MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2083, 25 January 1894, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS.

We (Clutha Leader) notice that the leech peat is again making its annual attack on the pear, plum, and cherry trees. This pest feeds on the sap of the leaves, which soon get shrivelled up and ..die. With a little trouble it can readily be got rid of. A little ashes, guano, lime, fine soil, or dust of any kind, thrown over the trees adheres to the slimy leech, which shortly rolls off or dies. The operation will likely have to be repeated a few times before all the leeches are got at with the dust ; but the cure is a certain one, and in case of a small orchard the trouble is not great. If all were to adopt this simple remedy for a few seasons it is possible the pest might be got rid of altogether. Roots draw enormous quantities of moisture from the soil, and bythis means it is discharged into the atmosphere. For example, the common Bunflower has by experiments been found to exhale 12oz of water in 12 hours, and an oak tree, with an estimated number of 700,000 leaves, would in the same way give off something like 700 tons of water during the five months it carries its foliage. A Strange Flower. — It is said that one of the strangest botanical curiosities' in the world is the "Wonder-Wonder " flower found in the Malay Peninsula. It is simply a blossom, without leaves, vine, or stem, and grows as a parasite on decayed wood. This extraordinary flower is something like a yard in diameter, and "has a globular cup in the middle with a capacity of five or six quarts. ■ • > * A Floral Mystery.— The Chinese, Japanese, and Siamese are peculiarly skilful at botaiiical feats. One of their wonderful achievements is known as the "changeable rose." This bloom is white in the shade, and red in the snnlight. After night or in a dark room this curiosity of the rose family is a pure, waxy white blossom. When transferred to the open air the 'transformation immediately stepß in, the time of the entire change of the flower .from white to the most sanguine of saDguine hues depending on the degree of sunlight and' warmth. First the petals tak^e on a kind of washed or faded blue colour, and rapidly ohangeito a faint blush of pink. The pink gradually deepens in hue until you find that your lily whitej rose of an' hour before is as red as the reddest peony that ever bloomed. Corn Marigolds and Crown Daisies.— These are some of the brightest and most beautiful of late summer and autumn flowering annuals. Throughout the past month they have, been of surpassing brilliance, and the frosts do not affect them much. The form of the corn marigold for garden culture is that called grandiflora, and a long line of this has thousands of flowers open' at the present time. ' They are large in size, and of a deep rich yellow colour, extremely showy and effective in any part of the garden, and most useful for cutting. The crown daisies are quite as pretty, as useful for cutting, and more varied in colour, some of the lighter starry flowers being very elegant in the garden or the house. One form has flowers almost identical with those of the yellow Marguerite. It is the prettiest and best I ever saw, having a very graceful Btarlike flower, soft yellow about the centre, shading to cream in the rays. The flower is large too, and in every way an improvement upon the commoner type, in which the flowers are more regular, with . overlapping petals. The seed of this particular form was sent for trial hr Messrs Carter, the packet being labelled crown daisy only, but it is worthy of some distinctive name, being so superior to ordinary types. Button's Golden Queen is of the same graceful character, but has flowers of a deep rich self yellow hue. A strain on trial under the name of "new imbricated" is hardly an acquisition, for the flowers are semi-double, and therefore have lost most of their graceful charm "without any corresponding gain as to lasting qualities. Few flowers last fresh for so long when cut as these single daises. In good ground the 'plants are quite a yard high, and as much through.— A H , in the Field.

Autumn Beauty of Shrubs.— ln bygone days there might have been some reason for the .monotonous repetition of a few plants in making plantations of shrubs, but there is no justification for it at' the present day with such a wealth of fine things to choose from. Instead of the dark masses of gloomy evergreens, like laurel and Portugal laurel, we want groups of the summer things, c whose budding in spring, blooming in. summer, and brilliancy of fruit or coloured leaves in • autumn give that seasonable variety which should be one of the garden's best charms, The little Berberis thunbergi is most refreshing when inputs forth its spring leafage in the lightest and palest of green, succeeded soon after by a profusion of yellow blooms ; but in its autumnal dress it is the most beautiful, and winds up its season with a brilliancy of colour which, if equalled, is not excelled by any shrub bo compact and dwarf. In a gorgeous dress of crimson and gold it; has been beautiful for quite a month. Viburnum plicatum, after it ceased blooming in June, no more attracted notice, but now its leaves are a deep purple red, and the group of it is conspicuous with 'green things all round, Sumachs in their autumn tints are among the brightest shrubs of the garden. The Venetian sumach takes on a vivid 'hue almost aa soon as its wig-like flower clusters have faded ; whilst the stag's horn sumach is at present a glow of crimson. The wyehz hazel is scarcely noticed in spring and summer, but with the advent of autumn its leaves take on rich tints, and after they have fallen its curious flowers appear, and wreathe the shoots in quaint beauty. Rhododendrons are very monotonous when out of bloom, but their near relatives, the azaleas, are rich in a variety of bright hues, and almost as beautiful now as in early summer when blooming. The cockspur thorn, amelanchier, liquidambar, and maples are the brightest things among small trees, and in some places they associate well with the shrubs. Th6y are always preferable to a superabundance of the conifers, the planting of which in many places has been overdone. — Ibid.

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