AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
23 
hints, both in regard to laying out grounds, and 
the best method of cultivating the various hor¬ 
ticultural productions. His teachings in this 
line, if of a useful character, will be the best 
defence of the skill and character of his country¬ 
men. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Having seen in your widely-circulated paper, 
a leading article upon the beautiful house and 
grounds of Mr. Ketchum, at Hokanum, I 
observe a passage calculated to prejudice gen¬ 
tlemen of this country against employing for¬ 
eign gardeners, on the plea that they are obliged 
to learn every thing over again when they ar¬ 
rive in this country. This, I emphatically deny. 
When a man has learned his business as gar¬ 
dener in England, and studied all his early life 
to obtain that knowledge which is requisite for 
a gardener to know, it does not matter to what 
quarter of the globe he emigrates, as he is per¬ 
fectly aware that the plants and vines which he 
had under his charge in England require the 
same treatment and attention every where else. 
I am satisfied that the major part of the plants 
and vines in this country, have been at some 
time imported from Europe. I am, of course, 
now speaking of green-houses, and a man who 
understands them in England, qpn manage them 
equally well here. 
I see an allusion also made to the graduates 
from the garden of the Duke of Devonshire. 
Allow me to say that there are a great many 
coming to this country who profess to have been 
there formerly, thinking this a recommendation, 
as it undoubtedly is. Sir Joseph Paxton being 
known all over the world as the Duke’s head 
gardener—others seek to share in his fame— 
but by what I learn, many of these men never 
saw the Duke’s seat at Chatsworth, nor even 
that part of England where that splendid man¬ 
sion and gardens are situated. When men of 
this description take situations and fail, which 
they are sure to do, as many of them scarcely 
know a cabbage from a cauliflower, it lowers 
good foreign gardeners in the estimation of gen¬ 
tlemen requiring them. I may further add that 
there are at most very few graduates in this 
country, who have been schooled in the Duke 
of Devonshire’s gardens. Should there be any 
at all in this country who have really been at 
Chatsworth, I am sure they would give satisfac¬ 
tion to any gentleman needing their services. 
The only difficulty a good gardener experi¬ 
ences here is in the growth of vegetables, and 
and he requires twelve months’ practice to know 
the difference of climate and vegetation. I am 
an Englishman, and a graduate of the Royal 
Gardens of England, and can prove that I am 
so; and I will not give place to any man as re¬ 
gards a thorough knowledge of the business, 
extending from propagating and laying out 
grounds down to using the spade. Nowhere in 
any country is there such magnificent specimens 
of horticultural and horticultural skill as are 
met with in the exhibition tents of the London 
Horticultural Society’s Gardens at Chiswick, the 
Royal Botanical Gardens of London, and others, 
even provincial shows, where plants and fruit 
are exhibited to the astonished and admiring 
gaze of thousands. I am sure any gentleman 
who has visited those Horticultural displays will 
bear me out in this assertion. I have attended 
these exhibitions of skill as an exhibitor, and I 
may add, a fortunate one. I do not wish your¬ 
self or readers to suppose that I am against 
American gardeners. On the contrary, I can 
but admire them as a clever and intelligent class 
of men. At the same time I must say that be¬ 
cause a man is a foreigner, it is very wrong to 
think that he is incompetent to manage a gen¬ 
tleman’s estate, and I hope to prove at some 
future period myself, that this is not the case. 
I trust, Sir, as a lover of fair play and justice, 
that you will insert this in your journal at some 
convenient opportunity. W. Summersbez. 
Spring Bill , Flushing, L. I., Aug. 10th, 1854. 
A hypocrite is good in nothing but sighs. 
VERBENA. 
PRACTICAL niNTS ON POT CULTURE. 
As the Verbena merits a place, and most 
justly, among popular florists’ flowers, perhaps 
a few hints on its cultivation in pots may be 
acceptable to those who have not hitherto 
adopted that mode of culture. I know of no 
plant more useful or ornamental as a pot-plant, 
for decorating the green-house during the sum¬ 
mer season, when the proper inmates of that 
structure are enjoying the open air. If we take 
into consideration its graceful habit, the variety 
and brilliancy of its colors, which offer hues 
for every taste, and above all, the lengthened 
period it continues to produce its lovely blos¬ 
soms, it is unrivalled and ought to be more gen¬ 
erally grown in pots as specimens, more espe- 
ciallv now that the numerous varieties are so 
much improved, both in form and color. The 
present season has been productive of some 
gems of the first class ; and if the Veberna con¬ 
tinues to be improved as it has been during 
these few years past, I have no doubt that the 
time is not far distant when it will form one of 
the leading features at our floral exhibitions. I 
do not know if my system of propagating this 
favorite be new; but as it is simple, certain, 
and expeditious, it may be as well to state how 
I proceed from the commencement. I fill shal¬ 
low pans (such as are used for placing under 
flower-pots) to within a quarter of an inch of 
the top with silver-sand, and pour in water suf¬ 
ficient just to cover the sand. I then make the 
cuttings in the usual way, and push them into 
the wet-sand; put the labels to them, and 
place them in a hot-bed frame where the heat 
ranges from 65 to 70 deg., always keeping the 
sand wet. The advantages that are to be re¬ 
alized by propagating the Verbena in this 
way are, that the cuttings never require to be 
shaded in the brightest sunshine, consequently 
the young plants are not drawn up long and 
lanky; the cuttings never stop growing from 
the time they are put in until they are ready to 
pot off, which is in about six or seven days, 
when they may be drawn out of the wet sand, 
with a bunch of roots, without injuring a single 
fibre. The best time to commence operations 
for growing specimen Verbenas in pots is Feb¬ 
ruary, or as soon as vegetation commences for 
the season. It is desirable to pot a few of the 
best autumn-struck plants for the sake of early 
bloom; but they never make such handsome 
specimens, nor continue so long in good health, 
as plants raised from cuttings in spring. As 
soon as the cuttings are well rooted, they should 
be plotted into 3-inch pots, and placed in a 
gentle heat for a few days, until they are es¬ 
tablished in the pots; then top them, and har¬ 
den them by degrees; never allow them to re¬ 
main long in heat after they begin to grow, or 
they will form long naked stems. As soon as 
the pots are filled with roots, shift into 6-inch 
ones, and from these into 11-inch pots. Dur¬ 
ing the growth of the plant, all shoots must be 
stopped in order to cause the plants to grow 
bushy; and never allow them to flower until 
the plant is properly formed, and has as many 
leading shoots as are wanted. The compost in 
which I grow the Verbena is, equal parts turfy 
loam, leaf-mold and peat, with a little silver- 
sand added, to keep the soil open. I water 
twice a-week with liquid manure, and occasion¬ 
ally syringe over head with clean water to 
cleanse the foliage. If the saving of the seed 
is no object, all flowers ought to be cut off as 
soon as they begin to decay. I need scarcely 
add, that the grand secret in the successful cul¬ 
ture of this, as well as of all plants, is efficient 
drainage; without this no plant will continue 
long in good health. If green-fly should attack 
your plants, fumigate with tobacco; for if the 
fly once gets a-head, the plants will never re¬ 
cover sufficiently to give satisfaction. Mildew 
is another enemy which must be looked after. 
As soon as it is perceived, dust the plants with 
a little sulphur, which will stop it from doing 
much mischief.— Y., in Gardeners' Chronicle. 
CANKER WORMS. 
We clip the following extracts, relative to 
preventing the ravages of these pests, from a 
letter written by Thaddeus William Harris to 
the New-England Farmer: 
“ Fourteen or fifteen years ago, when canker 
worms were very plentiful and destructive in 
this vicinity, the use of tin collars, applied 
around the trunks of the trees, in the form of 
inverted funnels, was recommended to prevent 
the ascent of the female insects. In the au¬ 
tumn of 1852, they were employed in this place 
by several persons, who have reported favorably 
concerning them. The feet of the female in¬ 
sects are not provided with suckers or claspers 
like those of flies; and their structure seems to 
be such as would necessarily prevent their 
walking or retaining their foothold against grav¬ 
ity, beneath a perfectly smooth, polished and 
dry surface. Hence, when Mr. Everett first 
showed me his glass collars, I was very favora¬ 
bly impressed with the contrivance, and ac¬ 
cepted his offer to apply them to some of my 
trees, in order to test their efficacy. Two of 
my cherry trees, and two small plum trees were 
provided with grass collars in the autumn of 
1853; and these four trees have almost entirely 
escaped injury, white some other trees in my 
garden, not protected with collars or with tar, 
have been more or less seriously injured by can¬ 
ker worms. I do not consider this experiment 
as conclusive, because there have been some 
canker worms on the protected trees ; those on 
the cherry trees may have come from two in¬ 
fested elm trees, growing near the fence in a 
neighboring lot, and so close as to interfere 
with some of the branches on my two cheiry 
trees; the plum trees, on the contrary, were 
sufficiently distant from infested trees. More¬ 
over, a friend tells me that he saw a female in¬ 
sect pass over the glass collar on one of his 
trees last autumn. The glass in all cases may 
not be sufficiently smooth; or perhaps moisture 
on the foot of the female or on the glass may 
enable the insect to stick to the glass. Further 
experiments in use of this contrivance seem, 
therefore, to be wanting before an unconditional 
verdict can be given in its favor. It is my in¬ 
tention to apply these glass collars to other 
trees in my garden next autumn ; in the expec- 
tion that, if effectual as a preventive to the as¬ 
cent of the female insect, they will prove in the 
course of time cheaper and better than any 
other reme’dy hitherto employed. 
“ Applications of tar, or of oil, according to 
the well known methods, if made in season, and 
renewed as often as necessary, have proved 
good remedies against the depredations of can¬ 
ker worms. My own confidence in them notonly 
remains unimpaired, but is confirmed by con¬ 
tinued experience. The use of these remedies 
are attended with much trouble and considera¬ 
ble expense, against which are to be taken into 
account the satisfaction and profit arising from 
the preservation of the foliage, the fruit, and 
even the continued health of the trees. 
“ In the enumeration of remedies we are not 
to forget the services of the feathered race. 
The warblers, buntings and other small birds 
devour great numbers of canker worms. Even 
the cherry bird earns a share of our early cher¬ 
ries by the havoc he makes among the canker 
worms. I wish as much could be said in favor 
of the robins, but candor obliges me to confess 
that insects form but a very small portion of 
their food, while they are unsparing in their at¬ 
tacks upon our cherries. Domestic fowls, if 
allowed to go at large among the trees during 
the seasons when the female insects are rising 
from the ground, devour great numbers of 
them. During the present summer, some 
cherry trees growing in a yard where fowls are 
kept have entirely escaped the attacks of can¬ 
ker worms; while trees in an adjacent yard 
from which the fowls'were excluded, have had 
their leaves wholly destroyed by insects.”— 
Farm Journal. 
