July  11,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
29 
Autumn-sown  Sweet  Peas. 
I  have  had  no  experience  as  regards  autumn  raising  of  Sweet  Peas 
in  pots,  cold  frame  space  here  being  too  limited,  but  I  once  had  a 
quantity  of  self-sown  ones  come  up  during  the  autumn  on  a  piece  of 
ground  which  had  been  occupied  by  a  row  the  previous  summer.  These 
were  allowed  to  remain  all  winter  without  any  protection,  and  in 
February  were  carefully  lifted,  with  soil  attached,  and  formed  into  a 
row  in  the  open.  The  result  was  that  we  had  a  good  row  of  Sweet  Peas 
in  bloom  much  earlier  than  previously.  This  experiment  has  led  me  to 
think  that  muoh  unnecessary  trouble  is  taken  by  sowing  in  pots  and 
wintering  in  frames,  when,  in  my  opinion,  they  would  do  equally  well 
sown  in  the  open  during  autumn.  Of  course  the  cold  frame  system 
may  be  necessary  with  choice  new  varieties,  or  in  oases  where  mice  are 
troublesome,  or  the  garden  very  exposed,  but  under  all  ordinary 
circumstances  sowing  in  the  open  has  quite  as  good  results. — W.  It.  R. 
Problem  in  Heating. 
Notwithstanding  the  assurance  of  “  H.  D.”  that  hot  water  will 
circulate  freely  through  a  trap,  I  do  not  anticipate  the  general  adoption 
of  Mr.  Marsh’s  plan,  as  too  many  have  already  tried  it  and  found  it 
most  unsatisfactory.  It  is,  as  “  H.  D.”  is  candid  enough  to  assert, 
contrary  to  all  established  theories,  and,  to  go  a  step  further,  contrary 
to  the  true  principles  of  the  circulation  of  hot  water.  Why  does 
“  H.  D.”  recommend  this  plan  when  he  has  such  keen  recollections  of 
lonely  midnight  hours  in  trying  to  force  the  water  past  such  points  ? 
His  experience  coincides  exactly  with  my  own,  for  it  was  only  this 
past  winter  that  I  have  had  a  similar  dip  removed,  and  re-arranged  a 
hot  water  system  that  had  been  in  use  for  a  number  of  years,  and  was 
said  to  work  all  right  by  all  except  the  person  who  had  the  stoking  to 
do.  It  is  perhaps  needless  for  me  to  remind  “  H.  D.”  that  the  air  taps 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  circulation,  but' only  serve  to  allow  for  the 
escape  of  the  accumulated  air.  Many  a  time  I  have  seen  the  pipes 
crossing  the  floor  of  houses  in  such  a  way  that  you  had  to  step  over 
them  in  preference  to  dipping  them  under  the  path ;  not  a  very 
convenient  plan,  I  admit,  but  in  market  plaoes  utility  stands  before 
appearanoe.  I  would  now  ask  Mr.  H.  R.  Richards  why,  if  it  is  such  a 
satisfactory  plan,  he  does  not  give  it  a  strong  recommendation, 
instead  of  saying,  as  he  does,  “it  is  inadvisable  ?"  I  can  assure  Mr. 
Richards  that  I  am  not  at  all  out  of  my  depth,  seeing  that  I  speak  from 
experience,  and  that  I  quite  agree  with  him  in  saying  it  is  a  plan  that 
is  inadvisable.  This  is  a  question  well  worthy  of  discussion. — Aqua. 
Flyless !  Flealess !  Frostless ! 
What  a  striking  text,  and  how  enviable  a  circumstance.  The 
Emerald  Isle  has  furnished  many  instances  where  there  has  been  much 
left  to  grumble  at.  “  K.,  Dullin’'  writing  thus  in  the  Journal  on 
June  20th,  evidently  is  a  man  of  very  happy  nature,  and  probably  this 
lightness  of  mind  carries  him  easily  over  the  waves  of  common  land 
troubles.  Well  would  it  be  if  there  were  many  more  such.  The  growls 
he  says  anent  the  drought  are  forgotten  ;  they  may  be  in  his  country, 
they  are  not  in  this  England  of  ours,  at  least  not  in  the  garden  bereft 
of  a  constant  and  ample  water  supply.  I  fear,  however,  we  as  gardeners 
complain  even  before  we  are  hurt,  but  here  the  drought  so  keenly  felt 
in  May  has  been  even  more  torturous  in  June.  Up  to  the  19th  inst.  the 
rainfall  had  only  been  fractional,  not  enough,  at  any  rate,  to  benefit  the 
land.  On  that  date  a  fall  of  0*18  was  registered,  and  the  following  day 
about  a  tenth  of  an  inch  more  was  added.  This  together,  and  the 
cooler  state  of  the  atmosphere,  combined  to  set  us  on  planting  some 
summer  and  autumn  crops  that  had  been  long  anticipating  the  change, 
and  so  the  characteristic  grumble  passes  off  into  language  of  thank¬ 
fulness  even  for  small  blessings. 
Of  frost,  well  we  have  had  the  most  favoured  year  that  comes 
within  my  memory.  Not  a  morning  since  the  newly  planted  Potatoes 
raised  their  heads  above  the  surface  has  there  been  any  record  of  frost 
sufficient  to  leave  its  trace  on  tender  foliage  or  flower.  May  is  no  doubt 
a  critical  month ;  seldom  does  its  exit  pass  without  a  growl,  aud  frost 
perils  are  not  uncommon  in  J une. 
rfi  In  the  flea  world  we  cannot  keep  pace,  but  must  lag  seriously  behind 
“  K.,  Dublin ,”  for  among  the  Turnips  they  have  had  an  unusually 
merry  time  ;  the  leaves,  even  in  a  full  grown  state,  have  been  punotured 
by  them  quite  to  their  extremities.  Some  sowings  were  so  badly 
“  bitten  ’’  that  they  succumbed  outright.  We  have  muoh  to  be  thankful 
for  in  the  discovery  of  an  exceedingly  cheap  and  handy  antidote,  one 
the  busy  flea  relishes  not  a  little — road  dust.  A  good  coating  with  this 
Bets  them  on  a  journey  in  search  of  fresh  pastures.  Fortunately  the 
“  silky,  subtle  Onion  fly  ”  with  me  is  an  unknown  quantity. 
Of  aphides  there  has  been  the  usual  complement ;  but  what  is 
remarkable  about  them  is  that  they  did  not  put  in  so  early  an  appear¬ 
ance  as  usual ;  nor,  considering  the  state  of  the  weather,  were  they  so 
numerous  or  persistent  in  their  attack  as  one  might  expect.  Peaches 
gave  the  most  trouble,  but,  thanks  to  the  virtues  of  quassia  and  quassine, 
their  depredations  were  easily  staged.  Has  “  K.,  Dublin,”  no  cater¬ 
pillars,  or  are  they  so  scarce  that  they  neither  call  for  mention  or  a 
place  in  his  text  ?  The  foliage,  I  notice,  of  many  trees  bespeak  the 
presence  of  myriads,  and  there  must  be  a  goodly  assortment  of  variety, 
for  so  many  kinds  of  trees  have  been  victimised.  We  are  getting  into 
a  period  of  the  summer  when  those  affecting  tree  life  will  have  changed 
their  state,  but  of  the  fearful  anticipations  of  the  Cabbage-eating  ones 
we  are  not  yet  beyond  the  boundary.  We  can  only  hope  that  the  good 
innings  the  spring  caterpillars  have  had  will  give  an  exemption  from 
further  molestation  in  that  particular  line.  Even  then  the  “  merrie 
month”  nor  the  “smiling  month”  will  not  come  and  go  in  their  turn 
without  leaving  us  a  grievance,  for  most  unfortunately  all  are  not  alike 
in  happy  natures,  and  are  not  without  “  flies  and  fl9as.” — W.  S. 
Wall  Copings. 
Mr.  Ellison  has,  in  his  last  sentence  (page  451),  indirectly,  yet 
accurately,  answered  the  question  he  asked  me,  where  he  says,  “  Of 
course  all  trees  must  be  syringed  or  sprayed  occasionally.”  This 
sentence  precisely  describes  the  treatment  the  trees  receive  here  under 
fixed  copings,  and  with  such  treatment  they  do  not,  as  Mr.  Ellison 
infers,  become  the  abode  of  red  spider ;  and  the  earliest  and  best  fruit 
is  always  found  immediately  under  the  glass.  Such  being  the  case,  I 
fail  to  see  what  advantage  is  gained  by  the  annual  removal  of  the 
copings,  especially  as  they,  in  conjunction  with  a  net  suspended  in  front, 
afford,  when  the  fruit  is  ripe,  not  only  a  partial  protection  from  rain 
but  from  birds  also. — T.  Challis. 
Aots. 
If  the  lady  friend  of  your  correspondent  “  A.  C.,”  who  wrote  in  your 
last  issue  (page  13),  will  write  to  Mr.  Thos.  Pickin,  South  Parade, 
Manchester,  I  think  he  will  be  able  to  send  her  something  that  will 
proteot  her  Rose  trees  from  the  ravages  of  the  ants  she  complains  of, 
and  at  the  same  time  do  no  harm  to  the  Roses.  He  calls  it  mothaline, 
on  aocount  of  its  death-dealing  properties  to  moths  and  most  other 
insects.  My  experiences  of  its  beneficial  uses  are  as  follows  : — The  first 
few  rows  of  Peas  my  gardener  sowed  came  up  most  irregularly,  in  fact 
were  a  failure.  On  examining  them,  I  found  they  were  infested  by 
myriads  of  small  millipedes,  that  clustered  round  each  Pea,  eating  off 
all  rootlets,  and  destroying  the  Pea  itself.  I  took  a  large  number  of 
these,  and  sprinkled  a  little  mothaline  on  them,  when  the  millipedes 
at  once  collapsed,  and  wore  dead  in  a  few  minutes.  I  then  made  a 
strong  solution,  by  pouring  boiling  water  over  the  mothaline,  and 
watered  several  delicate  Ferns,  to  see  whether  it  had  any  adverse  effect 
on  them  ;  but  they  were  not  damaged  at  all.  This  being  so,  my  next 
Peas,  when  sown,  had  a  sprinkling  of  the  mothaline  sown  with  them, 
the  result  being  very  satisfactory,  not  a  single  Pea  being  attacked.  My 
early  Cabbages,  Cauliflowers,  &o.,  were  similarly  troubled,  and  drooped, 
and  died.  I  treated  the  newly  planted  ones  in  the  same  way,  putting  a 
pinch  of  the  material  to  the  roots  of  each  when  planted;  these,  too, 
never  looked  behind  them.  I  may  say  I  have  no  interest  in  mothaline, 
pecuniarily  or  otherwise,  but  I  think  your  correspondent  will  find  it 
effective.— T.  G.  S.  Garnett. 
A  Feast  of  Roses. 
Surely  you  may  apply  this  to  the  grand  exhibition  which  was  held 
last  week  in  the  Temple  Gardens,  for  a  real  and  true  feast  it  was.  It 
was  not  one  where  Roses  are  tumbled  together  in  all  sorts  of  ways, 
and  where  the  one  desire  seems  to  be  to  have  as  large  a  number  as 
possible.  In  such  a  “  muddle  ”  there  can  be  no  real  beauty,  and,  to 
the  lover  of  the  Rose,  no  enjoyment,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that 
lovers  of  the  flower  have  become  more  and  more  oritioal  of  late  years, 
and  Roses  have  more  and  more  improved.  The  entries  which  were  made 
indicate  that  exhibitors  all  over  the  country  feel  the  importance  of  this 
great  show.  From  all  parts  came  the  cultivators  and  lovers  of  the 
Rose,  the  North  of  Ireland  sending  its  contingent  from  Newtownards 
and  Belfast,  some  from  the  South  of  Scotland,  and  some  from  North 
Wales.  England,  however,  was  the  predominant  partner,  and  from  many 
of  its  counties  members  sent  their  contributions,  chiefly  from  the  more 
southern  parts  of  the  kingdom  ;  from  Essex,  which  may  really  claim 
to  be  the  metropolis  of  Rose  growing,  and  from  Hertfordshire,  where 
we  may  say  in  past  days  the  Rose  was  especially  cradled,  for  it  is 
impossible  to  say  how  muoh  we  owe  to  dear  old  Thomas  Rivers  for  his 
introduction  of  the  Manetti  stock,  and  so  enabled  growers  to  multiply 
their  plants  and  thereby  reduce  their  price.  And  then  in  the  Tea 
division  Oxford  is  again  to  the  front,  and  Mr.  Geo.  Prince  sends  those 
flowers  whioh  captivate  all  Rose  lovers,  and  show  how  marvellously  the 
seedling  Brier  has  encouraged  the  growth  of  this  beautiful  section.  Of 
course,  we  cannot  tell  what  the  character  of  the  bloom9  will  be,  but 
from  the  exhibitions  whioh  have  already  taken  place,  we  may  augur 
that  the  Roses  exhibited  will  be  true  to  character  and  of  good  form  and 
substance. — D.,  Deal. 
