THE COTTAGE GARDENER. May 1. i 
Winter Neilis Pear, which were as Ladly attacked by 
them as ever I saw an Apple-tree, at the same time ex¬ 
pressing his astonishment at this insect attacking Pears. 
Since then, I have had my Winter Neilis Pears severely 
attacked by it, and no other kind. This coincidence is 
curious enough, and 1 should much like to hear, through 
the medium of The Cottage Gardener, if any one 
else has had the Pear attacked, and what kind. 
Thrips are great pests, but their labours are principally 
confined to hothouses, where, amongst the Kidney Beans, 
Cucumbers, Roses, Azaleas, &c., they prove, at times, a 
serious evil. 
To overcome the apliules , I know ot nothing equal 
to tobacco-water, in the case of trained trees, supposing 
them to show symptoms of a general attack ; when, 
however, only a shoot here and there is infested, tobacco 
may be economised by dipping them in a bowl. Shag- 
tobacco is the most sure, and cheaper in the end than 
tobacco-paper, three parts of which is mere rubbish. I 
have been in the habit of using five ounces to the 
gallon, and have found that by having at least half the 
gallon of ordinary soap-suds, the tobacco goes farther, 
and does more execution. 
Reel Spider, everybody knows is best combatted by 
sulphur; but there are various modes of applying this. 
If applied in a dry state, out-doors, a great portion is 
liable to be drifted away by air currents, or to settle on 
the ground by the mere force of gravitation. My 
favourite practice is to apply it by the syringe in a fluid 
state ; but then I mix other ingredients with it. During 
the last month I have syringed nearly all my walls with 
what may be termed a kind of grouting material, composed 
of soap, water, sulphur, and lime, thickened with clay; 
the latter so finely divided as to pass through Reid’s 
Patent Syringe. I shall report, in these pages, in due 
time, what success i have in the preventive way, and in 
the mean time I freely confess that 1 expect great things. 
It is known to plant-growers that the Azalea indiea, 
and its varieties, are very liable to the attacks of a minute 
kind of thrip, and that it is somewhat difficult to get 
rid of. A friend, in high practice, on whom I can rely, 
tells me that he has conquered it with ease by the 
following process. The plants are first fumigated, and 
on the heels of this operation they are turned on their 
sides, and well watered with a mixture of soap, water, 
and sulphur; the former, two ounces to a gallon, and 
charged with as much sulphur as it will carry. The 
plants, when battered by syringing on one side, are turned, 
and the other side served the same, and they are then 
placed in some pit, or close place, where they can be 
shaded, and no air given for a week after the operation. 
Now, this may furnish a hint for the handling of Thrip 
in other cases. 
As for the American Blight, I feel assured that the 
best way to deal with is to syringe carefully every 
November, and again in April, with a sort of grouting 
mixture, the chief article in which should be stable- 
liquid, undiluted as far as water is concerned, aud with 
the addition of soft-soap three ounces to the gallon, and 
thick clay-water to fill crevices. It is of no use talking 
of brushes, the mixture must insinuate itself into every 
crevice. R. Errington. 
BLACK PRINCE STRAWBERRY FOR FORCING. 
There is much gaiued often by comparing notes. 
More would often be gained were we magnanimous 
enough to own our failures and confess our mistakes. 
When the reasons of these can be assigned, they act as 
preventives to disappointment and errors. Mr. Beaton 
tells us that pots of the above Strawberry were exhibited 
in Regent Street, to show the inapplicability of the kind 
for forcing. Last year, I could easily have done the 
same, as the fruit seemed to be poor and insipid, and 
the foliage liable alike to mildew aud Red Spider. Some 
friends of mine were extra successful, and spoke cheer- j 
ingly in consequence. Instead of the fruit being soft 
and pale red in colour, theirs was firm as a bit of cheese, 
and of such a dark, healthy appearance, almost warrant- 
ting the appellation “ black.” I mused and thought over 
the matter, until the proved extra hardiness of the plant, 
in blooming and fruiting late in autumn out-of-doors, 
offered me a seeming solution of the difficulty. I 
attributed my success, this season, to giving it com¬ 
paratively a low temperature and plenty of air. Though 
the sun was allowed to raise the thermometer considerably, 
the heat at night was seldom above 50° to 55°, as often 
at 45°. Thus treated, after being properly prepared, the 
plants may be said to be ever bearing, as by the time 
that some trusses of bloom have set their flowers others 
will be showing, so that ripe fruit, green fruit, and flowers, 
are very commonly seen on one plant. I find that some 
people prefer the flavour to Keen’s. The finest fruit are 
equal in size to the middle-sized fruit of that excellent 
variety. I cannot say that I should like to grow much 
of it after Keen’s come in plentifully; but as a first and 
easily obtainable supply, I think the Prince invaluable. 
I consider it more necessary to make this statement, 
from having spoken doubtfully of it last season. With 
the requisite amount of air, and a night temperature 
not exceeding 55°, until the flowers are set, a few more 
degrees afterwards, if speed is essential, and a fair amount 
of sunshine, there is little difficulty in having this fruit 
at the new year; though Strawberries, before the first 
days of March, in general, are more pleasant to look at 
than to eat. For many of our readers, with little room, 
and whose whole glass may be considered an intermediate 
house, or a warm greenhouse, with an average night 
temperature of about 50°, this Strawberry will answer 
well, producing about the middle of March and onwards, 
if placed in the house about Christmas. Its habit of 
continuous bearing is also of much importance in all 
such circumstances. If so treated, the plants will be 
the better of being several times dressed, removing the 
exhausted flower-stems, decaying leaves, a little of the 
surface-soil, adding fresh compost, and, above all, using 
frequently weak manure-water. When you are tired of 
them in the house, plant them out-of-doors in a good 
position,; aud here, for the purpose of securing good 
early runners, the first flowers that appear should be 
nipped off. After you have obtained what runners 
you require, these may be cut off as they appear, and 
the flowers be allowed to come, and thus you may get 
nice fruit in September and October. 
As some readers may wish to try them the ensuing 
season, I will mention the course I have adopted with 
success As soon as the runners show themselves, they 
are fixed, with a bit of stone, pebble, &c., in the middle 
of a 00-sized pot, filled with light, rich earth, and duly 
watered. As soon as these pots are ucarly filled with 
roots, the strings are cut, and the plants collected, and set 
for a few days in a shady place, until they can depend 
entirely on their own roots for support. The pots are 
then moved into more direct light, and, when used to it, 
they are transferred into their fruiting pots, which are 
generally termed 48’s. I attribute much of the success 
to the size of the pot, when fruit is wanted very early. 
Good early Strawberries depend greatly on the early | 
ripening of the buds; but in large pots the plant keeps j 
growing too long, and the maturing process is retarded. I 
There is something, also, in the mode of potting. The 
soil is chiefly fresh hazelly loam, with a little rotten 
dung; the pots are properly drained; the plant is set 
well up in the pot, so that its neck stands rather above 
than below the rim, and the fresh soil is packed round 
the ball as firmly as possible. The pots are then set iu 
