June  16,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
0-27 
HOOK  OX  PROPAGATING  PLANTS  (S.  D.). -Apply  to 
^lacniillan  and  Co.,  pnblisher.s,  London,  u'ho  have  a  hook  on  this 
snl)ject  by  L.  H.  Hailey. 
SYRINGING  VINES  (S.  D.).— In  the  house  where  the  fruit 
is  about  all  .set,  and  there  is  no  fire  heat,  it  is  not  good  practice 
to  syringe  the  Vines  at  all,  as,  unless  the  water  is  very  clear  and 
soft,  a  deposit  is  formed  on  the  berries  that  greatly  militates 
against  their  appearance  when  ripe.  The  recommendation  to 
■syringe  at  closing-  time  is  sound  ina.smuch  as  it  applies  to 
damping  or  syringing  all  the  surfaces  in  the  house  other  than 
the  Vines,  and  thus  according  to  the  Vines  a  moist,  genial 
■atmosphere,  without  the  disadvantage  of  .syringing  the  Vines, 
for  reason  before  given.  The  Vines,  however,  will  not  suffer, 
as  a  rule,  on  the  score  of  scorching  if  .syringed  at  4  p.m.,  unless 
the  weather  be  hnusually  l)right  ;  then  the  syringing  may  be 
practised  an  hour  later,  it  being  always  desirable  to  have  the 
foliage  dry  before  nightfall.  Scoi'ching  mostly  occurs  in  the 
morning,  tln-ough  the  snn  acting  powerfully  on  the  leaves  whilst 
they  are  damp,  air  not  being  given  soon  enough  to  expel  the 
moisture  and  allow  the  foliage  to  heat  equally  with  the  sur¬ 
rounding  atmosphere. 
DAHLIAS  (J.  F.).— Goodstont  stakes, 
S^ft  to  4ft  long,  are  necessary  for  plants 
that  are  to  grow  erectly.  When  others 
are  desired  to  be  pegged  down,  the  matter 
should  be  attended  to  while  tlie  plants  are 
still  young  and  easily  bent. 
Dahlia  peg'g'ed  down. 
TREATMENT  OF  MANURE  AND  HOOF  PARINGS 
FROM  A  BLACKSMITH’S  SHOP  (4V.  S.).— The  hoof  parings 
along  with  the  manure,  should  be  placed  in  a  heap  of,  say,  five 
or  six  barrowloads,  and  a  little  snlphate  of  lime  or  potash  be 
thrown  over  it,  protecting  from  wet.  If  wood  ashes  are  at  com¬ 
mand,  cover  the  hea|j  ail  over  with  them,  or  incorporate  about 
an  eqnal  amount  of  wood  ashes  as  of  manure  and  hoof  parings 
through  the  heap,  and  in  either  case  a  good  manure  will  be 
formed  for  Vines  and  fruit  trees,  mixing  well  before  use. 
Material  j)laced  in  a  heap  now  will  be  fit  for  nse  in  antumn. 
PEARS  FOR  EXAMINATION  (L.  H.  ML).— The  small  Pears 
are  affected  by  the  larvre  or  maggot, S;  of  the  Pear  gall  gnat 
fDiplosis  pj’rivora).  This  is  a  small,  gnat-like  grejush  fly,  having 
a  slender  body,  long  legs,  and  a  long  ovipositor  projecting  from 
the  end  of  the  abdomen.  These  flies  appear  in  the  spring,  even 
before  the  blossoms  open,  and  continne  about  ten  days.  As 
soon  as  the  blossoms  open  sufficiently  for  the  insect  to  insert  its 
ovipositor,  the  eggs — often  a  dozen  or  more  in  number — are 
deposited  inside  the  blossom  envelopes.  Three  or  four  days  after 
the  depositing  of  the  eggs  these  hatch  into  little  maggots,  which 
enter  the  ovary  of  the  fruit,  where  they  feed  upon  the  growing 
tissues,  gnawing  and  rasping  it  in  such  a  manner  as  to  destroy 
the  core  and  .seeds,  and  cause  the  fruits  to  become  dwarfed  and 
deformed.  They  remain  in  the  frnit  until  it  cracks  or  decays, 
then  they  emerge  and  drop  to  the  ground,  entering  the  soil  an 
inch  or  two,  where,  somewhat  later,  they  make  oval  cocoons  of 
silk,  mixed  with  particles  of  earth,  and  in  these  remain  appa- 
rentl.y  unchanged  until  the  following  spring,  when  they  become 
pupfp,  and  shortly  afterwards  again  change  into  ilies.  As 
regards  i-epression,  all  infested  fruit  should  be  gathered  whilst 
the  maggots  are  in  them  and  burned.  Then,  when  the  maggots 
leave  the  fruit,  which  takes  place  about  the  middle  of  June,  later 
in  backward  seasons,  supply  a  dressing  of  kainit  beneath  the 
trees,  and  extending  to  some  distance  beyond  the  spread  of  the 
branches,  10  cwt.  per  acre,  71b  per  rod.  The  salt  will  be  dis¬ 
solved  by  the  soil  moi.sture,  and  the  solution,  coming  into  contact 
with  the  naked  larvm,  destroys  them.  Possibly  spraying  the 
trees  with  tar  water  jnst  before  the  blossoms  expand  would 
prevent  the  insects  depositing  their  eggs  in  the  blossom,  while 
placing  pieces  of  tin  or  cardboard  smeared  with  a  sticky  sub- 
.stance  in  the  forks  of  the  twigs  would  no  doubt  capture  a  great 
many  of  the  flies. 
NAMES  OF  Plants.  —  correspondents  whose  queries  are 
unanswered  in  the  present  issue  are  respectfully  requested  to  consult 
the  following  number.  (S.  D.). — Epiphyllum.  It  is  propagated  by 
means  of  cuttings,  or  by  grafting  upon  either  Cererrs  speciosissimus 
or  Pereskia  aculeata.  (Salop).  —  Diervilla  (or  IVeigela)  rosea. 
(Medico).  —  1,  Albuca  ;  5,  Sanseviera  javanica ;  6,  Cyrtoinium 
falcatum,  the  Holly  Fern ;  7,  Pteris  cretica.  You  sent  no  other 
numbers. 
Dahlia  staked 
The  Dillicultles  ol  the  Dairyman. 
From  what  point  are  we  to  look  at  this  subject?  because,  as 
in  countless  other  cases,  there  are  several  points  of  view.  Vo 
all  believe  that  the  life  of  the  dairynmn  is  by  no  means  a  bed  of 
roses,  and,  poetical  as  milk  and  the  milkmaid  may  be,  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  very  stern  fact  to  be  faced.  In  the  first  place,  we 
think  we  shall  have  our  readers  with  us  when  we  say  that  suc¬ 
cessful  dairv  work  is  dependent  in  a  great  measure  on  situatioiij 
that  is,  the'' nature  of  the  land  and  the  distance  from  a  market. 
It  is  still  the  custom  here  to  turn  the  cows  out  to  graze  in 
summer,  and  to  get  good  results,  it  is  absolutely  necessai’v  there 
shoidd  be  something,  and  that  .something  of  very  good,  succulent 
cpiality,  to  graze. 
For  the  present  we  are  letting  alone  the  question  of  hand  oi' 
added  food.  There  are  many  pa.stnres  that  in  May  present 
truly  a  very  deceptive  aj)pearance.  From  that  appearance  an 
outsider  would  gather  that  no  reasonable  cow  could  wish 
for  anything  better  from  that  time  forth  till  the  season  when 
she  seeks  her  winter  quarters  in  the  warm  stable.  Like  the 
wheat  of  the  parable,  that  grew  and  flourished  for  a  time,  so  is 
that  pasture.  A  fortnight  of  regular  grazing  will  turn  it  from  a 
fruitful  field  into  a  desert,  only  to  .spring  again  if  left  completely 
alone  and  watered  with  the  genial  rains  and  warmed  by  the 
sun.  Other  land,  indeed,  will  last  out  for  a  longer  period,  but 
that  grass  is  in  the  minority  which  will  last  out  w’ell  the  whole 
season.  (N.B.— When  such  is  found,  the  price  paid  is  soine- 
thing  pretty  big.)  The  farmer  must,  as  a  rule,  have  something 
more  than  his  grass  to  fall  back  upon  if  he  wishes  to  make  the 
best  of  his  milkers.  We  believe  that  more  returns  can  be  got 
out  of  a  cow  bv  stall  feeding,  than  what  she  would  otherwise  cut 
for  herself  ;  but,  of  course,  this  adds  very  considerably  to  the 
labour,  and  therefore  to  the  expense,  as  the  manure  will  have 
to  be  removed,  the  stalls  kept  clean,  in  addition  to  the  carriage 
and  cutting  of  green  crops.  This,  of  course,  is  the  manner  of 
feeding  in  large  towns,  such  as  Edinburgh,  where  the  animals 
are  kept  in  close  quarters  from  the  time  they  come  in  full  of 
milk,  to  the  hour  they  leave  fatted  for  the  butcher. 
An  unusually  dry  summer  may  entirely  upset  all  the  dairy¬ 
man’s  arrangements,  and  cause  such  inroads  on  his  pocket  by 
forcing  him  to  supply  so  much  expensive  bought  food,  that  his 
profits  for  the  season  may  be  put  down  as  nil.  An  unusually 
wet  or  cold  season  will  also  affect  the  milk  supply  adversely,  for 
although  cows  must  have  a  large  amount  of  water,  there  is  a 
possibility  of  getting  too  much,  and  so  bringing  down  the  milk 
quality  to  a  dangerously  low  point ;  so  low,  that  if  the  inspector 
should  pass  that  way,  there  might  be  a  danger  of  a  report  of 
“added  water  and  ab.stracted  fat,”  which  is  about  as  unplea¬ 
sant  a  thing  as  the  poor  dairyman  can  face.  Such  weather  as 
we  are  enjoying  (?)  jnst  now  is  not  calculated  to  improve  the 
milk  supply:  Wind  N.E.,  and  .strong,  and  with  apparently  little 
chance  of  a  change ;  everything  very  dry,  most  unpleasant  to 
man,  and  most  adverse  to  a  cow  in  full  milk. 
There  is  another  source  of  trouble  with  which  the  dairyman 
has  to  contend.  It  is  quite  possible,  and  very  probable,  that 
his  water  supply  is  not  of  the  best- quality,  and  that  the  quantity 
is  scanty.  Full  and  pure  should  be  his  store,  both  for  the  sake 
of  the  cows,  for  the  proper  cooling  of  the  lacteal  fluid,  and  also 
that  there  may  be  no  hindrance  to  cleanliness  in  all  things 
that  concern  the  milk. 
Some  people  may  say  that  distance,  provided  a  man  is  near 
a  station,  is  now  no  real  impediment ;  neither  is  it  in  a  measure, 
for  trains  run  often,  and  at  high  speed  ;  but  for  all  that  every 
extra  mile  adds  to  the  cost,  and  profits  are  often  so  small  that 
infinitossimal  fractions  have  to  be  reckoned  with.  We  have 
said  nothing  yet  about  the  cows  themselves,  the  difficulty  in 
getting  together  a  good  level  herd — cows  that  are  jnst  in  their 
prime  (someone  must  have  as  heifers).  As  for  the  older  cows, 
at  the  very  hour  they  cease  to  be  profitable  they  can  still  be 
fattened  for  the  butcher,  and  it  is  a  mistake  to  delay  that  day 
too  long.  Much  care  is  needed  in  the  building  up  of  a  good 
herd.  AVe  hear  men  talk  lightly  of  eliminating  unprofitable 
beasts  and  filling  their  places  with  first-rate  animals ;  but,  easy 
as  this  seems  on  paper,  it  is  not  so  easy  to  accomplish  in  reality. 
One  is  apt  to  wish  to  give  a  well-bred  cow  anotber  trial,  and 
see  what  she  will  do  after  her  next  calf,  and  so  forth,  fearing 
that  by  a  change  we  shall  really  be  no  better  off.  If  a  young 
man  begins  on  the  right  lines,  and  has  deep  milking  cows, 
