March 18. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
379 
this is, that he is here under a great mistake. Every gar¬ 
dener knows if this had been the case the trees must all 
have been budded anew before they had come into bearing. 
None of those trees have been budded afresh, unless it 
was a few which carried fruit of a kind that I did not wish 
to propagate, which were budded with better sorts. So far 
is the operation of budding in this case from being neces¬ 
sary, that I have been obliged to cut down some old trees 
(particularly one kind of cherry), in order to preserve the 
kind of fruit they carried, which could be obtained nowhere 
else, and which were past bearing. They have now great 
! plenty of young wood, and in full bearing. 
“ I ought surely to thank this gentleman for having in- 
i duced me to bring forward these strong facts to the public, 
which I. otherwise should not have thought of doing. From 
the same consideration I look forward with pleasure to the 
i prospect of having other facts of a similar nature investi¬ 
gated upon the spot by gentlemen who will not be suspected 
of partiality to me, under the watchful superintendance of 
Mr. Knight, at a meeting proposed by Dr. Anderson for that 
purpose,* aud which I hope nothing will prevent taking 
place. The more minute the investigation shall be, it will 
be found to be, as in the above instance, the more satis 
factory to me.” 
You may put the above, or such parts of it as you approve, 
into your own words. But on no account omit your table of 
the produce of fruit, which I shall wish to see before you 
put it to the press. I am, dear Sir, yours sincerely, 
Jas. Anderson. 
Let me know what you think of the enclosed. 
GOSSIP. 
On the 4th instant, at the National Floricultural Society, Mr. 
Edwards was re-elected its honorary secretary. Trust in 
| the soundness of its decisions has been for some time 
declining, and now that the society has proclaimed that even 
those against whom grave charges of dishonest shewing 
remain unrefuted are not thereby disqualified for its most 
influential offlces, that trust must be still more weakened; 
and few will think that they act correctly by continuing to 
bestow upon it encouragement. 
The Royal Oxfordshire Horticultural Society have issued 
a goodly schedule of prizes for 1852. The exhibition days 
are April 29; May 25; June 23; July 29; and September 23. 
Some months since, the use of Cayenne pepper as a fumi- 
\ gator was advocated in our pages; and we are glad to see, 
“ in a contemporary journal,” that Mr. W. P. Ayres, of 
Brooklands Nursery, Blackheath, after acknowledging that 
; he was indebted to us for the suggestion, adds— 
“ A short time back, having no tobacco-paper, and not 
liking to give 4s. 6d. per pound for tobacco, I made an 
experiment of a small quantity of tobacco and Cayenne 
combined, and am delighted with the result. Choosing a 
damp still night, about two quarts of glowing fire was 
placed upon a wire sieve, and that was elevated upon three 
bricks in the pathway of the centre house (three being 
smoked at the same time) to increase the draught. Over 
! the fire some nitre-paper, torn into small pieces, was placed, 
: then a handful of damp stable litter, and then the tobacco, 
which had been damped and thoroughly impregnated with 
the pepper. The quantity used was 6 oz. of tobacco, and 
j 2 oz. of Cayenne, the expense being about 3s.; and the 
! houses were 90 feet long, 16 feet wide, and tolerably lofty. 
One hour after the fire was out, not a living insect could be 
j found; and I am quite sure the tobacco and Cayenne did 
fully as much execution as when we used 7 lbs. of tobacco- 
paper at an expense of 10s. fid. The Cayenne was a 
j common kind, which I purchased at 8d. per ounce ; but no 
doubt common Chillies would be better than adulterated 
pepper, and these I intend to grow for my own rise this 
season. Thus you see “ fumigators” are rendered useless; 
a very small quantity of tobacco with Cayenne is sufficient, 
and what is still better, the horrible stench of strong 
tobacco or tobacco-paper is got rid of; for with the small 
quantity used, the smell is driven quite off in 24 hours. 
Let me, however, caution the reader that the tobacco and 
* See his letters in the Morning Chronicle. — Morning Chronicle, 
Jan. 26. 
Cayenne, in addition to destroying insects, are an excellent 
recipe to “catch a good cold;”—for myself, my foreman, and 
an assistant, had each to pay that penalty for our knowledge. 
It is, however, quite unnecessary to enter the house if the 
fire is properly lighted at the first start, and the paper, litter, 
and tobacco are damped at the time they are put on. If 
the sieve is placed near the door, then by opening it a little 
the draught is increased, and the necessity for entering 
entirely obviated.” 
HAIRY CATHCARTIA. 
(Cathcartia villosa)— Botanical Magazine, t. 4590. 
This is a new genus of poppyworts, named by Dr. 
Hooker in honour of J. F. Cathcart, one of the East 
India Company’s district judges in Bengal. It is a 
native of the Sikkim Hymalaya, where it was discovered 
hy Dr. Hooker when on his late mission to the east, 
whence he sent seeds of it to the Kew Gardens in 1850. 
It there flowered last June, and ripened seeds the follow¬ 
ing month, from which we may infer that it is only an 
ephemeral addition to botanical collections, and little 
suited to our present style of gardening. A poppy-like, 
hardy annual, with yellow nodding flowers, holding in 
bloom hut a few weeks in the height of summer, is not 
likely to attract much public attention, unless its roots 
prove perennial, of which there is some hope. The 
usual treatment of hardy annuals will suit it, and by 
sowing it in April, and at the end of May, and again in 
July, its duration may probably be lengthened for some 
months. 
Mr. Cathcart is well deserving of such a commemoration 
s is afforded by this plant, for “during a residence at 
lorjeling he devoted his whole time to the illustration of 
he botany of that neighbourhood, and superintended the 
ixecution by native artists, at his own expense, of a collec- 
ion of upwards of 700 folio coloured plates of Himalayan 
ilants.” B- J- 
