288 
HORTICULTURAL NOTES. 
ground. One might almost think that a pair 
of carnations would feed a score of them for a 
month ; but it attacks the root, eats its way 
upwards to the pith, kills the plant, and makes 
off for another. When turned up or disturbed, 
the wireworm seems half asleep, and very slow 
in its movements. They are rarely seen to pro- 
gress much, but they must be rapid travellers, 
or one could not do a tithe of the mischief it 
accomplishes. The only way to destroy them 
is to catch them: their shelly hides defy ordi- 
nary means of destruction. Salt and lime-water 
are of no use whatever. We have since tried 
boiling, but they can stand water of a high 
temperature without any apparent ill effects. 
To extirpate them a crop must be sacrificed. 
By thrusting carrots into the ground many 
may be caught ; every time you pull up the 
carrot, you will find some sticking to it, eating 
their way in. The common daisy harbours 
them exceedingly, and we have seen beds 
planted round the edges with daisies on pur- 
pose to draw them from better things. Let- 
tuces also entice them, and the very day after 
planting out you may see the leaves flag of all 
that are attacked. The place should instantly 
be disturbed, and the offenders sacrificed. 
Plant other lettuces in their places, and re- 
peat the operation. But if ground has no 
crop, set children to fork the soil over, and 
catch them at so much per hundred; for they 
are unlike almost all other pests, and must get 
through the earth with great rapidity. If 
there be but a solitary one in a locality, he can 
only be detected by the mischief he has done; 
and frequently they are not to be found near 
the site of their operations, but perhaps at the 
very root of the next plant. Heaps of rotted 
turfs, the most useful of all soils for potted 
plants, are very much infested generally, and 
we have known the late Mr. Hogg of Pad- 
dington, in his day, to pass every grain of the 
mould in which he potted his carnations under 
his hand on a table, such was his natural and 
well-founded dread of the wireworm. 
To make Artificial Coral for Rock- 
work. — Take four parts of yellow resin and 
one part of vermilion, and melt them together; 
dip twigs, cinders, or stones, in this mixture, 
and it will give them the appearance of coral; 
and are applicable to rockwork, grotto, or any 
fancy work, as a substitute for that costly 
article. — Gardener's Receipt Book. 
Ink for Zinc Labels. — Take 1 drachm of 
verdigris, 1 drachm of sal ammoniac powder, 
and half a drachm of lamp-black, and mix 
them with 10 drachms of water; and this will 
form an indelible ink for writing on zinc. — 
Ibid. 
Autumn planting Potatoes. — On the 
20th of December last, I planted both early 
and late sorts as an experiment, and planted 
them in an exposed situation: the tubers were 
buried from two to three inches below the 
surface, and I planted them without any horse 
or cow manure, but put a little guano in the 
drills; and they have had no artificial protec- 
tion whatever. I have no doubt whatever, 
but that the earth was frozen, both above and 
beneath them. I think the severe frosts we 
have had this winter quite sufficient to put 
the thing fairly to the test; and I have ex- 
amined those I planted on the 27th of March 
(the frost having broken up on the 21st), and 
I find that they are not injured in the least; 
as a further proof, I had one of them boiled to 
ascertain if it was affected with that sweetness 
that is sometimes caused in potatoes by the 
frost, but I found it was not in the least 
affected. The only effect the late severe win- 
ter has had upon them is, that it has prevented 
them from vegetating so early as they would 
do, when there is but little frost. — Saul. 
British Orchidace;e. — About six years 
ago, I had a quantity of the spotted palmate 
orchis (Orchis maculata) collected at the time 
they were coming through the ground in the 
spring, and planted a bed of them: they sus- 
tained scarcely any apparent injury by the 
removal; and though O. maculata is far from 
being the handsomest of the genus, they looked 
very beautiful. I potted three or four roots 
of the early purple orchis (O. mascula) in 
thirty-two sized pots, in which they bloomed 
well; and the next autumn they were potted, 
forced, and in every respect treated as hya- 
cinths, and were as good as though they were 
naturally blooming in the open air. I feel 
certain that if the orchises are skilfully treated, 
the size of the flowers, and indeed the general 
appearance of the plants, as compared with 
those in a natural state, would be materially 
improved. — U. Gard. Journ. 
Iron a Remedy for Blight in Pear Trees. 
A Correspondent states, that he lias found iron 
ore, or cinders of iron, placed round the roots 
of trees, drives away the insect which deposits 
the eggs that produce the worm. Having tried 
this remedy in a sandy soil, and in a stiff soil, 
and in places distant from each other, and 
having driven off the insect when the trees of 
others were very much injured or destroyed 
in the neighbourhood, he advises all those who 
are troubled by these insects to try the use of 
iron, rather than be under the necessity of 
continually topping off the limbs which con- 
tain the worm, or young insect. He thinks it 
probable that the iron is unfavourable to the 
worm, which drops from the branches, and 
makes its wintering place at the root of the 
tree, and then the insect avoids an unfavour- 
able place for its young. But whatever may 
be the theory, it is sufficient that iron has the 
desired effect. — Gardeners' Gazette. 
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