MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1957, 23 May 1889, Page 9

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Effect of Fog on Plants,— The foggy weathejf.'ip., 'London is (says a Home paper) making' Itb effects apparent. At the meeting of the Royal' ißotahic Society held last week the secretary' reported that the recent fogs had done much damage to the plants in the conservatories, causing many of them to shed both leaves and flower buds ; more especially had this been the case with Australian plants, which, from enjoying in their own country a large amount of sunlight, were found less capable

, than any others of contending against tfee View- > s'itudes of London weather. "Mr G. J. Syinons, P.R.S., said he believed that foga were increasing* not only in London, bat generally. - Plants, however,' suffered not only from the absence of light, bat from the pores of their leaves becoming filled up with the sulphurous sooty matters oontained'in London fog. M. Lemaitre, at Asmieres has covered with a glass roof half an acre of soil for the culture of asparagus. He thus has a wibter garden, where man freely moves and works, heated at a cost of only one ton of coal every day. But he crops every d»y, during 10 consecutive months, no less than from 1000 to 1200 big bundles of asparagus, which areaold in the market at an average of 7£d to 8d each. It is Calculated that no less than 60 acres would be necessary to crop the same amount of asparagus if it were grown in the open air. . ' A Pear Thhh Ovhb Thbbb Cbntubibs Old.— The "Garden" (London) gives the following description of a remarkable French' pear tree, which, although over three centuries old, is still bearing fine fruitin abundance. Its growth is vigorous, and the tree bears each year from, 3QoO<to-4000 pears. Its date of planting, written on'a stone placed in the wall, was 1580, in the reign of Henry 111. The property where it was found planted was formerly a hospital. ■This venerable tree is taken care of by the owners, so that even now a long life is aesured It. v . - The Blub Mahgubbitb (Agathba C«lesTis).~~This is a plant of easy culture, and what is more, it may be had in bloom almost the whole year ; but perhaps {the season at which it it most generally useful is when the earliest blooms commence to expand in early autumn, as in a genial temperature a succession will be maintained throughout the winter. The clear sky-blue flowers last well in a cut state, and their long wiry stems then stand them in good stead. Cuttings strike very easily, and in order to obtain plants for autumn flowering they must i be struck in the spring and grown on during the summer, towards the end of which, if the plants show a tendency to flower, the blooms must be removed till they are required, as the object then is to encourage free growth. By the end of summer they will be bristling with flower buds, and an occasional stimulant'will serve to lengthen the blooming period. Where no convenience, exists for flowering them during the winter, they may be kept at that ■ season just clear of frost, and in the summer planted out. There is a variegated kind in which the leaves are edged- with white, but the marking, is not clearly enough defined. to cause it to became I popular.—H. P, f It is impossible to give (says a Home paper) any accurate idea of the, number of kinds of insects in a garden, as this depends upon the | number of different species of vegetation which it contains. Almost every plant has its own particular insects which feed upon it alone; some of them may live only on the leaves, others only on the bark, but all confine themselves to this one plant. For instance, no fewer than 40 different species are born, live, and die unon the nettle; while the oak nourishes 184 kinds. 1 ' FeW think when knocking down a nettle with a stick that they were destroying the only home and food of 40 species of living beings. j Few things are improved by constant removal. "An oft-removed house, like^ri oftremoved tree, thrives not so well as those that settled be," and, among the hundreds of recently laid' Out grounds, we feel not a little astonished and delighted when we come upon an old garden were great patohes of snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils, and narcissus come up in spring, and greet us with an earljness and profuseness of blossom not to be seen elsewhere. There is little doubt that gardens, like wine, improve with age, when properly kept ; therefore I would advise all to make changes as faw and as far between' as ' possible. Consider completely before commencing work on a new piece of ground whether the plan determined on will be most suitable ; study the nature of the soil, the favourable or unfavourable aspect of the garden, and the whole exigencies of the situa* tion. A design on paper will bear any amount of changes and alterations, or may be altogether discarded, and a new one substituted; but once the actual ground is begun to be worked, all is chaos and confusion unless a plan is determined on and carried out in its integrity, without perpetual ohanges — incessant changes of weather are hindrance enough, without vacillation and change of purpose in the gardener. Above all, iwork should be carried on with a will at this time of- year, when every spell of flue weathur should be ne>zed upon as a golclnn opportunity too precious to be lost.-'-Exchange.