396 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 21, 1891. 
ARDENING 
ISCELIANY. 
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Mustard and Cress. 
A novel and useful method of growing Mustard and 
Cress is practised by Mr. Hickmott at The Gardens, 
Huntleys, Tunbridge Wells. He uses small punnets, 
and when required for use sends the punnets as filled 
with the growing seedlings. This saves the trouble of 
cutting and also avoids waste, while a succession is 
easily kept up by sowing at intervals of a few days. 
An ordinary punnet gives about sufficient for use at 
one time if not extravagantly required.— Busticus. 
On Planting Cabbages. 
Nearly all gardeners suppose that deep setting of 
Cabbage plants is essential to success. The plants are 
set in the ground up to the lowest leaves when trans¬ 
planted from the seed bed. Tests were made upon 
this point in 1889 with thirteen varieties, and the 
results showed no appreciable difference between the 
deep set plants and those set at the natural depth. 
The test was repeated last year upon Early Wakefield. 
Over 200 plants, for which the seeds were sown under 
glass on April 14th, were set in the field on May 29th. 
They were set in six parallel rows, every other row 
containing plants set at the same depth as they stood 
in the seed bed, and the alternate ones containing 
those set down to the first leaves. The soil was a 
heavy clay loam, unfertilised. The crop was harvested 
August 1st and August 23rd, and the result was found 
to be that shallow planting gave better results than 
deep planting, both in the percentage of good heads 
and in the w-eight of heads. In 1889, in a larger 
experiment, the comparative results of the two methods 
were inditferent. We feel, therefore, that the common 
notion that deep transplanting is essential to success in 
Cabbage growing is at least doubtful.— Bulletin of the 
Cornell University Agricultural Experimental Station. 
Birds and Buds. 
In answer to your inquiry respecting the birds and the 
damage they do, I am sorry to say my experience 
is very much against them, at least, against Bull¬ 
finches, Tomtits, and Sparrows. In this part (West 
Somerset) especially' they are very destructive, for they 
attack trees here that I never knew them to do in the 
north, including Currants, Gooseberries, Cherries, 
Plums, Apricots, Peaches, Neetaiines, and even Pears. 
This has been done not only during the hard weather 
this winter, but in mild weather as well. I find in 
the autumn, as soon as the leaves are well oft', they 
begin their work of destruction with so much vigour 
that in some gardens they completely ruin the trees 
and the crop. I have about an acre of bush fruit, and 
they would spoil the crop if I did not use the gun all 
through the winter to scare them off. It is astonishing 
the damage a pair of Bullfinches will do iu a bush if 
left alone for a very few minutes. To net the trees 
would be out of the question. I have tried sprinkling 
fresh lime over the trees when they have been damp, 
but the birds have gone on with their work of de¬ 
struction just the same. I shall be very glad if any 
of your readers can give a simple and effective remedy, 
as I do not care to kill them. — TV. Shrives, Parade, 
Minehead. 
Yucca flaccida. 
Mr. Burbidge, Trinity College Garden, Dublin, sent 
to the last meeting of the Scientific Committee some 
leaves of this plant, bearing at or near the margin, and 
sometimes from one surface, sometimes from the other, 
short, tubular, horn-like processes, the significance of 
which is not apparent. Dr. Masters gave the details 
of the histological structure of the leaf, the main points 
of interest being, that in addition to the central row of 
vascular bundles, there are two other series of smaller 
bundles, one between the central bundle and the upper 
epiderm, the other between the centre and the lower 
epiderm. In the central bundles the relation of the 
xylem and phloem is normal, that is to say, the xylem 
is directed towards the centre of the leaf, the phloem 
towards the lower epiderm. In the lower or outer 
series of bundles the phloem is external, the xylem 
central. In the upper or inner series the phloem is 
also external, the xylem internal, so that the section of 
the central bundles and of the uppermost ones taken 
together resembles a section of a stem. In the horn¬ 
like portions the palisade cells are absent, and the cells 
are nearly uniform in size and shape, the vascular 
bundles arranged in a ring, each bundle having its bast 
towards the periphery, its wood towards the centre. 
Thus, while the flat portion has the structure of a leaf 
with indications of stem structure also, the horn-like 
portion assumes completely the appearance of an axis. 
FUMIGATING, AND FUMIGATING 
MATERIALS. 
At p. 348 your correspondent, Mr. Thomas Glen, 
draws attention to a material introduced as the “ Nico- 
tina Fumigator,” which is said to be more economical 
and easier to use than tobacco paper. Having been all 
my life very much engaged and necessarily interested 
in combating with insect depredators, it has always 
been my object to seek information upon this matter, 
let it emanate from whom it may. - Of course it is 
highly important for the operator, when engaged in 
annihilating the enemy that attacks his favourite 
plants, either individually or collectively, to secure the 
very best miterial and method, and as the season is 
now fast approaching when insect life will be generated 
in myriads, it is of immense advantage to be fully pre¬ 
pared to wage war with the inveterate foe. 
If we go back to our earliest days, the very same 
precautions had to be taken as at the present time, and 
although many have been the antidotes which have 
been thrust before the plant-growing enthusiast, yet 
not one has there ever been found so efficacious as 
Tobacco ; and the great and all-important question is, 
how to employ this agent for the destruction of insect 
life in the most economical and effective manner, with¬ 
out placing, it may be, our choice pet plants in danger 
of being injured, perhaps irretrievably. 
Fumigating fifty years ago and upwards was to all 
intents and purposes carried out with precisely the 
same object as now. The old fumigating bellows I 
well remember ; also at that period the use of a 
common garden pot, with a hole near the bottom 
for the nozzle of a pair of ordinary bellows to be 
inserted to operate on lighted coals with the tobacco on 
the top. This mode, although often had recourse to, 
proved highly objectionable, as the person employed 
had to remain in the house during the time the opera¬ 
tion was being accomplished. The garden sieve was 
much used by many gardeners, and seemed to answer 
every purpose where the plant houses were large and 
pains were taken to prevent the material from bursting 
into flame. 
About 1859 I exhibited at the Horticultural Society’s 
meetings, 21, Regent Street, what was described in the 
report as a self-acting contrivance. This was the first 
of a series of similar ones that have been subsequently 
introduced. About this period Brown’s Fumigating 
Machine was brought into use and had extensive 
patronage, also an improved form by the writer, 
combined with his (the original) Sulphuraior ; but 
these have mostly disappeared, having been intended 
only for the use of tobacco in its normal condition. 
One of thesafest and simplest modes was thatused, to my 
knowledge, at least fifty years ago, namely, the 
“Cigarette,” and I employ it up to this day, and 
always keep nitre paper prepared for the purpose. 
These “Cigarettes,” properly made, simply require 
lighting at both ends, and placing on an inverted pot 
or pots as the case may be, according to the size of the 
structures to be filled with the smoke. You have only 
to walk out, shut the door and leave the “ Cigarette ” 
to effect all they are intended to do, which they will to 
a certainty. Shag tobacco will go a long way when 
thus employed. There is no danger of its bursting 
into flame, and it is moreover consumed at a low tem¬ 
perature—an all-important consideration, as it is a 
known fact that if the material is exposed to a high 
temperature the essential properties of the nicotine 
are absolutely destroyed. 
The “ Cigarettes ” can be made to any size, as for 
one-light frame to houses of any description. In the 
first, a small pinch of tobacco rolled up will do wonders. 
You will not get dense volumes of smoke, as with paper 
and rag. The smoke may appear thin and transparent, 
but it will be found that its destroying powers are veiy 
far more effective than often is the case when rougher 
materials are used, although the houses are rendered 
opaque by their fumes. This I have proved on very 
many occasions, and know that it cannot be refuted. 
While speaking of my successful experience with the 
old-time “ Cigarette,” I cannot say who was the first to 
invent it, seeing that history so far as my knowledge 
goes gives no record ; but owing to the great advantages 
accruing from its use I am led to take great interest in 
any contrivance of a similar self-acting description. I 
had for a long period conceived the idea that in time it 
would be fully accomplished, hence it is with no small 
degree of pleasurable satisfaction that I witness the 
introductions that have recently been made. That 
under notice by your correspondent, if it should prove 
to be what is said of it, will prove a boon to the many 
thousands of both professional and amateur gardeners. 
I notice also that we have a recent introduction in 
McDougall’s fumigating material in the form of sheets, 
which are said to supersede tobacco paper, and should 
this prove to be a fact, they will be a great boon, 
because paper and rag do not always now prove satis¬ 
factory. I know nothing of either of the above, but am 
convinced that the nearer genuine tobacco is approached 
in a concentrated form, and made self-consuming on the 
slow combustion principle, the more closely we approach 
perfection in this necessary adjunct to garden practice 
and manipulation. In fumigating specimen plants, in 
the houses or in the open grounds, either with the 
“ Cigarette” or inventions of a more recent date, it is 
only necessary to adopt the plan recommended in the 
Gardeners’ Chronicle of 1852, by my old friend, Mr. 
W. P. Ayres, and use what he then described as a 
florumbra or para-petticoat to place over or cover the 
plant or plants to be subjected to fumigation. 
To enable U3 to get rid effectually of those garden 
pests, Aphides, we want the pare manufactured 
article with as little admixture of foreign matter or 
substances as possible. Excessive heat-producing 
materials or ingredients are, as I have intimated before, 
to be avoided. Bright fire consumes the smoke, and 
materially lessens the chance of a successful application 
when fumigation ha3 to be performed.— George Fry, 
Lewisham. 
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HEPATIOAS. 
It is matter for regret that so small a measure of 
success should attend the culture of these beautiful 
hardy plants in the southern counties of England. 
Their popularity with those who happen to possess 
them is, however, one of the chief causes of failure, 
from the fact that they are impatient of disturbance 
when once established. Some growers, however, like 
to see them in prominent places in spring, filling the 
flower beds with them for instance, so that they must 
be again moved to make way for the summer occupants. 
The disturbance would be comparatively little felt 
provided large clumps were used and lifted in their 
entirety ; but when small pieces are employed the 
slo .v-growing roots are greatly crippled. 
Another cause of fail'-re, and more difficult to deal 
with, is the dry and warm condition both of the soil 
and atmosphere during the summer months, when the 
plants should be making growth and consolidating the 
tissues, including the leaves. The latter should be 
perfectly evergreen, but it is by no means uncommon 
in the southern counties to see the plants almost leafless 
by the time they come into bloom in spring. "What 
leaves remain present a brown and scorched .appearance, 
the result of the previous season’s drought and exposure 
to a hot sun, and not the effects of frost in winter, for 
they are perfectly hardy. The common Hepatica 
(Anemone Hepatica, known as Hepatica triloba) is a 
native of the hilly parts of Europe, and may therefore 
be looked upon as an alpine, enjoying atmospheric and 
other conditions in a state of nature, which we cannot 
altogether supply under cultivation in lowland districts 
of the south. The best plan to pursue under such con¬ 
ditions is to plant them in a cool, moist soil, where 
they will be fully exposed to light, yet not to direct 
sunshine during the middle of the day and the after¬ 
noon. The impurities of the atmosphere about London 
and other smoky towns no doubt also tend largely to 
injure the leaves during the winter months especially 
by the deposit of carbon and other filth, choking up 
the pores and preventing the leaves from exercising 
their functions properly. 
All the Hepaticas may be grown in good garden soil, 
well drained, but they prefer a rich and good binding 
loam, which may even incline to clay provided there is 
no stagnant moisture. The borders of shrubberies 
would often present the requisite conditions of shade, 
if care be taken that the plants are not heavily over¬ 
hung or shaded by bushes hanging too low over them. 
The Hepaticas are distinguished from the Anemones 
proper by the three involucral leaves being entire, and 
situated close under the flowers, resembling a calyx. 
Only two species are known—namely, the common one 
and Anemone angulosa, a native of eastern Europe. 
The so-called A. americana is the same as the common 
European species, and a variety of it named A. acutiloba 
is only distinguishable by the three lobes of the leaves 
being more pointed and acute. Both these forms are 
found on the southern Alleghany Mountains, in the 
United States. The fact of their being found so widely 
apart as Europe and the United States argues that 
their origin dates back to a great antiquity. There are 
both white and purple-flowered forms of A. acutiloba. 
The wild form of the European A. Hepatica has 
purple or blue flowers. Then there is the variety 
named A. H. coerulea with blue flowers, and which 
