430 
JOtimAL  OF  iiORTlGtlLTmF  Am  COTTAGE  GARDEmU. 
A  PLETHORA  OF  SLUGS. 
The  plethora  of  gardeners  and  other  subjects  have  recently  been 
brought  prominently  to  the  front  by  able  contributors  of  the  Journal,  but 
apparently  no  one  seems  to  have  found  time  to  advert  to  the  great 
abundance  of  slugs,  their  damage  to  garden  crops,  and  the  best  means  of 
combating  them.  This  garden  for  many  years  has  had  an  acknowledge 
partiality  for  slugs,  but  why  it  is  so,  seems  to  me  difficult  to  understand. 
It  has  been  often  suggested  that  lime  fresh  from  the  kiln  is  the  one  great 
and  unfailing  remedy,  and  I  have  acted  on  the  suggestion,  with  a  hope 
that  some  measure  of  relief  would  be  afforded.  This,^  however,  has  not 
been  realised  to  any  appreciable  extent,  and  my  faith  in  the  virtues  lime 
possesses  in  ridding  the  soil  of  slugs  has  been  shaken. 
The  winter  being  so  mild  no  doubt  gave  them  a  chance  to  carry  on 
their  egg  production  without  hindrance.  The  seed  beds  suffered  in  like 
proportion  to  that  of  other  portions  of  the  garden,  the  young  plants 
disappearing  as  if  by  magic,  lime  and  soot  availing  nothing.  I  am  now 
applying  salt  in  small  quantities  to  the  ground  where  lime  has  failed, 
and  with  this  not  much  better  success  seems  to  be  forthcoming.  Indoors 
the  same  trouble  has  been  prevalent,  although  not  to  the  same  extent 
as  outdoors,  small  slugs  or  their  unhatched  eggs  being  introduced  with 
the  new  soil,  keeping  up  a  succession  of  losses  among  tender  seedlings 
and  new  growth  in  plants.  Night  searches  by  lamplight  have  had  to  be 
instituted  and  maintained  in  the  latter  case  to  protect  plant  growth 
from  their  ravages. 
Mr.  Abbey  would,  I  am  sure,  be  able  to  afford  much  valuable  informa¬ 
tion  with  reference  to  the  use  of  gas  lime  as  a  slugicide.  I  greatly  tear 
that,  applied  as  generally  advised  in  the  winter  months  and  left  exposed 
to  the  weather  until  its  deleterious  properties  were  evaporated,  it  would 
not  prove  equal  to  the  destruction  of  slugs  in  the  spring.  I  have  found  th;it 
a  light  sprinkling  of  nitrate  of  soda  destroyed  a  quantity,  but  this^  could 
not  be  generally  employed  for  the  purpoje  of  ridding  the  ground  of  slugs. 
It  is  strange  that,  whatever  is  used,  including  nitrate,  what  proves 
efficacious  one  season  may  not  do  so  in  another.  Of  course  when  there 
are  frequent  showers  no  application  can  long  remain  in  a  useful  state  us  a 
deterrent  to  slugs  or  anything  else,  and  this  fact  tends  to  the  advantage 
of  the  slugs  in  their  egg-production  and  hutching  of  the  young. 
The  large  earthworm  is  a  great  friend  of  the  slug  in  providing 
burrows,  into  which  ihe.se  can  find  a  ready  shelter.  A  frequent  use  of  the 
Dutch  hoe  checks  their  passage  somewhat,  but  nothing  one  can  do  is 
better  than  deep  digging  or  trenching  for  destroying  slugs.  When 
deeply  buried  they,  like  all  other  animal  life  deprived  of  air,  must 
succumb.  Close  and  continuous  cropping  supports  the  slug  too,  for  this 
affords  them  food  at  all  times  without  much  effort  on  their  part. —  W.  S., 
Rood  Ashton. 
THE  VAGARIES  OF  PRIMROSES. 
I  WAS  much  interested  by  “  A.  D.’s  notes  on  this  subject,  page  40.5. 
and  now  take  this  opportunity  of  thanking  him  for  his  various  jottings. 
It  is  apparently  a  practice  of  his  (and  a  good  one)  to  make  a  note  of 
what  he  finds  worthy,  and  send  it  to  the  Journal  of  Horticulture.  Seven 
years  ago  three  roots  of  the  common  Primrose  (Primula  acaulis)  were 
planted  in  my  flower  garden  on  the  north  side  of  the  residence.  The 
following  year  every  one  of  these  plants  bore  ro-;y  lilac  flowers,  and  so 
they  continued  to  the  present  year,  when  they  became  much  deeper  in 
colour.  Not  a  single  “primrose  ’’-coloured  flower  has  been  produced  by 
these  plants  in  the  six  years  of  their  flowering  since  they  were  transferred 
from  a  hedgebank  to  the  site  named.  The  soil  is  acalcarous  gravelly  loam 
over  chalk.  They  were  taken  from  a  clayey  loam  with  chalk  at  a  far 
greater  distance  from  the  surface.  The  gravelly  loam  has  a  red  substratum 
with  flints  over  the  chalk,  and  this,  rightly  or  wrongly,  was  assumed  to  be 
the  cause  of  the  changed  colour. 
The  three  plants  produced  a  number  of  seed  pods  the  first  year,  and 
many  seedlings  sprang  up  the  second  year.  They  lowered  during  the 
third,  and  in  the  bordering  or  edging  of  flints  on  bare  soil  they  all  gave 
rosy  lilac  flowers,  but  some  of  a  deeper  shade  than  the  parents.  On  the 
north  of  the  flower  bed,  and  on  the  east  side  also,  is  a  piece  of  grass 
2  feet  wide,  for  it  is  little  use  having  flowers  close  to  road  palings,  and 
on  this  grass  plot  the  Primroses  have  found  a  home.  They  are  seedlings 
from  the  same  parent  plants,  aud  everyone  bears  “primrose’  flowers, 
while  those  in  the  soil  edging  are  every  one  rosy  lilac.  I  attribute 
this  return  to  the  Primrose  of  the  grassy  glade  to  their  having  a  home¬ 
like  medium,  and  I  am  charmed  with  their  rebellion  against  culture. 
I  planted  Cowslips  too,  but  the  three  principals  are  dead.  They  hate 
bare  soil ;  but  instead  of  them,  and  as  the  result  of  their  influence,  I  have 
O.xlips,  a  cross  between  the  Primrose  and  the  Cowslip,  which  not 
unfrequently  occurs  wild  in  Britain  in  company  with  its  two  parent-. 
Primula  vulgaris  or  common  Primrose,  and  P.  officinalis  or  Cowslip,  and 
marks  the  development  of  the  latter  into  the  Polyanthus  (P.  variabilis), 
the  hybrid  in  question  being  a  natural  one,  the  P.  variabilis  of  Goupil. 
The  flowers  are  reddish,  with  deep  golden  markings,  and  some  of  the 
seedlings  are  developing  the  gold-laced  type.  Not  one  is  an  Oxlip  proper 
(P.  elatior),  all  being  coloured  instead  of  yello  v ,  aud  the  size  is  that  of  the 
Cow’slip. 
The  foregoing  may  interest  “A.  D.”  and  others.  No  manure  has 
been  applied  to  the  plants  in  the  seven  years,  so  no  change  could  take 
place  by  chemical  action.  All  has  been  done  by  Nature  and  the  bees.  I 
cut  the  grass  so  as  to  save  the  leafage  of  the  Primroses  and  the  Cowslips. 
Double  Daisies  planted  in  the  turf  have  seeded  and  brought  back  the 
common  Daisy  (Beilis  perennis).  I  consider  them  charming — the  bit  of 
May  l9,  1898. 
turf  with  its  Primroses,  Cowslips,  and  Daisies  tinder  one’s  eyes — the 
country  in  town. 
I  have  also  some  wild  Heartsease  (Viola  tricolor).  The  flowers  get 
larger  year  by  year,  and  they  are  varying  much  in  colour — some  seifs 
and  others  parti-coloured,  some  with  fringed  edges,  some  also  as  smooth 
as  show  Violas.  I  only  once  saw  “  A.  D.”  about  thirty  years  ago,  and 
then  he  was  preparing  frames  for  Violas,  and  putting  in  cuttings  at  his  late 
brother’s  place  at  Shipley,  Yorks.  The  reference  to  Primroses  and  Violas 
has  brought  the  visit  to  mind.  But  I  must  stop,  though  I  may  perhaps 
again  venture  a  few  lines  on  my  patch  of  country  in  town. — St.  Albans. 
I  COULD  have  tcld  “A.  D.”  the  distinction  that  exists  between  a 
Primrose  and  a  Polyanthus,  fifty  years  ago  ;  but  on  the  same  principle 
that  while  a  mare  is  a  horse  a  horse  is  not  a  mare,  so  a  Polyanthus 
is  a  Primrose,  but  a  Primrose  is  not  a  Polyanthus.  I  have  seen  plants 
raised  from  Primrose  seed  with  as  many  trusses  on  them  as  solitary 
flowers  on  single  stems.  What  would  “A.  D.  ’  call  this?  A  Prim- 
roseanthus,  perhaps.  The  fact  that  Mr.  Arnott  gave  the  variety 
“John  Wilkinson”  such  a  high  character  after  the  plant  had  travelled 
two  journeys  by  parcels  post  of  over  300  miles  each  perfectly  justifies 
me  in  making  what  “A.  D.”  calls  a  “fuss”  about  it.  Kvery  reader 
knows  that  a  pin-eyed  flower  is  just  as  good  tor  garden  decoration  as 
a  flower  with  a  thrum  eye.  There  is  another  eye  I  like  less  than  the 
pin  eye  ;  happily  it  is  not  in  the  flowers — it  is  a  prejudiced  eye.  Some¬ 
times  it  is  found  in  those  who  worship  at  “Flora’s  shrine.”  “A.  D.’ 
seems  to  have  an  eye  of  his  own — a  sharp  pen  eye — but  he  will  not  deter 
me  from  sending  notes  of  anything  I  may  think  will  be  of  interest  or 
.service  to  the  readers  of  the  Journal.  I  have  received  much  benefit 
myself  from  such  notes,  and  often  from  “  A.  D.’s  ”  pen.  I  would  have 
liked  very  much  indeed  to  have  seen  the  grand  show  of  Polyanthuses 
referred  to  at  Farnham,  but  there  is  just  a  possi6e0?tty,  as  the  Scotchman 
said,  that  the  variety  “John  Wilkinson”  is  as  good,  or  it  might  even  bo 
better,  than  any  of  them.  Merit  is  not  always  found  in  multitudes. — 
N.  N. 
CYCLOBOTHRA  AMffiNA. 
The  delicate  beauty  of  many  of  the  Cyclobothra  and  of  the  Calochorti, 
to  which  they  are  nearly  allied,  is  well  known,  and  yet  they  do  not  receive 
a  great  amount  of  attention.  Old  varieties  are  frequently  shown  at  iho 
Drill  Hall,  especially  by  Messrs.  R.  Wallace  &  Co.,  while  new  ones  are 
occasionally  sent  by  this  firm  and  others.  They  invariably  come  in  for  a 
large  share  of  admiration,  and  though  their  popularity  is  doubtless  on  the 
increase,  they  deserve  still  further  attention.  A  charming  form  is 
C.  amcena  (fig.  81)  of  which  the  flowers  are  of  a  pale  rosy  mauve  shade, 
with  three  dark  blotches  in  the  centre  of  each.  The  sepals  and  petals 
are  rather  long  and  narrow,  the  latter  being  twisted,  and  they  are  hirsute. 
The  anthers  are  white,  making  the  flower  more  conspicuous. 
HORTICULTURAL  SHOWS. 
NATIONAL  TULIP  SOCIETY.— May  11th. 
It  was  most  unfortunate  that  the  date  of  the  show  in  the  Royal 
Botanic  Gardens  was  fixed  so  early,  and  though  an  attempt  at  postpone¬ 
ment  was  made  it  was  found  to  be  impracticable.  As  the  day  was  quite 
a  week  too  soon  for  Tulip  blooms  several  members  of  the  Society  were 
unable  to  stage  any  flowers,  Mr.  J.  T,  Bennett-Poe  and  Mr.  G.  Edom 
being  unrepresented,  whilst  Mr.  Bentley  could  only  bring  very  few,  and 
found  himself  unable  to  compete  for  the  championship  in  Class  A  ;  no 
fault,  however,  could  be  found  with  those  he  exhibited.  Messrs.  Barr  and 
Son  showed  blooms  of  first-rate  quality,  but  unfortunately  several  were 
badly  damaged  by  hailstones.  In  Class  A,  for  instance,  their  flowers  were 
clearly  of  the  best  quality  ;  but  both  Messrs.  C hater  and  Hall  were  able 
to  stage  fresh  and  undamaged  specimens. 
The  season  has  been  rather  a  cruel  one  for  the  Tulip,  and  the  death¬ 
dealing  hailstorm  loo  often  in  evidence.  As  a  result  the  glory  and 
brightness  of  the  bloom  were  much  diminished.  Feathered  flowers  were 
very  scarce,  and  of  only  medium  quality.  Industry,  a  fine  rose,  though 
very  young,  shown  by  Messrs.  Barr  ;  and  a  byblceinen,  John  Linton, 
shown  by  Mr.  Chater,  very  much  like  Adonis,  but  we  are  informed  of 
different  habit,  were  very  conspicuous.  The  example  of  Samuel  Barlow, 
as  seen  in  Mr  Chater's  stand  of  twelve.  Class  A,  was  very  rich  and 
brilliant,  the  marking  being  fine,  the  feathering  especially  so,  and  quite 
deserved  the  premier  prize,  even  though  a  very  fine  Paxton  and  a  goml 
Talisman  were  in  close  competition.  It  is  seldom  indeed  that  Sir 
.Joseph  Paxton  can  be  dethroned  from  premier  honours,  but  Samuel 
Barlow  is  worthy  of  the  succession ;  its  cup  is  better,  its  petal  much 
broader  and  of  better  shape,  though  it  is  rather  of  the  red  and  orange 
colours,  than  the  much  desired  black  and  yellow  that  Paxton  so  nearly 
approaches.  We  fear,  however,  that  whilst  we  have  hundreds  of  Paxtons, 
we  may  only  have  units  of  Barlows,  Paxton  will  still  be  unique  for 
quality  and  quantity  combined,  Goldfinder  (originally  from  the  late 
Mr.  Barlow’s  collection),  a  beautiful  flower,  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Barr 
and  Sons  in  Class  F,  was  awarded  premier  honours  for  breeders. 
Class  A. — Twelve  dissimilar  Tulips,  rectified,  two  feathered  and  two 
flamed  of  each  class.  First  prize,  Mr.  A.  Chater,  Cambridge,  with 
