May 1. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
09 
with dwarf Palms, except the two first at the west end 
of the basin, which was filled with “ furnishing ” plants, 
such as Geraniums, Cinerarias, Hyacinths, Cytisus 
racemosus, and Dielytra spectabilis . The basin itself 
was gay with blue Water Lilies, or Nymplieas. 
The dais, or raised platform, where their Majesties 
sat down, was well furnished with flowering plants in 
pots all round the bottom. Here some Acacia armata 
were well placed in the angles; indeed, the furnishers j 
throughout bad their wits about them. All their plants | 
were placed in such ways as to tell best. PJiododendrons 
and Camellias, in bloom, forced Persian Lilac, Epac- 
rises, Cytisus racemosus in abundance, with Hyacinths, 
Tulips, Cinerarias, Geraniums, and large herbaceous 
Calceolarias, were also in the groups round the dais. 
I must here stop to say, that in all cases and places 
where the Cytisus racemosus (or deep yellow) is used for 
mere show, about one-third the number of Coronilla j 
glauca (sulphur-yellow) ought to be introduced as well, j 
No one who has not seen the effect of large masses ol I 
these two plants together can possibly conceive how 
they improve each other. The Cytisus may be com¬ 
pared to the Calceolaria rugosa, and the Coronilla to 
Calceolaria amplexicaulis. I saw them both in profusion, 
the other day, in the conservatory at Bank Grove, and 1 
can vouch for the improvement. 
The crystal fountain and basin seem to be the fa¬ 
vourites ; the beds and vases round them were quite 
brilliant with gay spring flowers as thick as they could 
stand—Water Lilies all round the basin, and the Victoria 
Lily coming on in the centre. 
The Camellias and Rhododendrons, all over the house, 
could not look better. The large Orange-trees, which ; 
were kept inside last year, have just increased double 
their value since I saw them last September ; their leaves 
“shine again.” But the experiment of placing Orange- 
trees in bad health out on the terrace, last summer, was 
a dead failure: the poor things look half starved to this 
day. But when Orange-trees are up in good health, 
and get no more heat in winter than these, a few months 
out-of-doors would even improve them ; but no man in 
his senses would place a sickly Orange-tree out-ot-doors 
in England. 
The Norfolk Island Pine is the handsomest tree in 
the Palace ; some of them are really splendid. The one 
they had from the conservatory of the Horticultural 
Society last autumn looks mumpish ; but there is no 
fear of losing it, except the leader, but that is owing to 
the fact that the Society had to cut off the top to save 
the roof. The leaders which came after that were too 
tender to stand such a violent shock as the removal to 
Sydenham; but the tree will renew its leader as soon as 
it is established at the roots. 
THE HANGING BASKETS. 
Nothing can look more healthy than the old plants in 
the hanging baskets—the same plants which were in 
them last year,—they all stood except the Tropoeolums, 
and have grown a good deal, some of them too much, 
since last September. The Cobseashavo runup wonder¬ 
fully ; but if they were mine, I would have docked them 
at the beginning of April; but perhaps they are better 
as they are till the stronger climbers from the borders 
below come up, and do away with the necessity of 
basket climbers, except for the sake of the green. Alto¬ 
gether, the gardening of the Crystal Palace will, in a 
few years, be the standard in this country, if they go on 
according to this beginning. The frost and cold winds 
did not hurt them much. The frost will never harm 
them up there so much or so soon as down in the vallies 
and flat situations. D. Beaton. 
INSECTS ON FRUIT-TREES, AND THE 
CONSEQUENCES. 
Surely this in an affair which concerns everybody, 
from the possessor of an Apple-tree or two, to the 
ownei’S of extensive fruit-gardens. One would really 
imagine, that after witnessing such havocs as are com¬ 
mitted in our Apple-orchards, and our Hop-grounds, to say 
little of Kitchen-gardens, that the question as to the 
destructive influences of insects would at all times be 
considered a national affair. But we are all, at times, 
liable to fits of apathy; when the sun shines warm, and 
all nature seems happy, we willingly shut our eyes to 
the coming storm. In order to rouse such apathy, if 
possible, I may, perhaps, be permitted to point to a lew 
of the disorders created in our fruit or kitchen-gardens by 
those almost microscopic rogues, which pass amongst 
gardeners under the anything but euphonious titles of 
R.ed Spider, Green Fly, Thrips, &c. These are the chief; 
but then we have the Scale, the American Blight, and 
other nuisances, amongst which the Bean Weevil is no 
trifler. 
Let us here investigate the habits of the aphides, or 
Plant Lice. Our Peaches and Nectarines are almost sure 
to receive a visitation from these pests in the course of 
the year, if not in early spring. People are apt to look with 
a tolerable amount of unconcern on a leaf curling here 
and there, thinking, good souls, that it may pass away 
without any serious damage ; but, behold, all this time 
a storm is brewing, and well would it be if they would 
take a lesson from the first cloud, which, as a mes¬ 
senger, points to the evil in store. Well; the pest 
passes on; it increases; and by-and-by the hitherto 
quiet spectator thinks that something ought to be done; 
he, therefore, betakes himself to tobacco, the best remedy 
we at present possess. We may now suppose it to be 
the early part of June, and the application, let us grant, 
has actually, at last, destroyed the aphides; but the 
consequences of their unmolested ravages have to be 
borne. The trees have yet to make another effort for 
the production of young spray, for the root is impatient 
' for a reciprocity of action. This later growth, however, 
is destined never to become hardened in that degree, 
which not only secures soundly-formed blossoms for the 
ensuing year, but influences the very constitution of the 
tree for ensuing years. 
But not only Peaches; let us remark, on the havoc 
these aphides make amongst our trained Plums, Cherries, 
&c. How frequently we see the points of the young shoots 
completely smothered with them, and becoming distorted 
before the shoots have extended half-a-dozen inches, 
and, subsequently, the whole system of the tree perverted, 
appearing as though half-scorched. This is a sad affair, 
in particular where the trees are somewhat young, and 
the walls, or spaces, allotted to them badly covered. 
Then the Red Spider ; this and the aphides act con¬ 
junctively in the work of destruction; the aphides 
impeding the early growth and corrupting the system of 
the tree, and the Red Spider, following in their wake, 
abstracting what little elaborated sap the tree may 
possess, robs botli the fruit of the present season, and 
the blossom-buds for the future crops then in the 
course of formation. 
The American Blight is another formidable enemy; 
his ravages, however, are confined at present to the 
Apple and Pear. It is somewhat singular that this 
sad pest had entirely confined his ravages to the 
Apple until the. last dozen years or so; at least, I am 
not aware of having seen Pears attacked in my younger 
days. I remember that the first of its attacks on the 
Pear were pointed out to me by the late celebrated Mr. 
Wilmot, the market-gardener, at Isleworth. In going 
over his gardens, with my friend Mr. Glendinning, about 
i a dozen years since, Mr. W. showed us a lot of the 
