April  16,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
343 
time,  and  each  Vine  had  a  full  crop  of  bunches  on  ready  to  thin. 
Each  hole  on  the  inside  of  the  house  was  covered  with  a  flat  piece 
of  lead,  with  a  hole  large  enough  to  allow  the  Vines  to  pass 
through.  Now  imagine  my  state  of  mind  one  bright  Sunday  morn¬ 
ing,  about  eight  o’clock,  on  going  into  the  vinery  and  seeing  the 
leaves  and  young  growths  of  these  two  Vines  hanging  down  in  an 
apparently  dying  condition,  for  as  soon  as  the  sun  touched  them 
down  they  went. 
I  examined  the  pipes  and  thermometer,  for  it  had  been  a  sharp 
frost  that  night  ;  yet  I  knew  the  heat  could  not  have  failed,  for  a 
new  and  powerful  boiler  had  been  put  in  not  long  before  with 
abundance  of  piping.  On  getting  down  to  the  stems  outside  I  soon 
saw  the  cause  and  the  mischief.  A  rat  had  been  during  the  night 
and  torn  away  a  portion  of  the  covering,  for  3  inches  of  litter 
were  put  on  top  of  the  border,  and  in  his  attempts  to  get  into 
the  house  had  gnawed  the  stems  of  the  Vines  half  through,  the 
thickest  Vine  being  the  worst  gnawed.  Here  was  a  pretty  state  of 
things  fora  Sunday  morning  !  Well,  I  took  all  the  care  of  them  I 
could,  applied  a  bit  of  new  soil,  bricks,  slates,  and  broken  glass 
being  used  to  counteract  further  ravages,  which  were  several 
times  attempted,  until  eventually  a  fatal  dose  settled  the  guilty 
culprit.  My  poor  Vines  struggled  hard  for  a  few  weeks  for 
existence,  but  by-and-by  I  noticed  how  young  roots  were  being 
pushed  forth,  some  of  them  more  than  a  foot  above  the  wall  plate, 
until  in  about  a  month  they  seemed  to  have  recovered.  Not  so 
the  Grapes.  Many  shrivelled,  gome  of  the  bunches  curled  right 
round,  the  points  shrivelled,  leaving  a  few  berries  on  the  upper 
shoulders  only  ;  but  the  following  year  they  broke  well,  and  grew 
as  strong  as  they  had  done  before. — Wm.  West  Chapman. 
(To  be  continued.) 
NARCISSUS  POETICUS  DANTE. 
The  poeticus  section  of  the  Narcissus  is  the  one  that  is,  perhaps,  the 
most  generally  appreciated  by  growers,  and  considering  the  great  beauty 
and  utility  of  the  flowers  this  cannot  be  wondered  at.  Such  being  the 
case  thanks  should  be  accorded  to  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Engleheart  for  his 
incessant  endeavours  to  improve  the  flowers  in  all  important  respects. 
That  he  has  succeeded  so  far  as  size  is  concerned  is  proved  by  the  wood- 
cut  (fig.  59),  which  represents  a  flower  (natural  size)  of  Narcissus 
poeticus  Dante.  This  magnificent  form  was  exhibited  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  held  in  the  Drill  Hall  on  the  7th  inst., 
when  a  first-class  certificate  was  very  properly  accorded.  The  colour  is 
pure  white,  and  the  crown,  which  is  very  large,  is  of  a  brilliant  orange 
red  that  greatly  enhances  the  beauty  of  the  bloom. 
GARDEN  PESTS  AND  ANTIDOTES. 
Earth  Pests. 
( Continued  from  page  329.) 
Manures  are  of  two  kinds — (1)  purely  chemical  or  chemically 
treated,  so  that  the  organic  matter  contained  is  practically  un¬ 
available  as  food  to  animals,  but  slowly  passes  into  the  inorganic 
form — say  organic  nitrogen  of  dissolved  raw  bone  or  phosphate 
passing  from  this  into  ammonia — an  animal  poison,  but  food  of 
vegetables  when  converted  into  nitrate.  (2)  Partly  or  wholly 
organic,  and  this  not  chemically  treated,  such  as  bone,  rape,  and 
other  manures  containing  raw  undissolved  vegetable  or  animal 
substances  upon  which  ground  pests  may  feed  and  foster  in. 
Of  these  the  latter  have  more  ultimate  value  as  manures  and 
maintenance  of  what  is  known  as  “  condition  ”  in  the  land  than 
purely  chemical  fertilisers,  and  some  cultivators  are  returning  to 
the  use  of  these  who  recently  relied  chiefly  on  chemicals  alone,  as 
it  is  found  better  in  practice  to  keep  up  the  condition  of  the  soil, 
and  supplement  organic  matter  with  quickly  acting  inorganic  or 
chemical  manures.  This  is  the  course  we  advise.  Apply  what 
animal  or  vegetable  manures  it  is  intended  or  can  be  spared,  giving 
all  the  land  some,  and  then  follow,  or  at  the  same  time  apply 
the  other  to  supply  the  food  essential  for  the  requirements  of 
the  crop. 
Most  of  our  commercial  fertilisers  are  so  artificially  compounded 
as  to  preclude  the  presence  of  crop  pests,  and  contain  such  chemicals 
as  are  destructive  of  those  existing  in  the  soil.  There  are  a 
number  of  these  advertised,  and  the  grower  cannot  do  better — 
this  is  my  experience  —than  procure  such  as  the  crop  he  intends 
to  grow  are  specially  prepared  for,  applying  them  according  to  the 
instructions.  If  the  land  be  foul,  a  special  application  may  be 
necessary,  and  the  one  I  am  going  to  advise  will  clear  the  ground 
of  all  the  pests  preying  on  vegetation,  provided  it  reaches  them. 
It  is  kainit,  a  combination  of  sulphur  with  potash  and  magnesia, 
and  of  chlorine  with  soda  and  magnesia  Sulphate  of  potash  is  an 
essential  plant  food,  so  also  is  sulphate  of  magnesia,  and  though 
the  land  may  contain  enough  magnesia  for  general  purposes,  it  is 
not  always  in  available  form  in  sufficient  amount  for  other 
requirements. 
According  to  a  consensus  of  experiments  there  is  little 
insecticidal  value  in  sulphates,  but  there  is  to  the  plant,  and  that 
goes  a  long  way  in  overcoming  pests.  In  a  23  per  cent,  sulphate 
of  potash  guaranteed  kainit  there  is  12  56  per  cent.,  or  12|  lbs.  per 
100  lbs.  of  kainit  of  potash  ;  and  10*32  per  cent,  of  sulphate  of 
magnesia  or  nearly  (7  48)  7j  lbs.  of  magnesia  per  100  lbs.  of  kainit. 
Some  of  the  magnesia,  however,  exists  in  the  kainit  as  chloride  of 
FIG.  59.— NARCISSUS  POETICUS  DANTE. 
magnesia,  9-62  per  cent.  This,  and  the  chloride  of  sodium, 
41-76  per  cent,  give  5D38  per  cent,  of  chlorides,  and  it  is  these  that 
act  destructively  on  ground  pests.  More  than  half  of  kainit, 
therefore,  is  not  plant  food,  but  medicine  to  vegetation.  To  some 
plants  the  chlorides  are  not  beneficial,  as  is  the  case  when  the 
foliage  becomes  yellowish  after  an  application,  but  to  some,  such 
as  cruciferous  plants,  also  chenopodiaceous,  it  acts  like  a  charm,  as 
on  the  Cabbage  tribe,  Beets,  and  Spinach,  increasing  the  weight  of 
crops  considerably,  and  making  the  plants  healthier  and  less 
susceptible  of  climatic  changes. 
The  kainit  must  be  in  a  finely  powdered  condition,  freshly 
riddled  or  ground,  and  ready  for  use,  also  a  guarantee  had  with  it 
of  23  per  cent,  sulphate  of  potash  =  12-50  per  cent  pure  potash 
(the  oxide  K20).  The  proper  time  to  apply  the  kainit  is  at  the 
latter  part  of  September,  before  the  mottled  umber  and  winter 
moths  have  emerged  from  the  pupal  state,  or  at  the  close  of 
February,  before  the  March  moth  and  other  pests  have  taken  to  an 
