Sept. 0 , 1884. 
Wo next come to Clematis—a large family, cer¬ 
tainly—containing many natural species and a very 
large number of varieties. When there are such an 
abundance of good sorts, it would seem almost in¬ 
vidious to attempt to particularise. The following, 
however, may be mentioned as worth growing:— 
Clematis Flammula (Virgin’s Bower), Vitalba 
(Traveller’s-Joy), and the undermentioned garden 
varieties, C. Aseotensis, Duke of Edinburgh, Edith 
Jackman, hybrkla fulgens, Jaekmanni, John Gould 
Veitch, Lord Derby, Lucie Lemoine (decidedly one 
of the best), Miss Batemau, Prince of Wales, pur¬ 
purea eleg-ans, Sensation, Sir Garnet Wolseley, 
Stella, and velutina purpurea. Cvdonia japonica, 
for low walls, is sure to give satisfaction, and the 
same may be said of Cotoneaster microphylla. 
Among-st thorns, Cratoegus Pyracantha is the best, 
and it grows well on a north or east aspect; Enobo- 
trya japonica (Loquat tree), where variety is re¬ 
quired, should be grown, but it ought to be on a 
south wall and in good soil, with plenty of drain¬ 
age. Eseallonias are very pretty, and deserving of 
more attention than they at present receive; E. 
macrantha and E. montevidensis require south or 
west walls, and E. sanguinea will be found, as a 
general rule, to do well in the midland and southern 
counties. 
Forsythia viridissima, with its beautiful yellow 
flowers, is very pretty when in bloom, and worth 
crowing cn low walls. Fremontia califomica and 
Garrya elliptica are both, in their way, very pretty 
and desirable subjects to grow, but will not succeed 
unless given a warm situation. Glycine (Wistaria) 
sinensis is undoubtedly one of the very best 
climbers we have; its long and graceful racemes 
of purplish flowers are very pretty, and exceed¬ 
ingly fragrant, literally perfuming the air in its 
immediate vicinity with its sweet odour when in 
bloom early in the summer. Introduced from 
China so long ago as 1818, and being a free and 
vigorous grower, there are now in some parts of 
the south of England many fine specimens, espe¬ 
cially in the suburbs of London, further north than 
which it does not seem to do well planted outside, 
except in a few isolated cases. The Ivies will be 
found mostly to succeed anywhere, the following- 
being amongst the most desirable kinds to grow. 
Hedera algeriensis, aurea elegantissima, fructu- 
luteo, canai’iensis, latifolia maculata, conglomerata, 
argentia, rubra, digitata, sagittoefolia, sub-mar- 
ginata, elegantissima, and japonica argentia. If a 
warm corner well sheltered from north and east 
winds can be secured, Indigofera floribunda, may 
be expected to grow and flourish, but in severe 
winters it requires protection. Jasminum nudi- 
fiorum requires a south or west aspect and is very 
useful for furnishing cut bloom for decorative pur¬ 
poses, as also is its worthy congener J. officinale, 
but the latter is not quite so fastidious and will 
grow almost in any soil or situation. 
In Passiflora ccerulea we have a deservedly 
popular hardy climber which only requires a south 
or west aspect to show by the enormous quantity 
of flowers it produces that it is quite at home, and 
will well repay all labour expended upon it in regard 
to training and tyc-ing—an operation the neglect 
of which, should at no time be allowed if the 
best results are desired. We must here recede for 
a moment in order to refer to the Magnolias, than 
which there is none better for growing out of doors 
ban M. gran diflora which requires a south wall and 
a good soil to grow in. Punica Granatum and the tw-o 
varieties, fiore-pleno and flava flore-pleno are cer¬ 
tainly worth trying to grow outside, but must have 
a south wall to do them justice. Yitis heterophylla, 
V. h. dissecta, V. h. rubricaulis and V. odoratissima 
will be found suitable for a west aspect; and last, 
though not least, in our list comes Viburnum mac- 
roeephalum, and V. plicatum, both of which possess 
real merit and should find a place in all collections 
of hardy wall plants, — J. Horsefield, Heytesbury, 
Wilts. 
Mr. Cliffe, who for about forty years has been 
gardener at Tatton Park, the Cheshire seat of Lord 
Egerton, retires shoi-tly on a pension, and will be 
succeeded by Mr. Atkins, formerly gardener at 
Locking? Park, Berks, 
T H E G A R1) E N TNG \V 0 R L D. 
INJURIOUS INSECTS. 
Miss Eleanor A. Ormerod, Consulting Entomo¬ 
logist to the Royal Agricultural Society, recently, 
at a flower show held at Frome, offered three 
prizes for the best collection of specimens of 
food-plants injured by insects, accompanied by 
samples of the insects injuring them, by a short 
written account of the insect attack, and of the 
methods of remedy or prevention adopted. There 
was only one exhibitor, Mr. Herbert Haley, 
Feltham Cottage, Frome, to whom the first prize 
was awarded. At the close of the show, the col¬ 
lection was forwarded to the donor of the prizes, 
who, in a letter to the secretary, which has been 
published, says:— 
“ The object with which competition was invited 
was to show the common kinds of crop injury by 
specimens, so that all, whether previously ac¬ 
quainted with the subject or not, might see 
exactly how the attack affected, as the case might 
be, the root or leaf, seed or flower; together with 
the insects, or, if necessary, magnified drawings of 
them. This plan has been worked out by the 
exhibitor, Mr. Herbert Haley, of Feltham Cottage, 
Frome, in a way which meets the requirements for 
useful exhibition very satisfactorily, both as to 
giving sound information to spectators, and like¬ 
wise at such small expense that the plan might be 
easily carried out, either for the temporary purposes 
needed at horticultural shows, or for successive 
exhibitions in course of regular instruction at agri¬ 
cultural or parish schools. The collection included 
some of the regular crop attacks—as turnip leaves, 
with flea beetles; cabbage, with butterfly and cater¬ 
pillars ; potato tubers, with wire-worm; celery 
leaves, with maggot miner; gooseberry and red- 
currant sprays, with saw-fly caterpillar, and others 
less destructive. These specimens were displayed 
on white cardboards, about 12 inches by 7 inches, 
the leaves or shoots, or, generally, the injured 
portions of the plants occupying the upper half or 
three-quarters of the cardboard, and the attacking 
maggot, or whatever it might be, being placed 
below in a small phial, or on cork, as requisite. The 
name (according to the stipulation of the donor of 
the prizes) was clearly written below in English. A 
very short account of the method of injury, and 
such means of prevention as the exhibitor was 
acquainted with, accompanied each exhibit. The 
plan of fixing the card, with specimens and the 
short note of explanation respectively, within the 
lid, and in the bottom of a common white caflflboard 
box, gave a neat and uniform appearance to the 
exhibits, and likewise gave means of safe carriage, 
without difficulty or expense. 
“ The plan having been especially submitted to 
me for approbation as to the serviceableness of its 
details, I have no hesitation in saying that I con¬ 
sider it excellent—for it conveys all that is requisite 
in the way of information as to the nature of attack, 
without hampering the inquirer with more labour 
than just looking at the specimens; and I think 
that, if followed up in agricultural schools, would 
be unfailingly serviceable, both for the above reason, 
and also that by fitting a card of one kind of attack 
after another, according to season, or other reason, 
into the exhibition box, the scholars might thus see 
what the special injuries then going forward in the 
neighbourhood was caused by ; and the method of 
life, and the method of destroying the pest, or of 
lessening its ravages, could be readily furnished, or 
procured on application.” 
MULCHING GARDEN CROPS. 
It may be thought by many that this is a subject 
that has been quite threshed out, but it is only in 
seasons like the present tlat its benefits become 
fully apparent and the want of it felt, as where 
trees or crops are protected and assisted by some 
covering of the ground and others left, the differ¬ 
ence between them is so great as to force itself even 
on the most casual observer. It need hardly be said 
that it does not do the same good on all soils, as 
there are some where the trees and crops do as well 
without it, but that is only in very exceptional 
places where the land is heavy and wet, and even, 
t lien. after a spell of Hof went her, it ''racks, and 
i 
greatly injures the roots, which become strained or 
exposed. Many depend on watering to keep their 
crops going, but artificial watering without the aid 
of mulching to keep it in the earth is almost worse 
than useless, as no sooner i3 it given than it is out 
again, for during great heat and with a little wind 
stirring the evaporation that goes on is something 
enormous. Not only does moisture escape from 
the soil at a rapid rate, but it is being taken up by 
the multitudinous feeders and passed on through 
the cells of the plants and the stomates of the 
leaves almost as quick, and if there is not a constant 
sup lily in the grouud to keep up this perpetual drain 
the foliage flags, fruit ceases to swell, and red 
spider becomes rampant, as this parasite always 
follows on the heels of poverty, and helps life ebb 
away. 
This being so, I would say mulch, and lose no 
time in doing it, as though trees have hut little 
fruit to carry, they have their blossom buds to form 
and perfect, and if they are not assisted in doing 
this there is not much chance of a crop next year, 
for severe drought will cripple their energies. 
Before putting the mulching on, the surface of 
the soil should be slightly broken by just digging 
it up with a fork and breaking the “ clots,” if any, 
which will let in the water freely and save after 
cracking through the hard crust. For pyramid 
trees, such as pears, and small bush-apples, it is a 
good plan to draw the earth away around the stem, 
so as to form a basin-like hollow into which the 
water may be poured and held till it soaks down to 
the roots below, as then there is no loss, which 
there otherwise would be by draining away over the 
surface beyond where the plant feeds. Although it 
is well to make the depressions referred to, the hol¬ 
lows so formed should be mulched, and the mulch¬ 
ing kept on till quite late in the autumn, up to 
which time several good soakings ought to he given. 
If the trees have fruit swelling, liquid manure will 
be a great help, but if strong, it should be diluted, 
as it is better to give it weak and often, than to 
apply an over-dose and thus gorge, and perhaps 
injure the roots. 
The kind of garden crops that are more specially 
benefited by mulching are peas and runner beans, 
the former of which can only swell and become, or 
remain, succulent when the land is moist, and the 
latter set, as during a dry time the blossoms of 
beans fall wholesale, but when mulched and watered 
they stay on and lead to an abundance of pods. 
This I have experienced again and again, and every 
year now we make a practice of scattering a wide 
layer of dung along the sides of our rows, and the 
same with peas, and when we give a watering it 
tells, as the roots are not only kept moist, but cool, 
for the earth is constantly shaded. Many have a 
great difficulty in keeping their bedding plants in 
bloom, but if they would only mulch they would 
find it an easy matter, as it is dryness that causes 
the petals to drop, and watering frequently spoils 
them. For flower-beds, cocoa-nut fibre refuse is as 
good as anythiug, as it is neat and a capital non* 
conductor, but where it cannot he got readily leaf- 
soil answers well, and the mowings of short-grass 
may be utilised, and thus got rid of to advantage, 
— Alpha. 
THE OLDENBURG NECTARINE. 
Mr. Miller, Combe Abbey, says in the J uly issue 
of the Florist and Politologist, that he has grown this 
splendid variety for many years, but did not succeed 
in fruiting it freely in his early Peach house ; hut 
a vacancy occuring in the second house, four or five 
years ago. he moved it there, and it has since regu¬ 
larly borne large crops of fine fruit, “ The fruit ” 
says Mr. Miller “is altogether different in appear¬ 
ance from auy other Nectarine. The side exposed 
to the sun or light is of a beautiful delicate light 
rosy colour, while the contrast of the shady side is 
very remarkable, being almost white. In some 
catalogues this nectarine is described as a synoxym 
of the Elruge. If this is the case, I am wrong with 
my Elruge, which with me is a very different fruit, 
and which 1 have many times exhibited in London, 
unchallenged as to name. But I am inclined to 
think the Oldenburg is quite a distinct fruit. The 
tree is a strong grower, and might with advantage, 
bo iuB’O'Uv.'.ed is ore freely into select collections, 4 '’ 
