December  28  1899 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
-  “My  Garden  Diary.” — Accompanied  with  the  beautifully 
produced  “Amateurs’  Guide  in  Horticulture,”  Messrs.  Sutton  &  Sous 
send  us  their  compact  and  chaste  diary  as  above  entitled.  When  given 
away  it  is.  of  course,  theirs  no  longer,  and  the  title  becomes  appro¬ 
priate  as  in  the  possessive  case.  The  diary  contains,  as  usual,  reminders  of 
what  should  be  done  during  the  different  months,  and  also  afEords  space 
for  notes  and  jottings  that  most  persons  like  to  make  in  the  course  of 
their  gardening  routine. 
-  Flower-clad  Kopjes. — Under  the  above  heading  the  war 
correspondent  of  the  “  Daily  News  ”  writes  as  follows  : — “  Bushy  tangles 
of  wild  white  Jasmine  spring  from  among  those  boulders  with  denser 
growth  of  thriving  shrubs  bearing  waxen  flowers  that  blaze  in  brilliant 
scarlet  and  orange,  and  the  coarse  grass  that  begins  to  show  on  every 
patch  of  earth  between  the  rocks  is  dotted  with  clusters  like  dwarf 
Petunias,  or  purple  bells  of  trailing  Convolvulus.  A  rich  storehouse  this 
for  the  botanist,  whose  contemplative  studies,  however,  might  be  rudely 
disturbed  by  the  shriek  and  boom  of  shells  bursting  about  him.” 
-  The  Orange  Groves  of  Florida.  —  That  the  South  has 
many  men  of  energy  and  persistence  is  shown  in  the  activity  among 
Orange  growers  in  southern  Louisiana  and  Florida  The  few  who 
hilled  up  their  trees  before  the  terrible  frost  of  last  winter  saved  a  good 
percentage  of  them  above  the  bud.  These  grew  rapidly  last  summer, 
will  bear  again  next  year  where  given  good  culture.  This  has 
encouraged  many  growers  to  begin  to  renew  their  groves  and  prepare 
to  protect  by  means  of  hilling,  smudging,  and  the  like.  This,  says  an 
American  contemporary,  is  undoubtedly  a  risky  business,  but  many 
believe  that  in  five  years  the  South  will  be  producing  more  Oranges 
than  ever. 
-  Judging  Melons. — It  has  been  remarked  that  the  abolition 
of  the  practice  of  cutting  Melons  to  ascertain  their  value  when  in 
competition  will  cause  some  dissatisfaction  among  judges.  I  think, 
however,  that  most  judges  would  welcome  such  a  change.  I,  fearless  of 
contradiction,  submit  that  the  majority  of  judges  who  have  that  task  to 
perform  look  upon  the  cutting  system  as  a  disagreeable  task,  which 
often  produces  nausea,  so  many  badly  flavoured  fruit  being  tiibled. 
Judges  are  often  led  to  conclusions  by  sweetness  alone,  ignoring  tough 
flesh  and  absence  of  depth  in  it.  Some  of  the  finest  fruits  are  almost 
scentless  ;  a  La  Favourite  we  cut  lately  was  so,  but  the  flavour  was  of 
great  excellence.  It  is  one  of  the  best  flavoured  sorts  I  know. — 
M.  Temple,  Carron,  N.B. 
-  The  Poor  Eelworms. — What  has  become  of  our  old  foe  the 
eelworm  ?  No  complaint  in  Journal  of  Horticulture  this  autumn.  Has 
the  cure  been  found  for  the  pest  ?  I  have  found  the  remedy,  or,  I  should 
say,  remedies.  I  have  not  been  troubled  with  the  gentry  this  year  ;  but 
what  did  for  them  I  do  not  quite  know.  First,  I  put  fresh  soil  in  my 
borders,  having  thoroughly  limed  the  walls  ;  I  added  fresh  lime,  as 
advised  in  your  columns  some  time  ago,  soaked  the  borders  with  soluble 
phenyle,  according  to  your  directions,  and  then  added  Yeltha,  as  adver¬ 
tised,  and  thoroughly  stirred  the  lot  up.  This  mixture  of  medicines  was 
too  much  for  the  poor  chaps,  and  they  bolted,  or  died  in  attempting  to 
digest  the  nostrums,  for  I  have  not  lost  a  plant  out  of  400  put  out,  and 
have  had  a  thoroughly  good  crop  of  Tomatoes  ;  last  year  I  lost  25  per 
cent.  I  wonder  which  was  the  fatal  dose  l  that’s  what  puzzles  me. — W.  B. 
-  First-class  Fruits  and  Vegetables. — Ignorant  writers 
are  fond  of  ridiculing  the  culture  of  fruits  and  vegetables  under  glass,  as 
if  the  sole  object  were  to  get  something  out  of  season.  They  do  not 
know  that  the  skilful  gardener  can  beat  Nature  every  time  in  quality,  as 
well  as  in  the  time  when  the  article  may  be  said  to  be  in  season.  We 
have  come  to  learn  that,  to  some  extent,  in  the  house  culture  of  Tomatoes, 
Cucumbers,  Lettuce,  and  some  other  things — and  those  acquainted  with 
the  results  understand  full  well  that  mere  outdoor  culture  could  never 
have  product  of  equal  quality — the  prices  obtained  by  those  who  grow 
for  market  compensate  for  all  the  extra  trouble  involved.  Grape  culture 
under  glass  was  once  very  popular  in  America,  but  the  easy  production 
of  the  foreign  Grape  in  the  open  air  of  California  dampened  the  ardour 
of  our  cultivators.  But  no  one  has  ever  yet  found  a  bunch  of  California 
Grapes  to  equal  the  results  of  a  first-class  Grape  grower  of  the  article 
under  glass.  Even  in  Germany  and  France,  where  the  Grape  does  well 
in  the  open  air,  the  glass  house  Grape  grower  finds  a  good  profit  in  his 
occupation,  if  he  is  a  real  gardener  and  not  an  empiric.  “  La  Semaine 
Horticole  ”  notes  that  a  cultivator  of  this  class  near  Brussels  produced  a 
bunch  that  weighed  over  7  lb3.  It  was  sold  at  auction,  and  brought 
about  5dols.  50  cents,  which  we  suppose  is  about  the  highest  price  ever 
paid  for  a  single  bunch  of  Grapes. — (“Meehan’s  Monthly.”)  [We  rather 
suspect  it  is  not — it  is  only  about  3s.  6d.  a  pound.] 
565 
-  The  Chrysanthemum  Aftermath.— I  have  often  been 
struck  on  looking  over  greenhouses  in  which  a  few  weeks  previously  were 
seen  splendid  collections  of  Chrysanthemums  with  the  unpleasant  contrast 
later  presented  when  the  best  flowers  are  all  cut,  the  tails  are  hanging 
anyhow,  wearing  a  dirty  bedraggled  aspect,  whilst  many  cut-down  plants 
show  a  condition  of  untidiness  that  is  painful  to  see — the  aftermath 
of  the  great  flowering  season.  It  seems  very  desirable  that  there 
should  be  a  speedy  clearing  out  of  plants  from  houses  the  moment  the 
bloom  is  over.  Looking  upon  the  remains  or  wrecks  of  former  beauty  is 
not  at  all  exhilarating.  Few  plants  grown  in  pots  give  these  very  defined 
contrasts  so  quickly  as  does  the  Chrysanthemum.  The  place  for  cut- 
downs  is  in  frames,  and  not  houses. — A.  D 
- The  Winter  Moth. — The  note  by  “  J.  H.”  (page  544)  on  the 
habits  of  this  insect,  especially  in  relation  to  tree  ascents,  is  very  interest¬ 
ing,  and  I  am  sure  needs  no  apology.  I  did  once  read  somewhere  that 
the  male  moth  had  been  seen  to  carry  the  female  moths  into  the  trees  on 
its  back  ;  but  I  always  regarded  that  as  a  sort  of  pious  tradition,  a  little 
yarn  started  in  fun,  which  many  would  too  readily  believe  to  be  true,  and 
which  indicates  far  higher  intelligence  on  the  part  of  the  moths  than  In 
some  human  beings.  But  it  is  comforting  to  the  credulous  after  all  to 
learn  that  the  story  is  on  “  J.  H.’s”  observation  known  to  have  been  “all 
my  eye.”  We  may,  therefore,  still  place  confidence  in  the  usefulness  of 
the  greased  paper  hands  as  bounds  which  the  wingless  female  moth  may 
not  get  over.  How  admirably  does  the  old  adage,  “Prevention  is  better 
than  cure,”  apply  to  grease-banding  tree  stems,  so  far  as  the  winter  moth 
is  concerned.— D. 
-  Fungoid  Diseases. — Messrs.  Wm.  Wood  &  Sons  send 
us  a  prospectus  on  fungoid  diseases  in  plants.  It  bears  the  Miltonian 
motto,  “  Here  mine  eye  hath  caught  new  pleasures.”  These  “  pleasures 
to  the  enterprising  Wood  Green  firm  are  presumably  afforded  by 
testimonials  from  gardeners  and  others  describing  the  efficacy  of  Veltha 
as  a  fungicide  and  health  promoter  of  plants.  On  another  page  a 
correspondent  narrates  his  success  in  banishing  eelworms  by  a  mixture 
of  medicines,  including  Veltha  and  phenyle,  and  appears  to  be  in  a 
state  of  mental  perplexity  as  to  which  had  the  more  conclusive  effect 
on  the  “poor  little  chaps.”  Messrs.  Wood  perhaps  would  vote  for 
Veltha,  Mr.  Abbey  for  phenyle  ;  the  ordinary  man  may  be  inclined  to 
try  both,  and  thu3  ascertain,  if  he  can,  which  has  the  better,  or  worse, 
effect  on  his  particular  plant  enemies. 
- AlNSLiEA  Walkeri. — This  is  one  of  the  two  species  of  Ainsltea 
occasionally  met  with  in  gardens.  The  genus  is  an  Eastern  one,  the 
species  having  been  collected  in  China,  Japan,  and  N.E.  India,  though 
not  in  any  great  quantity  in  either  place.  The  one  under  notice  has  been 
introduced  several  times  from  Hong  Kong,  where  it  is  occasionally  met 
met  with  in  a  wild  state.  An  example  may  now  be  seen  in  flower  in  the 
T  range  at  Kew.  In  general  appearance  it  forms  a  well  furnished  bush 
about  a  foot  in  height,  the  shoots  being  of  a  semi-woody  character  clothed 
with  small  green  leaves  The  heads  of  flowers  are  borne  twenty  or  so 
together  on  racemes  6  inches  long.  The  corolla  is  white  and  curiously 
twisted.  A  touch  of  colour  is  given  by  the  reddish  purple  stamens, 
which  are  conspicuously  placed.  Although  not  a  plant  that  a  trade 
grower  would  be  likely  to  make  a  fortune  with,  the  amateur  who  goes  in 
for  a  varied  collection  of  plants  would  find  it  worth  a  place.  An  ordinary 
greenhouse  will  be  found  suitable  for  its  successful  cultivation. — W.  D. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBSERVATION'S  AT  CHISWICK. 
— Taken  in  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens — height  above 
sea  level  24  feet. 
Date. 
s— 
O 
Temperature  of  the 
Air. 
Temperature  of  j 
the  Soil.  _ 
At  9  A.M.  !  *3  . 
o 'd 
2 
At  9  A.M 
Day. 
Night 
£ 
i  i  v  d  3 
i  Si 
L899. 
c6 
At  j  At  At  J  5  § 
u 
-o 
1-ft.  2-ft.  4-ft.h.  H  ” 
December. 
—* 
Dry 
Wet 
<D 
J 
O 
deep. J  deep. 1  deep. 
Bulb. 
Bulb. 
bC 
| 
3 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
ins. 
deg.  '  deg.  deg.  deg. 
Sunday  i7 
S.E. 
37  8 
36-2 
36  "5 
26-7 
— 
36  3  j  41o  46'9  21  1 
Monday  18 
N.  N.E. 
39-6 
27 '6 
— 
36‘2  41'1  46'6  25‘9 
Tuesday  19 
S.E. 
33-3 
32  9 
39'3 
33.0 
_ 
36  7  40 '9  46  3  20 '4 
Wed’sday  80 
S.E. 
37 '3 
39*3 
20-7 
__ 
369  41 '1  40  T  23 '5 
Thursday  21 
E.  N.E. 
36-9 
351 
37  8 
36-5 
_ 
381  41T  459  33‘9 
Friday  . .  22 
S.S.E. 
33'9 
33  0 
37'3 
S3 -2 
0-06 
38-3  41-2  1  4.V7  32-2 
Saturday  23 
N.N.E. 
34'6 
34  0 
420 
33'7 
0*04 
38'4  41'5  45'7  27'7 
Total 
Means  .. 
35-7 
34-9 
38'8 
31-5 
o-io 
37'3  41-2  46"2  27‘1 
A  very  foggy,  dark  week,  some  days  scarcely  any  light  ;  smati. 
quantities  of  rain  fell  o.i  the  22nd  and  23rd. 
