March 15,1994 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
199 
growth of the young plants is also poshed along rapidly. Thus 
t^wo good objects are attained by the early and repeated hoeings 
and successive soot sprinklings. 
Early thinning also is advised where thinning is found necessary. 
Late thinnings, as frequently practised, often invite maggot attacks 
by exposing the most tender part of the plants to the enemy, while 
the root disturbance checks the growth of the Onions. The fly 
unquestionably goes to the weakest plants and weakest parts, hence 
the necessity for early sowings and good cultivation throughout, to 
push along growth in order that the plants may form a stout 
maggot-resisting outer covering by the time the fly appears for 
depositing eggs. Hand-weeding ought never to be necessary, the 
weeds being kept down easily and efficiently by early and frequent 
hoeings; if they are allowed to grow they exclude air from the 
stems of the young Onions, which are made tender in consequence, 
and easily pierced by the newly hatched maggots. 
As a further reply to “ W. S. E.,” I would inform him of an 
excellent method of providing small plants for the fly to deposit 
its eggs upon. Sow the main bed early in February as above 
advised, and cultivate likewise, then in the latter half of March 
sow a few rows thickly near the same ; the later plants will almost 
surely be badly infested, to be eventually cleared away, and 
the ground planted with some other crop. As proof of this I 
will cite a case which came under my own observation last season. 
A clergyman of this county (Norfolk) sowed half of a large bed early 
in February, and the remaining half about the middle of March, 
treating both portions alike in other respects, and cultivating both 
well. Results : Those from February sowing were a full and 
remarkably fine crop, quite uninjured by the maggot. The March- 
sown portion on the other hand was almost entirely destroyed 
by the enemy.—W. K. W. 
[Our correspondent is the last man to “shroud” his practical 
teaching in a “haze of long names;” at the same time, he will 
admit that “ W. S. E.” has been the means of eliciting valuable 
information, including that supplied by “W. K. W.” The 
“ appeal ” added one more instance to the many of questioners 
becoming educators by calling forth experience that must be of 
service to many, and which would otherwise have remained 
dormant. We have placed eggs of the Onion fly on the tender 
stems of young plants, also at the same time on the hardened stems 
of autumn-sown Onions. The resulting maggots entered the 
former with the greatest ease, but perished in the attempt to 
penetrate the latter. Let others try this simple experiment during 
the ensuing season. We have other communications in hand.] 
THE GLORY OF THE SNOW. 
In a recent note on hardy flowers I spoke of the Chionodoxas, 
and now that some of the other varieties are in bloom a short space 
may perhaps be profitably devoted to them. In speaking of the 
little patch in the centre of C. sardensis I was unaware that some 
of the flowers of this species do not exhibit this feature. The 
Rev. C. Wolley Dod very kindly sent me some blooms of the 
typical C. sardensis from his garden, and these were not only blue 
to the centre, only the anthers showing white, but the blue was 
much finer and more intense than any of my flowers. By the 
same post I received a letter from Mr. Whittall, the discoverer of 
C. sardensis, in which he said he wished to know if the “ dark¬ 
eyed ” variety had shown this feature, as he had a suspicion that it 
was the result of the soil. That morning one of the flowers of this 
“dark-eyed” variety opened, and, so far from exhibiting a dark 
spot in the centre, showed a small white eye or patch. A few days 
ago one of my correspondents in this country wrote me that some 
of the Chionodoxas with “ smoke coloured ” eyes had opened. 
This appears to be another instance of what has been observed 
with some plants, the soil and situation affecting them in several 
ways. I should be glad to hear from any grower of C. sardensis 
regarding their experience of this. 
The changes effected by soil or situation may perhaps be 
accountable for the differences of opinion regarding C. traolusi, 
another “Glory of the Snow” found by Mr. Whittall, many 
growers regarding it as the same as C. Luciliae ; one firm, indeed, 
withdrawing it from their lists until its distinctness was proved or 
disproved. Writing in the Journal last spring, I said that I con¬ 
sidered it distinct, as it was much brighter in colour. My bulbs 
were not from Mr. Whittall direct, but from a dealer who obtains 
bulbs through him, and in writing Mr. Whittall lately I stated my 
opinion, which, I am glad to know, is confirmed by that gentleman, 
who says—“I am glad you see the difference that exists in tmolusi, 
as it appears to me that others have been slow in recognising it. 
There is no manner of doubt in my mind that it will eventually be 
acknowledged to be a distinct variety.” This season C. tmolusi has 
again flowered, and, after careful examination and comparison with 
C. Lucilim of many shades of colour, I feel confident that they are 
distinct from a garden point of view, although not so from a 
botanist’s view. The true C. tmolusi will be found brighter in the 
garden than C. Lucilim. 
One of the latest additions to the Glories of the Snow is 
C. Alleni, also one of Mr. Whittall’s discoveries, and named in 
honour of Mr. James Allen of Shepton Mallet. This I flowered 
last year, but when asked my opinion by Mr. Allen, I confessed 
myself unable to give one founded upon the flowers then to be 
seen. They appeared very like those of C. grandiflora (syn. 
gigantea), but more starry in form. All the Chionodoxas improve 
very much when established for a time, and now that C. Alleni has 
become established one can see that Mr. Whittall was justified in 
thinking it the finest of the Glories of the Snow. In my garden 
it is larger and brighter than C. grandiflora, and my few bulbs are, 
as I write, showing most beautiful flowers, the starry appearance 
having given place to well-formed broad petals. No doubt many 
growers of the Chionodoxas for the first time are disappointed with 
the flowers, but in time this disappointment will give place to 
delight at their beauty. Another break in the Chionodoxas has 
appeared this season in Mr. Allen’s garden. This is a seedling with 
maroon-coloured anthers. It is impossible to forecast the future 
of the Glories of the Snow, but there is little doubt that their 
being brought together in our gardens will lead to endless crossing 
and intercrossing, which with flowers so free in seeding as these 
will give us many varieties of form and colour. 
Since writing the foregoing a letter has reached me from another 
correspondent, an excellent botanist and a large grower of hardy 
flowers. He says that nearly all the flowers of the “dark-centred ” 
C. sardensis have the anthers diseased with a growth like smut 
in Wheat, and that this gives the flower a darker appearance in 
the centre, but that there is no darker colouring on the patch.— 
S. Aknott. 
ALARMING INCREASE OF THE CURRANT BUD 
MITE. 
It is with no wish to pose as an alarmist to placid and comfort¬ 
able fruit growers that I draw fresh attention to the rapid increase of 
that insidious Black Currant pest, Phytoptus ribis, but it is certain 
that if some of them do not rapidly arouse themselves it will have 
established itself so firmly that no easy and economical means of 
riddance will suffice. Although the amount of damage done to 
Currants this year will be enormous, very little attention appears to 
be paid to the cause. When birds clear off the buds there is a 
vigorous outcry against the feathered marauders, but the far more 
serious operations of the mite are passed over unremarked. If this 
general apathy continues much longer the enemy will be as firmly 
established as the Potato disease, and, although the Currant crop is 
not of course so important as that of the noble tuber, it would be a 
calamity if the bulk of it were lost. 
There are several points of interest to be noted in connection 
with the Currant Phytoptus, and one of the most important is its 
more marked partiality for one variety than others. That sort, by 
an irony of fate which market growers will fully feel the keenness 
of when they find time to turn their attention to the matter, the one 
which is far the most extensively cultivated for sale. So far as my 
observation goes, Baldwin’s is the Black Currant which possesses the 
negative quality of attracting Phytoptus ribis the most strongly ; 
indeed, in a series of observations carefully conducted in several 
different places, I have noted that where there is a selection of sorts 
grown Baldwin’s practically constitutes itself the grazing ground of 
the enemy. Now, there might be a certain comfort in this were it 
presumable that with the variety named out of the way the mite 
would take itself off altogether, but its palate is not so dainty that 
it will refuse all food because its own particular delicacy is not 
there. Knowing as I do that the great market sort is a popular 
garden Currant as well, I think it likely that many gardeners as well 
as marketers may be in a position to say whether my observation in 
certain parts of Kent is borne out in other districts. 
Another point of interest connected with the mite is its remark¬ 
able tenacity of life. As a result of some conversation with Mr. 
Butt, the very intelligent agent at Chilham Castle, he brought some 
mites for microscopic investigation. A very thin transverse slice had 
been cut from an infested bud with a sham raz r and isolated for a 
week, with two cr three of the “ maggots ” clinging affectionately to 
it. Although their ardour must have sensibly diminished before the 
end of the seven days, for long ere the expiration of that time the 
slice was dried and shrivelled, they still showed unmistakeable signs 
of vitality, twisting and curving in a series of wavy undulations. 
Although there is no important practical deduction to be drawn from 
this pronounced reluctance of the pest to perish under adverse corn 
ditions, yet the fact points to a retention of vitality much greater 
