4G 8 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 3, 139U 
up the plants with the plough on each side of the rows, which is 
aga'n levelled down with the horse hoe in the spring. 
The age at which the plants require renewing depends entirely 
upon circumstances. Sometimes they are the best at four years 
old ; in some cases they will last ten years. Directly they 
show signs of decline they ought to be destroyed. If some 
cuttings are taken every year the supply will be maintained 
efficiently. 
Harvesting is done when the flower heads are fully developed. 
A properly made Lavender hook is employed, which differs some¬ 
what from an ordinary reaping hook by being narrower and more 
bent in the middle. An expert person will clear a whole plant with 
one sweep. The hook is employed to collect the flowers into a 
bundle in the centre of the plant, where they are held fast in the 
left hand, and severed from the plant with the right ; the flowers 
are then in correct order for tying in bunches if sold in a green 
state, but for distilling they are laid straight on large mats of the 
ordinary Russian type.—E. Molyneux. 
HARDY CLIMBING PLANTS FOR NORTHERN 
DISTRICTS. 
(<Continued from page 447.) 
Jasmines. 
The next climber to consider is the Jasmine. The white sweet- 
scented variety, Jasminum officinale, very commonly met with, is a 
beautiful climber when fairly well treated, but it requires annual 
attention in regulating its growth, as it is a rank and rapid grower. 
When, however, it has too much of its own way it makes a dense 
head of interlacing twining growths very difficult to liberate. The 
flowers on such plants are few and scattered, simply from the 
reason that the shoots have not had the chance of getting properly 
ripened ; therefore regulate the main growths, and there will still 
be abundance of room for a free growth of a fair number of un¬ 
restricted lateral shoots which ought to bloom profusely. Jasminum 
nudiflorum, the winter Jasmine, bearing yellow flowers in January 
and February on the whole length of youDg shoots of the previous 
summer, is also a free grower, and well adapted for to wn gardens. 
The flowers are borne on the naked or leafless shoots, and therefore 
every flower is conspicuous. After the flowering period growth 
commences, and the foliage appears, covering a wall, trellis, or 
other suppoit with verdure for the summer. Annually prune out 
the old wood, encouraging as much young wood as possible, and 
retain every shoot that happens to start from the base of a plant. 
These Jasmines are deciduous. J. officinale is a summer bloomer. 
Both varieties will grow in ordinary garden soil worked well and 
enriched liberally at the time of planting. Afterwards, when 
established, an occasional mulching of rotten manure may be 
placed over the roots in order to maintain the plants in a vigorous 
condition. Old established plants are benefited by good soakings 
of water or liquid manure. 
COTONEASTER MICROPHYLLA AND CRAT.EGUS PYRACANTHA. 
These are useful evergreen climbers, which, moreover, when in 
good condition, bear very attractive red berries in winter. When 
these plants are much neglected they do not show themselves in 
their true characters. Too much old wood is in many cases allowed 
to remain, and the plants are not treated liberally at the roots. 
The Cotoneaster is a beautiful plant even without its berries, as its 
small Box-like leaves are so regularly and thickly set upon the 
branches. For very low positions and for horizontal training the 
Cotoneaster is an excellent plant. It flowers in May at the same 
t me as the Crataegus, and both bear white flowers. 
Climbing Roses. 
There are plenty of Roses adapted for climbing, and none 
better perhaps than Gloire de Dijon among the choice Roses. But 
for profuseness and freedom in bloom and growth plant the 
Ayrshire, the Banksian, the Boursault, and the Evergreen Roses. 
The Ayrshire Roses are slender, but very rapid growers. Little 
pruning is required, just cutting back the shoots which have borne 
the flowers immediately these fade, and cutting out crowded, very 
old, or useless shoots. J 
The Bamtsian Roses are vigorous and bloom in large clusters. 
Very slight pruning is necessary, as the floweis are produced on 
laterals issuing from ripened shoots of the previous year. It likes 
a warm wall, and the roots should be protected in winter with a 
mulching of littery manure. The Boursault Roses are also rapid 
growers, blooming in large clusters. They may be treated similarly 
to the others. 
The Evergreen Roses are useful, because they retain their 
foliage, which is dark green and glossy, throughout the greater part 
of the winter. They are very rapid growers, and will succeed in 
situations where many other kinds would die. The flowers are 
produced in clusters of white and pink flowers. 
The sod for Roses on walls should be as good as possible, as. 
upon this depends in a great measure their vigour and floriferousness,. 
and to have them in this condition is a sure antidote against insect 
pests. There are Roses belonging to other classes also useful for 
walls, many of the H.P.’s being used in this manner, and also the 
Teas, but it is needless to say that the latter should have the most 
favourable situations, and have some protection in winter, by' 
means of a mat hung in front of them during very severe weather, 
as it is most desirable that the stems should not be injured by frosty 
or the prospect of bloom the following year will be blighted. 
For sweet fragrance in summer the Honeysuckle is a favourite- 
plant, and should be planted in close proximity to the windows and 
entrances of a house. The best varieties to produce a display of 
flowers over as long a period as possible are the Early Dutch and 1 
the Late Dutch. 
The Hop plant makes a grand summer climber almost in any 
position. It is deciduous, and may be cut down to the ground 
every winter. The following summer it will grow freely agart 
and cover a large space. 
Before concluding these notes I will give a short list of plants- 
suitable for various aspects. For a south wall : Gloire de Dijon 
Rose, Clematis Jackmani, Wistaria sinensis, Ayrshire Roses,. 
Honeysuckles, Ampelopsis Veitchi, variegated Ivies, Boursault 
Roses, Jasmine officinale. For a north wad or aspect : Jasmine 
nudiflorum ; Ivies in variety, small and large green leaved ; Ampe¬ 
lopsis hederacea and sempervirens, Crataegus pyracantha, Cotone¬ 
aster microphylla, Clematises vitalba, montana, and flammula.. 
Humulus lupulus (Hop plant). 
For a west wall or aspect : Silver, golden, and small green¬ 
leaved Ivies, Jasmine nudiflorum, Banksian and Evergreen Roses, 
Honeysuckles, Cotoneaster microphylla, Ampelopsis Veitchi and 
hederacea, Crataegus pyracantha. 
For an east wall or aspect : Ivies in variety, mainly green¬ 
leaved kinds ; Ampelopsis hederacea, Crataegus pyracantha,, 
Cotoneaster microphylla, Jasmine nudiflorum, Clematis flammula, 
Humulus lupulus, Ayrshire and Evergreen Roses. Whatever 
succeeds well on the north and east aspects will also succeed on the 
more favourable and sunny positions. 
For very favourable districts and warmer positions there is a. 
still wider range of plants suitable for climbing, but those which 
have been mentioned will succeed almost anywhere where the soil 
is good and vegetation thrives at all. There is little doubt that a. 
more extended cultivation of climbing plants would enliven many 
districts, and do something towards forwarding a wider knowledge 
and love of gardening among all classes, for wherever climbing 
plants are used to embellish the walls of a residence and its sur¬ 
roundings they most certainly give an added charm.—E. D. S. 
INSECTS OF THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
C Continued from page 262.) 
Certainly the commonest insects in our gardens are flies, of 
all sizes and hue3. Even the entomologist cannot always distinguish, 
amongst these the insects which belong to the large family of the 
ichneumon flies, and it is not to be expected every gardener should. 
Belonging to the same order as the bees and wasps, therefore 
possessed of four wings, a large number of them are much like the 
two-winged flies familiar to us both indoors and out. The name 
of ichneumon fly is not, perhaps, suggestive to some ; it is t.ken 
from that given to a singular little quadruped which is stated to 
hunt for the eggs of crocodiles and snakes, thus putting a check 
upon their increase. The ichneumon flies act similarly, but only a. 
few of them attack eggs ; most of them prey upon insects in their 
larval stage, though some infest matured individuals. It is 
evidently a wise provision of Nature that exempts adult insects 
generally from such foes, and directs them to the destructive grub 
caterpillar, which is then prevented from completing its changes. 
Great is the dexterity shown by the mother fly in depositing its 
eggs when the larva it is seeking is, more or less, hidden from 
view. By some sense unknown to us the ichneumon flies detect 
grubs that are feeding in wood, and discover a cranny into which 
the eggs of the parasitic larvae can be placed so as to reach their 
object. Other flies manage to deposit eggs in the nests of wild 
bees, and escape unmolested, and a curious instinct sends one kind 
actually into the water, where they attack aquatic grubs. 
Probably we have about 1100 species of these flies in our 
