180 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ August, 
tying-out, watering, &c. Chrysanthemums should be shifted into the pots they 
are intended to flower in; they should have a rich compost, and when the pots 
get pretty full of roots they should be well supplied with water. Notwithstand¬ 
ing the cold, dry weather after planting, and the continued heavy rains of late, 
Bedding plants are looking well at present. We only want a little warm, dry, 
sunny weather, and then flower-gardens would appear exceedingly fresh and gay. 
Constant attention will now be required in tying up all tall-growing plants, as 
Hollyhocks , Dahlias , Salvias , Phloxes , &c., also creeping plants of all kinds. Look 
frequently over the bedding plants, and pick off all old flower-stems and decaying 
leaves, and stir the soil between them with a hoe. Carnations should be layered 
this month. Put in cuttings of such biennial and perennial plants as Pentstemons , 
Phloxes , Antirrhinums , Pansies , &c. Cuttings of all kinds of Pelargoniums should 
be put in as soon as they can be had without disfiguring the plants. They will 
root freely in a south border, if the soil be properly prepared for them. Poses 
have been a little late in flowering this season, but they have been remarkably 
fine, and the plants are in great vigour ; they are free from mildew and aphis. 
Continue to bud as the stocks are fit. Take advantage of dry weather to mow 
lawns with the horse-machine ; it is a difficult matter to do it properly when 
the soil is saturated with moisture. Sweep and roll walks frequently.—M. Saul, 
Stourton. 
ON WAX AND MILDEW UPON PLANTS. 
HE young shoots, leaves, and fruit of plants are either varnished with wax, 
or covered with a wax-like powder, as a protection from climatal injuries ; 
but neither will fence off mildew. In fact, these protecting materials seem 
^(5* rather to afford nutriment for the parasite fungus. Though strange, this 
may, nevertheless, be true, for when the waxen varnish is rubbed off the green 
shoots, leaves, or fruit with a wet finger, mildew will not attack or grow upon 
those parts, though the rest of the plant is affected by it; and if the same pro¬ 
cess is employed about the mildewed spots, the parasite ceases to extend or 
grow. My attention was first called to this subject by observing my father 
rubbing with his wet finger the embryo specks of mildew upon his peaches, by 
which means the fruit was saved, or, at least, suffered but little injury. 
These remarks, however, apply only to mildew in the embryo state, and not 
after the pest is in full growth. Much has been said and written in reference to 
the means of checking this malady, especially on vines ; but the best remedies, 
when unskilfully applied, often end in mischief. Thus, when the bloom, or fine 
powder, is rubbed off the leaves and young fruit, that natural protection against 
damp is never renewed, but the moisture hangs upon those parts, while it glides 
off like water from a duck, from the parts where the bloom is intact. 
There is a coarser kind of powder formed on some plants, and which floats in 
water,—for example, that on the Auricula and the Golden Fern. This seems 
