374 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 18. 
turous maiden changed to this form, who was killed in 
deavouring to steal an interview with her lover— 
en- 
“ Up she got upon a wall, 
’Tempting down to slide withal, 
But the silken twist untied, 
So she fell, and bruis’d, she died. 
Love, in pity of the deed, 
And her loving, luckless speed, 
Turned her to this plant, we call 
Now, the Flower of the Wall." 
Herrick and Barton are among the dead, and we were 
about to say—now, for what a living poet says—hut we re¬ 
member that he, Delta, is also gone before, and that the 
dower of which he thus sings is above the grave of him 
who thus addressed it:— 
Sweet Wall-flower! Sweet Wall-flower! 
Thou conjurest up to me 
Full many a soft and sunny hour 
Of boyhood’s thoughtless glee ; 
When joy from out the daisies grew 
In woodland pastures green, 
And summer skies were far more blue 
Than since they e’er have been. 
* * * * 
Rich is the Pink, the Lily gay, 
The Bose is summer’s guest, 
Bland are thy charms, when these decay,— 
Of flowers first, last, and best 1 
There may be gaudier in the bower. 
And statelier on the tree ; 
But Wall-flower, loved Wall-flower, 
Thou art the flower for me ! 
— {Smith. Withering. Gerardc.) 
Some time since we replied to a correspondent that we 
did not agree with him in thinking that the Potato 
Murrain, Vine Mildew, and some other phenomena 
Which he mentioned, are “signs that the world is grow¬ 
ing old.” We have now before us another letter from 
the same respectable and respected correspondent; and 
he asks whether we do not “ think that fungoid diseases 
are on the increase ? ” We think they are; hut we 
must leave for others to answer whether it is a chas¬ 
tisement like that spoken of by the prophet—“ I have 
smitten you with blasting and mildew;” “And in all 
vineyards shall be wailing .”—(Amos iv. 9 ; v. 17). 
Even if it be a visitation for our sinfulness, still, as 
in these days effects are wrought out by natural means 
rather than by direct interpositions, it will not be use¬ 
less to point out what are, probably, the causes of the 
increase of fungoid diseases in vegetables. 
First among these causes are the increase of moisture 
in the air and soil, and a decrease in their temperature 
during the growing periods. It is quite true, that taking 
the average of the entire year no such changes are 
perceptible; but if the growing period, by which we 
mean from April to June, both inclusive, be taken, 
then such an increase of moisture and decrease of tem¬ 
perature will be found apparent. We have not all our 
notes and references; but let us take one town, Liver¬ 
pool, for example, of which we have the meteorological 
returns since 1843, and we shall find that it has had 
since no April so warm as that of 1843, and no May 
or June so warm, except in two years, and those years 
were 1847 and 1849 : years, if we remember correctly, 
in which fungoid diseases much abated. 
The following table shews the average temperature in 
the three growing months of every year since 1843 :— 
Liverpool. 
APRIL. 
MAY. 
JUNE. 
1843 ... 
53-0° ... 
55-0° ... 
62 0° 
1844 ... 
47-2 
52-2 ... 
58-0 
1845 ... 
50-2 ... 
.544 ... 
59-1 
1846 ... 
50-2 ... 
51-5 ... 
59-2 
1847 ... 
50-0 
58-5 ... 
70-5 
1848* ... 
452 ... 
54-8 ... 
58'4 
1849 
50-1 ... 
58-9 ... 
62 4 
1850 
438 ... 
53-5 ... 
57'0 
1851 ... 
46-2 
51-6 ... 
57*9 
* This year the temperatures are the averages at Manchester, we 
haviDg no returns from Liverpool that year. 
If any one will follow out this research, he will find 
that the same decrease of temperature and a cor¬ 
responding increase of moisture, during the three grow¬ 
ing months, has prevailed in almost every district. 
Turning this knowledge to advantage for avoiding 
the Grape mildew, wo recommend the attention of gar¬ 
deners to be directed to keeping both the roots and 
upper portion of their Vines drier and warmer than 
ordinarily. 
When the mildew does appear upon the Vine leaves, 
or Grapes, we can recommend that all the parts be 
gently rubbed between the thumb and lingers, kept well 
covered with flowers of sulphur by dipping them into 
a plate or bag of those flowers. The sulphur must not 
be washed off by syringing, or other application of 
water. Let it continue on until it falls off without 
manual aid, or until the fruit is ripe. When cut, a 
dewing by the aid of the very finest rose of the syringe 
will entirely remove the sulphur, but leave the bloom 
upon the Grapes. 
It would be very interesting to trace out the birth¬ 
place of the Vine mildew. We have an impression that 
it first appeared in Germany, in the year 1845; it 
reached England, being first noticed at Margate, in 
1847.* The year following it was ravaging France. 
In 1850 and 1851, it had spread over Italy and Sicily. 
In 1852, the Madeira Vines were destroyed by it; it 
reached Spain and Portugal the same year; and now 
we read from Oporto, that this year it has enlarged its 
attacks so much, that “ prayers against the ravages of 
the disease have been offered up in many of the parish 
churches.” 
The following letter has been sent to Mr. Sidney Foster, 
Secretary of the Surrey Zoological Poultry Show, with 
permission to publish it in our columns. The writer is 
Mr. Snell, whose Shangliae chickens carried off the first 
prizes at Cheltenham and Plymouth. 
“ I take this opportunity of expressing my opinion of 
the imperative necessity for some means being adopted 
to verify the ages of chickens, which are required to he 
accurately stated. I have been struck, on several occa¬ 
sions at exhibitions, by the evident difference between 
* Its fungal nature was pointed out by Mr. Tucker, gardener to 
J. Slater, Esq., of that town. The Rev. M. J. Berkley decided that it 
is a new species of Oidium, and named it after its discoverer, 0. Tuckeri. 
