526 
[ ^ane 28-, 18*8, 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
are not desired to expand on the plants, they should he cut 
and placed in water in a cool dark place, and they will be 
right for sending off the next morning. Exhibitors of Roses are 
quite aware of the advantage of cutting young blooms bespangled 
with dew, and of the necessity of placing them promptly in winter 
instead of letting them “ lie about ” to become partially withered— 
a thoughtless habit on the part of some when collecting flowers 
for sending away, and fatal to their fresh arrival and long 
continuance. 
Chrysanthemums for decorative purposes when cut in the ex¬ 
panding bud state and the stalks placed in water develope in rooms 
into most attractive flowers, and with a little care will there do 
duty for a month. The leaves should be removed from the stalks 
and flowers except above water, this changed occasionally before it 
becomes turbid, and a small portion cut off the stalks with a sharp 
knife for leaving open the sap vessels. If blunt scissors are used 
the sap vessels are bruised and rendered in a measure inoperative. 
Wet sand, obscured by foliage, is as good as water, if not better, 
for keeping flowers fresh, and a few can often be disposed to better 
advantage than in water alone, the sand holding them in the desired 
positions. 
Some persons add salt, ammonia, and other ingredients to water 
for prolonging the beauty of flowers. I have not tried any of those 
supposed aids to floral longevity, and shall be glad to hear if they 
have been fully and fairly tested, and with what results. Hot 
water will freshen fading flowers and withering foliage much 
quicker than cold will, as anyone may prove by letting a number of 
Mignonette sprays get quite flaccid, then place some of them in 
cold and others in hot water. These latter will revive long before 
the others, some of which if very far gone may be beyond recovery 
in cold water, whereas the hot would have restored them. But 
how hot should the water be ? If the hand can be borne in it for 
a quarter of a minute it will not injure the stems. This is an old 
practice, but none the worse on that account, and is worth a trial 
under the circumstances indicated. 
Close-fitting tin boxes answer admirably for sending flowers 
in, and unless these are naturally moist it is well to give the boxes 
a rinse out, and the confined moisture will keep the contents fresh. 
Wooden boxes similarly treated also answer well if made as nearly 
air-tight as possible. Tliat is the main point, for the simple and 
sufficient reason that without evaporation and the escape of moisture 
out of the boxes there can be no flagging in them if flowers and 
foliage be packed in a perfectly fresh state. Cut flowers young, 
cut them early, pack them quickly, and secure them closely, and 
the fresher they will reach those for whom they are intended, and 
the longer they will remain attractive when arranged in rooms.— 
Experiextia docet. 
ABOUT FRUIT-TREES IN POTS. 
Do you, or any of your readers, know a Pear called Blanche 
Claude ? We have one tree here in a 10-inch pot from which we 
gathered a dish of fine fruits on June 9th. It was brought into 
heat along with others on February 23rd, and has therefore taken 
about fifteen weeks to ripen. As an early Pear it is a decided 
acquisition. The fruit is of good size, with a handsome greenish- 
yellow skin. 
What a striking contrast there is at present between our inside 
and outside fruit. If anyone has doubts of the advantages of pro¬ 
viding good orchard house accommodation in establishments where 
a supply of first class fruit has to be maintained, especially in 
localities so cold and backward as ours, a visit here at the present 
time would soon alter their views. Outside at the present time 
(June 22nd) Apples are just set. Pears not much further advanced; 
even the earliest varieties are not yet the size of marbles. We have 
had very cold cutting winds for some days past, the temperature 
seldom rising above 50'" in shade, with a corresponding fall at nights. 
Inside we have dozens of Pears and Apples in pots laden with fruit 
in all stages. Many of the earliest varieties of both Apples and 
Pears are changing colour. Pears on trees in pots are very fine 
with us this season. I counted over three dozen fine fruits of 
Beurre Diel on a tree in a 12-inch pot. Trees of Pitmaston Duchess 
in a 10-inch pot carry seven fruits, each measuring 9 inches in circum¬ 
ference. Some fruits of Beurr<3 Diel are 10 inches in circumference, 
and both these varieties are only half sw'elled. Souvenir die 
Congres, Marie Louise, Marie Louise d’Uccle, Beurre Hardy, Louise- 
Bonne of Jersey, and many others are also fine. It is remarkable- 
what a weight of fine fruits can be taken from trees in compara¬ 
tively small pots when placed in a position where they are exposed 
to light, never allowed to suffer for lack of water, with judicious- 
feeding. The only stimulant we use here is Thomson’s Vine and' 
plant manure, the trees being dressed with it several times during- 
the growing season. 
AMERICAN BLIGHT. 
If anyone is troubled with this destructive pest I would advise 
them to make up their minds to give their trees a dressing with tar 
and clay as soon as the foliage is off. Our Apple trees in pots 
were very badly infested with it last year, both root and branch. 
In winter we dressed each tree with the tar and clay mixture, and 
out of about 200 so treated on only one has the slightest trace of 
the pest been discovered, which can be kept in check till the coming 
winter, when we trust another application will finally eradicate this 
dangerous insect. The mixture was composed of five parts clay to 
one of coal tar. This strength will not injure the trees, as ours 
are clean and healthy and bearing fine crops. The surface soil is 
scraped off and a good dressing of soot and fresh lime given to kill 
any insects which may be on the roots. The tar mixture is applied 
with a hard brush, and well rubbed into every crevice, over buds, 
and every piece of wood. Half the remedy in this, as in moste 
similar cases, depends on the thorougluiess of the operation, and 
unless those entrusted with the task are determined to spare no* 
pains in seeing that every bit of wood is well rubbed they had 
better be at something else. Have any of your readers ever seem 
this insect on any other tree but the Apple ? I have not; though it; 
has been scattered witn the hose over Pears and many greenhouse 
plants, it never seems to take to any but the Apple. 
I intend photographing some of the trees here shortly, also- 
some bunches of Grapes. If they turn out well I will send you a 
few samples.—D. Buciian.\n, Lamhtori Gardens. 
MY AURICULAS IN 1887. 
(^Continued from ])CLge 506.') 
It will thus be seen that very few of the earlier raised sorts— 
sorts that were in vogue thirty years ago—are now considered; 
desirable or worthy of a place in a select collection. I now come ta 
varieties raised since that period. Mr. Jeans, as we have seen, 
wrote of George Lightbody as not then out, but it came out shortly 
afterwards, and has remained to this day, notwithstanding all that 
has been done, the best Auricula in growth, and yet it is not per¬ 
fect. One would like, as I said when I first saw it, a little more 
body colour, but take it all in all I have seen nothing that can yet 
touch it. Wherever it is exhibited in good form it is pretty well 
sure to take the first position in the classes for single blooms, and 
not unfrequently that for the best bloom in the show. I have not 
found it so vigorous as many other sorts, but neither is it a delicate; 
grower. This variety was then, as vm have seen from Mr. Jeans’ 
note, on the border land between ’the .old sorts which had been 
grown for fifty to a hundred years, and the newer varieties which 
we were told to expect with so much interest, but which now 
we are assured we must reject, and yet I think there are a few 
which one may hope will escape for a while at least this sweeping 
censure. 
In the class of green edges there have been but a few flowers 
which can claim a prominent place. Some have been introduced, 
but they have not held their ground for one cause or another. For 
many years we were accustomed to see General Neill pretty often. 
It was a great breeder, and growers’ stocks of it soon multiplied, 
but I do not think that it will be often found now in good collec¬ 
tions. There was a common look about it, which was very unusual 
in the Auricula. Lord Palmerston (Campbell) was another 
fairish flower, but small, and with an indifferent tube, very 
prolific in producing offsets, but not holding a place now of much 
estimation. The Rev. George Jeans is another of Mr. Traill’s 
flowers, only second rate. St. Augustine (Cunningham) has a. 
bright paste and good body colour, but is goggle-eyed, deserving 
the cutting remark of a worthy friend of mine, who looking on it 
one day at the National Show, quietly said “ Who canonised that 
saint ?” Talisman (Simonite) is a flower with a good edge, tube, 
and body colour, but inclined to be a little coarse, yet it is a 
flower we cannot discard ; and then there is that very favourite 
and still scarce flower Prince of Greens (Traill), in some points 
unexcelled, a beautifully bright green edge, very dark and solid 
body colour, but with, unfortunately, a dull light coloured tube ; 
had it the tube of Richard Headly it would be a marvel of beauty. 
As it is it is very fine, and no grower would desire to be without 
