94 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ April, 
to the one causing mnch mischief to young huds of the black currant. In the autumn leaf- 
buds are observable, distinguishable from the natural smooth lanceolate shape by their 
swollen appearance, being roughly spherical, comparatively large, and composed of loosely 
inbricated scales. In November the Phytoptus may be found in these buds, and it continues 
active through the winter. About the beginning of February these scales will drop to a 
touch, and show inside a short thickened axis, beset with numerous very minute round buds 
at the base of the scales—the beginning of the future diseased mass of twigs. The credit of 
this discovery belongs to Miss Ormerod. 
- ®HE Belgian committee established for the purpose of erecting a monu¬ 
ment to the Memory of the late Louis Van Iloutte^ have decided on erecting the 
monument in a new square about to be constructed in the suburb of Gendbrugge, 
wherein Van Houtte acted as burgomaster for n&arly a quarter of a century. The square 
wdll be called the Place Van Houtte, and will form part of a new street which will pass in 
the immediate vicinity of the establishment founded by Van Houtte. The sum subscribed 
in England for the same object is to be invested, and the interest to be offered as a prize 
(medal or cup) at the Ghent Quinquennial Shows, for the culture of stove and greenhouse 
flowering-plants. 
- ®E learn from the Gardeners^ Chronicle that Mr. Wildsmith, of 
Heckfield, finds wood-ashes to be the best manure he can use for Vines. He there¬ 
fore impounds every stick and stump he can lay his hands on, and has his fire 
going during most of the winter, by which means he secures an abundant supply of the pot¬ 
ash which his vines so much relish. 
- 3In a communication read by M. Boutin before the French Academy of 
Sciences, relating to the study of comparative analyses of several varieties of 
American Vine-stoclcs^ resistant and non-resistant to the Phylloxera, it is stated 
that there has been found in all American stocks a resinoid principle, which, indeed, exists 
also in French stocks, but in quantity one-half less than in the resistant American stocks, 
and one-third less than in the non-i'esistant. The resistance is accounted for by the presence of 
this principle in a proportion not under 8 per cent, in the entire root, and 14 to 15 per cent, 
in the bark alone, for though the punctures made by the insect cause nodosities on the root, 
yet are they cicatrised by exudation of the resinous produce, and this prevents loss of the 
nutritious juices of the plant. No such cicatrisation occurs in the non-resistant stocks, the 
resinous matter not being sufficiently abundant. 
- ^HE Guide Pratique de VAmateur de Fruits^ by the late M. Thomas, 
manager of the fruit-tree department in the nurseries of MM. Simon-Louis freres, of 
Plantieres, near Metz, is a very useful catalogue of fruits. The number of varieties 
described is 4,354, only 290 of which are designated as of the first class, and 2,495 are still 
under trial. The enumeration includes some 10,000 synonyms ! Thus the May Duke Cherry 
has sixty-two ; the Grosse Mignonne Pear, fifty-one; and the Catillac, sixty-eight; the 
Frankenthal Grape (Black Hamburgh), fifty-five, and the Chasselas de Fontainbleau (Royal 
Muscadine), forty-one synonyms. Fruit-growers, and all interested in knowing w'hat a name 
really represents, will find this catalogue very handy for reference, and the names are easily 
found, as they are arranged alphabetically. 
- fH. Desire Boudrant, ]un., has communicated the following recipe 
for an Insecticide Poivder to the Central Horticultural Society of France :—Take 
100 grammes (a gramme is 15*444 grains) of silicic acid, 1 litre (about 1| pints) 
of alcohol at a strength of 8G, and a sack of fine sawdust. The acid is dissolved in the alcohol, 
and the solution is applied in small quantities to the sawdust, carefully mixing while adding, 
until it has absorbed the whole. This opei’ation is performed in the open air. The following 
day the powder is ready for use, alid is applied to infested plants by throwing it over them. 
- According to the Pevue llorticole^ the following plan of Preserviny ' 
Vines against Frost, noted b}* Mr. Charles Baltet, is to be recommended, and might 
be adopted for other plants. At the time of pruning the long wood, a tr«nch is 
