March  26,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
271 
Black  Corrant  Mite. 
The  method  given  by  Mr.  King  has  the  objection  of  destroj’- 
ing  the  crop  totally  for  tliree  years,  and,  if  my  experience 
corresponds  with  his,  he  will  find  that  his  trouble  will  appear 
again  as  badly  as  ever.  In  our  method  we  lose  no  crop,  and  the 
quantity  of  fruit  borne  each  year  is  so  great  as  to  prevent  any 
lampant  growth  ;  in  fact,  the  bushes  need  little  if  any  pruning, 
and  nearly  the  whole  of  our  bushes  are  at  least  eighteen  years 
old,  they  are  simply  thinned  out  so  as  to  let  light  and  air  to  the 
centre ;  the  crop  every  year  is,  and  always  has  been,  more  than 
the  bushes  could  carry  without  artificial  support;  if  a  branch 
is  overlooked,  or  the  support  gets  away,  it  is  almost  certain 
to  be  torn  off  by  the  weight  of  its  crop.  The  thing  is  very 
simple  and  costs  nothing,  it  can  do  not  harm,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  whatever  as  to  the  result,  if  fourteen  successive  years  of 
heavy  crops  are  anything  to  judge  by,  when  others  I  know  are 
rooting  up,  cutting,  and  destroying,  at  a  great  loss,  without  any 
permanent  benefit. — Tnos.  Fletcher,  Grappenhall. 
Plant  Nomenclature  and  the  “  Index  Kewensis.” 
The  responses  drawn  out  by  my  letter  regarding  “  A 
Provincial’s”  useful  article  on  the  subject  have  been  much  a,s  I 
anticipated.  It  .struck  ine  as  remarkable  that  “A  Provincial” 
did  not  make  any  mention  of  priority  in  his  article,  but  I  had  a 
shrewd  .suspicion,  now  confirmed  by  his  letter,  that  het  was  well 
aoc]uainted  with  it.  I  am  not  usually  considered  pessimi.stic,  but 
one  cannot  see  much  ground  for  being  an^dhing  else  in  the  que.s- 
tion  of  plant  nomenclature,  and  “  A  Provincial  ”  does  not  give  us 
any  practical  suggestion  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
.subject  may  be  placed  on  a  satisfactory  footing.  Frankly, 
I  look  upon  the  subject  mainly  from  a  gardening  point 
of  view,  and,  so  doing,  I  fear  that  the  divorce  on  this 
que.stion  between  botany  and  gardening  is  likely  to  in¬ 
crease.  What  wo  want  is  a  working  code  of  nomenclature 
for  garden  purposes.  Some  of  the  names  which  are  correct,  if 
we  adopt  the  priority  principle  cn  bloc,  are  quite  unsuited  for 
garden  use,  where,  it  must  be  remembered,  we  have  to  deal  with 
professional  gardeners  and  amateurs,  and  where  the  gardener 
has  to  satisfy  employers  who  have  usuallj'  little  patience  with 
.some  of  the  naiues  approved  by  the  principle  of  priority,  but 
quite  unfamiliar,  and  which  are  frequently  too  lengthy,  and  often 
almost  unpronounceable  by  the  majority  of  people.  I  had  no 
intention  of  being  supposed  to  “  complain  ”  of  the  noilconformit.y 
of  the  Kew  Hand  Lists  with  the  “  Index  Kewensis,”  but  merely 
quoted  the  fact  of  their  so  differing  as  an  illustration  of  the 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  adopting  a  much-needed  .standard  of 
nomenclature.  Nor  did  I  intend  to  imply  that  the  Kew  staff 
wa.s  responsible  for  the  “  Index.”  It  was  not  too  much,  however, 
to  say  that  this  great  work  was  “  wounded  in  the  house  of  its 
friends,”  by  these  differences.  The  Engli.sh  title  pa.ge  of  the 
“  Index  ”  bears  that  it  was  “  Compiled  at  the  expense  of  the  late 
Charles  Robert.  Darwin,  under  the  direction  of  Joseph  D. 
Hooker,  by  B.  Daydon  Jackson”;  while  the  preface  has  al  his 
final  paragraph  the  following :  “  I  have  only  to  add  that,  at  his 
request,  I  undertook  to  direct  and  .supervise  such  a  work  ;  and 
that  it  is  being  carried  out  at  the  Herbarium  of  the  Royal 
Gardens,  Kew,  xoith  the  aid  of  the  staff  -of  that  fstablisJi- 
menf. — Jo.s.  D.  Hooker.”  The  italics  are  mine.  If  the  “  Index  ” 
was  not  compiled  on  the  priority  principle  its  usefulness  is  greatly 
reduced,  and  it  is  well  known  that  it  has  been  largely  followed 
as  an  authority  on  iilant  nomenclature.  No  one  is  more  sensible 
than  I  am  of  the  great  worth  of  the  Kew  Hand  Lists,  which  are 
really  of  more  value  than  would  be  gathered  from  the  modest 
claims  of  their  compilers.  I  never  go  from  homo  without  carry¬ 
ing  with  me  a  copy  of  at  least  the  issue  relating  to  herbaceous 
plants;  and  were  I  asked  what  book  to  recommend  as  a  guide 
to.  plant  nomenclature,  I  should  unhesitatingly  point  to  these 
Hand  Lists  as  being  the  most  useful  and  up  to  date.  This  does 
not,  of  course,  imply  that  one  would  approve  of  the  .supcrse.ssion 
of  good  garden  names  by  others  hardly  known  in  gardens,  but 
which  are  correct  according  to  the  priority  system.  The  question 
is  one  of  a  practical  kind,  and  the  freciuent  changes  of  plant 
names  are  devoutly  to  be  deprecated.  We  had  better  adopt  a 
standard  of  some  kind,  even  if  not  absolutely  symmetrical,  than 
have  this  constant  change.  Standardisation  is  coming  into  vogue 
in  many  branches  of  commerce.  Why  not  have  a  standard 
nomenclature  for  garden  plants?  I  .should  bo  quits  content  to 
keep  to  the  Hand  Lists. — S.  Arnott. 
The  Spring  Number. 
On  March  12  ‘‘Our  Journal”  came  to  us  in  a  particularly 
weighty  form,  and  I  think  the  general  verdict  of  i-eaders  mu.st 
be  that  seldom,  indeed,  has  such  splendid  value  been  given  for 
the  modest  sum  required  to  purchaso  a  copy.  From  beginning 
to  end  the  pages  were  packed  Avith  sound,  useful,  and  interesting 
matter,  and  the  numerous  illustrations  throughout  were  beau¬ 
tifully  executed.  All  avIio  shared  in  its  production  liaAm  every 
reason  to  be  proud  of  the  result  of  their  labours.  The  old  anti 
the  new  among  the  contributors  evidently  put  forth  their  best 
efforts,  and  by  .similar  co-operation  in  the  future  “  Our  Journal  ” 
shonld  soar  upward  and  onward  as  in  the  days  of  yore. — Thirty 
Years’  Reader. 
- «•#♦> - 
Birds  aDd  Gooseberry  Buds. 
We  hai'e  for  many  years  past  used,  at  the  end  of  October  or 
beginning  of  November,  what  is  known  as  “Royle^s  threader,” 
which  can  be  bought  from  any  nurseryman  or  seedsman.  It 
is  a  stick  with  a  handle,  like  the  centre  part  of  a.  common  v-eaver’s 
slmttle,  and  carries  what  is  k)\own  as  a  ”  cop,”  such  as  is  used 
for  ordinary  iveaving.  The  end  of  the:  cop  thread  is  taken  along 
the  stick,  coming  out  of  a  small  hole  in  the  top,  and  this  is 
waved  about  the  bush  so  as  to  cover  the  branches  witli  threads. 
These,  although  white  at  first,  become  discoloured  by  the 
weather,  and  are  practically  invisible.  When  this  is  done  no 
bird  Avill  settle  on  tlie  branches,  the  first  touch  of  the  thread 
on  their  feet  frightens  them  away,  and  rve  find  the  buds  are 
ab.solutely  untouched.  We  have  lent  our  threader  to  many 
neighbours  who  had  their  bushes  completely  stripped  of  buds 
and  practically  destroyed  until  they  used  this,  noiv  they  have 
as  good  crops  of  Gooseberries  as  our.selves.,  and  our  crops  are  so 
large  that  we  have  to  use  quite  one  half  of  the  berries  whilst 
they  are  very  small,  as  the  bushes  have  more  fruit  on  than 
they  could  carry,  and  grow  to  a  good  size.  The  “  Royle’.s 
threader”  is  not  a  necessity,  as  a  home-made  arrangement  is 
easily  made,  and  the  cops  can  be  bought  separately  at  a  very 
small  cost,  but  it  is  a  very  convenient  form,  and  the  thing  itself 
is  .so  cheap  that  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  attempt  to  make 
one. — Thos.  Fletcher,  Grappenhall,  Cheshire. 
[This  Avas  also  our  only  cure  at  a  place  Avhere  the  bu.shes  had 
become  all  but  destroyed.  The  Crocus  groups  in  Hyde  Park  are 
all  threaded  Avith  excellent  results.— Ed.] 
Having  had  the  buds  taken  from  the  Goo.seberry  tree,s  for 
several  years  I  can  sympathise  Avith  “Fruit  GroAver,”  page  2o4. 
After  spraying  the  .standard  fruit  trees  in  1899  (see  Jounial, 
April  6,  1899,  page  272)  Avith  cau.stic  soda  and  pearlash,  I  found 
that  Avhere  the  spray  fell  on  the  Gooseberries  and  Currants  not 
a  bud  was  taken.  I  took  the  hint,  and  now  I  .spray  all  1  uins, 
red  and  Avhite  Currants,  and  Gooseberries,  and  I  have  used  tins 
.season  about  2,500gals  of  the  liquid  Avith  a  Vermorel  s  sprayer. 
SparroAvs  Avill  almost  live  on  fruit  buds  in  the  Avinter. — Jno. 
Miles,  Southampton. 
The  Weather. 
There  Avas  a  time  when  an  explanation  Avas  sought  for  the 
of  tho  weatlior  in  tho  idea  of  the  passage  of  t  le  eai  i 
through  regions  of  space  corresponding  with  the  conditions  ot 
the  weather.  The  idea,  alas!  will  not  dovetail  AVith  the  views 
of  modern  times,  and  consequently  it  yet  remains  to  be  d  s- 
oovered  what  is  tire  special  cause  for  a  .special  course  aaIiicIi  the 
elemeiits  may  asisume.  Persistent  sets  of  AVindy  and  jaW 
weather,  as  have  characterised  the  greater  part  of  the  three 
months  now  about  to  be  terminated  of  tins  year,  have  been 
phenomenal  enough,  at  least  in  North  Britain,  to 
thoughts  that  snecial  effects  mu.st  have  special  causes.  VieAAing 
the  matter  in  the  abstract  we  shall  more  or  less  agree  that  such 
must,  indeed,  be  so,  but  to  reduce  thus  knowledge  so  as  *9  derive 
practical  advantages  in  our  everyday  hfo  inqohes 
Lrd  patient  research,  and  such  research  must  be 
greater  determination  and  purpose  than  has  yet  been  done. 
That  the  mystery  is  discoverable  admits  ot  little  doubt,  and  that 
its  cliLovery  would  lead  to  immense  benefits  there  can  bo  no 
doubt  at  all.  In  a  matter  involving  so  much  that  is  important, 
individually  and  collectively,  to  a  nation’s  or  nations 
facilitv  ought  to  be  given  to  scientific  research  AAitli  a  a  icav  to  a 
Stion  of  a  momeiTtous  problem.  .  When  a 
a  character  that  it  affects  not  only  individuals,  but  nations,  tiie 
duty  of  attending  to  it  clearly  passes  over  froin  individual  entei- 
nrise  to  a  national  one.  All,  therefore,  will  be  agreed  that  on 
Scount  of  the  dimensions  of  the  matter  entailing  the  mystery 
S  the  AAeather  little  that  is  likely  to  be  sei-vnceable  can  be 
acconiDlished  without  the  aid  of  the  nation.  And  in  fcAV  things 
could  a  nation  invest  a  reasonable  .sum  to  better  aclyantage,  and 
though  the  results  might  for  years  be  meagre  and  disappointing, 
.surely  much  that  avouIcI  be  valuable  would  necessarily  bo  learned 
in  the  attempt. — D.  C. 
