72 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
[ July 27, 1893. 
attacked by these pests, and the results obtained on the experi¬ 
mental stations in the States and also in England, prove without 
doubt that at present the only way of dealing successfully with 
these natural enemies of the plants in question is by spraying. 
Poisonous solutions must at all times be dealt with cautiously and 
by reliable men. Such mixtures to be effective must also be pro¬ 
perly made, ora failure exposes the whole thing to ridicule. It is 
my intention to speak of the easiest and safest method of pre¬ 
paring the Bordeaux mixture so greatly used for Vines, fruit 
trees, Tomatoes, and Potatoes. This mixture should now be 
applied by all gardeners in the country as a test upon the Potatoes. 
In a week or two the disease will be rampant, the weather is now 
suitable for its propagation, and we must give the first dressing 
before the fungus commences its raids. The experimental plots in 
this district have all been sprayed, and we are now hard at work 
upon the cottagers’ allotments and the plots in fields and village 
gardens. By the time we have been round once I anticipate 15 to 
20 acres will have received treatment. 
The mixture is very easily made in large quantities, but small 
brewings require greater care and consideration. I will, however, 
deal with each case. We want a solution of copper sulphate (blue 
vitriol), some freshly slaked lime, and a supply of water. The 
mixing apparatus consists of two wooden buckets and a tub holding 
from 10 to 20 gallons. Take 2 lbs. of copper sulphate, dissolve it 
in a bucket containing a gallon of hot water, stirring it well until 
the copper is dissolved. Slake about 1 lb. of fresh quicklime in the 
second bucket, and when slaked add about another gallon of water 
and stir the whole until the water is quite milky. Place 8 gallons 
of cold water in the tub, and when the contents of the first bucket 
are cold mix the whole 10 gallons in the tub, stirring vigorously 
with a stick, and the solution is ready for use. This is sufficient to 
spray 10 perches, and the cost does not exceed Is. 3d. The mixture 
is much more easily made when large areas are to be dressed. 
Suspend a sack containing 40 to 50 lbs. or more of copper sulphate 
in a tub in which there are 20 to 40 gallons of cold water. The 
copper dissolves, and we can soon obtain a solution of 25 to 30 per 
cent, of copper. Having a 25 per cent, solution, about 3 gallons of 
this will make 40 gallons of the bouille. 
After mixing the copper and water, slake about 2 lbs. of lime 
and add as before, stirring during the whole process. The lime is 
added simply to neutralise the acidity of the sulphate, and less than 
the above quantities may be used ; but if it is not of good quality 
and slakes badly, the time to cease adding milk of lime is 
detected by dropping in one or two drops of a solution of ferro- 
cyanide of potassium. This poisonous solution gives a deep brown 
colour if the copper is not neutralised, but remains unaltered in 
colour if there is sufficient lime. A good spraying machine is 
Vermorel s Eclair, and this before long will come into general use for 
spraying. It can be used with advantage for fruit trees and 
vegetables, but in this country it is as yet little understood, and even 
the time to use it is unknown to many practical men. Since 
writing the above I have found a plot of Schoolmaster Potatoes 
badly diseased. The plot is low-lying, shaded by Apple trees, 
and Mangolds were grown on it last year. In other parts of the 
garden^ Schoolmasters are as yet untouched.— Edward H. Smith, 
Warmvnster, 
(To be continued.) 
PARSLEY FOR WINTER AND SPRING. 
There are few gardens, either large or small, in which this indis¬ 
pensable herb is over-plentiful during severe winters, but there are many 
in which the supply has not been equal to the demand, and it is on 
record that “market men” who have made a “lucky hit” with it 
during such seasons have reaped a richer reward than any other crop is 
capable of realising. At other times, when mild winters have been 
experienced, this self-same herb has been a drug in the market. What¬ 
ever weather is likely to come it is wise to be prepared for the worst. 
The produce of sowings made in early spring and during May will keep 
up a constant supply till very severe weather is experienced, and on no 
account should the winter supply be drawn upon until that from other 
sources is quite exhausted. Much may be done to economise by attend¬ 
ing to this point, for there is generally too great an inclination to pick 
irom sheltered positions as soon as a few degrees of frost are experienced. 
Although the leaves may be frozen stiff and look uninviting, if placed in 
cold water and gradually thawed they will serve for all purposes, and, 
moreover, be a distinct gain. 
No matter how exposed a position Parsley is grown in, it is seldom 
much disfigured by frost unless it is continuous. Then is the time to 
draw upon the supply which has been prepared for use during severe 
weather and throughout the early spring months. A good sowing 
snould be made as soon as possible to provide this supply. If space at 
ine toot qf a south wall is available the ground should be prepared by 
mrking in a little old hotbed manure, or leaf soil and wood ashes if the 
4 ought then to be drawn a few inches from 
the wall, in which the seed should be sown thinly.— D. W. 
The N.R.S. Catalogue. 
“Audi Alteram Partem,” in youn last issue, referring to the 
National Rose Society’s new catalogue of exhibition and garden Roses, 
says that “ no Rose grower of taste, unless an exhibitor, would be 
influenced in his selection of Roses for his garden by this ‘ official 
guide.’ It leaves out many of the best Roses for garden and house 
decoration, and recommends others that no one but an exhibitor would 
care to grow.” 
Now, this strikes me as a very sweeping, and at the same time mis¬ 
leading statement. In the first place I know dozens of non-exhibiting 
rosarians who have warmly welcomed the appearance of this new 
catalogue, and who regard it as a trustworthy guide, philosopher, and 
friend, in the selection of Roses for their gardens. It certainly contains 
a list of exhibition Roses, a small proportion of which cannot be recom¬ 
mended to amateurs generally; but on the other hand, half the cata¬ 
logue in question is devoted entirely to the description of varieties suit¬ 
able for garden decoration and general cultivation, Roses which would 
be quite out of place in any collection grown exclusively for exhibition 
purposes. In fact, the catalogue recently issued by the Society was not 
in the first instince intended for exhibitors at all, but for its non-exhibit¬ 
ing members. Your correspondent appears to be of opinion that the 
National Rose Society “ is only an exhibitors’ society,” whereas more 
than two-thirds of its members have probably never exhibited a Rose in 
their lives. It may also surprise him to hear that the entire cost of the 
new edition has been defrayed by exhibitors, and that it has been 
issued by the Society more especially for the benefit of their non¬ 
exhibiting brethren. 
The new edition, which is bound in cloth and illustrated, contains 
descriptions of nearly 300 selected Roses, many of which are as yet to 
be found in very few trade catalogues. If any of your readers would 
like to judge for themselves as to the value of our new catalogue, I can 
only say that I shall be happy to supply them with a copy at the small 
cost of fourteen stamps.— Edward Mawley, Bosehanh, BerJihamsted, 
Herts. 
Roses and Rosarians. 
It is very strange to see the contemptuous way in which lovers of 
Roses who are not exhibitors speak of those who are. Anyone may 
aecuse anyone else of want of taste if their likings do not coincide, and 
such accusations against exhibitors are common enough in newspapers 
with a column or so devoted to gardening, though one does not expect 
to find them in the Journal, and I do not remember ever seeing an 
exhibitor hit back by condemning the lovers of garden Roses for want 
of taste. But to go farther and accuse exhibitors of ignorance, as 
“ Audi Alteram Partem ” seems to do by saying it is “ amusing, on a 
question of accuracy, to find the new N.R.S. Catalogue set up as an 
official guide,” is “ rayther too rich,” as Sam Weller would have said. 
Some items in that catalogue may be open to criticism (I hope to make 
some humble ones myself before long) but it is prepared by 
men who are without question the highest authorities on the Rose in all 
its branches, most of whom make it the special study of their lives. 
Surely, in any other branch of art, science or manufacture, the “ amuse¬ 
ment ” would come in when such a compilation was denounced as un¬ 
trustworthy by an outsider, without any proofs and merely upon his 
ipse dixit. Whether it is “ amusing ” or not to find, after the statements 
of “ Audi, &c.” (“ it leaves out many of the best Roses for garden and 
house decoration, and recommends others that no one but an exhibitor 
would care to grow. But then it may be said that the so-called National 
Rose Society is onlyan exhibitor’s Society ”) that the catalogue in question 
contains eleven pages of exhibition Roses and twelve of garden Roses of 
every description and species, must be left to the readers of the Journal 
to decide. 
It was plain to anyone acquainted with the catalogue that the 
mention of it as an official guide in the letter of “A jubilee Rose 
Grower ” referred to the statement as to the raisers and dates of the 
different Roses catalogued, which is the result of thorough investigation 
by the best au'horities, and may be relied on as impartial. Other points 
in the letter of “Audi, &c.,” might possibly be found “amusing” by 
an irreverent peruser, but I leave him and Rev. D. Williamson in the 
able hands of “A Jubilee Rose Grower,” with each word of whose letter 
I heartily agree. I trust, however, that “an oasis in the desert” of the 
Rose column of the Journal may still be found occasionally from the 
pen of Mr. Williamson, whose writings have caused real amusement to 
others besides myself.—W. R. Raillem. 
Your fluent correspondent, Mr. Williamson, should not attribute 
motives to persons who may venture to differ f»om him in a respectful 
manner on a point of form. I had not his visit to Waltham the least 
in mind when I sent the short note to which he refers on page 51 
last week. I had noticed, as have others, his tendency to direct public 
attention to his personal friendships and distinguished associations, and 
