December 5, 1889. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
485 
of trees with a sticky or dogging substance of some kind, over 
which the moths are unable to crawl. This has been long practised 
in Germany, though I will not say we borrowed the idea from that 
country. There the gardeners have been in the habit of putting 
round choice trees a sort of frame, having a projecting coping, upon 
which tar is daubed, and renewed as may be necessary. An objec¬ 
tion to this is that it is rather expensive, therefore not applicable to 
orchards, and hence has arisen the practice of smearing the tree 
itself to prevent the moths ascending. Several compounds have 
been tried. The most suitable of these is a combination of equal 
parts of cart grease and Stockholm tar. Newman observes that it 
tightens the bark somewhat, so that this should be slit subsequently. 
The complaint has been made, however, that a sunshiny day, even 
in winter, will make the tar soak in, which produces an injurious 
effect, and Newman suggests a preparatory coating of whitewash, 
made of whitening and glue size, upon which the sticky composi¬ 
tion is then laid. Others have tried placing in the earth round, 
but not touching, the trees ropes or hiybands wetted with a 
mixture of tar and oil. Miss Ormerod speaks in favour of throw¬ 
ing about the stems gas lime which has been exposed for awhile to 
the air, and this remedy is of utility for espaliers or walls ; but as 
yet it has not been sufficiently tried by gardeners and growers of 
fruit. It is one argument for postponing the operation of pruning 
till after Christmas, that by this means boughs and twigs which 
may contain eggs of this or of other species of insects are removed, 
and should be speedily burnt. 
A very important question has arisen with reference to these 
precautionary measures—namely, what is the cause of their possible 
failure, as in several reports concerning the winter moth sent from 
various districts gardeners stated that the trees had been carefully 
coated, but nevertheless the caterpillars appeared in swarms during 
the spring. It is desirable to ascertain what is the explanation of 
this, or at least what is the likeliest of any that may suggest them¬ 
selves. As I have stated, it is the habit of the caterpillars when 
full grown to descend to the ground, in which they bury themselves 
for the approaching transformation. I have never noticed an 
exception to this, nor have my entomological friends ; but suppos¬ 
ing it to be the fact that the caterpillars sometimes remained in their 
webs to become pupae, the moths would be quite secure from 
entanglement or stoppage upon the stems. It is barely possible 
that when feeding on lofty trees they might not all descend, but I 
do not think this gives the clue. Still, next season it will be desir¬ 
able to examine carefully into this point, as we do often meet with 
singular aberrations of habit. Certainly all webs seen upon trees, 
whether at the time they are feeding or later, should be carefully 
removed. Something depends upon the date when the composition 
was laid on the trees. Supposing the moths had emerged earlier 
than usual, evidently it would be of no good taking this step in 
December when the eggs must have been deposited. Yet the 
weather last autumn was not such as to hasten their appearance, 
and it might be just the opposite error, the composition being used 
too soon, perhaps some weeks before the insects emerged ; if so, it 
would become partially dried, and they would be able to cross. 
This might be accomplished also by young caterpillars, for it must 
be remembered that though some moths get into the tarry substance 
and perish, others remain beneath it unhurt, and probably lay their 
patches of eggs. In the spring the caterpillars emerging from these 
may travel up the trees. The conclusion of the matter is that 
whatever is placed round the trees should be examined daily for 
results, and any patches of eggs that may be detected should be 
crushed.— Entomologist. 
Judging from the letter of Miss Ormerod’s in this Journal 
(p. 459) that no practical remedy has yet been discovered for the 
caterpillar pest on fruit trees after they once get possession, I hope 
you will pardon me for saying how I cured an Apple tree last year 
when a crop of fruit appeared hopeless. I simply made a fire 
under the tree with a lot of rubbish, making a dense smoke, and 
kept it going for a few days with any weeds that came to hand. 
The result was that I had a capital crop of very fine fruits, the best 
the tree had ever borne. Usually the fruit was much speckled right 
to the core, but last year I did not see any. If you think this will 
be of any service to your readers make what use you like of it.— 
C. G. 
PLANTING YOUNG VINES. 
If I recommend one system of planting young Vines more than 
another it is planting them in a growing candition with their roots 
intact. I disapprove of the principle of washing the roots of young 
Vines previous to planting. I think I also said that for years I 
had failed to see the wisdom ot following the orthodox principle of 
shaking away all the soil in order to spread out the roots. It is to 
- my mind a barbarous system of root-pruning, and I fail to see how 
Vines can be expected to make such luxuriant growth the season 
following as they would if planted without being disturbed at their 
roots to such a serious extent. I am aware that Vines with careful 
treatment will do well even on this principle, as well as many 
others, and I tried to show on page 230 of this Journal for 
March 21st that good Vines could be established by a variety of 
systems. 
The size of the canes given by your correspondent, “ J. L. H.,” 
is not extraordinary. I have seen Vines grown in one season 
exceed 2 inches in circumference. 1 have some Vines considerably 
stronger, two years old, planted last autumn while the foliage was 
fresh, that have carried a crop of Grapes. It is very difficult to 
draw comparisons, and the only means of doing so, and arriving at 
the system most preferred, is to plant on the two systems, side by 
side, and note the results. I am acquainted with a grower of 
Grapes for the market who planted his first house according to the 
established principles and by the advice of one skilled in the culture 
of Grapes, but when planting his next house he departed from 
orthodox views, because the preparation of the border was too 
costly an operation, and followed a common-sense view that did not 
entail half the labour or expense, and the results have been the 
more satisfactory of the two. What is needed in the establishment 
of Vines is sound judgment, guided by the circumstances of each 
case, which, I am convinced, will often lead to better results than 
strictly following some rule of thumb. 
I am no advocate for that extra luxuriant growth that is often 
seen in young Vines. It is full of pith frequently, and cannot be 
thoroughly matured. I prefer to this forced growth, that must tell 
against the constitution of the Vine in after years, firm wood of 
moderate strength that can be thoroughly matured. Vines of this 
nature build up from the first good constitutions and are capable of 
bearing fruit and improving in strength and vigour, while over¬ 
grown ones often fail, or partially, when they have to undergo th& 
strain of fruit bearing. 
I am glad your correspondent has built up his Vines on sound 
principles, preferring firm sturdy growth to mere size, which is very 
frequently deceptive.—W. B. 
CANTERBURY BELLS. 
This is one of the most useful hardy biennials we have either 
for conservatory or church decoration. It is easily cultivated in 
pots, and when in bloom is highly effective. The plants naturally 
assume a pyramidal form, and grow to the height of from 2 to 3 
feet, and they flower freely from top to bottom. The colours 
of the flowers consist principally of shades of blue and pure 
white. To grow it well the seed may be sown on a sheltered 
border some time in May, and the plants, when sufficiently large* 
lifted and placed into 60-sized pots, in a compost of loam, leaf 
mould, and sand, transferred to a cold frame and shaded for a few 
days until the roots have taken hold of the soil. The shading 
must then be removed and air admitted freely on all favourable 
occasions. When the plants have filled the pots with roots shift 
them into their largest pots ; we find 6 and 7 inch the most 
useful for all purposes. The soil used consists of more loam and 
less sand and leaf mould than was used at the first potting, and 
the compost is not enriched with manure of any kind. The- 
plants may now be placed in the open on the side of a gravel 
walk, or on ashes in the frame ground, where they can be properly 
attended to and regularly supplied with water, as no plant suffers 
sooner from neglect than this. 
About the end of September or the beginning of October the 
plants are thoroughly cleared of all dead and decayed leaves, and 
placed in a cold frame for the winter. Although the Canterbury 
Bell is perfectly hardy and will stand a considerable amount of 
frost with impunity, it will not endure damp and rain when grown 
in pots. The plants must have plenty of air during winter, and 
in good weather we remove the lights to dry the foliage and 
prevent it damping. 
In the month of April the plants are taken out of the frame to 
make room for bedding plants, and plunged in any convenient 
piece of ground until they come into flower, when they may be 
removed to the conservatory as required. As soon as they show 
their flowering spike they are staked (one stake in the centre of 
the pot is sufficient), tied, and watered after this with weak liquid 
manure two or three times a w T eek. If the plants are propelly 
attended to, and all blooms picked off as soon as they begin to 
decay, they W'ill last a long time in flower, and give general satis¬ 
faction. They cost little in growing, and answer the purpose of 
decorating church or mansion as well as the most expensive. In 
my opinion the Canterbury Bell deserves to be more extensively 
cultivated in pots for decorative purposes that it is at present, and 
