534 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 25th, 1885. 
play on every part of the plant; but where Gardenias 
and Stephanotis are planted out that course is im¬ 
practicable. 
“ Catch and kill ” was the advice given by one of 
your correspondents with regard to this pest, and 
I am inclined to think he is right, and this must 
be persisted in at least once a week, and oftener 
if found necessary. We supply each of the young 
men who have anything to do with the houses with 
a small brush, made as before described, and which 
are always kept in their waistcoat pockets, so as to 
be as handy as a lead pencil, and whenever an insect 
is seen it receives a dab from the bristly brush on its 
back. These small brushes are all that we have used 
of late for ridding plants of this pest, and I may say 
with the very best results, as I never knew the plants 
generally cleaner. Of course this is in a great measure 
due to the young men to whom that work falls, and I 
feel certain that if this close watching was followed 
up for a year we should all but do away -with them if 
they were not quite annihilated. We attempted this 
kind of picking on Vines a year or two ago, but with 
little avail, and as the treatment of this pest on Vines 
has already been dealt with I will now' pass it. 
Those who have not this pest to deal w T ith had need 
to take strict precautions to prevent its introduction 
with plants, bought or otherwise, received from a 
source of which we know little. I have known gar¬ 
deners when receiving a consignment of plants from 
a nurseryman,'on seeing a single mealy-bug on one of 
them commit the whole to the furnace. This seems 
rather an extreme measure, but those of whom I 
speak did not consider it one whit too severe, and 
never regretted the loss of the plants in question. 
Now if these plants had been introduced at his 
employer’s expressed wish, such a remedial measure 
as that practised would not have been tolerated. Had 
the plants been set by themselves in quarantine for a 
time and closely watched, destroying every insect as 
fast as it appeared, I venture to assert that no harm 
would have followed. Where one has not this pest, 
one cannot be too careful in watching new comers, 
and we consider it is well worth the little inconvenience 
caused by so doing.— C. Warden, Clarendon. 
THE VICAR’S GARDEN. 
String Flowers. — Among these the Narcissus, 
Which is well represented by the common double 
Daffodil, stands in the first rank. Many of the single 
forms are of rare merit from an artistic point of view, 
their delicacy of colouring and beauty of form render¬ 
ing them of the highest value for the embellishment 
of the garden and decoration of flower-vases for the 
drawing-room. The earliest, M. pallidus prtecox, com¬ 
menced to flower by the middle of February this 
season, when many things are unusually late, and 
will continue to well nigh the end of May, and some¬ 
times even later than that. At the present time, 
among other varieties, Sir Watkin, Lobularis ampli- 
corona- the Irish variety of maximus, Campernella, 
and others are very telling. Some of these should be 
in every garden, liow'ever small its dimensions, as 
they will gratify alike those who care for forms of 
individual beauty and others who only wish to see 
the place look cheerful and gay. They are the most 
accommodating subjects, flowering well alike in 
exposed situations or under the shade of trees, and 
Will thrive in almost any soil. 
The varieties of Hepatica which are now past their 
best call for a passing notice, and ought to be found 
in all collections of hardy flowers, being sweetly pretty, 
the single blue being perhaps the most beautiful, 
While the double blue, one of the oldest of hardy 
spring flowers, is still among the scarcest: these 
prefer a shady position. The Glory of the Snow, 
Chionodoxa Luciliaj, one of the most beautiful of 
recent introductions, has evidently a strong disposition 
to vary from the normal type, some flowers being much 
smaller and others larger and finer in form, and the 
blue and white more strongly contrasted. Those who 
have a stock of this may, by seeding and careful 
selection, obtain very satisfactory results, one here at 
the present time far outstripping Nemophila insignis, 
to which it may be compared for the distinctness of 
the blue and white markings. 
Scilla sibirica, an old favourite, should be pretty 
liberally distributed in clumps among taller-growing 
things, its deep rich blue contrasting finely with the 
yellow Narcissus. Lasting in flower for two months, 
as this often does, and being a real gem, it deserves 
more extensive cultivation. The Scarlet Wind-flower, 
Anemone fulgens, is now gorgeous, and ought to 
satisfy anyone with a taste for flaming colours; it is 
perfectly hardy, and may remain undisturbed in the 
same place for years. Among white flowers, though 
now nearly over, must be mentioned the Christmas 
Rose, Helleborus niger, which in its normal type and 
the maxima variety has been in flow r er from Christmas 
till now. With the aid of a handlight, these come of a 
dazzling whiteness. Nothing else so easily obtainable 
can approach these for real usefulness ; there are few 
places where they will not thrive, and partial shade 
suits them best. 
Among ill-used and much-neglected plants may be 
cited Megasea cordifolia, which, with its handsome 
foliage and large trusses of beautiful pink flowers, 
deserves better treatment than it usually gets. It 
seems as though nothing would kill it, yet it is not a 
weed which cannot be kept in bounds. If there is a 
rockery or raised bank available, it should be planted 
on it, so that being elevated, the flowers can be the 
better seen. Dogs-tooth Violets, which are now past 
their best, form a beautiful front row; the foliage, 
if not eclipsing that of some of the occupants of our 
stoves, is scarcely less beautiful than many of them. 
Its only drawback is that it does not last long; but 
occupying very little space there should be room 
found for a few of them in small places. All the 
subjects mentioned in this paper are suitable for quite 
small gardens, and most of them are easily obtainable, 
and, with others to be commented on at a future tune, 
can be managed by all. 
All plants should be either correctly labelled or their 
position marked by a peg which will not be easily 
misplaced, because from the carelessness and ignorance 
of men who are often set to dig over flower borders, 
many of these when dormant are so liable to get 
turned topsy-turvy and buried with the spade. 
Either do the digging yourself, or make sure what 
manner of man he is whom you set to do it. The 
limited number detailed in this paper would, if 
judiciously planted, make a moderate-sized place gay 
during the first four months of the year, with the 
addition of Crocuses, Snowdrops, and Aconites, and 
a few of the earliest flowering Tulips. 
Among shrubs remarkable for their beauty and 
perfume, is Daphne Mezereum, which being of 
moderate growth and very accommodating in respect 
to. soil and situation, should have a place everywhere. 
It is a general favourite. Another gay, useful shrub 
is Mahonia, or Berberis Aquifolium, when kept in due 
limits. The foliage is very usefril in dressing flower 
vases, and gives a good finish to a hand-bouquet of 
hardy flowers.— W. B. G. 
—-^-^<>- 51 -— - J —- 
BLUE, CRIMSON, AND YELLOW 
DISAS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
I cannot account for the scarcity of the lovely blue 
Disa in England, except by supposing that the tubers 
are generally sent over at a wrong time, and perhaps 
from a cultivated stock or roots gathered in a bad 
district. If you could see them in bloom here by the 
thousand together, with many other handsome species 
which are not in cultivation in England, I am sure 
you would say that they ought not to be much trouble 
in any cold frame, or even out-of-doors in warm situa¬ 
tions. Too much nursing, and a notion that they 
must be grown in the same way as D. grandiflora, 
I daresay often destroys them. I will endeavour to 
describe how they grow here, and the facts will no 
doubt suggest a proper means of culture for this lovely 
genus to some of our clever brethren at home, should 
the plants ever come into their hands. 
I notice that blue (Disa Herschelii) and other Disas 
form a new bulb every year, and that the old one 
slowly decays also every year. In a week or so after 
the flowers fade the wind and sun dries up the old 
flower-stems, and all traces of where the plants are to 
be found is entirely lost until the next flowering season 
comes round, their scanty foliage being mixed up with 
the long Grass and Heather. This ought to give the 
key to successful culture, for everyone knows so well 
where Heather grows at home, and it is in a similar 
place that our lovely Disas and Satyriums grow here. 
The soil is sandy; not particularly dry, but the earth 
is never cold. At the same time, I must impress 
upon you that there is nothing tropical in the climate 
in the district I allude to. 
The weather here is made up of spells. On the 
coast-line we have rain more or less for nine months 
in the year. The dry, hot time is in December, 
January, and February. Sometimes for three or 
four days together we have rain, with terrific gales, 
and then after a storm comes a calm, with weather 
lovely and breezes balmy, but never the same for 
long together. Perhaps in the morning, until about 
ten or eleven o’clock, there is lovely weather; what 
light wind there may be being from the east or land 
side (not cold) ; all of a sudden the wind will 
chop round to the west, and for the rest of the 
day blow a gale off the sea. Singularly enough, the 
wind here may be said to blow always from the 
east or west, never from the south, except during 
transition, and from the north about once in two 
years—and that is once too often. It is our hot 
wind that comes across the Karoo, or down from 
Graff Beinett. 
Disa Herschelii is found quite but in the open plain, 
and the variety here which I see blooming so beauti¬ 
fully round me seems very strong growing. It grows 
in sandy soil among the Heather, and generally on 
slightly raised ground. It is always covered with a 
thick coating of Grass, and is, therefore, but little 
affected by atmospheric changes. The earth is com¬ 
fortably warm all summer and never very cold in 
winter. Disas may be said to never be inactive, for 
as soon as the flowers and leaves fade the new bulb is 
quite ripe and ready to start, which it at once proceeds 
to do slowly and surely, until, by the following 
January, the leaves spring up from the tubers which 
have last grown, and in February and March the tall 
spikes of four to eight clear blue flowers (on D. Her¬ 
schelii) appear. December, January, and February 
are the warmest and dry months, and during that time 
the plants are the most active. 
There are some pretty golden-yellow, white, and 
crimson Disas about here, as well as the profuse 
flowering and fragrant D. cornuta, and another white 
and blue Disa, and many show'y Satyriums which your 
plant lovers at home -would go wild over. 
I scribbled this note to you in the bush whilst on 
a holiday ramble, being reminded of you by a copy of 
The Gardening World which I had in my pocket. I 
will also send a note on the Epiphytal Orchids and the 
trees they grow on, which may be of use to. some at 
home.— James Hall, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 
- —p — 
FRUIT AS AN ARTICLE OF 
DIET. 
One of the most salutary tendencies of domestic 
management in our day is that which aims at 
assigning to fruit a favoured place in our ordinary 
diet. The nutrient value of such foods in virtue of 
its component starches and saccharine materials, is 
generally admitted ; and while these substances cannot 
be said to equal in accumulated force the more solid 
ingredients of meat and animal fat, they are similarly 
useful in their own degree, and have, moreover, the 
advantage of greater digestibility. Their conversion 
within the tissues is also attended with less friction 
and pressure on the constructive machinery. The 
locally stimulant action of many subacid fruits on 
the mucuous membrane deserves mention. Its control 
of a too active peptic secretion, and its influence of 
attraction exercised upon the alkaline and aperient 
intestinal juice, are points of more than superficial 
importance. To this action further effects, which aid 
the maintenance of a pure and vigorous circulation, 
are indirectly due. Thus it follows, on the simplest 
principles of physiology, that other essential organs, 
such as the skin and kidneys, are relieved by the 
transference of part of their excretory function to the 
bowel, and act with greater ease, the general vascular 
system is lightened by this regulating drain, and its 
faculty of absorbing the waste products of food and 
work is encouraged in proportion. 
Almost all persons in fairly normal health may 
partake of sound and ripe fruit in greater or less 
amount. Except in certain cases, indeed, there is 
practically no exact limit to its consumption under 
these circumstances. Among such exceptions may be 
