THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Afbil 10, 1859. 3rf 
seem all eagerly-inquired after ; and, of course, like every 
other demand made on a commercial public, there is a 
supply. John Bull’s inquiries are met in every instance, 
—-whether satisfactorily or not I do not mean to say ; but 
his demand for new things, merely because they are new, 
too often tempts the unprincipled or needy dealer to 
furnish him with a spurious article. Something old and 
obsolete is palmed upon him as new; and so long as he 
can be made to think it is so, the deception continues. 
But there is generally a day of reckoning, in which the 
just value of everything is taken into account; and an 
article no longer new is discarded if not possessing suffi¬ 
cient value. My purpose here was not to dwell on the 
many new inventions of the day; neither on the new 
plants added to our lists ; nor yet on the new diseases by 
which, it is said, plants and people arc attacked. My 
purpose is to make inquiry, through the columns of Tiie 
Cottage Gardener, whether something cheaper than the 
article at present in use cannot be had for destroying one 
of the classes of insects so fatal to vegetation in its early 
growth—the green fly and its allied species. 
-Now, I expect many fruit and plant growers will say 
that either tobacco smoke or its liquor will destroy green 
fly fast enough. I grant this: but I want to know if 
something cheaper than this could not be had to destroy 
the same class of insects when they attack plants grown 
on a more extensive scale, some of which suffer very much 
from this pest. The plant to which I particularly call 
attention is the Hop, which suffers more from insects, 
mildew,.and similar misfortunes than any plant I know. 
In fact, so exceedingly uncertain is this crop from these 
causes, that no one can tell, until late in the season, 
whether they are likely to have a crop or not; as the 
same means used one season will perhaps be rewarded 
with a good crop, while only the preceding one was a 
total failure. Take for instance the growth of 1854, which 
produced a crop realising a duty of only £47,369; while 
the year after (1855), the duty was £398,365, from very 
little more ground—the crop of the first year being about 
eight times as much as that of the other; and, in some 
particular places, was quite twenty times as much. 
This difference is, in no respect, due to cultivation; 
because, in most cases, it was alike in both seasons. The 
real causes were insects and mildew ; the latter, in local 
phrase, being called “mould.” 
A crop which, on the average of the last ten years, may 
he regarded as worth upwards of two millions sterling 
annually, i3 assuredly worth trying experiments with in 
order to ascertain if something cannot be done to remedy 
the evils it is liable to during certain seasons. Many 
spirited growers have turned their attention this way ; 
and prior to 1855 sulphur was used rather extensively as 
a remedy or preventive of the mould. Since then, this 
evil has not been so serious ; but it is so capricious in its 
attacks, that it is quite possible it may visit the Hop 
garden, for two or three years in succession, with its 
hitherto-incurable vengeance; for the evidence of those 
using sulphur as a remedy is so conflicting, that its efficacy 
is far from being confirmed. 
Allowing, however, this article to be used again, or 
something else in lieu of it, let us see what can be done 
to destroy the insects which harbour and feed on what 
may be called the very vitals of the Hop plant at the 
early period of its growth, and which too often cripple it 
so as to leave no chance for a crop ; naked poles, with 
blackened miliealthy shoots half way up them, are all that 
greet the grower the whole season. 
It is somewhat strange that this evil is rarely repeated 
the next year ; while mildew, or mould, has been known 
to destroy the crop wholesale for several years in suc¬ 
cession. 
As some remedy for the fly may, perhaps, be found 
cheap and efficacious, a slight glance at the requirements 
of the case may enable some of our chemical friends to 
help us out of the dilemma. To enable them to have a 
just view of the matter, it is right to say that the plant¬ 
ation of Hops, at the present time, extends over fifty 
thousand acres ; so that, whatever article they recommend, 
should he one that can be had in unlimited quantities and 
at a very cheap rate. Infusions of tobacco, mixed with 
soft soap and other things, have been used as a wash, 
applied by the syringe ; but their expense precludes their 
general adoption. What is wanted is, some cheaper 
liquid that could be applied in the same way; or some 
powdered substance which could be thrown over the in¬ 
fected plants. 
Assuming that a liquid is the most suitable form of ap¬ 
plying the remedy ; from what could this liquid be made P 
Most mineral substances are injurious to plants as well 
as to animals, if they are hurtful at all. We must, there¬ 
fore, turn to the vegetable poisons ; and, amongst those 
that arc grown at home, assuredly something might bo 
had, which, either by boiling, or scalding, would yield a 
liquid at once fatal to animal, and yet innoxous to vege¬ 
table life. Poisonous plants are not so uncommon amongst 
us : and if they are found to be of service to the Hop 
grower, they could easily be cultivated to the required 
extent. In wild plants, we have the Hemlock, Henbane, 
and Deadly Nightshade, all fatal, in a high degree, to 
human life; while many others are scarcely less so. If 
some enthusiastic Hop grower were to collect a good 
bunch of these, and boil them separately, and syringe a 
few plants with each, and note the result, it is very 
likely he would find them beneficial. Then we have the 
Common Laurel, the juices of which are also pernicious ; 
and the Rhododendron and Yew, perhaps, still more so. 
So that experiments might even bo made with them ; and 
the common Potato-top is a much more deleterious sub¬ 
stance than is generally believed. I have seen an 
infusion of it used for the destruction of green fly many 
years ago. 
In fact, there arc so many plants which may communi¬ 
cate the required property, that 1 should like some 
chemical correspondent to give us his opinion in the 
matter. At the same time, it would he better if he con¬ 
fined his inquiries to home productions, unless that of 
foreign growth can be had at a cheap rate. 
Although I have advised the use of a vegetable poison, 
I am by do means certain that a mineral one could not be 
had equally useful; but as the former class are powerful 
enough, and, in a general way, plentiful, they may, 
perhaps, do better. We are told by Dr. Livingstone, 
that Southern Africa produces the tree from which nux 
vomica and the still more deadly strychnine, are made,— 
vegetable poisons extremely powerful; assuredly amongst 
those we have at home, some one or other might be found 
as an antidote to the scourge of our Hop plantations, as 
well as to many other crops which suffer from the like 
cause. I, therefore, call on our chemical friends to assist 
us in this matter by their advice. No one will be more 
grateful for such assistance than the Hop growers, who, 
as a body, are, perhaps, the most enterprising of all classes 
of cultivators of the soil; but who, on the other hand, 
suffer more by those reverses, over which they have 
hitherto had little or no control. Any advice that would 
enable them successfully to combat one of the great evils 
they are now liable to, will confer a great boon on them, 
and, at the same time, oue on the gardening world also. 
J. Robson. 
FRUITS ADAPTED TO THE VARIOUS 
LOCALITIES OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
(Continued from page 8.) 
GRAPES. 
Early Chasselas (Chasselas Hdtif; Bar-sur-Aube; 
Krach Gutedel).— This is very similar to the Royal Mus¬ 
cadine in general appearance, and has, therefore, been 
