292 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  September  25,  1902. 
Clematis  Jackmanni. 
In  the  Journal  for  August  21  you  try  to  explain  the  cause  of 
Clematis  Jackmanni  growths  dying  off  in  answer  to  “  Wyvem, 
Twickenham.”  I  was  much  interested,  and  should  like  to  give  my 
experience.  My  next  door  neighbour  planted  out,  from  a  pot, 
Clematis  Jackmanni  against  the  wall  of  his  house,  facing  south, 
in'  autumn,  1900.  It  kept  what  foliage  it  had  when  planted,  but 
eventually  died  down.  The  owner  thought  it  dead,  was  impatient, 
and  ordered  another  to  be  put  in,  in  autumn.  1901.  I  advised  his 
man  not  to  disturb  the  one  put  in  the  previous  year,  but  to  plant 
at  a  little  distance.  He  did  so.  The  result  is,  the  one  planted 
in  the  autumn  of  1900  threw  up  a  shoot  from  the  ground  this 
spring,  and  is  now  7ft  high,  and  a  pretty  sight  of  bloom  on  it, 
while  the  one  planted  in  1901  has  died  down  out  of  sight,  similar 
to  the  first.  It  will  interest  me  to  note  next  spring  if  the  second 
plant  throws  up  from  the  ground,  the  same  as  the  one  planted  in 
1900.  I  have  known  other  varieties  of  Clematis  behave  in  the 
same  way. — A.  B.,  Hants. 
An  Object  Lesson. 
I  recently  saw  a  croquet-lawn  made  out  of  a  field  at  the  end  of 
last  winter,  which  presented  a  fine  object  lesson  as  to  the  value 
of  the  “  top  spit  ”  and  the  infertility  of  raw  soil.  The  turf  was 
weedy,  so  it  was  determined  to  pare  this  off  and  take  it  away, 
level  the  ground,  and  sow  it  with  grass  seed.  The  ground  to  be 
levelled  had  a  fall  of  about  1ft  or  more  from  west  to- east;  and,  as, 
on  digging,  the  soil  at  the  depth  of  1ft — a  fair  light  loam — looked 
(to  perhaps  rather  inexperienced  eyes)  “  just  the  same  ”  as  the  top- 
spit,  the  whole  was  levelled  by  simply  spreading  it  from  west  to 
east.  It  “  looked  ”  all  right  when  levelled,  rolled  and  raked,  and 
in  good  order  for  the  seed,  which  came  up  well  and  evenly  in  the 
spring ;  but  really,  of  course  all  the  fertile  earth  had  gone  from 
the  west  side,  and  there  was  but  little  left  till  half  way  across.  A 
change  of  appearance,  despite  the  admirable  growing  weather, 
soon  came  on  the  young  grass,  and  at  August  there  was  not  to  be 
seen  a  really  good  and  healthy  plant  of  grass  on  the  east  side, 
getting  gradually  Avorse  and  worse  till  on  the  extreme  west  it  was 
very  poor  and  yelloAV,  and  hardly  a  plant  at  all.  Of  course,  this 
Avas  because  it  Avas  absolutely  “  raAV  ”  soil  on  the  extreme  west, 
Avith  more  and  more  of  the  top  spit  all  across  the  eastern  boundary. 
It  Avould  have  formed  quite  an  instructive  picture  for  a  horti¬ 
cultural  class. — W.  R.  Raillem. 
- <.#.* - 
Fed  Spider  on  Vines. 
Since  the  discussion  between  “  H.  D.”  and  myself  a  few  Aveeks 
ago,  I  have  made  the  following  experiment.  A  small  pit  con¬ 
taining  Crotons  on  Avkich  Avere  some  red  spider  has  been  vapour¬ 
ised  with  XL  All  nicotine  compound.  The  dimensions  of  the 
pit  are  lift  Gin  long,  and  6ft  wide,  and  lean  to  in  shape.  The 
height  of  the  back  AA7all  is  4ft,  and  the  front,  2ft  Gin.  By 
measuring  the  length  by  the  breadth  and  the  total  by  the  average 
ii eight — Avhich  Avould  be  about  3ft — there  are  roughly  200  cubic 
feet,  of  space.  One  of  the  largest-  sized  vapourisers  Avas  used,  and 
sufficient  nicotine  compound  put  in  the  cup  to  vapourise  a  house 
A\ith  5,000  cubic  feet  of  space.  The  operation  Avas  done  on  a  still 
night,  and  the  plants  in  it  were  examined  next  morning,  and  most 
of  the  spider  found  alive  and  active.  A  plant  each  of  Adiantum 
cuneatum  and  Pteris  Avere  put  in  the  pit  to  see  if  the  fumes 
Avould  destroy  the  fronds.  The  Pteris  and  Crotons  were  found  to 
he  uninjured,  but  the  Maidenhair  Fern  fronds  were  blackened. 
Noav,  “  H.  D.”  Avill  you  kindly  tell  me  Iioav  you  managed  to  destroy 
this  pest  on  your  lines  by  vapourising  the  vineries  Avith  XL  All 
nicotine  compound  ?  It  Avould  also  interest  me  to  know  the  size 
of  the  vineries,  and  the  quantity  of  nicotine  compound  used,  for 
I  must  admit  I  quite  fail  to  see  how  you  accomplished  the  feat  so 
easily,  unless  it  is,  as  you  suggest,  that  aa’c  have  a  class  of  very 
“  hardened  criminals  ”  in  this  part  of  Essex.  I  am  sending  to  the 
Editor  a  leaf  for  his  inspection,  Avhich  I  hope  he  aauII  examine  and 
give  his  opinion  on.  But  I  should  like  to  say  I  hone  “  H.  D.”  will 
not  infer  that  I  am  attempting  to  disparage  the  merits  of  XL 
All ;  far  from  it,  for  personally,  I  think  no  other  preparation 
equals  this  for  the  purpose  it  was  sent  out  for,  viz.,  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  green  and  black  fly  and  thrips.  Perhaps  other  readers  of 
the  Journal  will  give  “  H.  D.”  and  myself,  through  these  columns, 
a  feAv  words  relating  to  their  experiments  in  dealing  Avith  this 
pest.— A.  Jefferies,  Moor  Hall  Gardens,  HarloAV,  Essex.  [The 
red  spiders  Avere  found  to  be  active  on  the  Codiseum  (Croton)  leaf 
sent  to  us. 
- - 
Gardeners’  Education. 
In  the  course  of  a  letter  on  this  subject  the  undersigned  says: 
— ‘‘  In  the  fulness  of  my  ignorance  I  had  supposed  that  industry 
and  uprightness,  coupled  with  a  thorough  knoAvledge  of  practical 
gardening,  would  fit  me  for  a  post  as  head  gardener,  but,  thanks 
to  your  recent  correspondents,  I  iioav  perceive  I  am  quite  unfit 
for  the  task,  and  the  most  I  hope  for  is  to  obtain  a  post  under  one 
of  the  learned  and  superior  gentlemen  gardeners., —  Young 
Gardener.” 
Indian  Pronunciation. 
The  matter  is  somewhat  trivial,  but  a  Avrong  impression  may 
have  been  created  Avhich  I  beg  the  favour  of  correcting.  In  the 
Journal  of  Horticulture  for  August  14,  page  151,  in  a  note  of  mine 
on  the  Sequoias  of  California,  the  Avord  Tholumne,  was  incorrectly 
syllabled.  It  should  be  read  as  if  Tu-ol’um-e,  the  accent  being 
on  the  second  syllable,  and  the  n  mute.  It  is  an  Indian  name, 
one  of  the  counties  of  the  state1  being  so  named,  and  a  grove  of 
Sequoias  being  so  designated.  Se-quoy-ah  is  also1  an  Indian  name, 
and  the  proper  generic  name  of  this  tree  and  of  the  sempervirens, 
although  often  known  in  England  as  Wellingtonia.  There  are 
but  two  species,  gigantea  and  sempervirens,  both  aptly  so  called, 
the  former  from  its  unrivalled  size,  and  the  latter  from  its  tena¬ 
ciousness,  even  the  Avoodman’s  axe  and  the  sheep-herder’s  fire 
being  unable  to  destroy  it.  Cut  doAvn  a  Redwood  (S.  semper¬ 
virens)  tree  of  15ft  to  25ft  diameter,  and  a  w’hole  grove  of  saplings 
Avill  spring  from  the  stump.  Not  so  with  S.  gigantea.  Let  the 
puny  hand  of  man  apply  the  axe  to  him,  and  it  is  finished !  his 
life’s  Avork  is  done.  And  what  a  life !  For  thoysands  of  years  he 
has  weathered  the  storms  of  the  world,  and  one  may  Avell  imagine 
that  the  Fallen  Monarch,  Avith  a  whole;  troop  of  United  States 
cavalry  riding  on  his  trunk  would  rather  be  so  than  to  live,  like 
his  mate,  and  see  daily,  during  the  summer  months,  a  coach- 
full  of  giddy  tourists  passing  through  a  hole  cut  for  the  purpose  1 
Sequoia  gigantea  is  found  only  in  the  Sierra  Nevada  mountains, 
and  then  in  isolated  groups.  Sequoia  sempervirens  abounds  in 
the  Coast.  Range,  some  fifty  or  sixty  miles  west,  but  running 
parallel  to  the  Sierras.  This  range  averages  about  3,000ft,  wThile 
the  other  is  more  than  double,  many  mountain  peaks  reaching 
above  12,000ft,  and  some  above  15,000ft.  About  seventy-five 
miles  north  of  San  Francisco,  in  Mendocino  County,  and  on  up 
through  Humboldt  County,  near  the  coast,  are  still  great  forests 
of  sempervirens.  Will  it  “  live  for  ever,”  or  Avill  the  greed,  the 
short-sighted  greed  of  man,  destroy  it  also  ? — Leonard  Coates, 
Napa,  California. 
Staging  Dahlias  and  Other  Flowers. 
Not  once,  or  twice,  but  very  often,  have  Ave  expostulated  Avith 
exhibitors  both  in  print  and  by  speech,  in  regard  to  the  very 
slovenly  method  which  many  adopt  in  their  staging  of  blooms  for 
competition  at  shows.  What  incongruity  they  display  to  have 
taken  serious  trouble  to  cultivate  their  products  for  a  whole  year, 
it  may  be,  and  be  at  so  much  attendant  trouble  and  expense  in 
exhibiting,  and  yet  to  neglect  the  final  effort.  Perhaps  it  is  that 
some  exhibitors  cannot  stage  Avell  even  when  they  try  their  best. 
For  our  own  part,  hoAvever,  Ave  think  there  could  be  shoAvn  ability, 
Avere  exhibitors  on  the  Avhole  to1  exert  their  judgment  and  their 
observation  more1  than  they  do.  On  this  subject  Ave  quote  from 
a  correspondent,  himself  a  leading  Dahlia  groAver  and  prizeAvinner, 
Avho  writes,  saying : — “  It  seems  to1  me  that  after  all  the  labour 
and  care  required  to  produce  good  flo Avers,  it  is  well  worth  Avhile  to 
devote  the  additional  time  required  in  setting  them  up  to  the  best 
possible  advantage.  The  extraordinary  carelessness  displayed  by 
some  amateurs  in  this  respect  spoils  the  effect  of  the  entire  class, 
to  my  mind,  and  I  wish  you  could  induce  them  to  take  more  pains. 
Apart  from  this  subject,  I  may  add  that  I  have  seventy-three 
plants  this  year,  of  tAventy-three  varieties,  which  I  groAV  in  my 
back  garden,  which  runs  N.-N.W.  and  S.-S.E.,  and  measures  130ft 
by  50ft,  surrounded  by  a  wall  6ft  high.  I  groAV  them  at  the  north 
end  with  a  row  of  Scarlet  Runners  across  the  middle  of  the 
garden,  and  south  of  the  plants  for  protection  against  wind.  No 
one  touches  my  ground  or  plants  from  beginning,  to  end  of  the 
year  but  myself,  and  I  have  no  help  of  any  kind,  and  I  may  add 
that  I  grow  these  lovely  flowers  purely  for  the  love  of  them,  and 
not  specially  for  exhibition,  my  object  being  to  obtain  a  constant 
supply  of  the  finest  possible  blooms  for  the  table,  from  mid- July 
till  end  of  October.  I  cut  them  before  breakfast  every  day  during 
the  season,  and  place  them  in  heavy  stone  vases,  in  a  large,  dark 
airy  cellar,  where  they  remain  till  7  p.m.,  Avhen  I  set  them  up  for 
the  table,  carrying  them  down  on  trays  to  the  cellar  again  at  bed 
time,  Avhere  they  remain  till  the  next  evening.  In  this  Avay  they 
keep  fresh  for  from  three  to  five  days,  according  to  the  tempera¬ 
ture.” 
