June  9, 
JOURNAL  Or  horticulture  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
485 
destructive,  and  need  stopping  in  their  depredations.  I  have  found 
quicklime  dustings  very  useful,  also  dressings  of  soot.  Why  lime  fails 
is  because  it  has  not  been  used  “  quick,”  but  mild  or  long-slaked,  and 
where  soot  fails  to  be  useful  it  is  because  it  is  stale.  When  fresh  it 
kills  the  slugs  and  also  benefits  the  plants,  for  it  then  contains  the 
essential  ammonia.  I  have  known  lime  water  do  wonders  in  killing 
slugs. 
Fresh  dry  wood  ashes  act  well,  but  when  wet  and  leached  they 
have  little  effect  on  molluscs,  nor  do  they  contain  a  material  amount 
of  potash  for  the  benefit  of  crops. 
The  three  articles  are  the  only  ones  I  have  used ,  regularly  on 
growing  crops.  Of  course  there  are  other  solutions  besides  : — 1,  Lime 
water,  for  which  the  lime  must  be  fresh  from  the  kiln,  slaked  in  the 
water,  and  let  stand  after  stirring  well  till  clear.  The  others  are 
2,  Ammonia  water,  1  oz.  of  carbonate  of  ammonia  in  a  gallon  of  water. 
3,  Potash  water,  1  oz.  of  pearlash  in  a  gallon  of  water.  In  every  case 
sprinkling  on  whilst  the  vermin  are  feeding,  which  is  mostly  when 
men  are  taking  the  needed  rest  from  their  labour,  but  care  must  be 
exercised  in  using  the  two  latter,  as  plants,  especially  seedlings,  vary 
much  in  hardiness. 
Some  persons  like  powders  better,  such  as  nitrate  of  soda,  sul¬ 
phate  of  ammonia,  and  kainit.  All  are  good  for  crops  during  growth, 
using  it  very  finely  crushed  in  the  evening,  and  not  more  than  ac 
ounce  per  square  yard,  and  always  keeping  the  “stuff”  out  of  the 
hearts  of  the  plants.  Good  guano  also  kills  slugs  and  improves  crops 
more  in  an  all-round  manner  than  any  other  hand  manure,  but  it 
also  burns  plants  if  it  get  into  the  hearts  of  tender  seedlings. 
As  for  gas  lime,  no  one  has  ever  used  it  or  seen  it  used  who 
advises  its  employment  on  growing  crops.  It  will  kill  slugs  and 
such  like,  and  either  kill  or  injure  the  crops.  Where  it  does  no  harm 
to  growing  crops  is  because  the  article  has  lain  some  time  and  become 
little  more  than  gypsum,  and  is  then  of  no  value  as  a  killer  of  pests ; 
it  will,  however,  profit  crops  to  some  extent  by  the  contained  lime  and 
sulphur.  Gas  lime  must  be  fresh  from  gas  works,  and  used  only  on 
bare  land  some  weeks  before  cropping.  On  very  foul  land  I  have  used 
5  tons  per  acre,  5  stones  per  rod,  as  soon  as  the  land  was  cleared  at  the 
end  of  summer,  or  at  any  time  in  consequence  of  diseased  crops.  That 
was  where  Turnips  fingered-and-toed.  Cabbages  clubbed,  or 
Onions  were  destroyed,  by  maggot  or  fungus.  It  was  spread  on  as 
evenly  as  possible,  when  the  land  was  moist,  but  with  a  prospect  of 
fair  weather.  It  smells  offensively  for  a  time,  and  there  it  must  lay 
for  at  least  a^month  before  digging  in.  Its  virtue  may  go  into  the  air 
to  a  great  extent,  but  enough  goes  into  the  soil  to  cleanse  it.  It  will 
cleanse  the  foulest  land  of  the  worst  foes  of  crops,  and  that  is 
something,  without  any  prejudice  to  the  crop  in  the  following  season. 
In  mild  cases  3  tons  per  acre,  or  3  stones  per  rod,  put  on  when 
desired,  always  after  a  crop  or  on  bare  land  when  moist,  leaving  three 
weeks  before  pointing  in,  which  is  better  than  digging  or  ploughing 
in  deeply.  Even  2  tons  per  acre  will  do  on  not  much  infested  land,  or 
2  stones  per  rod,  and  that  let  lie  a  fortnight,  can  be  harrowed  in  or 
pointed  under  lightly  with  a  fork.  Or,  as  a  preventive,  1  ton  per 
acre,  1  stone  per  rod,  left  a  week,  then  pointed  under  will  do.  Less  I 
have  not  found  of  use. — G.  Abbey. 
[The  most  certain,  safe,  and  sure  slug  destroyer  we  have  found  is 
clear  lime  water,  applied  an  hour  after  dark  to  seed  beds,  or  whatever 
plants  are  attacked  the  most  persistently.  A  few  years  ago  a  gentle¬ 
man  took  possession  of  a  neglected  garden  of  clayey  soil  in  the 
suburbs  of  London.  He  cleaned  it,  and  looked  forward  to  a  feast  of 
flowers  and  vegetables.  But  millions  of  slugs  proved  the  masters. 
He  was  advised  to  apply  lime  vvater  through  rosed  watering-cans  to 
certain  sections  of  his  garden  every  night  after  dark,  as  if  giving  the 
ground,  crops.  Box  edgings,  and  w'alks  a  good  watering,  and  proceed 
till  all  the  ground  was  covered.^  The  overtime  work  lasted  a  week. 
“The  best  week’s  work,”  he  said,  “he  ever  had  done.”  He  repeated 
the  process  as  required,  till  a  slug  w'as  hard  to  find,  and  his  garden 
gave  him  unbounded  satisfaction.] 
Pentapterygium  serpens. — This  rare  greenhouse  plant  is 
seldom  seen  outside  botanical  gardens,  though  it  possesses  merits  which 
warrant  it  a  place  in  all  gardens.  It  is  a  native  of  the  Sikkim  Hima¬ 
layas,  and  is  usually  met  with  at  an  elevation  varying  from  3000  to 
7000  feet.  Occasionally  it  is  found  growing  on  the  ground,  hut  more 
often  on  the  branches  of  high  trees.  At  Kew  a  bushy  plant,  3  to  t  feet 
in  height,  was  recently  in  flower  in  the  Cape  house,  and  a  number  of 
smaller  plants  in  the  winter  garden.  The  growths  are  slender,  and 
thickly  covered  with  dark  green  leaves.  They  spring  from  a  curious 
flattened  rootstock,  which  has  the  appearance  of  a  large  tuber.  The 
flowers  are  bright  red,  with  several  distinct  bars  of  a  darker  colour. 
They  are  almost  an  inch  in  length,  and  are  produced  along  the  under 
side  "of  the  upper  half  of  each  grow'th.  It  should  be  gj'own  in  sandy  peat, 
in  pots  or  pans,  w'hich  have  been  nearly  half  filled  with  crocks  or  sand¬ 
stone.  Cuttings  of  half-ripened  wood  root  readily  if  put  in  a  close  warm 
case.  Anyone  who  gives  this  plant  a  trial  cannot  fail  to  be  pleased  with 
the  effect  produced  by  the  graceful  arching  branches,  with  their  abundant 
supply  of  pendulous  flowers. — D.  K. 
Rose  Show  Fixtures  in  1898. 
June  15th  (Wednesday). — York.* 
„  16th  (Thursday). — Colchester. 
„  23rd  (Thursday). — Bath  (N.R  S.)  and  Ryde. 
„  25th  (Saturday). — Windsor. 
,,  28th  (Tuesday). — Leeds,*  Southampton,!  Sutton,  Westminster 
(R.H.S.),  and  Isle  of  Wight  (Carisbrook).  [Surrey, 
„  29th  (Wednesday). — Brockham,  Canterbury,  Croydon,  and  Richmond 
„  30th  (Thursday). — Eltham,  Gloucester,  and  Norwich. 
July  2nd  (Saturday). — Crystal  Palace  (N.R.S.). 
„  5th  (Tuesday). — Diss,  Harrow,  and  Hereford. 
,,  6th  (Wednesday).— Chelmsford,  Ealing,  Famingham,  Hanley,! 
Hitchin,  Redhill  (Reigate),  and  Tunbridge  Wells. 
„  7th  (Thursday).— Woodbridge. 
„  8th  (Friday). — Ulverston. 
„  9th  (Saturday). — Manchester. 
„  12th  (Tuesday). — Wolverhampton.*  [on-Tyne.* 
„  13th  (Wednesday). — Bedford,  Ipswich,  Maidstone,  and  Newcastle- 
„  14th  (Thursday). — Halifax  (N.R.S.),  Brentwood,  Canterbury 
(Hospital  Fund),  Helensburgh,  and  Reading. 
,,  16th  (Saturday). — New  Brighton. 
„  21 -t  (Thursday). — Sidcup. 
„  26th  (Tuesday). — Tibshelf. 
„  28th  (Thursday). — Bedale. 
*  Shows  lasting  three  days.  !  Shows  lasting  two  days, 
— Edward  Mawley,  Rosehanh,  Berkhamsted,  Herts, 
National  Rose  Society. 
The  annual  report  of  the  National  Rose  Society  has  come  to  hand. 
The  book  comprises  the  Society’s  rules,  a  list  of  the  members,  as  well  as 
schedules  of  the  three  shows  that  are  to  be  held  respectively  at  Bath,  the 
Crystal  Palace,  and  Halifax.  There  is  not,  apparently,  any  material 
change  in  the  classes  at  either  of  the  shows,  and  doubtless  excellent 
displays  will  be  brought  together.  Fears  are  expressed  that  Roses  will 
not  be  good  at  the  earlier  shows,  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  weather 
during  the  intervening  period  will  he  more  propitious,  when  improve¬ 
ment  will  soon  be  manifest  in  the  blooms.  The  first  of  the  series  of  shows 
will  be  held  in  the  Sydney  Gardens,  Bath,  on  Thursday,  June  23rd. 
Comments  on  RoISes. 
I  MUST  thank  “  A.  C.”  for  his  note  on  the  so-called  Yellow  Provence 
Rose  in  your  issue  for  April  7th.  I  think  I  recognise  “  A.  C.”  as  one  of 
our  oldest  and  most  successful  amateur  growers,  whose  presence  was 
always  a  welcome  sight  in  the  past  at  many  Rose  exhibitions.  But  is  he 
not  mistaken — or,  rather,  is  not  Mr.  Rivers  mistaken — in  calling  Rosa 
sulphurea  a  Provence  Rose  ?  By  the  way,  this  Rose  is  named  Rosa 
tiemisphEerica  in  some  botanical  works,  and  is  placed  under  a  distinct 
heading  from  that  containing  Rosa  centifolia,  to  which  the  Provence 
Roses  belong,  _ 
Like  the  Rev.  H,  B.  Biron,  I  was  much  surprised  to  find  the  N.R. 
Society  affiliated  with  shows  of  more  than  one  day’s  extension,  having  a 
distinct  recollection  of  seeing  a  rule  confining  affiliated  societies  to  one- 
day  shows  only.  Looking  back  over  several  reports  and  setc  of  rules, 
however,  I  do  not  discover  it  now.  When  it  first  occurred  more  than  one 
of  us  expressed  surprise  and  regret.  But  if  exhibitions  of  miscellaneous 
flowers  are  to  contain  Roses  to  any  extent,  they  naturally  wish  to  be 
able  to  offer  medals  of  our  N.R.S.  This,  I  believe,  cannot  be  done  unless 
the  Society  be  affiliated,  and  doubtless  the  authorities  gave  way  upon  that 
account. 
How  very  backward  our  Roses  are  this  season.  I  have  heard  from 
several  growers  to  this  effect,  many  saying  it  is  the  latest  season  they 
have  known.  Nor  can  I  say  much  for  the  appearance  and  promise  of  my 
own.  They  are  breaking  weakly,  more  especially  so  when  we  consider  how 
slow  their  progress  has  been.  What  Colchester  can  do  on  the  16th  inst. 
it  will  be  interesting  to  see.  Most  of  the  flowers  must  come  from  under 
glass,  as  was  the  case  at  Birmingham  last  year,  just  before  the  Ports¬ 
mouth  and  Isle  of  Wight  meetings  of  the  N.R.S.  In  some  cases  plants  on 
walls  may  be  useful,  but  if  not  more  forward  than  with  us,  even  these 
will  not  be  ready  to  cut.  _ 
When  warm  weather  comes  we  shall  be  attacked  by  insect  enemies  as 
usual.  On  klay  18th  there  was  an  east  wind,  while  we  had  at  that  time 
sharp  frosts  for  three  consecutive  mornings.  I  do  not  believe  in  the  old 
saying,  that  an  east  wind  conveys  blight,  more  especially  in  respect  to 
green  fly  ;  but  we  do  find  these  little  pests  more  harmful  at  a  time 
when  our  Roses  are  checked  by  such  uncongenial  weather.  At  present, 
wherever  possible,  I  would  keep  the  hoe  going  freely  ;  not  so  much  to  keep 
down  seedling  weeds,  as  to  prevent  many  of  our  insect  foes  from  resuming 
active  life  unchecked.  The  sawflies  will  soon  be  coming  through,  and 
other  enemies  will  follow.  Stirring  over  the  surface  soil  is  a  great  check 
to  the  egress  of  these,  and  also  gives  birds  a  better  chance  to  get  at 
them.  Surface  cultivation  assists  growth,  and  avoids  much  harm  from 
drought. — Practice. 
