Jan. 31st, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
349 
The kind of soil Solanums do best in is a good 
fibry loam, mixed with a little sand and rotten 
manure, in which they should be potted firmly, when, 
towards the end of May or beginning of June, they 
may be plunged out in the open, as they set far 
more readily if exposed to the air, but it must be 
borne in mind that if the plant; become dry, their 
flowers will fall. The time to sow seed is in February, 
when it should be scattered thinly in finely sifted 
mould, and if then covered with a pane of glass and 
placed on a hot-bed, or in a warm house, it will soon 
germinate, and the seedlings become large enough 
for pricking out or potting right off; after which, 
they must be nursed on till the season is far enough 
advanced for them to be turned out in a plunge bed 
like the others. Those who have plants of a year or 
two old, will find it a good plan to keep them, and 
when the berries begin to fall or turn shabby, they 
should be pruned in, so as to leave only an inch or 
two of wood, from which they will break again and 
bloom with the greatest of freedom. As soon as the 
plants have fairly started after the cutting back, it is 
necessary to shake them out in order that they may 
have their roots seen to and be potted afresh, which 
should be done in the same sized pots, when they 
ought to be kept close for a time to give them a start, 
and then be treated in the same manner as those 
mentioned above. 
Aedisia crenulata. —Although this is generally 
treated as a stove plant, it will bear a greenhouse 
temperature, and when in a low degree of heat the 
berries last on much longer, consequently the plants 
are of far greater use and may be grown by anyone 
having only limited accommodation, as they do well 
in a pit. The easiest way to raise the plants is to sow 
some of the berries, which germinate quickly in heat, 
the best time for starting with them being early in 
the spring, as then they may be grown right on to the 
flowering without any check. As the, habit of the 
Ardisia is naturally shrubby and dwarf, the plants 
require no stopping or training, but should be allowed 
to run up with straight single stems, which always 
branch out from the sides, and it is on these shoots 
that the berries are formed. The period for flowering 
is in June and July, when the plants should be kept 
up close to the glass in a light sunny position, which 
will enable them to set their blooms and to become 
loaded with fruit. This they bear in large clusters, 
and when it is ripe it is about the size and colour of 
Holly-berries, and quite as rich-looking. 
Another plant, well deserving of cultivation for the 
embellishment of greenhouses and rooms, is the 
Skimmia japonica, which, though hardy, is seldom 
seen in the state of perfection it is to be met with in 
pots, as when outdoors the birds generally find it out 
and eat up the berries. These come in clusters at the 
end of the shoots, and are large and of a bright coral 
colour. The best way is to buy a few plants to begin 
with and pot them up, as they are cheap, and if this is 
done now they will be good for next winter. Small 
Aucubas, well berried, are also highly ornamental, and 
well deserving a place in a greenhouse, and if not 
stood there, they are of great value for halls or the 
outsides of windows, in the latter of which positions 
they stand the cold, and always look cheerful and 
bright.— Alpha. 
THE HOP APHIS. 
Regarding Hop aphis, it has been shown by 
observations forwarded (with specimens accompanying) 
from the latter part of March onwards, that attack 
begins on the Hop with its first growth in early 
spring, by means of wingless females depositing living 
bee, which have come up from the hills. 
Also the opinion of a large number of Hop-growers, 
and of various skilled entomologists that attack of 
“fly” (that is, of winged Hop aphis which usually 
occurs towards the end of May) comes on the wing 
from Sloe and Damson, as well as from other Hops, 
has been so much confirmed that I see no reason to 
doubt its correctness, and after careful study of 
specimens forwarded from many localities, during the 
period from the latter part of March to September, I 
cannot see any reason for considering the “ Hop 
aphis ” [and the “Damson Hop aphis” other than 
slight varieties of one and the same species. In this 
I refer to the Aphis (Phorodon) Humuli (Schrank), 
and the Aphis (Phorodon) Humuli, var. Mahaleb 
(Foux), and not at all to the “ Plum aphis,” the Aphis 
Pruni (Reaum), or any other kind than those 
specified. 
I have prepared a paper with full details of the 
information sent in, and figures accompanying for 
publication in my yearly report, and distribution in 
pamphlet form previously to the contributors, so as to 
be in time for spring operations. 
With regard to prevention of attack, it has been 
found by experiment on the acre of Hop land at Stoke 
Edith Park, near Hereford, of which the use has been 
given by the courtesy of the Lady Emily Foley, that 
various applications to the surface of the Hop hills 
about the time of dressing in spring, entirely pre¬ 
vented the appearance of wingless females or lice on 
the bines on these hills (though the others in the 
ground were infested), until the attack came on the 
wing at the end of May. Of these applications, 
paraffin, mixed with ashes, or with earth, shoddy, or 
other dry material, answered the best, the bines on the 
hills so treated were reported thriving throughout the 
season up to good bearing. 
Various methods of combining paraffin, or other 
mineral oils with soft soap and water, so permanently 
that the mixture may be diluted without again 
separating into oil and water, are stated to have been 
found serviceable for destroying aphides, in the 
experiments made under direction of some of the State 
entomologists of the U.S.A., but from personal 
experiment it seems to me so difficult to find the 
exact strength suitable for killing the insect, without 
risk to the plant, that I should be afraid, at present, to 
advise this application to the Hop leafage. As a 
watering, or as a more convenient method of applying 
paraffin in the attacks for which it is now used (as of 
mangold fly, for instance), the plan of mixing is 
likely to be useful. 
I have verified the method of mixing by personal 
experiment, and find it very simple, and shall be 
happy to give details to all applicants. 
Quassia has been acting well during the last season 
as an addition to the common soft-soap Hop washes. 
Paris green was tried at my request and failed to 
have any effeot on the Hop aphides. 
A method of Hop washing by steam power has been 
introduced near Tunbridge Wells, which has, as yet, 
only been tried on a limited scale. So far it is stated 
to be successful, and to have the advantage of washing 
a much larger acreage, at a lesser cost per day than 
can be done by the hand or horse engines.— From 
Miss E. A. Omerod's Report to the Royal Agricultural 
Society, December, 1884. 
HEATHS AT HOME AND ABROAD. 
When, after a long voyage, the adventurous traveller, 
on leaving the deck of his vessel, first feels the sand 
under his feet, as he steps on shore in some distant 
land, his searching eyes will be met with many novel 
sights, strange to his former vision. And should he 
be a lover of nature, and pause to gaze at the 
wonderful vegetation of South Africa, in the vicinity 
of Table Mountain, and beyond, he will be bewildered 
at the sight of so much unusual beauty. And if he 
arrive when the many lovely species of bulbous-rooted 
plants are blooming, some of which kinds he may 
have nursed 'with tender care at home; or watched 
with curious expectation the many grotesque examples 
of succulent plants, which everywhere, with their odd¬ 
shaped and abnormal forms, attract his attention ; 
especially the singular genus of Mesembryanthemum, 
of which there are between four and five hundred 
species flowering around him, he will be much amazed. 
Nor will his surprise be less when he beholds so many 
kinds of Pelargoniums, some of which sorts he 
remembers as having seen long ago. And how plain 
before the mind’s eye will appear the unforgotten 
greenhouse at home, where, when a boy, he first beheld 
these odorous and pretty favourites of the olden time. 
And among these, upwards of two hundred dissimilar 
species, many of which, both foliage and flowers, are 
fragrant; with curiously blotched and beautifully 
pencilled petals, in every shade of colouring, from 
pure white to brilliant scarlet and crimson ; he will 
find much to admire. 
Of what Diaz, the Portuguese navigator, thought of 
“ The Dark Continent,” when first he landed there, 
differing so much as it does from the physical 
configuration of his native land, history remains 
silent. Yet, we can hardly suppose that at the sight 
of the fine portly green trees, handsome shrubs, and 
pretty flowers, he could remain indifferent, after 
being so long tempest-tossed, about what he aptly 
termed the “ Cape of Storms.” But dismissing for 
the present the notice of many interesting plants 
which flourish there, I will endeavour to confine my 
remarks to the genus Erica, and of that particular 
section known as Cape Heaths. 
On leaving the quaint looking old city and environs 
of Cape Town, formerly settled by the Dutch in 1652, 
the enthusiastic traveller soon begins to meet here 
and there a variety of the small, handsome evergreen 
Ericas, as a foretaste of what is in reserve for him, 
as he journeys upwards and onwards. And presuming 
he is one of those inquisitive persons, who let nothing 
escape their keen observation, his progress will be 
slow indeed. On all sides, and especially while 
passing over the long stretches of undulating country, 
his attention will continually be drawn towards the 
increasing numbers, in many varieties, of these elegant 
miniature flowering shrubs. And, if he fortunately 
knows their botanical names, he will be much 
pleased with the winsome features he joyfully recog¬ 
nizes, like the meeting of old companions after 
many years, and numbers of free-growing kinds, such 
as Erica cerinthoides major, from 3 ft. to 5 ft. high ; 
E. dichromata, from 4 ft. to 6 ft.; E. vernalis, 0 ft. to 
7 ft.; E. Massoniana, 8 ft. or 9 ft.; and E. euriolaris, 
12 ft. to 15 ft. ; he will occasionally meet, overtopping 
those of a more dwarfed and compact habit, such 
as E. comosa, E. nigrita, E. blanda, E. petiolata, 
E. minima, E. elegans, and E. carnea. To specify 
individual kinds by name from upwards of five 
hundred indigenous varieties, would give the reader 
but a faint idea of what they are like, unless 
well versed in botanical nomenclature. And as he 
approaches the rising ground, along the well beaten 
path which winds up the mountain sides, further on, 
these ligneous gems assume a more symmetrical and 
sturdy habit, and, if possible, become more beautiful, 
until the summit of Table Mountain is reached. 
After hard and persistent struggling up and along 
the tortuous and rugged footpath, which frequently 
doubles and zigzags among immense masses of 
detached rocks, through deep defiles and apparently 
impassable chasms, along which the purest spring- 
water comes splashing over precipitous cascades, from 
near the apex the tired pedestrian will find an inviting 
resting-place in a natural alcove. To his great 
surprise he will then see what may seem incredible 
to old Heath growers, who have only seen them in 
pots under glass—namely, low bushes of E. vestita 
elegans and E. princeps flourishing with all the 
freedom of bog plants in soil apparently never dry ; 
while, per contra, E. pumila, E. densiflora, E. incana, 
and E. penicillata seemed equally healthy, growing 
in small cracks and crevices in the fissured rocks, 
where it was high and dry, with only a few grains of 
sand to root in. 
The writer was completely nonplussed at the sight 
of healthy blooming Heaths, growing upon the face 
of precipitous rocks, upon the sunny sides of which 
it was unpleasantly hot to the touch, conditions fatal 
to them under cultivation. It is well understood by 
those who are versed in vegetable physiology, that 
climatic and atmospheric influences are powerful 
factors conducive to the health and vigour of plant 
life. And thus, much which is apt to perplex us, 
from seeming so ultra-abnormal at first sight, may 
often be accounted for, especially when we consider 
the external circumstances, which make so much 
difference to the welfare of indigenous plants, in their 
native habitats, to those unacclimated, from other 
lands. 
Returning again to the subject, and following the 
ascending path, which, to his intense delight, will be 
found closely margined on each side with handsome 
Heaths; which absolutely cover every inch of soil 
possible to root in, with masses of highly-prized 
species, the sight cannot fail to remind him of those 
he may have often admired at home. True, there are 
no legends of the past wound around them, as there 
are about the Heath, or Heather, of other lands, of 
which the poet has often sung. Savage Hottentots 
and Caffres, who for ages have ignorantly wandered 
among them, keep no historical records ; and although 
