all the labour will have to be 
done over again." 
Solution for Potted Plants. — On the 
authority of the Gardener's Gazette, which is, 
it would appear, a sworn foe to quackery, we 
are told that half an ounce of sulphate of am- 
monia in a gallon of water makes a solution 
that produces a most extraordinary effect on 
plants in pots ; every sixth watering is to be 
made with this, and the other five with pure 
water — rain or river water is the best. Here 
then we have no about and about it; no "put 
a little " sulphate of ammonia ; no " apply it 
occasionally ;" no indefinite " pinch " of this, 
and " handful " of the other ; no " twopenny- 
worth," that may be one quantity one day, 
and double as much the next ; but a distinct 
unvarying quantity, and to be applied in a 
distinct manner. If it had been said, water 
once a-week with this solution, it might be 
when the plant only wanted watering twice 
a-week, and the plant might be killed from 
excess ; but every sixth watering may be at 
times once a-week, at other times once in 
three weeks, but it presupposes that five pure 
waterings are only given when the plant re- 
quires moisture, and the sixth time it requires 
moisture it has the sulphate of ammonia. We 
are giving this without saying it is good or 
bad, except that, as the Gardener's Gazette 
so invariably denounces all kinds of quackery, 
and indeed almost everything in the shape of 
a nostrum, we think it would scarcely com- 
mit itself in the recommendation of any solu- 
tion for plants of doubtful efficacy. 
Trop^eolum Brachycerus. — This delicate, 
and, so far as our notions go, very secondary 
variety, was nevertheless the cause of an angry 
correspondence in the public papers, between 
two parties, each of whom claimed the honour 
of its introduction. The mention of it in our 
treatise on that tribe of plants, accompanied 
with the anecdote, occasioned us to cut out 
part of that article ; and in the confusion that 
was created, T. Brachycerus got coupled with 
T. Aduncum, instead of T. Canadensis, which 
we believe has other names, but is much 
like T. Aduncum in habit, though a smaller 
flower, and fringed much the same. — Ed. 
Acclimatizing Exotic Plants. — Let no 
one imagine they will successfully acclimatize 
an exotic plant without paying strict regard 
to the circumstances of the plant in its native 
