116 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  31,  1S02. 
follow  should  have  a  little  soil  broken  down  round  the  plants. 
Trim  away  suckers  or  any  useless  leaves,  and  soak  the  plants  with 
water  or  liquid  manure.  A  sprinkling  of  soot  or  artificial  manure 
will  be  beneficial.  Where  Celery  has  been  planted  between  rows 
of  Peas,  the  old  haulm  of  the  latter  should  be  cleared  away  as 
soon  as  possible. 
PLANTING  WINTER  GREENS.— Although  the  main  crops 
of  these  are  in  most  cases  established  and  making  progress,  there 
may  be  vacancies  in  the  garden  which  require  filling,  and  as  green 
vegetables  come  in  exceedingly  useful  in  spring  it  is  advisable  to 
plant  freely.  The  best  of  the  plants  from  the  seed  beds  or  nursery 
quarters  should  be  inserted,  affording  them  abundance  of  liquid 
manure  to  give  them  a  start.  Coleworts  can  be  planted  in  rows 
a  foot  apart,  and  Borecole  of  various  varieties  are  useful  to  plant 
now,  giving  them  double  the  distance. 
TOMATOES. — In  warm  and  favourable  weather  for  the  setting 
and  swelling  of  the  fruit  frequent  attention  must  be  given  to  the 
regulation  of  growth,  and  duly  supplying  water  to  the  roots,  as 
well  as  applications  of  a  variety  of  liquid  manure  sustenance. 
Plants  bearing  a  heavy  crop  demand,  considerable  assistance  other 
than  that  supplied  by  clean  water  and  the  soil  they  are  growing 
in.  The  liquid  obtained  by  soaking  cow,  sheep,  or  horse  drop¬ 
pings  is  suitable,  as  well  as  the  drainings  from  stables,  cowsheds, 
or  that  collected  in  a  farmyard  cesspool.  Dilute  to  a  safe 
strength,  and  give  it  when  the  soil  about  the  roots  is  moist,  not 
dry.  Soot  water  is  good  as  a  change',  also  a  solution  of  guano  or 
artificial  manure.  Very  heavy  bunches  of  fruit  should  have  some 
support  to  prevent  the  stem  tearing  away.  A  layer  of  manure 
over  the  roots  as  a  mulching  will  serve  to  keep  them  cool  in  hot 
weather. — East  Kent. 
MANGOES  SOLD  IN  MARKETS  (Pomello).— The  Mangoes 
you  notice  in  the  nwrket  reports  are  not  grown  in  England,  but 
are  imported,  being  grown  in  tropical  countin'  s.  Indeed,  tne 
Mango  tree,  Mangifera  indica,  is  not  often  seen  in  England, 
though  it  has  been  grown  and  its. fruit  occasionally  brought  to 
perfection.  It  is  a  stove  evergreen  tree  attaining  to  a  height  or 
60ft.  „ 
KEEPING  OFF  FLIES  (A.  L.). — We  do  not  know  of  any 
substance  that  would  prevent  flies  teasing  farm  or  garden  hands 
while  at  work.  In  your  part  of  the  country  nudges  are  often  an 
intolerable  nuisance,  and  though  we  tried  smearing  v>  it 
juice  and  quassia  extract  found  little  benefit. 
THISTLES  AND  NETTLES  IN  GRASS  (Idem).— The  best 
method  of  eradicating  Thistles  and  Nettles  m  grass  fields  is  to 
pull  the  former  up  by  means  of  Thistle  pincers  as  fast  as  t  y 
a  p 1/  e  ai 
and  to  stub  up  the  Nettles  by  means  of  a 
drag  hoe,  removing  all  the  creeping  stems,  and  when  ly 
,tou  cannot  do  this,  cut  them  off  uith  a 
allow 
dry 
If  y< 
TO  CORRESPONDENTS 
***  All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should  be  directed 
to  “  The  Editor,”  12,  Mitre  Court  Chambers,  Fleet  Street, 
London,  E.C.  It  is  requested  that  no  one  will  'write  privately 
to  any  of  our  correspondents,  seeking  information  on  matters 
discussed  in  this  Journal,  as  doing  so  subjects  them  to  unjustifiable 
trouble  and  expense. 
BOOK  WANTED  (E.  Cooper). — The  little  book  (“Fruit,  Nuts, 
and  Vegetables  ”)  has  no  definite  address  imprinted ;  but  we 
believe  the  author  (Mr.  Albert  Broadbent)  is  to  be  found  at  19, 
Oxford  Street,  Manchester.  We  have  written  there  to  inquire. 
GROWTHS  OF  PINUS  DESTROYED  (A.  H.).— There  was 
not  any  caterpillars  or  “  grubs,”  but  some  pupae,  or  chrysalids  and 
a  few  moths.  The  moth  is  the  Pine-shoot  Tortrix  Moth,  Retinia 
buoliana,  which  are  to  be  found  during  July  and  August  about 
young  Pine  trees  of  various  kinds.  The  female  lays  her  eggs 
between  the  buds  at  the  ends  of  the  boughs.  The  caterpillars, 
which  hatch  late  in  the  summer,  gnaw  these  so  as  to  cause  a  flow 
of  turpentine  that  gives  them  a  slight  coating,  and  here  the 
caterpillars  hybernate.  In  the  following  spring  when  the  trees 
begin  growth  the  caterpillars  attack  the  shoots  nearest  or  one 
side  of  them,  and  are  to  be  found  under  a  kind  of  web  and 
turpentine  that  flows  from  the  wound.  The  caterpillars  are  to 
be  found  from  September  to  May  or  June,  and  on  ceasing  to 
feed  they  change  at  the  same  spot  to  chrysalids  or  pupae,  the 
cases  of  which  are  brown  or  brownish  yellow,  blunt  at  the  tail, 
and  furnished  on  the  abdomen  with  prickle-like  processes  point¬ 
ing  backwards.  They  are  to  be  found  in  June  or  July,  and  in 
about  a  month  the  moths  appear.  In  the  dusk  of  the  evening 
the  moths  sport  round  the  tops  of  the  young  Pines,  out  of  which 
they  have  emerged  from  the  pupae-cases ;  but  by  day  they  rest, 
and  are  not  easily  seen  from  their  similarity  in  colour  to  the 
withered  shoots  of  which  they  have  been  the  cause.  This  species 
of  Retinia  is  common  wherever  Pine  trees  are  to  be  found,  from 
the  north  to  the  south  of  Europe.  As  regards  remedy  and 
preservation,  the  keen  eye  will  be  on  the  state  of  the  buds  or 
shoots,  and  when  these  show  the  caterpillars  or  pupae  to  be  present 
the  parts  should  be  carefully  removed  so  as  not  to  injure  the 
remaining  shoots,  and  all  these  infested  pieces  should  be  burnt. 
This  will  lessen  the  amount  of  future  attack,  and  the  earlier  it  is 
done  in  the  season  the  better.  If  pieces  of  tin,  about  a  foot 
long  and  2in  or  3in  wide,  are  smeared  with  a  sticky  substance 
and  placed  in  the  outer  forks  of  the  branches  during  July  and 
August  many  moths  would  be  captured,  and  it  is  likely  that 
spraying  the  trees  with  Paris  green,  one  ounce  to  ten  gallons  of 
water,  at  the  end  of  August,  and  again  at  the  middle  of 
September,  would  give  the  caterpillars  a  final  meal. 
burning  theim.  QMr,w 
scythe  as  frequently  as  possible  during  summer,  m  ^  case  allow¬ 
ing  to  get  beyond  the  showing  for  flower  stage  The  freque  ; 
and  continued. cutting  off  weakens  the  stolones  and  the  grOT  tho 
the  grass  may  be  encouraged  by  liberal  dressings  ,  • 
soda  and  sulphate  of  ammonia  m  equal  parts,  mixed,  applji  g 
2k  cwt  per  acre.  ,  „  .  t»t  wrrra 
'  REMOVING  THE  BERRIES  FROM  ASPARAGUS  PLANTS 
(G  F  0  B  ). — It  is  a  good  practice  to  strip  oft  all  the  beine.  , 
as  the  production  of  seed  weakens  the  plants  more  than  anythi  ^ 
appropriating  the  matter  that  would  otherwise  go  to  the  torma 
Hon  of  good  crowns  and  bold  buds,  upon  which  depends  the 
produetion°of  early  and  finy  heads  in  the  foUowmg  sprmg  and 
earlv  summer  We  have  found  it  necessary  to  strip  off  the 
berries  every  year  as  soon  as  formed,  and  thus  give  the  plants  the 
whole  benefit  of  their  resources  in  order  to  yield  the  finest  heads. 
These  pay  best  in  our  experience,  and  amply  compensate  for  any 
outlay  in  removing  the  berries  betimes. 
NAME  OF  CATERPILLAR  (K.  A.).— The  specimen  sentws  a 
caterpillar  of  the  puss  moth,  about  two-thirds  grown. 
July  and  August  upon  Poplar,  WiLow, 
Bipon  Apple.  It  is  one  of  oui 
iiqc  ipnii  fancied  to  have  some  resei.L«,»^ -  --  —  -  f 
We?  of 
the  body.  At  the 
AT 
It  feeds  in 
or  Alder,  occasionally 
most  singular  caterpillars,  and 
unblance  to  a  cat ;  the  moth 
n  lb  rmi  eh  a  par 
The 
hard.  The  moth  emerges  during  the  ear]y 
TURNING  YELLOW  AND  DECAYING 
BOTTOM  AND  TOP  (Raspail) . — The  most  common  cause  of  the 
fruit  swelling  up  to  netting  size  and  then  turning  yellow  and 
rotten  at  tlie°stalk  and  eye  is  an  excessive  supply  of  water  at  the 
roots  and  So  close  and  cold  condition  of  the  atmosphere  mo^re 
resting  on  those  parts,  and  attack  by  a  fungus  is  thus  g  A 
KHSS'Spiggi 
species  of  Gleosporium,  closely  allied  to  G.  tiuctigenum,  a 
P1  °PR01p  AG  ATIN  &t  STEPHAN  OTIS  (Raspail).— This  bea"tlf"[ 
and1  very  popular  stove  plant  is  increased  by  cuttings  of  the 
previous  year’s  growth,  inserted  singly  m  pots,  m  spring,  and 
placed  I/ a  dole  frame  with  a  temperature  of  not  less  than 
60deg.  When  rooted  and  growing  freely  they  should  be  potted 
on,  and  when  becoming  large  or  well  established  do best  P lan 
out  in  a  bed  of  prepared  soil,  it  succeeding  best  m  turfy  loam. 
A  bed  about  3ft  square  will  suffice  for  a  large  plant  the  growth 
beiim  trained  to  a  trellis  beneath  the  roof.  The  El  vast  on  \anety 
is  a  "Very  proliferous  form.  The  best  way  to  pack  the  trusses 
of  bloom  is  in  shallow  wooden  trays  just  sufficiently  deep  to 
hold  them  erectly  and  packed  closely  together,  a  little  washed 
moss  being  placed  on  the  bottom,  then  cover  with  tissue  paper, 
and  on  that  a  layer  of  wadding,  so  that  all  may  be  kept  secure 
The  trays  are  then  fitted  into  a  box  two  or  three  deep  and 
securely  fastened  and  labelled.  It  is  not  advisable  to  do  more 
than  place  the  truss  ends  in  water,  so  as  to  have  the  blooms 
quite  fresh  when  packed,  but  these  dry  oil  the  surface.  In  this 
way  we  have  despatched  large  quantities  ;  but  there  may  be  othei 
modes  of  packing  which  some  correspondent  may  oblige 
particulars  of. 
with 
