484 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 5, 18SS. 
Guernsey, Hero of Stoke Newington, Mrs. G. Bundle, Hiver Fleuri, 
Queen of England, M. C. Audiguier, Golden Dragon, Cherub, &e. 
The stove, which is small, contains some healthy plants, comprising 
Dracaena terminalis, a good pot of Mierolepia hirta cristata, Pandanus 
Yeitchi, &c. In the other houses may be seen excellent Freesias, strong 
growths, promising well; Primulas, Lachenalias, and Zonal Pelar¬ 
goniums. A few Orchids, including Dendrobiums, Coelogynes, and 
Oncidiums, are now in flower. Cinerarias are promising well, and every¬ 
thing is creditable to Mrs. Berryman’s gardener, Mr. Curry.— A. G. 
Frampton. 
A Damp Indicator. 
Mr. F. W. Beck, a florist at East Grinstead, and Honorary Secretary 
of the Horticultural Society there, is the inventor of the small instru¬ 
ment represented in fig. 61 for registering the amount of moisture in 
the atmosphere of plant houses, dwell¬ 
ings, machine rooms, and other places 
where injury is done by an excess of 
damp when the excess is not suspected. 
We have been informed that a damp bed 
suggested the production of something 
that would indicate whether a “strange 
bed ” was damp or not. The instrument 
has been found useful in that and many 
other respects, and is largely sold in this 
country and America. It is so sensitive 
that when the case is opened the indicator 
moves by the action of the breath, just 
as the mercury in a thermometer rises 
under the influence of heat applied in 
the same manner, the extent of damp 
being determined by the figures to which 
the small thread-like detector points. 
Particulars accompany each instrument, 
which is about twice the size of the 
illustration, and generally resembles a 
small aneroid barometer. 
PLANTING ERU1T TREES. 
Apart from the question of manurial matters, and, as a pre¬ 
liminary step to the consideration of making plantations of fruit 
trees, we may offer a few remarks on the texture of soils. Drain¬ 
age, it is well known, exercises the most powerful influence on the 
texture of water-logged soils. By removing superfluous moisture a 
free admission is afforded to the ameliorating effects of the atmo¬ 
spheric action ; but even the most thorough drainage will not 
suffice on many soils as to fruit culture. The oozy and elastic bog 
wants consolidation, combined with a mechanical separation of its 
particles ; the day requires a gritty or sandy medium in order to 
permit the rains to percolate or slowly pass through it, and in con¬ 
sequence the air to enter freely ; whilst the loose sandy soil requires 
some body to give adhesion to its parts, and, indeed, as the opposite 
of the clayey soil, to prevent the rain from passing through too 
rapidly, and carrying away manurial matters in its course. 
Those, therefore, who are about planting a whole garden, or 
section of one, at once, should thoroughly consider this question, 
and, after examining well the soil and subsoil, endeavour to pro¬ 
cure eligible materials for correcting faults in the staple. Where 
surface soils are naturally inclined to sand either marl or clay will 
prove suitable to mix with them ; or, what is better by far than 
either, the furrowings from old pasture lands of a strong or stiff 
loamy character. The latter, however, is only within reach of a 
few, and marl is the next best thing, but this also is not found 
everywhere. Where clay is very stubborn we think that a burning 
process might be applied profitably. In addition to these materials 
any old vegetable matter, whether it be decayed weeds, leaves, old 
tan, or, indeed, anything that carries the appearance of humus, may 
be blended with advantage. If, on the contrary, the surface soil is 
very adhesive, pure sand, sandy soil of a loose character, and even 
coal ashes, may be incorporated with the volume of soil, and, 
indeed, a proportion of the decomposed vegetable matters suggested 
for the sandy soil. On such heavy soils we would, by all means, 
recommend spring planting ; and, in that event, the holes should 
be excavated immediately in order to undergo a long winter’s 
action for the sake of breaking down the adhesive material. If the 
whole plot is to be improved trenching and ridging should be re¬ 
sorted to ; here, again, the winter’s frost will amply compensate 
for the difference of a few months and save labour. 
In rendering boggy soils suitable for fruit-tree culture a some¬ 
what different course must be pursued. Here, however, it is 
necessary to distinguish clearly the character of the dark material. 
Some boggy soils are of an elastic character—that is to say, they 
will rebound on a stamp of the foot ; this merely shows that much 
organised matter exists in the main composed of bygone genera¬ 
tions of sphagnum mosses, together with weeds and grasses, in a 
state of decomposition. This is above all, perhaps, the most ineli¬ 
gible character of any for fruit-tree culture ; nevertheless, it is non 
a hopeless case ; albeit, much culture is requisite. Where a con¬ 
siderable depth of such material exists burning may be had re¬ 
course to. This will correct the acidity and produce ashes, which 
which will be of much utility in opening the texture of the soil. 
However, before other operations take place, the most complete 
drainage must be had recourse to. Without this all other operating 
will be totally inefficient. Such soils require both sand and clay r 
or marl, after being rendered tolerably dry. These materials, well 
incorporated with the native soil, will, with culture, remove tii& 
spongy character of the mass and produce a degree of solidification 
which will give a permanency and stability to the crops. 
We have been making these remarks with a view to assist those 
who are about reclaiming ungenial plots of land ; for, in going 
through the country, how many such enclosures we see, some taken 
from the sides of commons, others from the roadsides, left unculti¬ 
vated in days when land was of less value and when the population 
question did not press so heavily. Moreover, hundreds of little 
nooks have been split from out-of-the-way corners of farms, and 
not unfrequently composed of a soil of somewhat sterile character. 
Most of such little enclosures, as we have seen them, are placed 
under culture without due preparation ; too little attention is paid 1 
to the amelioration of the staple, and, as a necessary consequence, 
fruit trees in a number of cases do not succeed and prove as re¬ 
munerative as they ought, for we would not only have the cottager 
to secure his own dumpling Apples, but to pay a portion of his 
rental annually by the sale of Apples, Pears, Black Currants, &c., 
as the case may be. 
Our hints here, then, will, we trust put people on the alert to 
obtain forthwith some material to improve the texture of their 
soils according to the principles here explained. One thing we had 
almost forgotten : those who are improving stubborn plots in the 
vicinity of towns should always keep a look out for the old mortar 
or plaster from the pulling down of old buildings. This is a capital 
ameliorator.—E. 
THE WINTER MOTH. 
From almost every part of England, and many places in Scot¬ 
land, reports reached me of the serious damage done to fruit trees 
during last April and May by the caterpillars of the winter moth, 
Cheimatobia brumata. It is by no means particular as to its diet, 
and the list of trees and shrubs upon which the insect feeds is a 
long one, but I think it is specially partial to the Apple, Plum, and 
Filbert. The revolutions or changes in insect life which cause a 
special abundance of a species during one season may often result, 
as we know, in a scarcity of it during the next ; still, there being a 
possibility that after a profusion one year the following season 
may show even larger numbers, there is good reason for doing what 
we can now to protect ourselves from serious losses through these 
catterpillars in the season of 1890. At this moment we are in 
what has been called the winter campaign, and have good oppor¬ 
tunities of destroying the parent moths, or preventing the deposition 
of their eggs, also of removing eggs which have been insidiously 
laid. 
That able entomologist Newman has justly said that this winter 
campaign is of the greatest importance, and accomplishes more 
than all the methods for killing the caterpillars or the pupae. 
Indifferent to cold seemingly, the moths emerge from the pupal 
condition some time between the beginning of November and the 
end of the year. I have most frequently seen them in December,, 
hut evidently there is a succession of them, and they do not appear 
all at once, but gradually. The particular date [depends, no doubt,, 
partly upon the weather in early winter ; partly also I think upon 
the date when the caterpillars were full grown. In colouring the 
male moths are greyish brown, not very noticeable when sitting on 
fences or trunks of trees ; the females are stout, also brown, 
but have only rudimentary wings, so they cannot fly, and creep 
about in spiderlike fashion. Having emerged, it is then their 
object to place their eggs, which number neatly 200, in little masses 
upon stems or branches, upon leaf or flower buds, and sometimes 
they attach them to the dried leaves which may chance to remain 
on the trees. It is easy to detect these by daylight, and remove 
them with the aid of a lantern. They may be sought after dark, as» 
they appear frequently to keep near the earth till dusk, when they 
begin their pilgrimage to the trees. I cannot but think that some- 
of them at least must fall victims to insect-loving birds, though T 
have not seen them seeking these moths. Digging over soil ia 
which the pup® may lie is advantageous if done in good time ; it 
exposes them to various enemies, and to the influence of autumns 
rains or early frosts. 
But one of the best methods going is the surrounding the stems 
