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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Jaly 30, 1891; 
the ground with | lb. nitrate of soda per rod, repeat in about six weeks, 
and again when flower buds first appear on the haulm. If the Peas are 
sown in autumn apply the kainit and use steamed bonemeal instead of 
the superphosphate, but do not use the nitrate of soda earlier than 
March. You may also try the following : Sulphate of potash 2 lbs , 
sulphate of ammonia 1 lb., mixed, per rod, applying it early in April. 
We presume the summer crops are mulched and well watered in dry 
weather, and that late crops are sown in trenches prepared as for Celery. 
Peas Withering- (D. IF.).—The dead haulm you have sent is 
seriously infested with fungus, and this no doubt first attacked the 
lower part of the stems. We have previously said that neither the cause 
of the visitation nor a reliable preventive of it, or remedy for it, appears 
to be generally known. At the same time we do not know to what extent 
those fungicides of which copper and lime are the active agents have been 
tried, and with what results. Different forms of anti-blights of the 
nature indicated have been recently alluded to in our columns, and at 
least one of them advertised which we believe is good. It is, however, 
only by applying them in good time that they have a fair chance of 
accomplishing the object in view. We suspect your soil is deficient in 
some requisite for healthy growth. Potash is a necessity of Peas. 
Moreover, some varieties are more prone to fail in some soils than 
others, and we have seen productive and worthless rows side by side. 
In gardens where early crops succeed and later fail, it is prudent to sow 
in trenches for the latter, prepared as if for Celery, using wood ashes or 
burnt vegetable refuse with the manure employed. In some ground the 
trench system is not requisite, but we know of gardens in which there 
would be no good crops of Peas after June by sowing in the ordinary 
way and earthing up the rows. See a reply to another correspondent. 
Enriching- Soil for Strawberries (./. F .).—As you cannot obtain 
good stable manure, and have no sewage which you can apply to your 
light soil, perhaps the simplest method will be to procure some guano, 
guaranteed to contain not less than 8 per ceDt. of ammonia and 20 per 
cent, of phosphates. The light soil should be compressed after digging, 
and the guano may be used in solution at the rate of a pound to 
20 gallons of water, and half a gallon poured on each square foot of 
surface where the plants are to be grown, also subsequently at weekly 
or other intervals as the state of the plants and weather suggest. One 
good watering is more effectual than ten mere sprinklings Liquid 
manure should not be applied to very dry soil, but this should always 
be previously moistened with pure water, then the virtues of the liquid 
that follows will be better retained for the support of the plants. 
The surface of the ground should be mulched with whatever you 
can find to cover it with in dry hot weather. Soapsuds are good for 
Strawberry beds. We have seen hundreds of gallons used with the best 
results. 
Peach Leaves Spotted (D. II .).—There is nothing in your letter 
that suggests to us the cause of the misfortune in question. You do not, 
however, say whether the house has been recently fumigated. Much 
injury is done to Peaches every year either by injudicious fumigation or 
inferior materials. The be3t kinds are advertised. The leaves before us 
are thin in texture and covered with specks, suggestive of the house 
having been kept too close and the sun shining on the leaves wiiile they 
were wet, before the moisture was dissipated. When the spots occur fungus 
is almost certain to take possession of the injured parts, as in the case 
before us. You might try dusting with sulphur or anti-blight, and at 
the same time afford the trees support with liquid manure. In the 
autumn new fibrous roots should be induced to form abundantly, as 
they will if some of the old soil is removed, the strong roots cut, and 
good turfy loam, with a liberal admixture of lime rubbish and wood 
ashes used in its stead, and made firm and kept moist. Trees in perfect 
health (and many trees that make strong growth are not) resist various 
attacks to wdiich weaker succumb, but in your case w r e suspect the con¬ 
dition of the leaves has been brought about either by fumigation or 
syringing too late, then keeping the house closed all night, and not 
admitting air soon enough in the morning. One mistake of this nature 
is sufficient to cause the spots, though they would be obscure at the first, 
and perhaps unobserved for some time. They increase with the growth 
•of the fungus that follows, and often destroys the leaves. 
Thrlps on Plants (T. F .').—The specimens of Torenia were quite 
shrivelled, and the insects presumably shrivelled with them. There is 
only one way of extirpating insect pests, and that is by perseverance in 
fumigating, syringing with insecticides, and cleanliness. Early action 
i3 a golden rule to follow. It is better to prevent than destroy. Too 
often when only a few insects are seen it appears to be thought they are 
“ not worth wasting tobacco or insecticides over,” and therefore more 
insects are waited for with the object of having a great slaughter. It is 
a great and costly mistake. A small invading army is obviously more 
easily conquered than a large one. We do not think you ought to have 
let your Gloxinias be ruined. Had the pots been plunged in a damp 
medium or stood on a moist base, and the house lightly fumigated at 
intervals without waiting for the insects, the plants if grown in a 
genial atmosphere and somewhat shaded position might have been kept 
clean. On admiring the cleanliness and luxuriance of Gloxinias and 
other plants in the nurseries of Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading, 
recently the attendant was asked how he dealt with insects. His reply 
was significant and full of sound sense—namely, “ We just burn a 
Lethorian cone now and then in the houses for keeping insects out of 
of them.” If the insects had been admitted first and allowed to increase 
perhaps ten times more cones would have to be used for destroying 
them, and at the same time the plants must have been seriously 
injured. Your former letter was not received. 
Selling Lavender (A. IF.).—Where Lavender is grown in small 
quantities it is difficult to find a market for it in any form. Distillers 
prefer to purchase from the large growers, as they obtain a more uniform 
sample. The only chance would be to sell the flowers in local markets or 
shops, and then the price would necessarily be moderate. It is always 
difficult to sell products of this kind in small quantities except in 
districts wdiere the culture is made a specialty and which is known to 
dealers. In the neighbourhood of stills small quantities can also be 
disposed of to better advantage, as pointed out in the article you refer 
to, which also gives the size of the market bunches as dispatched from 
the Surrey districts. 
Mushroom Spawn Bricks (./. I?. A.). —There are some things 
that cannot be taught on paper, making a watch, for instance, but can 
only be learned by experience. We print your questions—namely, 
“ How to know when a Mushroom brick is full of spawn all through 
instead of on the surface without breaking the brick, also when to take 
a heap down when inoculated to prevent it spoiling ?” If any of our 
readers can make the information you need intelligible we shall have a 
very high opinion of their teaching power. For ourselves we may admit 
that we only ascertained the internal condition of the “ bricks ” by 
breaking a few in our experimental days, and if you have a “ heap ” 
of them surely you can afford to test the condition of the bulk by break¬ 
ing one or two as samples. We have more than once said that the 
bricks should not lie flat one on the other when covered with fermenting 
material for spreading the mycelium, or most of it will be on the out¬ 
side. You had better describe the manner in which your heap has been 
packed, and how long it has been covered, then we shall better under¬ 
stand the case, which is at present somewhat obscure. 
New Zealand Apple (F. Cooper, Wellington'). —The outline 
and description of your Apple suggest the possibility of its being 
Adams’s Pearmain, and in order to enable you to judge for yourself 
Dr. Hogg’s description and opinion of this Apple is cited from the 
“ Fruit Manual: ”—“ Fruit varying from inches to 3 inches high, and 
about the same in breadth at the widest part; pearmain-shaped, very- 
even, and regularly formed. Skin, pale yellow, tinged with green, and 
covered with delicate russet on the shaded side ; but deep yellow tinged 
with red, and delicately streaked with livelier red, on the side next the 
sun. Eye, small and open, with acute erect divergent segments, set in 
a narrow, round, and plaited basin. Stamens, median ; tube, funnel- 
shaped, sometimes conical. Stalk, varying from half an inch to 1 inch 
long, obliquely inserted in a shallow cavity, and generally with a fleshy 
protuberance on one side of it. Flesh, yellowish, crisp, juicy, rich, and 
sugary, with an agreeable and pleasantly perfumed flavour. Cells, 
obovate ; abaxile. A dessert Apple of first-rate quality ; in use from 
December to February. It is a very handsome variety, and worthy of 
general cultivation. The tree is a free and healthy grower, producing 
long slender shoots, by which, and its spoon-shaped ovate leaves, it is 
easily distinguished. It is an excellent bearer, even in a young state, 
particularly on the Paradise or Doucin stock, and succeeds well as an 
espalier.” It is also known as the Hanging Pearman, Norfolk Pippin, 
and Laly’s Finger. The fruit may possibly be brighter in colour in 
New Zealand than in English gardens and orchards. Your pleasant 
references are appreciated, and in fancy we stretch our “hand across 
the sea ” for a friendly grip with yours in the land of your adoption. 
Manufacture of Superphosphate of Lime from Bones 
( Wellington , New Zealand). —In making superphosphate the bones 
are often broken into quarter or half-inch portions. This is because the 
user wishes to see for himself that bones have been employed in the 
manufacture. That practice, however, is not best, for the calcium 
phosphate is only partially acted upon by the sulphuric acid, and the 
soluble phosphate diminishes in the superphosphate by keeping. 
Superphosphate is best made from ground bones by placing the meal 
in a tub along with water and sulphuric acid in the following pro¬ 
portions by weight :—1 lb. bone meal, J lb. water, and f lb. sulphuric 
acid. Place the meal in the tub, add the water, mix, then add the 
sulphuric acid, and stir. Perhaps you wish to dissolve ordinary bones. 
In that case let them be dry, and if broken up roughly all the better. 
Place them on a hard earthen floor, having taken an account of 
their weight, and surround them with a rim of ashes, which must be 
fine. Sprinkle with water, or if a large quantity, pour on the bones 
as much water as they will suck up, then pour on two parts of sul¬ 
phuric acid to five parts of bones. It will boil violently for a while, 
and when this has subsided the mass will get tolerably solid. The 
ashes may then be mixed with the dissolved bone, shovelling all up 
together, and in two or three days it will be dry enough for use. The 
proportions are 5 lbs., or cwts., of hones, soaked with as much water 
as they will atsorb, and 2 lbs., or cwts., of sulphuric acid. This is an 
excellent preparation. Another, but slower, is to take a large hogshead, 
quite watertight, and cover the bottom with 6 inches of dry earth, and 
on this place a layer of bone3 G inches thick, and cover them entirely 
with wood ashes; on these another G inches of bones, then ashes, 
and so on until full. Leave the hogshead or barrel all summer and 
winter exposed to the rains, and in twelve months the boms will 
crumble to powder under a slight pressure and form a valuable manure, 
especially for fruit trees. Fermented bones are easily prepared ly 
mixing raw bones with clay, forming into a heap, using about equal 
proportions of clay and bones, watering the mixture with urine or stable 
drainings, protecting the heap from ram by a covering of damp clay, 
but o'herwise expose! to the atmosphere, the stable dr-finings being 
poured in through holes at the top. In a few months they will le 
sufficiently cooked. This forms an excellent top-dressing. 
