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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER,  January  25,  1900. 
CORRESPONDENTS 
^*0  All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should  be 
directed  to  “The  Editor,”  12,  iviltre  Court  Cbambers, 
Fleet  Street,  Xondon,  E.C.  It  is  requested  that  no  one 
will  write  privately  to  any  of  our  correspondents,  seeking 
information  on  matters  discussed  in  this  Journal,  as  doing  so 
subjects  them  to  unjustifiable  trouble  and  expense,  and  depart¬ 
mental  writers  are  not  expected  to  answer  any  letters  they 
may  receive  on  Gardening  and  Bee  subjects  through  the  post. 
If  information  be  desired  on  any  particular  subject  from  any 
particular  authority  who  may  be  named,  endeavour  will  be  made 
to  obtain  It  by  the  Editor.  Letters  of  inquiry  must  be  accom¬ 
panied  by  the  names  and  addresses  of  the  writers,  but  these  will 
neither  be  published  nor  disclosed  when  initials  or  noms  de  flume 
are  given  for  the  purpose  of  replies. 
'Correspondents  should  not  mix  up  on  the  same  sheet  questions  relating 
to  Gardening  and  those  on  Bee  subjects,  and  it  is  convenient  when 
each  question  is  written  on  a  separate  sheet.  All  articles  intended 
for  insertion  should  be  written  on  one  side  of  the  paper  only  ;  and 
the  name  and  address  of  each  writer  must  be  known  by  the 
Editor,  though  not  necessarily  for  insertion.  We  cannot,  as  a 
rule,  reply  to  questions  through  the  post,  and  we  do  not  under¬ 
take  to  return  communications  which,  for  any  reason,  cannot 
be  inserted. 
Punnets  {Roons).  —  We  regret  to  be  urable  to  comply  with  your 
request.  We  are  not  in  possession  of  any  addresses  such  as  you  require. 
Cannot  you  obtain  them  by  inquiries  in  the  Leeds  vegetable  market  ? 
English  Paradise  Stocks  for  Grafting  in  March  {M.  D.). — The  stocks 
may  be  procured  of  any  large  nurseryman,  especially  those  making 
fruit  tree  raising  a  specialty,  by  the  100  or  1000,  at  moderate  prices. 
Write  to  one  or  more  of  the  nurserymen  advertising  in  our  columns, 
stating  requirements,  and  asking  for  quotation  of  price.  The  stocks  now 
or  shortly  procured  would  hardly  be  fit  to  graft  in  March  or  early  April 
next,  as  they  will  not  have  become  established  sufficiently  to  induce  a 
vigorous  growth  in  the  grafts.  The  stocks  would  be  all  the  better  for 
growing  a  year  before  they  were  grafted,  or  they  will  be  well  rooted 
by  the  July  following  the  planting,  and  could  then  be  budded  satis¬ 
factorily. 
Ply  and  Spot  in  Cattleyas  (C.  A.,  Yorks).  —  The  young  leads  of 
Cattleya  you  send  are  badly  infested  with  Cattleya  ily,  a  most  per¬ 
nicious  pest  that  is  usually  introduced 
among  newly  imported  Cattleyas  and 
Lmlias.  Its  effect  is  first  to  cause  an 
abnormal  swelling  (fig.  18)  of  the  buds 
(breaks),  and  afterwards  to  completely 
paralyse  their  growth,  as  in  yoirr  case. 
The  female  fly  punctures  the  soft  tender 
growth,  and  lays  the  eggs  that  eventually 
form  the  grubs  that  do  the  mischief. 
There  is  no  cure  after  the  grub  is  ensconced 
in  the  living  tissues  of  the  plant,  and 
every  growth  seen  to  be  affected  must  be 
cut  off  at  once.  The  affected  buds  can 
easily  be  detected  by  the  swelling  referred 
to.  Occasional  fumigations  with  XL  All 
insecticide  kill  the  female  flies  that  may 
be  in  the  house,  and  is  in  this  way  a 
certain  preventive,  and  must  be  persisted 
in.  You  need  be  under  no  apprehension 
as  to  the  result  of  cutting  away  the  buds; 
only  do  it  early  enough,  so  that  the  plant 
has  time  to  form  back  breaks,  which  will 
probably  be  clean.  The  swelling  in  the 
leaf  is  the  dreaded  “  spot  ”  (fig.  19)  that 
has  ruined  thousands  of  Orchids.  Cutting 
away  and  burning  the  worst  affected 
leaves,  and  the  maintenance  of  a  genial 
atmosphere  about  the  plants  are  the  only 
remedies,  and  these  are  only  partial.  Some¬ 
times  the  plants  grow  out  of  it,  but  usually 
they  take  a  long  time.  If  you  have  only 
a  few  plants  as  badly  damaged  as  the 
leaves  sent  it  would  be  advisable  to  burn 
them.  We  found  several  flies  in  the  bottom 
of  the  box,  and  advise  you  to  fumigate  the  house  in  which  the  plants 
are  growing  with  all  speed.  For  the  two  illustrations  from  “The 
Flower  Grower’s  Guide  ”  we  are  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  Messrs. 
H.  Virtue  &  Co.,  Ltd. 
Bating  of  vinery  and  Tomato  House  (Milton). — In  answer  to  your 
question  whether  you  are  liable  to  pay  rates  for  greenhouses  or  not,  we 
may  quote  the  following  from  our  columns  of  August  10th,  1899, 
page  123 Judgment  was  given,  on  Thursday,  by  the  Lord 
Chancellor,  in  the  House  of  Lords,  in  an  appeal  which  raised  the 
question  whether  market  and  nursery  gardens,  upon  which  are  green- 
houses  and  other  structures  used  for  productive  purposes,  can  claim  the 
benefit  of  the  Agricultural  Eating  Act  of  1896,  which  relieves  the 
occupier  of  agricultural  land  of  half  the  rates  in  respect  ^  of  the 
hereditaments  and  buildings  upon  the  holding.  At  Worthing^  the 
overseers  had  returned  a  market  garden  and  the  structures  upon  it  as 
agricultural  land,  but  the  surveyor  of  taxes  treated  them  as  buildings. 
The  question  was  carried  by  way  of  appeal  through  the  courts,  and  the 
noble  and  learned  Lords  now  affirmed  the  judgment  of  the  Court  of 
Appeal,  that  a  market  garden  with  its  buildings  is  not  agricultural 
land  within  the  meaning  of  the  Act.”  You  will  perceive  from  the 
foregoing  that  you  are  not  only  liable  to  pay  rates  for  greenhouses, 
though  you  are  growing  only  for  market,  but  cannot  claim  the  benefit 
of  the  Agricultural  Eating  Act  of  1896,  which  relieves  the^  occupier  of 
agricultural  land  of  half  the  rates  in  respect  of  the  hereditaments  and 
buildings  upon  his  holding. 
Cavities  in  Apple  Tree  Twigs  (TV.  X.).— The  holes  or  scars  on  the 
Apple  tree  twigs  are  different  from  those  caused  by  woolly  aphis,  and  so 
peculiar,  that  we  may  at  some  future  time  pourtray 
the  scarred  appearance  of  the  Apple  twigs.  The 
holes  are  caused  by  an  insect  called  the  buffalo 
tree  hopper  (Ceresa  bubalus),  which  does  not  live, 
as  a  rule,  on  orchard  trees,  but  develops  on  succu¬ 
lent  vegetation ;  hence  is  most  destructive  in 
orchards  and  plantations,  where  weeds  and  other 
tender  herbage  are  abundant.  The  scars  are  due 
to  the  egg  punctures  of  the  insect.  The  eggs  are 
laid  in  the  upper  part  of  the  young  twigs  of 
Apple,  Pear,  and  various  other  trees,  mostly  during  ( ilJjifi / 
the  late  summer  and  early  autumn  months,  being 
arranged  in  two  nearly  parallel  or  slightly  curved 
slits,  extending  in  the  direction  of  the  twig  about 
3-16ths  of  an  inch  in  length,  and  separated  by 
l-8th  inch  or  less  of  bark.  In  making  the  second 
slit  the  insect  cuts  the  bark  obliquely,  in  such  a 
way  as  to  leave  a  small  piece  loose.  This  causes 
the  bark  to  die,  and  eventually  leaves  a  dead  space 
and  hollow  in  the  twig.  These  dead  spots  give 
the  bark  a  cankerous  appearance,  and  are  excel¬ 
lent  places  for  bark-fungi  spores  to  germinate  in. 
The  eggs  of  the  insect  remain  dormant  until 
spring,  then  the  small,  active,  greenish  hoppers 
are'  hatched  out,  and  they  become  full  grown 
about  the  middle  of  summer.  The  limiting  of 
weeds  and  other  vegetation  of  a  tender  nature 
about  orchards  and  fruit  plantations,  as  well  as 
in  them,  is  an  excellent  precaution,  little  damage 
occurring  where  the  ground  is  kept  clean.  In 
badly  infested  cases  pruning  is  advisable,  and  as 
there  are  some  scale  on  the  twigs,  spraying  with 
a  solution  of  caustic  soda  and  pearlash,  k  lb.  each 
to  6  gallons  of  water,  at  a  temperature  of  130°, 
whilst  the  trees  are  quite  dormant,  would  be  serviceable.  In  the  spring, 
treatment  with  petroleum  emulsion  could  not  but  be  useful  against 
the  hoppers  and  other  pests. 
Mixing  Burnt  Clay  with  Strong  Loam  for  Ehododendrons  [J.  D.). 
— If  your  statement  as  to  the  nature  of  the  land  and  the  treatment 
to  which  it  has  been  subjected  is  quite  accurate,  and  if  the  loam 
contains  a  large  percentage  of  gritty  particles  or  the  mud  a  considerable 
amount  of  silt  or  sandy  or  gravelly  matter,  the  Ehododendrons  will  grow 
well,  as  the  gritty  matter  will  keep  it  open  and  sweet.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  the  loam  be  of  a  close  nature  and  mud,  ordinary  pond  accumu¬ 
lation  with  tree  leaves,  a  sort  of  bog  soil,  the  mixture  of  strong  loam 
with  pond  mud  would  be  greatly  improved  by  adding  burnt  clay  to  it, 
say  a  fourth  or  not  more  than  one-third.  The  burnt  clay  would  tend 
to  render  the  compost  more  open  and  correct  any  not  unlikely  organic 
acids  resulting  from  the  decomposition  and  settling  of  the  pond  mud 
into  a  close  sour  mass.  Ehododendrons  love  moisture,  but  they  do  not 
thrive  on  a  wet,  cold,  sour  base.  Burnt  clay  has  a  strong  affinity  for 
water,  and  though  used  for  foundations  of  walks,  holds  or  absorbs 
moisture  in  dry  periods,  so  there  is  no  need  to  fear  anything  from  over¬ 
dryness,  especially  as  the  subsoil  is  clay.  Pond  mud  in  woody  districts 
is  largely  composed  of  vegetable  mould.  Once  we  cleared  out  a  morass 
of  several  acres,  this  being  a  former  sheet  of  water  silted  up  and 
choked  by  aquatic  plants,  threw  the  mud  into  large  mounds  of  irregular 
form  and  in  picturesque  order,  and  in  due  course  planted  them  with 
Ilhododecdrons  and  Azaleas,  and  had  a  grand  American  garden,  the  soil 
underneath  being  a  stiff  clay,  in  which  Ehododendrons  did  not  thrive. 
No  greater  mistake  is  made  than  digging  pits  for  Ehododendrons  and 
other  American  or  peat  loving  plants.  It  is  far  better,  especially  in  the 
case  of  clays,  to  raise  mounds  and  plant  on  them,  thus  giving  the  stock 
the  benefit  of  the  cool  base  and  the  eye  a  far  better  prospect,  as  the 
hill-and-dale  arrangement  is  more  pleasing  than  a  non-undulating 
surface. 
Fig.  19. 
Spot  in  Cattleya. 
