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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  9,  1902. 
particularly,  lime  is  an  important  constituent.  Its  function 
seems  to  be  to  strengthen  the  stems  and  woody  portion  of 
the  trees,  to  shorten  the  period  of  growth,  and  to  hasten  the 
time  of  ripening.  Fruit  trees  growing  on  soils  rich  in  lime 
usually  show  a  stocky,  steady,  vigorous  growth,  and  the 
fruit  ripens  well ;  while  those  on  soils  which  contain  but 
little  lime,  particularly  the  clays,  appear  to  have  an 
extended  period  of  growth,  the  result  of  which  is  that  the 
wood  does  not  mature  and  the  fruit  does  not  ripen  properly. 
Nitrogen  is  particularly  efficacious  in  promoting  growth. 
In  fact,  the  amount  of  growth  and  the  colour  of  foliage  are 
reliable  guides  for  the  application  of  nitrogen.  When 
mature  or  bearing  trees  make  a  foot  or  more  of  growth  upon 
all  shoots,  and  when  the  leaves  are  of  good  size  and  dark 
green  coloured,  the  soil  probably  has  enough  nitrogen.  A 
free  application  to  such  soils  of  the  element  nitrogen  might 
do  more  harm  than  good  in  promoting  growth  at  the  expense 
of  fruit. 
Tillage  an  Advantage, 
In  general  it  is  better  to  supply  nitrogen  by  good  cultiva¬ 
tion,  which  assists  nitrification  in  the  soil.  If  the  trees  do 
not  make  sufficient  growth  and  are  yellowish  in  foliage, 
good  cultivation  begun  eai’ly  and  repeated  very  frequently 
in  connection  with  the  use  of  potash  and  phosphoric  acid, 
will  usually  correct  it. 
Potash  is  generally  the  most  important  ingredient  to  be 
applied  directly  to  orchards,  particularly  after  the  trees  have 
reached  mature  age.  The  store  of  available  potash  in  the 
soil  is  much  increased  by  the  thorough  tillage  which  has 
already  been  recommended,  but  in  fruit-bearing  orchards 
potash  should  also  be  supplied  in  some  commercial  form,  as 
sulphate  or  muriate  of  potash. 
In  general  phosphoric  acid  is  probably  less  important  in 
fruit  production  than  potash,  although  it  thrown  the  tree 
into  fruit  quicker,  and  has  a  most  beneficial  influence  on 
the  growth  of  the  wood  and  leaves.  The  best  form  in  which 
it  may  be  applied  to  trees  is  probably  by  bonedust,  and  half 
and  quarter-inch  bones.  The  coarser  the  bones  the  heavier 
should  the  dressing  be. 
The  amounts  of  manure  to  be  applied  depend  upon  the 
character  of  the  soils,  the  kind  of  .  fruit,  and  the  age  and 
vigour  of  the  trees. — J.  J.  Willis,  Harpenden. 
Insects  as  Garden  Adornments, 
A  little  while  ago,  taking  his  morning  stroll  round,  a 
gentleman  remarked  to  his  gardener,  “  I  can’t  think  how  it 
is,  John,  that  there  seem  so  few  butterflies  about  the  garden 
now.”  To  this  John  replied,  “  It’s  because  we  don’t  grow 
the  old-fashioned  flowers,  they  don’t  care  for  these  new  sorts 
from  abroad.”  I  doubt  whether  the  old  man  was  right  on 
this  point,  for  the  perfume  of  many  exotic  species  is  highly 
attractive  both  to  butterflies  and  moths.  But  if  he  was 
thinking  about  the  food  of  the  caterpillars,  hardly  any  occur 
in  gardens  or  orchards,  except  those  of  the  common  white 
kinds. 
With  regard  to  this  present  season,  owing  to  the  wet  and 
stormy  weather  of  early  summer,  butterfly  life  has  suffered 
generally  throughout  our  islands,  hence  the  numbers  resort¬ 
ing  to  garden  flowers  have  been  below  the  average  in  1902. 
Recent  experiments  have  been  made  with  a  view  to  the 
introduction  of  various  ornamental  species  of  butterflies  into 
London  parks  and  gardens,  but  they  are  inclined  to  make 
themselves  at  home,  and  of  course  they  offer  a  great  tempta¬ 
tion  to  juvenile  hunters.  Stragglers  of  the  Vanessa  tribe, 
such  as  the  red  admiral  and  small  tortoiseshell,  occasionally 
appear  upon  flowers  in  London’s  open  spaces,  it  is  true. 
But  the  commonest  butterfly  we  see  is  the  small  white  (Pieris 
Rapse)  which  breeds  in  many  London  gardens,  living  as 
caterpillar  upon  all  sorts  of  plants.  Some  of  the  large 
white  (P.  Brassicse)  also  take  excursions  amongst  the  flowers, 
having  fed  upon  Cabbages  or  kindred  vegetables  on  kitchen 
garden  ground  near. 
We  all  welcome  the  “  children  of  the  sun  ”  to  our  gardens, 
be  they  small  or  large  that  visit  us  ;  some  of  our  friends, 
though  admiring  the  large,  handsome  species,  think  it  is 
quite  delightful  to  see  the  small  blues  and  skippers  moving 
gracefully  from  flower  to  flower.  Much  depends  upon 
locality — a  garden  near  heaths,  extensive  fields  and  old  chalk 
pits,  or  patches  of  waste  land  where  nettles  and  thistles  are 
surrounded  by  a  thick  undergrowth,  is  one  likely  to  have 
butterfly  visitors.  Certain  woodland  species  seldom  leave 
the  copses  for  gardens,  though  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Wood  sets 
down  the  high  brown  fritillary  on  his  list  of  insect  foes, 
because  the  caterpillar  was  stated  to  have  been  found  on 
garden  Violets.  Its  occurrence  must  be  exceptional,  and  it 
A  View  of  the  Gardener’s  House  at  Drumlanrig. 
