April 11th, 1885. 
other varieties of Rhododendrons are grown in pots; 
amongst them are two plants of Lady Alice Fitzwilliam, 
one of which I noticed would have as many as eighty 
of its large white and richly perfumed flowers. This 
comparatively new variety was raised by Messrs. 
Fisher, Son & Sibray, of Handsworth, and sent out 
by them a short time ago. It will form an excellent 
companion to Veitchianum. The display of flowers 
at Oakholme at all times of the year is of the choicest 
kind, and they are well appreciated by their owner, 
T. Wilson, Esq., a generous supporter of horticulture. 
— J. W., Sheffield. 
Empress Anemones. —I have now, in the experi¬ 
mental garden at Wisley, a good instance of the 
advisability of trying plants in different situations. 
In October last year I bought a hundred of the large 
Empress Anemones from Messrs. James Carter & Co., 
and planted four beds in very different situations. In 
three of them the plants have been more or less 
checked and injured by the frost and snow, but in 
the fourth they are perfectly untouched, and the 
grand flowers are now in great beauty. This bed is in 
the warmest and most sheltered situation.— George F. 
Wilson, Heatherbank, Weybridge, April 4 tli. 
Chrysanthemums as Border Flowers.— The 
value of these for borders can scarcely be overrated, 
and, especially as regards the early kinds, they may 
be depended on to come into flower before sharp 
frosts set-in, when, in fine autumns such as the last, 
blooms may be cut nearly equal in size and appear¬ 
ance to those seen on plants under glass. The way 
to have them in this desirable condition is to plant 
out young plants and grow them in fresh positions, as 
it cannot be expected that they can do much good left 
in the same place year after year, where the soil must 
of necessity become exhausted and poor. To remedy 
this state of things the best plan is to dig up the old 
shoots, which may then be pulled to pieces and the 
finest and strongest-rooted shoots selected for re¬ 
planting, or any in pots that have been saved through 
the winter may be shaken out and treated in the same 
manner, as they afford just as good stock. Before 
planting, the sites chosen for the plants should be dug 
out and have a spadeful of rotten manure worked in 
at each place, when the young Chrysanthemums may 
be put in and watered at once, and as soon as they get 
fair hold the points of the shoots ought to be nipped 
out to cause them to break, after which all the 
attention they will require is to give them stakes and 
ties and a soaking or two of water or liquid manure 
during the summer. 
->±<- 
Greenhouse Rhododendrons. —We have re. 
ceived from Mr. Henry Thornber, gardener to Thomas 
Fildes, Esq., Fair Lawn, Lytham, some cut blooms 
of several white-flowered greenhouse Rhododendrons, 
which, as our correspondent justly remarks, deserve 
to be much more generally grown than they are. The 
three finest appear to be Countess of Sefton, Formosa 
grandiflora, and Countess of Skehnersdale. The two 
first named are large flowers, and the third somewhat 
smaller, but of more substance. Of the Countess of 
Sefton there is a specimen at Fair Lawn which 
measures 7 ft. in height and 6 ft. in diameter, bearing 
over a thousand expanded blooms; and a plant of 
Countess of Skelmersdale 5 ft. high and the same in 
diameter, has quite as many blooms to open. They 
must indeed be grand specimens—objects of beauty 
that can be better imagined than described. The 
other varieties sent are Mrs. James Shaw and 
Marchioness, the latter being of medium size, good 
substance, and flushed with pale rose. We should 
be obliged to Mr. Thornber for more information 
respecting these fine plants, and especially for any 
details as to his management of them. 
-HjH- 
Salvia Greggii. —This handsome little scarlet 
salvia, which was introduced by Mr. W. Thomson, of 
Ipswich, from Northern Mexico, is figured in the April 
number of The Botanical Magazine. It grows in the 
1 mountains east of Saltillo, at an elevation of 10,000 ft. 
It is a compact little plant with bright green leaves 
1 in. to li ins. long, and bears racemes of deep carmine 
lowers. The drawing was made from specimens cul- 
lvated by Mr. Lynch, of the Cambridge Botanic 
warden. 
THE GARDENING- WORLD. 
The Kitchen Gardener’s Calendar. —Seed 
Sowing : Where Cardoons are in request the seed 
should be sown at once in a box or pan and placed in 
a frame, and as soon as the seedlings have come 
through the soil they should be gradually hardened 
off and subsequently be planted in trenches prepared 
similarly to those for Celery, 1 ft. deep, 16 ins. wide, 
and 4 ft. from centre to centre, and the plants be put 
in at 16 ins. apart. Sow Salsafy and Scorzonera in 
drills an inch deep and a foot asunder. The present 
will also be a good time to make the main sowing of 
Broccolis and Kales, in beds 4 ft. apart, with an alley 
1 ft. wide between the beds. The ground should be 
trodden over and raked before the beds are marked 
out. The seed should be covered with a quarter of 
an inch thickness of soil from the alleys, or, in the 
event of its being stiff and heavy, with sifted potting 
bench soil, which should then be neatly levelled, and 
the surface of the beds patted with 'the back of the 
spade so as to compress the soil and seed. After this 
the ravages of birds must be guarded against by 
putting a piece of garden netting, supported by short 
forked sticks, over the beds. Make another sowing of 
Early London and Veitch’s Autumn Giant Cauliflowers, 
and Paris Cos and Grand Admiral Cabbage Lettuces, 
and Nantes Horn Carrot for drawing young, 
Fokcing Depabtment.— See that French Beans 
located in vineries and Peacli-houses are kept free 
from red spider by giving them copious supplies of 
water at the roots, and syringing the plants overhead 
thoroughly a couple of times a day. Sow a pinch of 
seed of Sweet and Bush Basil, Knotted Marjoram, and 
Summer Savory, in pots for planting in a warm border 
later on after the seedlings have been gradually 
hardened off. See that Celery plants in frames have 
sufficient water at the roots, and have the lights taken 
off on warm days and tilted up at night, so as to 
prepare them for planting out in the trenches shortly. 
— H. IF. Ward, Longford Castle, Wilts. 
-> 4 -- 
Early Cauliflower without Heat.— Opinions 
differ almost as much as facilities. In the south of 
Ireland and the greater part of England, especially 
where the aspect is protected against northerly or 
easterly blasts, in nine years out of ten plants can be 
wintered in the open border and transferred from this 
time forward. As a matter of fact, I have at present 
two beds against a south-westerly wall, one with 
“Walcheren” and the other “Carter’s Early Defi¬ 
ance”—a very early variety—sown in the end of 
last August, little the worse for the winter now passed 
through, and that can be transferred any day. The 
objections to this method are that every winter will 
not be like the last; and a stronger one is, that this 
system will not suit every locality. A far better plan 
is this : Make some long boxes to hold the number 
you want for very early use. Transfer the plants 
from the beds, say early in October, so that they will 
be established in the boxes before frost sets in. Leave 
them in the open air until very severe frost is indi¬ 
cated—a few degrees does no harm—and transfer to 
any open airy shed. I never saw satisfactory Cauli¬ 
flowers coming out of a heated greenhouse, and every 
greenhouse is heated in severe weather. I put mine 
during the severe frost under a wooden airy shed, with 
light in front; removed to open in mild weather; 
lifted the plants with balls of earth into richly 
manured drills a week ago, and shall have fine heads, 
I hope, by the middle of May of Early Defiance.— 
W. J. Murphy, Clonmel. 
- ^- - 
Planting 1 Potatos. —“ D.,” in writing upon this 
subject (see p. 475), mentions several methods of 
planting, all of which have some advantages to 
recommend them, and each, no doubt, under varying 
conditions of soil, situation, and other circumstances 
would be attended with success; but there is one method 
to which he did not allude, which is so simple and 
comparatively inexpensive, and has with me produced 
such good results, that I venture to refer to it. The 
ground is ploughed or dug either in the autumn or 
winter, so as to ensure its being well pulverized by 
507 
the influence of the weather before the operation of 
planting begins. If the land has been ploughed, it is 
necessary, before planting, to run a light harrow over 
it, so as to make it fairly level, but when it has been 
dug, this operation is not required. The sets are then 
laid on the surface in perfectly straight lines, the rows 
being from 2 ft. 6 ins. to 3 ft. apart, according to the 
growth of the variety to be planted. The plough then 
follows between the rows, covering the sets over to a 
depth of 6 ins. In the garden the hoe is used, 
and, in order to save labour, the sets are frequently 
earthed over fully at the time of planting, so as 
to save any further necessity for this operation 
during the season. The results from this practice 
have been most satisfactory, and disease does not 
appear to attack Potatos so treated nearly so much as 
it does those planted in the ordinary way. Whether 
this arises from the fact that the tubers lie drier and 
healthier, and also that the ridges are exposed more 
freely to the sun’s rays,;or whether it be because I never 
apply manure when the ground is prepared, but prefer 
to give a top dressing of soot, guano, or super¬ 
phosphate of lime when the Potatos commence to 
tuber, I cannot say, but the results have been such as 
to induce me to adopt the method generally, and I 
would strongly recommend it to those of your readers 
who are situated in a damp or low position.— Scribo. 
HONEYDEW. 
Soon after we lose our annual scourge of east wind, 
and the trees in our woodlands have developed then- 
foliage to its full extent, we shall hear, as usual, that 
there has been a “ great fall of honeydew.” Though 
the origin of this mysterious deposit of sweetness has 
long been settled in the minds of naturalists, there are 
still those who, year by year, ask -whence it comes. 
It is the nectar of ancient poets, -who supposed it to 
be distilled from the skies, and even Pliny, observant 
as he was, could not satisfy himself whether it was 
the sweat of the heavens, the saliva of the stars, or 
was produced by the purgation of the atmosphere. 
No wonder that much dispute as to its origin occurred 
in those times, for the evenness of its distribution on 
the leaves, and in some seasons the amount of the 
deposit, w-ould neither be likely to guide the investi¬ 
gator to the source whence it came. Chemists have 
analyzed it, and found that its component parts were 
almost identical with cane sugar. 
To the aphides we must turn for an explanation of 
this phenomenon. It occurs only when the presence 
of plant-lice is observed, and it may be that it is 
intended by nature as the first food of the young of 
these delicate insects ; but its use, or intention, has 
by no means been satisfactorily settled. As the whole 
first duty of aphis-life appears to be the extraction of 
large quantities of vegetable juices, these must turn 
to something after the absorption of the necessary 
support for the insect, and it may be that the excreta 
have something to do with the deposit of honeydew. 
There is, however, no doubt that it does come from 
the aphides, for by keeping certain species in an 
absolutely clean glass box, it will be found that the 
bottom will soon be quickly covered by minute specks 
of the unctuous fluid. 
There are certain processes or organs, which are to 
be found on microscopical examination of the sixth 
abdominal ring of aphides, and which are known as 
cornicles or nectaries. These are of horny substance, 
and are connected with what are apparently excretory 
ducts. These cornicles are much more highly 
developed in some families of aphides than in others 
while in a few they are altogether absent, among the 
latter being the genus Phylloxera. That honeydew 
is deposited largely through these ducts, there is little 
doubt, and one observer has stated that he has seen 
the very young of some species sucking the limpid 
fluid as it exuded from the nectaries. So it is probable 
that they may serve in certain kinds of plant-lice the 
double function of getting rid of the fluids no longer 
required in the body, and these in turn may serve as 
the first food of the very rapidly-produced offspring. 
Ants are known to hunt closely for aphides, but not 
always to kill and eat them, for they are collected and 
even herded like man keeps his cows, that they may 
be milked and so produce him food. And so it is with 
the ants, they herd the aphides and feed upon this 
sweet exudation, rather protecting their aphid cows 
than doing them injury.— Field. 
