570 
JOURNAL  OF  fJORTIGULTURU  ANh  GOTTAGR  OARDFNFR.. 
December  l6,  1897. 
Numbers  of  strong  shoots  are  always  produced  in  the  centre  of  Nut 
trees;  many  of  these  should  be  removed  in  July  or  August,  In  Kent 
they  are  called  wands,  and  are  used  for  packing  fruit.  Fairly  strong 
shoots  will  also  appear  in  various  parts  ot  tbe  tree  ;  the  points  of  these 
ought  to  be  twisted  off  in  July.  This  helps  to  equalise  the  sap,  and 
plump  up  basal  buds.  In  Nut  growing  a  good  deal  of  trouble  is  caused 
by  suckers  which  spring  from  the  roots  near  the  stem.  These  should 
be  hoed  off  as  they  appear,  but  a  more  radical  operation  is  necessary 
to  keep  them  thoroughly  in  check.  The  plan  usually  adopted  is,  in 
the  autumn  to  remove  the  surface  soil  for  a  distance  of  2  feet  around 
the  tree  stem,  puli  up  every  sucker  to  be  found,  and  if  the  tree  is 
old  lay  on  a  coating  of  manure,  and  cover  with  soil  from  the  open 
spaces. 
The  ground  between  Nut  trees  should  be  forked  over  during 
autumn  or  early  winter,  but  not  deepl^q  only  disturbing  it  to  a 
sufficient  depth  to  bury  weeds,  leaves,  or  any  manure  that  may  be 
aftplied.  As  the  pruning — for  reasons  above  given — is  deferred  till 
spring,  this  disgiog  with  many  cultivators  precedes  it.  Shoddy  and 
chopped  rags  are  often  used  as  a  manure  for  Nuts  ;  but  burnt  refuse 
or  farmyard  manure  is,  of  course,  also  suitable  for  the  purpose — the 
latter  in  particular  where  the  soil  is  poor  and  shallow. 
Varieties. 
Kentish  Cob  jiroduces  the  largest  Nuts,  and  is  the  surest  cropper. 
Red  Filbert,  White  Filbert,  True  Kentish,  and  Duke  |of  Edinbugrb 
are  good  flavoured  Nuts,  but  somewhat  tender  when  planted  in 
exjiosed  places.  Cos  ford  and  Pearson’s  Prolific  are  sometimes  planted  at 
intervals  amongst  others,  because  they  produce  a  large  number  of 
catkins. — Kentish  Man. 
REST  IN  PLANT  LIFE. 
{Concluded  from  page  519.) 
Although,  generally  speaking,  the  winter  season  is  one  of  rest  in 
the  vegetable  kingdom,  we  are  aware  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  unseen 
activity  amongst  a  thousand  things  in  their  dark  cold  bed.  Many 
kinds  of  bulbs,  having  enjoyed  a  good  siesta  after  their  spring  or 
early  summer  labours,  are  awakening  into  life,  and  their  feeders  are 
ramifying  under  what  is  to  them  congenial  conditions.  A  number  of 
the  choicer  varieties  of  these  plants  are  doubtless  benefited  by  annual 
lifting,  this  giving  to  them  a  more  perfect  rest  and  ripening  than  our 
changeable  climate  often  affords,  besides  the  benefits  conferred  by 
replanting  in  fresh  soil.  A  little  attention  in  this  direction  will  often 
prevent  disappointment  with  some  at  least  of  those  bulbous  plants 
which,  being  natives  of  a  more  pronounced  climate  than  ours, 
seem  unable  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  change  without  this  annual 
aid. 
Undue  delay  in  planting  is,  however,  dangerous,  and  many  of  the 
troubles  experienced  by  cultivators  of  bulbs  are  partly  attributable  to 
this  cause.  Not  wholly  so  is  obvious,  for  some  of  the  evils  arise  from 
an  imperfect  method  of  storage,  in  which  unnatural  exposure  to  light, 
to  moisture,  to  packing  in  bulk,  possibly  in  a  medium  conducive  to 
heating — all  favouring  excitement,  which  is  inimical  to  the  quiet 
conditions  of  rest.  In  any  case  the  greatest  care  is  unable  to  prolong 
the  resting  period  beyond  certain  limits,  for  the  calls  of  Nature  are 
distinctly  heard  and  responded  to  by  the  subject,  hei  ce  we  may  often 
see  at  the  potting  of  Dutch  bulbs  when  too  long  deferred.  Hyacinths 
and  Tulips  particularly,  that  growth  has  commenced,  and  commenced 
at  the  wrong  end  ;  and  it  is  not  seldom  the  case  when  this  occurs  to 
find  these  misdirected  efforts  continued,  with  little  or  no  attempt 
at  root  action  to  support  the  embryo  flower  and  foliage,  which  either 
perish  or  are  impoverished  by  inanition.  One  thing  m  ty  be  remarked 
by  the  way,  and  that  is— the  coal  ashes  usually  employed  as  a 
medium  for  plunging  newly  potted  bulbs  is,  I  believe,  the  worst 
material  that  can  be  used  for  the  purpose,  so  far  at  least  as  the 
covering  portion  is  concerned.  Any  loose  friable  soil  is  infinitely 
preferable,  and  partly  decayed  leaves,  if  free  from  slugs,  can  hardly  be 
excelled. 
With  all  subjects  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  within  the  confines  of 
our  own  insulai’  experience  frost  alone  is  the  agent  whereby  vitality  is 
completely  arrested,  and  with  many  things  this  appears  to  be  distinctly 
advantageous.  Where  the  climatic  influences  are  totally  at  variance 
with  our  own,  and  the  dry  and  rainy  seasons  control  the  rest  and 
growth  of  plants,  similar  results  are  obtained  from  a  widely  different 
cause.  That  there  are  apparently  some  exceptions  to  the  universal 
law  of  rest  may  to  some  extent  be  admitted,  in  considering  the  extra¬ 
ordinary  and  excessive  development  of  vegetation  operating  in  certain 
tropical  regions — that  of  Sierra  Leone,  for  instance.  Nature  there 
appears  to  allow  her  subjects  little  or  no  rest,  unless  the  sleep  of 
plants,  previously  alluded  to,  is  the  solatium  dulce.  Plowever  that 
may  be,  the  bulk  of  vegetation,  where  heat  and  moisture  are  so 
excessive  and  continuous,  is  of  no  less  rapid  growth  than  of  quick 
decay,  and  in  the  continual  building  uj)  and  pulling  down  of  the  same 
organic  material  science  would  probably  allow  what  ordinary 
observation  might  be  loth  to  acknowledge. 
During  the  present  abnormal  season,  in  which  little  or  no  check 
has  been  given  to  the  growth  of  lesser  things,  we  may  trace  the  cause 
of  some  trouble  which  ensues  in  the  spring,  if  not  before.  For 
example,  amongst  those  two  important  members  of  the  Bi'assica 
family.  Cabbage  and  Broccoli,  destined  for  spring  use,  many  vagaries 
are  noticeable,  and  even  the  most  reliable  varieties  distributed  to 
growers  by  firms  of  high  repute,  are  not  regarded  as  Caesar's  wife, 
above  suspicion.  Even  by  some  thoroughly  competent  market 
growers  due  allowance  is  not  always  made  for  this  abnormal  climatic 
influence,  and  a  case  in  point  came  under  notice  some  few  years  since, 
where  ten  acres  of  Ellam’s  Early  Spring  Cabbage  behaved  so  badly 
that  complications  ensued  between  seedsman  and  grower.  This  had, 
at  least,  one  good  result,  leading,  as  it  did,  to  a  rather  rigid  investiga¬ 
tion  over  a  given  local  area,  showing  indubitably  that  the  seed  was 
blameless.  It  is,  doubtless,  a  far  cry  from  Crotons  (previously  men¬ 
tioned  in  relation  to  this  subji  ct)  and  Cabbages,  but  each  are  equally 
important,  and  equally  benefited,  too,  in  degree,  by  rest.  The  excite¬ 
ment  so  much  in  evidence  at  the  present  time  amongst  our  winter 
green  stuff  presages  from  that  quarter  troubles  to  come. 
Comparatively  high  temperature,  with  excessive  moisture,  is  not,  in 
spite  of  some  immediate  advantages  to  our  farming  fiiends  in  the 
way  of  herbage  the  cattle  are  yet  able  to  crop,  an  unmixed  blessing. 
The  process  is  exhausting.  We  are,  doubtless,  touching  upon  evils 
it  were  better,  perhaps,  to  avoid  where  no  remedies  are  apparent ; 
yet  it  is  jrleasant  to  note,  amongst  the  observations  of  a  rural  life, 
the  anxiety  evidenced  by  a  few  of  our  high-class  farmers  to  keep 
their  land  well  drained,  and  so  return  the  superfluous  water  as 
quickly  as  may  be  to  the  sea.  It  is  at  present,  in  fact,  a  daily  opera¬ 
tion  on  one  farm  of  some  200  acres  at  hand,  where  my  neighbour 
not  only  sends  his  man  round  daily  to  see  there  is  no  obstruction  to 
the  drain  outlets  or  in  the  ditches,  which  are  also  annually  cleaned 
up,  but  keeps  an  eye  upon  it  himself  to  see  that  it  is  done.  Water¬ 
logged  land  is  cold  comfort  to  all  vegetation,  and  must  be  ultra- 
pernicious  to  it  during  the  season  of  rest. — Invicta. 
SOLUBLE  FHENYLE. 
There  are  two  points  that  must  be  settled  before  the  merits  of 
soluble  phenyle  as  a  cure  for  eelworms  can  be  profitably  investigated 
or  discussed.  1,  What  is  soluble  phenyle  ?  2,  What  is  an 
eelworm  ? 
1,  For  the  information  of  the  general  public  it  may  be  stated  that 
“  soluble  phenyle  ”  does  not  exist,  and  is  not  a  recognised  chemical 
material,  but  is  merely  a  fancy  name  given  to  a  preparation  of  creosote 
patented  by  Mr.  Little  in  187G,  and  sold  by  the  firm  of  Morris  and 
Little  of  Doncaster  for  use  as  a  sheep  dip.  I'he  creosote  obtained  in 
the  distillation  of  coal  tar  contains  “carbolic  acid,”  crtsol,  naphthaline, 
and  many  other  compounds.  It  is  not  soluble  in  water,  and  Mr. 
Little  devised  a  very  ingenious  method  of  rendering  ordinary  creosote 
soluble  in  water.  “  Soluble  creosote  ”  would  have  been  a  more  fitting 
name  for  this  preparation  than  the  one  by  which  it  is  known.  Mr. 
Little  effected  the  desired  object  by  treating  creosote  with  resinsoap 
and  a  little  softsoap. 
The  composition  of  Little’s  soluble  phenyle  is  stated  to  be  as 
follows : — 
Per  cent. 
Coal  tar  creosote  . 59T 
Kosin  oil .  ..  ...  29  6 
Softsoap  .  6  9 
Caustic  soda  solution  .  5‘4 
Total  .  100’ 
Messrs.  Jeyes  eagerly  took  up  this  idea,  and  in  1877  and  1878 
took  out  two  patents  for  a  similar  preparation,  omitting  the  softsoap, 
but  otherwise  practically  the  same  as  Little’s.  An  analysis  of  Jeyes’ 
disinfectant  gave  the  following  results  : — 
Creosote 
Eesin  ... 
Soda  ... 
W  ater 
60-4 
29  () 
2-4 
7-6 
Total  .  100-0 
Similar  preparations  have  been  placed  on  the  market  as  “car- 
bolised  creosote,”  and  have  found  use  as  sheep  dips  and  general  liquid 
disiul'ectants.  A  well-made  sample  should  mix  with  water  without 
the  separation  of  any  oily  undissoived  creosote. 
For  use  as  a  sheep  dip  these  soluble  creosotes  are  diluted  with 
about  100  times  as  much  water,  and  are  then  effective  in  destroying 
the  ticks. 
Personally  I  have  never  tried  any  of  these  preparations  as  garden 
remedies,  and  can  offer  no  experimental  evidence  to  throw  light  on 
