1879. ] 
GARDEN GOSSIP. 
175 
be burnt, and the ashes used for surface¬ 
dressing. In pruning 7?c(?and White Currants 
the trees should be cut back to skeletons, the 
chief of the fruit-buds being at the junctions 
of the new wood with that of last year, and 
leaving only two or three joints beyond that 
point; also cutting clear away to the base every 
branch that is ill-placed, or that chokes up the 
centre. Blade Currants do not like the knife, 
so it is best to trim the branches to regular 
distances, and shorten the longest back to 
good joints, preserving plenty of young wood, 
leaving the plumpest branches nearly their full 
length, and cutting all weak ones clean awa)'’. 
-SuBURBANDS. 
GARDEN GOSSIP. 
URING the past autumn there was an 
interesting exhibition of specimens of 
the Phylloxera vastatrix, at the 
Agricultural Hall, Islington. The insect was shown 
under the microscope in the diSerent stages of its 
growth by Mr. Richard Blandy. Mr. Leacock, the 
owner of a vineyard in Madeira whence the speci¬ 
mens were brought, has, with a magnifying-glass, 
while lying on the ground in early summer, watched 
the fully-developed insects coming to the surface 
through cracks in the earth. When above-ground 
they spread their wings, and seem to be blown away 
rather than to fly. In a pamphlet which was dis¬ 
tributed to visitors, it is stated that, in Madeira, Mi-. 
Leacock has succeeded in checking the general 
destruction of the vines on his estate. His mode of 
dealing with phylloxera is to lay bare the under¬ 
ground stem and principal roots of the vines as far 
as this may be done safely. The loose bark, on 
w'hioh the insects are generally thickly clustered,, is 
burnt, or put into boiling water. The lower part of 
the stem and the roots are then coated with a pre¬ 
paration of turpentine and resin, about oz. of 
finely-pow'dered resin being added to each quart of 
turpentine. When gently heated, the mixture be¬ 
comes thick enough to form a cohesive coating to 
the roots. This stuff destroys the insects touched 
by it, and those low^er down, prevented fi-om work¬ 
ing upward, die ofi as their food fails by the de¬ 
struction of the roots beloAv them. The turpentine 
mixture is applied in the autumn and winter, and 
the plants arc at the same time well manured. 
There may not be any marked improvement in the 
first year after this treatment, but the next year 
the new roots will have been thrown out, and the 
plants will not require to be treated in this way again 
for four or five years. Dr. Grabham, F.R.C.P., in a 
letter to the Times, writes“ I myself have 
witnessed the very marvellous resuscitation of fail¬ 
ing vines under his [Mr. Leacock’s] treatment.” 
— ©E the Tea Rose Marie van Houtte 
Mr. Baker writes in the Garden :—“ If only 
allowed to grow one Tea Rose, I should unhesi¬ 
tatingly choose this one. Anything more lovely than 
the delicate rose-tinting of the outer edge of the 
petals 1 cannot conceive; it seems to me as if it 
were blushing at the perfection of its own loveliness. 
This rose was sent out by Dncher in 1871. Its habit 
is very good. I have several plants of it on the 
seedling brier, which have grown to the top of a 
wall 10 ft. high, and on them may frequently be 
seen forty or fifty good blooms open at the same 
time. It is one of the earliest spring roses, as well 
as one of the latest autumnal bloomers, and I have 
on more than one occasion cut a bloom of it from a 
south wall on Christmas Day.” 
— ©HE Chinese Raspberry (Ruhus era- 
tcegifolius) is referred to by Prof. 0. S. Sargent, 
in the American Agriculturist, as a new fruit 
which may be useful for hybridising. It is a native 
of Manchuria, Northern China and Japan, and there¬ 
fore very hardy. He had cultivated it as a Black¬ 
berry, of little horticultural importance or value, 
except as an m-namental plant of neat habit, re¬ 
markable for its rich autumnal colouring. This 
year, however, the plant has fruited, and it proves 
to be a true Raspberry. The fruit is large, firm, 
clustered, nearly semi-spherical, of a brilliant orange- 
scarlet colour, and with a flavour which suggests the 
common black Raspberry or Thimbleberry. The 
largest fruit Mr. Sargent has noticed was f-inoh in 
diameter, and rather longer than broad. Probably, 
as a table fruit, the Chinese Raspberry may be hardly 
worth cultivating, but it is suggested that by using 
it to cross with some of the delicate garden varieties 
a hybrid might be obtained hardier than anything 
now in cultivation. Such a hybrid might be expected 
to produce large and very high-coloured, handsome 
fruit, of great substance, and therefore valuable for 
market pm’poses. The neat habit, great hardiness, 
large, brilliant fruit, and especially the rich claret- 
colour which its foliage assumes in autumn, render 
the Chinese Raspberry one of the most desirable of 
the many shrubs recently introduced from its native 
countries. 
— 0N the best Seasons for Transplant¬ 
ing Trees and Shrubs, Mr. Burrows writes as 
follows in the Journal of Forestry :—“To the 
25lanter who carefully studies his subjects, and works 
with judgment and expedition, nearly every season 
of the year affords opportunities for planting and 
transplanting. From late in July up to the end of 
August, I have seen Cedar, Spruce, Scotch Pine, 
Silver Fir, and Weymouth Pine planted out with 
success; and from that time till the middle of 
October, both large and small evergreens. Then 
come the smaller deciduous trees, which are followed 
by the nursery transiilanting of all kinds up to the 
middle or end of May. Large deciduous trees also 
may be removed, after proper 2 n’cparation, at 
almost any season, exce 2 it for about six weeks or 
two mouths at the height of their growth.” 
— JtN the second edition of his Notes on 
Lilies, Dr. Wallace has expanded his original 
liamphlet into a book, which will be exceed¬ 
ingly useful to all Lily growers. A vast amount of 
information has been brought together, some from 
un 2 :iublishod letters, some from communications to 
the garden periodicals, and some from the writer’s 
2 iersonal ex23erience, and this the reader interested 
in Lily-culture may usefully consult. The descriji- 
tive 2 :)ortion is based on Mr. Baker’s pa 2 )ers on this 
subject, which is supplemented by notes and 
observations from other sources. Altogether, Dr. 
Wallace has given us a handy risumd of the whole 
subject which will render his Notes welcome on the 
shelves of the garden library. The book is profusely 
illustrated, and is sold by the New I’lant and Bulb 
Company. 
— GTiie very pretty and graceful Polygonum 
AMPLEXICAULE is One of tho most conspicuous 
of autumn-flowering herbaceous plants, in con- 
