H22 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER,. 
October  3 
'  “  Pacific  Fruit  World  ”  (Reader). — This  newspaper  is  published  in 
San  Francisco,  California  ;  it  is  chiefly  devoted  to  the  fruit  and  State 
interests  of  California. 
Book  on  Fungi  (  Young  Gardener ) . — There  are  a  number  of  excellent 
works  devoted  to  fungi,  but  the  best  cheap  book  on  the  subject  is 
Cooke’s  “  British  Edible  Fungi,”  price  7s.  6d.,  of  almost  any  bookseller. 
Book  on  Vine  Culture  ( R .  C.  D.). — Try  “Pictorial  Practical  Fruit 
Growing, ’’  price  Is.  3d.  post,  free,  from  Cassell  &  Co.  We  know  of  no 
book  exclusively  devoted  to  the  Vine,  other  than  Mr.  Barron’s  “  Vines, 
and  Vine  Culture,”  5s.  3d. 
Budded  Roses  (If.  C.). — Remove  the  ties  at  once.  We  should  not 
stop  the  shoots  which  have  pushed,  but  should  let  them  grow,  and  cut 
them  ; close  in  at  the  winter’s  pruning;  that  will  also  be  the  proper 
time  to  shorten  the  Briar  stems  back  to  the  buds. 
Newspaper  and  Book  Wanted  (TV.  R.). — “The  Florists’  Exchange” 
is  an  American  journal  published  every  Saturday  by  A.  T.  de  la  Mare, 
Printing  and  Publishing  Co.,  Ltd.,  2,  4,  6,  8,  Duane  Street,  New  York. 
P.O.  Box,  1697.  Telephone  1854  John.  Registered  cable  address, 
Florex,  New  York.  For  a  full  list  of  the  books  on  the  Dahlia,  write 
to  Mr.  Jas.  Hudson,  jun.,  hon.  sec.,  National  Dahlia  Society,  Gunners- 
bury  House,  Acton,  W.  ^ 
Jasminum  hlrsutum  (B.). — This  dwarf  species  is  an  admirable 
stove  subject  of  shrubby  habit,  and  endowed  with  prolificacy  in  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  large,  pure  white,  fragrant; 
clusters  of  bloom.  The  cultural  needs 
are  not  exaoting  ;  indeed  only  ordinary 
care  and  the  usual  stove  treatment 
accorded  to  tropical  exotics  generally 
will  be  found  to  insure  a  fair  yield  of 
.flowers  at  the  proper  season,  which 
is  usually  about  the  month  of  April. 
The  Jasmines  are  deservedly  favourites 
with  plant  growers.  A  spray  of 
Jasminum  hirsutum  is  figured  this 
week.  It  requires  a  compoBt  of  light 
turfy  loam,  sand,  and  leaf  soil,  and 
liberal  supplies  of  water  during 
summer.  By  means  of  staking  and 
judioious  pruning  or  tying-in  the 
Jasmines  can  always  be  maintained  in 
bushy,  compaot,  and  well  proportioned 
form. 
Insects  in  Chrysanthemum  Leaves 
,(H.  R.). — Unfortunately  the  solitary 
specimen  sent  was  unrecognisable, 
being  reduced  to  fragments  by  the 
warmth  and  the  shaking  in  transit. 
The  leaves  sent  do  not  give  any  clue 
to  the  exact  species,  but  the  damage 
is  evidently  done  by  the  caterpillar  of 
a  small  moth  in  the  Tinea  group.  It 
is  one  of  the  insects  difficult  to  deal 
with,  because  its  destruction  may 
disfigure  the  plant  if  potent  remedies 
are  applied.  Of  course  all  infected 
shoots  or  leaves  should  be  at  once 
removed  and  burnt.  The  eggs  are 
probably  deposited  by  the  parent 
moths  during  August,  when  something 
might  perhaps  be  done  to  render  the 
plant  distasteful  to  them.  Several 
washes  in  common  use  would  kill  some 
of  the  caterpillars,  as,  for  instance,  the  familiar  one  made  from  quassia 
chips  and  softsoap  Gishurst  compound  might  be  of  service. 
Maggots  in  Grapes  (F.  TV.  S). — No,  we  have  never  met  with 
anything  like  the  specimen  you  sent  us,  the  berries  on  the  part  of  the 
bunch  swarming  with  maggots  at  the  junction  of  the  footstalk  with  the 
flesh,  this  being  more  or  less  occupied  by  the  maggots,  and  there  were 
also  a  great  number  of  pupae  in  and  on  the  berries  and  their  footstalks. 
The  pupa,  very  light  brown,  have  two  horn-like  projections  at  the 
frontal  part,  with  three  hook-like  points  to  each,  and  the  posterior  end 
also  has  a  forked  termination.  No  doubt  flies  will  in  due  course  issue  from 
the  pupae.  We  are  keeping  some  in  hope  of  identifying  the  perfect  inseot. 
At  present  we  can  only  refer  the  maggot  and  pupa  to  the  Musca  genus, 
and  the  species  that  not  only  prey  upon  but  breed  in  animal  matter  in 
a  state  of  decay  or  putrefaction.  We  do  not  regard  them  as  causes  of 
the  attack,  for  the  berries  appear  to  have  been  shanked  and  fermentation 
Eet  in,  so  that  the  Grapes  have  really  rotted,  and  the  flies  simply  had 
recourse  to  them  as  breeding  ground.  Probably  the  flies  originated 
from  the  manure,  whioh  from  the  ammonia  vapour  evolved  may 
prejudicially  have  affected  the  Grapes,  and  induced  decay  at  the 
footstalk  of  the  berries,  and  the  flies  deposited  eggs  in  the  exposed 
flesh  or  putrefying  matter.  Certainly  the  maggots  change  into  flies 
lrom  the  pupae  stage,  hence  it  will  be  necessary  to  repeat  the  “  fumers” 
application  in  order  to  destroy  them.  Of  course  all  affected  bunches 
snould  be  removed  without  delay  and  burned.  The  smell  of  the  berries 
is  of  a  very  sour,  penetrating  nature,  and  has  given  us  quite  a  surfeit. 
Eucalyptus— Wintering  Caladiums  ( A .  B.).— We  cannot  tell  what  the 
Eucalyptus  may  be  without  some  description.  There  are  about  fifty 
speoies.  The  Caladium  roots  should  be  wintered  in  pots  and  kept 
without  water,  but  the  pots  placed  on  a  moist  bottom,  from  which  they 
will  derive  sufficient  moisture  to  keep  the  roots  from  shrivelling,  and 
the  temperature  in  which  they  are  kept  should  be  that  of  a  stove — not 
less  than  55°. 
Mesembryanthemum  cordifolium  variegatum  from  Seed  (Y.  W.  B.). — 
It  may  be  raised  from  seed,  and  the  best  time  to  sow  it  is  in  July,  so  as 
to  have  the  plants  well  established  before  winter,  they  either  being 
pricked  off  in  pans  or  potted  off  singly,  keeping  rather  dry  during  the 
winter.  Sow  in  gentle  heat  in  February,  and  grow  on  in  gentle  heat, 
pricking  off  the  seedlings  when  large  enough  to  handle,  hardening  well 
off  before  planting  out. 
Lady  Downe’s  Seedling  Grape  (J.  A.). — This  variety  of  Grape  will 
succeed  in  a  house  where  it  can  have  a  night  temperature  of  65°  when 
the  fruit  is  setting.  This  it  can  have  in  a  greenhouse  about  the  middle 
of  May,  after  that  no  artificial  heat  is  required  until  the  time  of  ripening 
— about  the  end  of  August.  The  greenhouse  ought  to  be  shut-up  at 
six  o’clock  during  the  summer  months.  We  do  not  reoommend  Lady 
Downe’s  to  be  planted  in  a  greenhouse,  but  you  ask  if  it  could  be  grown. 
We  may  as  well  say  that  by  far  the  best  Grflpe  for  greenhouse  culture 
is  Black  Hamburgh. 
Raising  Variegated  Hollies  from  Seed  ( Leybor ). — The  seed  will  ger¬ 
minate,  and  a  majority  of  the  seed¬ 
lings  will  be  green-leaved,  but  these 
may  and  often  do  throw  off  variegated 
parts.  These  may  be  propagated  by 
grafting,  or  the  green  parts  cut  away. 
The  seeds  will  not  vegetate  until 
the  seoond  year.  Both  green  and 
variegated  Hollies  may  be  raised  from 
cuttings — the  ripened  shoots  of  the 
current  year  put  in  now  in  sandy 
soil  surfaced  with  an  inch  of  sand 
under  hand-lights  on  a  north  border. 
Hollies  have  the  male  and  female 
organs  in  the  individual  flowers,  but 
some  trees  do  not  produce  berries, 
they  being  for  the  most  part  very 
vigorous. 
Storing  Walnuts  ( D .  0.  J.).  — 
Remove  the  nuts  from  the  husks,  and 
if  this  be  done  at  the  ripening  the 
nuts  will  turn  out  very  clean,  and 
store  away  in  dry  sand  in  a  cellar 
or  other  cool  place,  and  moist  rather 
than  dry,  but  not  wet.  They  will 
keep  in  this  way,  or  in  stone  jars 
stored  in  dry  sand,  for  a  lengthened 
period,  but  they  will  become  more 
or  less  dried,  and  this,  we  think,  you 
wish  to  avoid,  and  so  do  others,  as 
the  kernels  in  a  dried  state  will  not 
“  peel,”  hence  the  nuts  are  kept  in 
moist  sand  or  soil  to  the  deterioration 
of  the  quality  or  flavour,  for  in 
contact  with  moist  soil  or  moisture 
they  absorb  it,  and  warmth  being 
present  growth  must  follow.  By 
storing  in  dry  sand,  in  a  moist  place 
and  cool,  we  prevent  any  loss  of 
flavour  and  arrest  growth,  whilst  at  the 
same  time  obviating  the  evils  of  overdrying;  and  though  nuts  so  kept 
may  not  “  peel,”  they  may,  by  placing  them  for  twenty-four  or  forty- 
eight  hours  in  rain  water,  have  the  kernels  restored  to  plumpness, 
peeling  readily.  The  time  of  steeping  is  dependant  upon  the  dryness  of 
the  nuts. 
Fungoid  Attack  on  Cucumber  leaves  ( Cucumbers ). — The  leaves  are 
spotted  and  blotched  and  almost  destroyed  by  the  destructive  enemy 
of  Cucumbers,  Melons,  and  other  cuourbitaceous  plants,  known  for 
some  time  in  the  United  States,  and  recently  in  England,  as  Cucumber 
and  Melon  mildew,  Plasmopara  (Peronospora)  cubensis.  The  fungus 
attacks  the  leaves  first,  producing  pale  green  or  yellowish  spots  on  the 
upper  surface.  These  spots  usually  continue  to  increase  in  number  and 
size  rapidly,  involving  a  large  portion,  and  sometimes  the  whole  of  a 
leaf,  and  ohanging  to  a  brown  colour  as  the  tissue  of  the  leaf  dies. 
Finally  the  leaf  becomes  brittle  and  falls,  often  within  ten  days  or  a 
fortnight  of  the  first  indication  of  disease.  Very  frequently  nearly  all 
the  leaves  of  a  plant  are  attacked,  and  in  consequence  it  ruins  the  plant 
for  cropping.  The  fungus,  however,  does  not  usually  attack  Cucumber 
plants  until  in  bearing,  and  sometimes  not  until  the  late  summer, 
though  we  have  noticed  it  in  June.  The  parasite,  after  entering  the 
leaf  from  a  generating  spore,  develops  mycelium  between  the  cells,  and 
sends  suckers  into  the  cells  to  absorb  their  contents,  and  also  pushes 
growths  from  the  mycelium  into  the  air,  forming  very  delicate  white 
patches  on  the  surface  of  the  leaf,  and  the  early  stages  on  the  under 
side,  but  later  on  from  the  upper,  the  conidiophores  in  the  first  instance 
Jasminum  hirsutum. 
