June 19, 188-4. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
481 
more serious is the loss of a palmette verrier; the work of eight 
or ten years is not only lost, but the huge gap in the line of 
espaliers is a disfigurement which is best got rid of by planting 
the more useful cordon. 
Spur-development is a matter of the highest importance, 
requiring intelligent and watchful care. No hard-and-fast rule 
can be safely applied to it. Compare the growth of a Margil or 
Keswick Codlin with that of Bedfordshire Foundling or Warner’s 
King Apple, and it will be seen that while the first two may 
perhaps be restricted to 6-inch spurs or thereabouts, the more 
rampant growers may advantageously have longer spurs. Six 
inches! why I have seen many an Apple measuring nearly as 
much as that in diameter, and how many of such fruits would 
“A Thinker” produce upon his puny spurs? To test the 
matter I have just been to a Margil tree, and found a spur 
slightly over a foot long with twelve clusters of fruit upon it. 
I opine that a few such spurs would go very far towards winning 
that medal, albeit I am perfectly content to have the fruit without 
the medal. I am strongly of opinion that there is by far too 
much fastidious refinement about spurs and precision of growth. 
I have seen both tree-lifting and pruning carried to a ridiculous 
and hurtful extreme, and again say, Let us treat each tree 
according to its requirements, and not by line and rule.— 
Edward Lttckhurst. 
THE CUCUMBER DISEASE. 
On page 476 the above troublesome pest is alluded to, and I 
can well pity anyone having to battle with it, and at the same 
time expected to keep up a supply of fruits. For two years, 1881 
and 1882, we had it here. It made its appearance about June in 
the Cucumber house. Fresh seed and soil were obtained, and 
another house that had not had Cucumbers in it for at least five 
years was devoted to them; but no sooner had the small fruits 
appeared than they were attacked, and no good Cucumbers were 
cut. Some plants were also put out in new three-light frames, and 
they also were attacked. Vegetable Marrows also shared the 
same fate towards August, the Custard Marrow in particular 
being worse than the Long White sort; but strange to say, a house 
full of Melons of three varieties nest to the Cucumber house 
escaped altogether, not a trace of it was seen. Although fumi¬ 
gating and disinfecting with tobacco paper and sulphur was 
tried at the end of the season, the following summer it made its 
appearance aga'n, but not in so virulent a form, and its not 
attacking the Marrows outdoors I attributed to a warmer 
summer than the previous one and less rain. I also employed 
more fire heat and damped the Cucumber house less of an after¬ 
noon with beneficial results; the extra 10° or so with less moisture 
seemed to arrest the disease. At the end of the season, however, 
I determined to give the house a more thorough disinfecting, and 
not have a Cucurbitaceous plant on the place if possible for the 
disease to exist on for at least four months, and 1 am glad to say 
that since that time (the last two seasons) I have not been 
troubled with it. 
When the Cucumbers were cleared out and burnt in October 
about 2 lbs. of sulphur with a handful of tobacco powder was 
placed on the red-hot pan of a fire shovel. It was then put in the 
house and allowed to burn itself out. The house was kept closed 
for two days, and all insects and plants, such as woodliee and 
small Ferns on the wall sides, were killed. After that about a half 
gallon of paraffin and plenty of softsoapy hot water was used in 
scrubbing the glass and woodwork, and when thoroughly dried 
the house was used till the following March for miscellaneous 
plants, such as Cyclamens, Pelargoniums, and Primulas, and 
since that time I am glad to say I have not been troubled with 
the disease. 
Increase of fire heat, with less atmospheric moisture, I believe 
is the best preventive for the Cucumber disease. Dryness at the 
root, however, must be avoided, or mildew and red spider will be 
encouraged. When the disease was with me at its worst I 
showed specimens of it to an eminent cryptogamic botanist and 
authority on diseases of plants, but he could give me no certain 
cure for it.—A. Harding, Orton Hall Gardens. 
PYRETHRUMS. 
There is no question that single Pyrethrums are preferred to the 
double varieties for their simplicity and brightness of colour, the 
ilorets exhibiting the striking distinctness of tint around the golden 
disc with an elegance of form which renders them useful when far 
in advance of the double varieties. The effect of the single forms in 
a mass is very striking, and they lose nothing by being seen under 
artificial light. In brief, the single Pyrethrums are in early summer 
what the single D ihlias are at a later period, not the least of their 
charms being their handsome Fern-like foliage, and they are even 
hardier and more free growing than the d mble varieties. If the 
single varieties are beautiful—and they h ive only to be grown to be 
appreciated—the double varhties are indispensable in every garden 
for producing a grand effect in early June ; whilst for cutting they 
are invaluable, whether for associating with other flowers in vases or 
as specimens in glasses. The flowers are far more handsome than 
Asters, albeit they are not rivals, as they come in so much ea lier, 
and are in June what thi Onrysanthemum is in November. 
Pyrethrums are hardy, but they will not grow in every soil or in 
every position. In a wet or heavy soil they will not succeed, and in 
shade or in shrubbery borders they are useless. It is no use planting 
in a wet soil without first draining it, or where the soil is heavy with¬ 
out making it porous by the addition of old lime rubbish, sand, gravel, 
&o. ; nor in shrubbery borders unless the situation be sunny and the 
soil not permeated through and through by the roots of the trees and 
shrubs. Pyrethrums like a good friable loam and liberal treatment, 
watering with liquid manure freely in dry weather. In autumn a 
top-dressing should be given of decayed manure or thoroughly decom 
posed matter from the rubbish heap, and in March it may be neatly 
pointed in. Early in Maya good watering should be given if the 
weather be dry, and the surface mulched with manure a couple of 
inches thick, with good supplies of wa*er or liquid manure once a 
week unless the weather be wet. When extra fine blooms are desired 
the stems should be thinned as soon as they show their flowers, leaving 
the strongest and most promising onty. After flowering remove 
the old stems, and the second growth will be strong, some of it 
continuing to give flowers in late summer up to frost. Slugs are very 
partial to the growths, eating them off within the ground during the 
winter. Where these pests abound it is a good plan to remove the 
soil about the crowns in au utnn, dusting with quicklime, and apply 
a layer of sharp ashes. 
Propagation is effected by division, which is best done in spring. 
Each part taken off with a portion of roots will grow if duly attended 
to with water. The rootless portion may be potted singly and plunged 
in ashes in a cold frame, kept close and shaded from sun until esta¬ 
blished, when they should be gradually hardened. The best means 
of propagation, however, is by cuttings in summer directly after 
flowering, at which time the plants form fresh growths. Take) C 
each cutting with a portion of the root-stem, and insert it to the base 
of the leaves in light sandy soil in 3-inch pots, plunging them in ashes 
in a cold frame, keeping them moist and shaded, damping them every 
morning through a fine rose. A little ventilation may be given in 
dull weather, and when rooted and growing freely gradually harden 
them. The plants so raised may be placed out in September in 
prepare! beds or in the borders, or they maybe wintered in a sheltered 
position plunged over the rim of the pots in ashes, transferring them 
to the flowering quarters in spring ; but the plants are best put out 
as soon as they are well rooted, allowing 18 to 24 inches distance 
between them. Some of the best varieties are the following— 
Single-flowered .—Grandifiorum, rosy carmine ; very striking and 
large. Bellona, brilliant red ; very clear and good. Ruby, rosy 
purple, shaded carmine ; a telling colour. Warei, very rich carmine 
and crimson ; extra. Coccineum, reddish purple ; fine flower. Vivid, 
amaranth ; very bright and fine. Kleinholtz, crimson ; very large. 
Hamlet, deep pink ; very good. Orlando, bright red. Vanity Fair, 
deep pink ; large. Fairy, flesh ; good. Emblenv rosy lilac ; very 
large and telling. Virginale, white ; of good substance. 
Double-flowered .—White Aster, the best and largest of the whites. 
Mont Blanc, white ; very free and fine. Olivia, very large, white. 
La Vestal, blush ; large, extra. Nancy, blush and white, or blush 
white shaded salmon ; fine. Lady Derby, silvery flesh ; very pleasing. 
Madame Billiard, pale flesh ; fine flower. Dr. Livingstoue, flesh ; 
very good. Gustave Heitz, rosy pink ; fine flower. J. N. Twerdy, 
bright red ; fine. Captain Nares, brilliant crimson ; fine. Progress, 
deep red ; fine. Nemesis, rose, tipped crimson. Ne Plus Ultra, lilac ; 
large and fine. Captain Boyton, carmine, edged white. Imbricatum, 
carmine, tipped white. Haage et Schmidt, carmine in outer petals, 
rose and white centre ; fine. Le Dante, rose, tinged orange. Globe, 
outer petals rosy lilac, centre deep rose ; fine. Emile Lemoine, 
crimson, tipped gold. Panorama, blush, tipped yellow. Vance, 
creamy yellow, tinged flesh. Solfaterre, sulphur ; distinct and fine. 
— G. Abbey. 
EARLY PEACHES AND NECTARINES IN POTS. 
Owing to insufficient artificial heat we have no real early Peach 
house here, and our first fruits from ordinary trees cannot as a rule 
be gathered or ripened before July, but of late and in May we have 
had quantities of ripe Peaches and Nectarines from trees in pots. 
These were bought in two years ago from Messrs. Smith of Wor- 
