April 19, 1883. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 319 
The mixture is now made as follows :—A nine-gallon cask with 
the head out is placed on end, with a tap inserted near the bottom. 
A pound of good soft soap is put into it, and four gallons of soft 
water boiling. This is stirred with a stick till the soap is dissolved, 
then one pint of petroleum is poured in slowly while the water is 
kept violently stirred with a stick. Then four gallons more soft 
water is added. I think it is immaterial whether this last lot of 
water is hot or cold, but it must be soft. In five minutes after 
stirring the scum has risen to the top and the mixture may be 
drawn off through the tap, leaving, however, a little more than 
sufficient to cover the tap at the bottom. This must be treated as 
waste, and On no account must any of it be used on the plants.— 
Wm. Taylor. 
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We deeply regret to announce the death of Major-Geneeal 
H. Y. D. Scott, C.B., F.R.S., late of the Royal Engineers, 
which took place on Monday morning at his residence, Silver- 
dale, Sydenham, aged sixty-one. He retired from the army in 
1871, and became Director of Buildings at South Kensington, 
acting as architect to the Royal Albert Hall and Science Schools. 
He was Secretary to the Royal Commissioners of the 1851 Exhi¬ 
bition. At his death he had just finished superintending the con¬ 
struction of the Great International Fisheries Exhibition. He 
was elected a member of the Council of the Royal Horticultural 
Society on 13th June, 1865, in place of the late Sir Joseph Paxton. 
He became Secretary in 1866, and resigned with his colleagues 
in 1873 when the Council resigned in a body. The deceased gentle¬ 
man has been a frequent contributor to our pages, and has re¬ 
cently written under the nom cle plume of “ Inquirer.” 
- “ D., Beal," sends the following list of the Rose Show 
fixtures at present arranged :—June 27, Cardiff ; 27, Croydon ; 
28, National Rose Society, Southampton ; 29, Canterbury ; 
30, Reigate ; July 3, National Rose Society, South Kensington ; 
4, Maidstone (?) ; 5, Farningham ; 5, Bath ; 6, Sutton ; 6, Tunbridge 
Wells ; 7, Eltham ; 7, Birchham ; 7, Crystal Palace ; 10, Wirral; 
10, Oxford; 12, National Rose Society, Sheffield; 17, Leek; 
18, Darlington. 
- A correspondent writes that “the long continuance of 
cold east winds following the snow that fell last month has 
seriously affected the crops of early Potatoes in the Channel 
Islands. Large areas have been injured, and the growth of the 
tubers greatly retarded thereby. It is expected that the Potato 
harvest will be at least a month later than usual.” 
- The Bath Floral Fete Committee will hold a spring 
Show on Wednesday, May 9 th; a Rose Show on Thursday, 
July 5th ; an autumn Show, Wednesday and Thursday, September 
5th and 6th ; and a Chrysanthemum Show on Wednesday and 
Thursday, November 14th and 15th. Numerous prizes will be 
offered, including three silver cups and a gold medal at the 
Rose Show. 
- We regret to announce the death of Mr. Joseph C. 
Spyers, which took place at Torquay on the 10th inst. Mr. 
Spyers was well known as Sir Trevor Lawrence’s Orchid-grower, 
and the fine condition of the Orchids in the Burford Lodge col¬ 
lection has long testified to his skill as a cultivator of these 
plants. It appears that on his return from the Edinburgh Inter¬ 
national Exhibition last autumn he had an attack of bronchitis, 
which terminated in consumption, that the most careful nursing 
and best advice failed to arrest. 
- Mr. A. C. Roffey, Secretary of the Croydon Horti¬ 
cultural Society, requests us to state that their next summer 
Show, to be held on June 27th, will be the sixteenth held by the 
Society ; and the autumn Show, which takes place on November 
14th and 15th, will be the seventh. 
- “ It is stated,” says the British Mercantile Gazette, “that 
there are no less than 40,000 square miles of almost unbroken 
forests in North Carolina— Pine, Chestnut, Oak, Maple, 
Beech, and Hickory timber in their finest growth. Within the 
next ten years it is estimated that the timber alone in North 
Carolina will exceed in value the present total valuation of all the 
property in the State, including land. The State grows nineteen 
varieties of Oak, and its Pine forests are of the heaviest. New 
railroads are now in course of construction, and this will open up 
the whole region to the northern and eastern lumber markets.” 
- We understand that the Wirral Rose Society will this 
year hold its principal Show in St. George’s Hall, Liverpool, on 
Tuesday the 10th July, and that Canon Hole and the Rev. H. H. 
D’Ombrain will again judge the nurserymen’s classes. The Duke 
of Westminster has honoured this Society by becoming its Pre¬ 
sident. The move from Birkenhead Park to St. George’s Hall is 
a very good feature in this year’s programme, as the Hall is a 
magnificent one for the purpose, within a hundred yards of the 
railway station, and most convenient for distant exhibitors. 
-The following sensational description of “AN angry tree” 
recently appeared in the Times :—“ A singular species of Acacia 
is growing at Virginia, Nevada, which shows all the character¬ 
istics of a Sensitive Plant. It is about 8 feet high, and growing 
rapidly. When the sun sets its leaves fold together, and the ends 
of the twigs coil up like a pig-tail, and if the latter are handled 
there is evident uneasiness throughout the plant. Its highest state 
of agitation was reached when the tree was removed from the 
pot in which it was matured into a larger one. To use the gar¬ 
dener’s expression, it went very mad. It had scarcely been 
placed in its new quarters before the leaves began to stand up in 
all directions like the hair on the tail of an angry-cat, and soon 
the whole plant was in a quiver. At the same time it gave out 
a most sickening and pungent odour resembling that of rattle¬ 
snakes when teased. The smell so filled the house that it was 
necessary to open the doors and windows, and it was a full hour 
before the plant calmed down and folded its leaves in peace.” 
- The Secretary of the Science and Art Department, Lon¬ 
don, writes :—“With reference to the communication addressed 
to you on the 3rd February last on the subject of a forthcoming 
International Horticultural Exhibition and Botanical 
Congress to be held at St. Petersburg!), I am directed to acquaint 
you that the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education 
have now received a communication from the Foreign Office, 
stating that in consequence of the Czar’s coronation the proposed 
Exhibition and Congress are postponed until the 5th May, 1884.” 
-Mr. Iggulden in advocating mixed packets of 
Primula seed writes :—“ Chinese Primulas have been wonder¬ 
fully improved of late years. I cannot, however, overlook the 
fact of the varieties being distributed in a manner so as to debar 
the majority of would-be admirers growing but a modicum of 
them. Instead of distributing in single packets only at almost 
prohibitive prices, why not give those who must not expend large 
sums with the seedsmen, an opportunity of purchasing those 
undoubtedly superior novelties in mixed packets ? For 5#. we 
ought to procure sufficient Primula seeds to produce plants 
enough for the requirements of all moderate-sized establishments, 
and in variety equal to Calceolarias and Cinerarias. The Messrs. 
Sutton & Sons of Reading evidently recognise the propriety of 
meeting our wishes in this respect, as they now offer packets of 
mixed varieties at a moderate price. The first season I tried one 
of their packets of ‘ special hybrid Primulas ’ I was not so 
