4 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
July 5, 1894. 
from the bottle without ill effects. Of course the houses when 
cleared of plants should be thoroughly disinfected before a new 
batch is introduced. I will, with your permission, report progress 
later in the year.— Martin R. Smith, Hayes, Kent. 
[We shall be very pleased to publish the further experience of 
our correspondent, to whom so much credit is due for his success 
in raising and growing Carnations.] 
NOTES FROM AN IRISH GARDEN. 
The weather so dominant in one’s thoughts has by its capricious 
behaviour given more than ordinary interest to the many notes 
published of late. In our sufferings we seek for that doubtful 
^form of consolation derived from the knowledge of being not alone. 
“ 'Tis human nature.” Not less, though, does sympathy ensue for 
those who have experienced the extreme effects of that frigid May 
night, and of thankfulness also that we of County Dublin do not 
make the record. Our “ tale of woe ” is rather confined to a dull 
cheerless period, during which leaden skies have wept copiously. 
Morn after morn the barometer was eagerly scanned. An old 
neighbour says, he “Don’t think much o’they weather-glasses,” 
and certainly their behaviour has been erratic of late ; yet the 
approaching hay season, if favourable, will do much to atone for 
the “ wet and windy May,” which the proverb says, “ fills the 
barn with corn and hay.” 
In the grounds Rhododendrons are at the best they will attain 
this season. A large clump of Weigela is charming, finer than I 
have yet seen. This old Chinese shrub’s long sprays with the deep 
hued buds set among the open blooms are more pleasing than the 
developed flowers. Hawthorns and Laburnums did much to 
brighten the cheerless May. A neglected hedge of the two in the 
meadows led me out of bounds daily to see and admire. A Golden 
Ivy on the house which went green in the bright sunshine last 
year is very effective in the pure chrome tint of its young growth. 
I gather a spray for the editor, and at the same time a few pieces 
from the ornamental hedge of Lawson’s Cypress, now weighted 
with its coniferous fruit ; very beautiful was the same hedge in its 
crimson inflorescence. Curious is a fasciated growth on an old white 
Azalea, this also is enclosed with the hardy sprays mentioned. 
Common Ivies have borne a heavy crop of blue-black fruit, and 
afforded much enjoyment to the feathered songsters. 
Blackbirds and thrushes are very numerous, attributable, I 
think, to the snug winter quarters our numerous evergreens pro¬ 
vide. How enjoyable is their music, trilled out from dawn till 
dark! Saucy rascals! How many of you will get hopelessly 
entangled in those nets over the Strawberries, a fruit that can be 
ill spared this season ! I feel sorry for the poor victims ; but it is 
ft dreadfully orthodox view for a gardener. The missel thrush 
will not venture near the nets. 
Previous to May hopes were somewhat high-flown ; some of 
them at least now appear to have flown away. In a general survey 
of fruit trees and bushes, maggots and mites, and all the parapher¬ 
nalia of minute insect life which go to form the general desig¬ 
nation of blight, are much in evidence. All Currants are deplor¬ 
ably infested. Gooseberries are clean and abundant. Pears fairly 
clean and a moderate crop, but Apples may without hesitation be 
classed bad. Some young Victoria Plums on a west wall pay for their 
good position. Fruit on the same trees last year by extra size, 
colour, and flavour were hardly recognisable with fruit gathered 
from standards. 
Seeds germinated fairly well, but Turnips and the embryo 
green crop “get smaller by degrees and beautifully less.” It is 
comforting to look at the lines of Peas, which are unusually luxu¬ 
riant. A good border of American Wonder will give abundant 
pickings, and for a first early is preferred to the small, round- 
seeded varieties. Day’s Sunrise, now blooming profusely, will 
succeed The Wonder ; Telephone, sown on same date as Sunrise, 
follows it close. By the inflated pods it would appear to be neck 
and neck with its rival ; but appearances are deceptive. These, 
with the grand old Ne Plus Ultra, by their reliableness in this 
locality, form the staple sowings. Early sowings of Dwarf Kidney 
Beans are now have-beens ; with a cool season results from pre¬ 
sent sowings will be long looked for. Onions on fresh ground, to 
which more than usual attention was paid, are thin and gappy ; in 
tbeir infancy something went wrong. I wonder if that spare bag 
of kainit I treated them to in my zeal is the cause ? It was not 
maggots. Sharpe’s Victor Potatoes on a warm, dry border (what a 
misnomer this season !) have been daily dug since June 4th. 
The hardy plants are at their gayest ; clumps of the old 
white-fringed Pink exhale a delicate fragrance in the early morn. 
Early risers enjoy the subtle charms of the fresh young day. 
Thousands of the corpulent buds of Mrs. Sinkins are bursting ; a 
good variety is Mrs. Sinkins. The feeling prevails that we cannot 
have too much of it, hence a number of pipings go in each autumn. 
A bed of Gladiolus Col villi and another of its white variety give a 
cut-and-come-again impression, many corms having five spikes. In 
planting these and the Gandavensis hybrids I follow an old plan 
shown to me years ago when Brenchleyensis was thought some¬ 
thing of. The method is to remove about 6 inches of the soil, put 
on a heavy coat of decayed manure, replace part of the soil, on 
which the corms are then set in sand, and covered with the 
remaining soil. I look with regret on some solitary plants of 
Persian and Turban Ranunculus, survivors, as they are, of different 
attempts in various ways to court success. Cut blooms from the 
border of German Iris are esteemed in the house, striking and 
distinct are Gracchus, Albicans, Queen of the May, and Madame 
Chereau. Roses on trellises and arches afford abundant cutting ; 
Hybrid Perpetuals in the beds are commencing to bloom, but I 
cannot say much more about them, though the excuse made for 
the parrot, who would not talk but thought much, may serve me. 
Last, decidedly not least, a look at the “ mums ” in conclusion. 
They are not so forward as at this time last year. Previous to the 
final potting each plant had its maggot, and each maggot had a 
squeeze. Now tobacco powder is freely dispensed. So flit these 
passing thoughts of an indifferent season. Broken weather is the 
general comment, yet “ it’s never too late to mend.” May it do so, 
and though “ 'tis not in mortals to command success ”—we’ll do 
more—we’ll deserve it.—E. K., Dublin. 
[The Ivy referred to by our correspondent is the brightest 
yellow-leaved kind we have seen. The Azalea fasciated shoot is 
very curious, the hard stem being an inch in diameter, the foliage 
branching out like a mane at the top.] 
MEALY BUG ON VINES. 
Gardeners are for ever waging a continual warfare against 
this pest, which may be looked upon as being one of the worst 
with which they have to contend, for when once established it is 
most difficult to eradicate. It infests and thrives on nearly all 
sorts and conditions of hothouse plants, and perhaps the most 
difficult house to clear of it when once it obtains a start is the 
vinery. Gardeners whose vineries are clear of mealy bug should 
be most careful not to place any plants therein that are at all liable 
to be infested with this pest, or it is very probable they will live to 
regret the day they did so. In many cases this is how mealy bug 
is first introduced in the vinery, through thoughtlessly placing 
p'ants there without examining them to see if they are quite clear 
of it. What can be more annoying to a gardener when he cuts a 
fine well finished bunch of Grapes to find the berries covered with 
that sticky honeydew, which is a sure indication that there is bug 
not far away, and upon looking further into it to find a mass of 
that soft woolly substance which is too well known to need any 
explanation ? He may try to clean the bunch, and in doing so is 
sure to rub all the bloom off the berries, rendering them so far as 
appearance is concerned unfit for dessert. 
There are many ways and means by which gardeners endeavour 
to cleanse their vineries of this enemy. The period of the year 
when the Vines are cleaned, previous to starting, is of course the 
time when we have the best chance to extirpate mealy bug. Some 
gardeners advocate tarring the Vines. This may or may not be a 
remedy for keeping down bug, but so far as the health of the Vine 
is concerned it appears to me as being quite contrary to nature. 
The inner bark of the Vine is a perfect network of tiny cells, 
through which the Vine is partly sustained by drawing in the air 
and moisture ; so by completely sealing up all these cells we must 
do away with one of the means by which the Vine lives. Another 
method is to daub the Vine with a mixture composed of softsoap, 
flowers of sulphur, tobacco juice, and other materials all boiled to¬ 
gether and made into a thick substance by adding clay. This may 
prove effectual for a time, but all the ingredients of which it is 
composed are apt in a short time to lose their strength, and after 
that, when the mixture becomes hard and dry on the Vines, it 
serves as a hiding and breeding place for mealy bug. 
My experience teaches me that the best thing to do before the 
Vines are started is to thoroughly clean off all old and superfluous 
bark, especially round the spurs, but do not bare the young and 
inner bark. Then remove the rough surface of the border, as this 
will be covered with bug from the Vine scrapings. The glass, 
woodwork, and walls of the house should be well scrubbed with 
softsoap and water. After this well wash the Vines over two or 
three times with a solution of Gishurst compound boiled with 
rain water ; the mixture should be put on with a stiff brush 
of bristles, and made strong enough to form a good lather, exercis¬ 
ing care to work well into all the crevices, as the insects are sure to 
secrete themselves there. 
After all this, when the house is kept warm and the Vines com- 
