JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
524 
dressing of good soil or leaf soil was given to each plant. In addi¬ 
tion to forming a large hole in the first place, when the plant is 
being placed in the workmen dig round the edges of the pit and 
loosen the surrounding soil still further. It is also well to take 
out the soil to c ne depth, and not merely to cup it out; while the 
ball of the plant, if very firm and hard, should be made so that 
the roots will spread out. In firming the soil do not tread on the 
roots, but round them.—B. 
A correspondent informs us that in connection with 
the Boston Ornithological Society recently held was a show of 
Chrysanthemums and Primulas, which attracted much atten¬ 
tion. The Chrysanthemums in pots were very good, and the 
prize collections contained many fine specimens of some of the 
newest varieties in cultivation. The cut blooms were very good. 
Several boxes of handsome Japanese varieties were much ad¬ 
mired, and the Primulas were quite an attraction. The Show 
altogether was a success, and another year may bring a greater 
number of contributors. 
- A CORRESPONDENT, “ P.,” sends the following “ Query 
to gardeners of twenty-five years ago. What is the difference 
between the variety Snow’s Winter White Broccoli and 
Veitch’s Self-protecting Broccoli 1 Snow’s Winter White 
Broccoli of twenty-five years ago and the variety sent out now 
called Yeitch’s Self-protecting Broccoli appear to me identical. 
I am quite sure that the Snow’s Winter White of the present day 
is very different from that grown twenty-five years ago.” 
- Mr. M. Taylor desires to know “ which is the best 
hardy American Blackberry, and also if any firm makes a 
speciality of them,” as they are not kept in nursery gardens 
about his district. Probably the Parsley-leaved Bramble and 
Ivittatinny are as hardy and prolific as any, and those who 
possess stocks would do well to advertise them. 
- Mr. James McBean, Cook’s Bridge, Lewes, writes as 
follows :—“ In the last issue of the Journal and in the report of the 
Brighton Chrysanthemum Show I observe your remarks on 
table plants to the effect that ‘ the second-prize collection was in 
the opinion of many far before the first-prize lot.’ By many, 
however, the second-prize lot were considered far too large, and 
more adapted for grouping ; and when six plants are wanted for 
table decoration it is seldom we use pairs. The first-prize plants 
were well cultivated, with plenty of foliage, and nearly all of a 
size, the varieties being distinct.” 
- We are reminded of the closing weeks of the year by the 
receipt of a packet of very beautiful Christmas cards from 
Messrs. Eyre & Spottiswoode, the Queen’s printers. The cards of 
these publishers improve in artistic merit every year, and those 
now before us furnish many examples of designs and execution 
which can hardly be surpassed. 
- “ Pro Bono Publico ” wishes “ to call the attention of 
nurserymen and seedsmen to one or two matters of importance 
connected with labelling. Having lately had several fruit and 
forest trees and shrubs from nurserymen, the names having evi¬ 
dently been written by some kind of lead pencil, which when 
exposed to the rains and the atmosphere have become faint, and 
in several cases quite illegible, which has caused great incon¬ 
venience, particularly with fruit trees. These names have, I pre¬ 
sume, been written by what are called the copying lead pencils. 
I have used one of the pencils in question myself, and had very 
[ December 7, 1882. 
nearly lost many names until I luckily discovered the error in 
time. In previous years it has been the custom of some seedsmen 
when putting up and labelling the seeds to stick the name of the 
seeds over the string, and when the string is cut the name is torn 
off with it. This may appear but a trivial matter, but it is liable 
to cause mistakes, and sometimes much inconvenience.” 
- “ M.” writes :—“ The mildness of the weather here 
in North Pembrokeshire has permitted us to gather the follow¬ 
ing Tea Bose3 from the open garden all through November :— 
Niphetos, Cheshunt Hybrid, and Gloire de Dijon. On Nov. 28th 
I gathered in one of our plantations a fine spike of Foxglove. 
Primroses, red Ribes, and other common plants have been flower¬ 
ing freely. Not having been cut at all by frosts, the clumps of 
Schizostylis coccinea have been grand this autumn wilh their 
masses of crimson spikes, and the Chrysanthemums have had 
almost as fine blooms in the open border as under glass. Of some 
forty varieties of the latter we have now in bloom, by far the 
most beautiful is Lady Talfourd, with large flowers as well shaped 
as a good Dahlia ; colour pink, petals quilled and incurved.” 
- Writing on tar v . mealy bug, a correspondent, “ C. M.,” 
observes :—“Mr. Pettigrew in his interesting article on Culzean 
Castle, on page 390, says that ‘ Mr. Murray informed him that the 
Vines were at one time very much infested with mealy bug, but 
that by dressing them with a mixture of coal tar and clay he had 
entirely eradicated the pest without the slightest injury to the 
Vines.’ I should like to try Mr. Murray’s receipt if I knew in 
what proportion to use the tar, also if it is the ordinary gas tar 
used for asphalting paths, &c. I suppose it would be necessary to 
paint the Vines completely, covering the eyes or buds. I should 
be glad to know if I may use the mixture freely without fear of 
injury, as I would prefer to use the ordinary mixtures if there 
were any probability of the tar causing the Vines to break badly 
in the spring.” We shall be obliged if gardeners who have prac¬ 
tised this plan will record their experience on the subject. 
- Valuable illustrations and diagrams of some of the most 
injurious of the insects that prey upon our food crops are 
about to be issued by the Royal Agricultural Society of England. 
The drawings of the insects have been most carefully executed 
by Miss E. A. Ormerod, Entomologist to the Society, and show 
the insects in their various transformations, and also the nature 
of their attack. The series of six large sheets contain beautifully 
coloured illustrations of the common aphis or green fly, the large 
white Cabbage butterfly, the wireworm, the daddy-longlegs, the 
Turnip fly, and the Beet fly. Each is exhibited on a largely 
magnified scale in the caterpillar, chrysalid, and perfect insect 
state, and are also shown life-size. A short account of their 
habits, methods of prevention, methods of destruction, &c., is 
printed at the foot of each sheet. These illustrations are admir¬ 
ably adapted for the use of teachers in rural schools, who by their 
aid can readily impart a useful knowledge to our agricultural 
population of some of the most destructive of insects, and thus 
enable them to combat more successfully the insidious attacks of 
these terrible pests.—( Journal of Forestry.') 
- Messrs. Letts, Son & Co. confer annually a great boon 
on the public by the issue of every conceivable form of Diary 
and Memorandum Book. Their energy and enterprise seem 
never to fail, but rather to strengthen by age. We have received 
a packet of these valuable annuals, with specimens of various 
forms, all of which are more or less indispensable to somebody. 
It is not only as diaries that these are useful, but they contain 
much information which people are in everyday want of ready to 
hand and easy of reference. We commend the diaries of Messrs. 
Letts very highly to all who require one, and a diary is a record 
which everybody ought to keep. 
