variegated leaves. The Globe amaranth, which bears purple everlasting flowers, classed botanically as Gomphrena, is a useful plant, and particularly suited for growing in a mass. The true coxcomb (Celosia cristata) bears the well-known peculiar flower-heads; this plant needs a warm situationindeed, all the family of amaranths will thrive best in warm situations. There are many varieties of Celosias, but their flower-heads are more openin fact, become spikes or masses of spikes, and these by some persons are much more preferred than the coxcomb. Some of the best varieties are C. cristata coccinea; C.c. comosa, C.c. variegata, C.c. Huttonii, and others. The Antirrhinum, or snapdragon, is a useful flowering herbaceous plant. There are numerous varieties-some tall-growing, that is, up to about 2 or 3 feet, and others are dwarf. The latter are pretty little plants, useful for small gardens, but well worth growing anywhere. The Antirrhinum is, perhaps, one of the most useful plants to grow for general purposes, for it is nearly always in bloom; that is, it will be if you take the trouble to cut back the old flowering spikes before the seed ripens. Aquelegia, or Columbine-another well-known plant of easy management. There are many varieties, and some of them bear exceedingly pretty flowers. Other useful plants, the seeds of which may be sown:-Asters, Balsams, Bartonia, Browallia alata, Coreopsis, Campanula or Canterbury Bell, Candytuft, Carnations, Cornflowers, Marguerite, Chrysanthemums, Clarkia, Cosmos, Single Dahlias, Datura, Larkspurs, Dianthus, Foxgloves, Eschscholtzia, Gaillardia grandiflora, and other varieties, Helichrysum, Sunflowers of varieties, Hollyhocks of varieties, Honesty, Ipomopsis elegans, Sweet Peas, Linum coccineum, Lobelias, Lupins, Maurandia alba and rosea creepers, Mignonette, Forget-me-not, Nasturtium, Nemophila, Pansies, Petunias, Phlox Drummondii of varieties, Picotees, Portulaca, Rhodanthe, Salpiglossis, Salvia, Saponaria, Scabiosa, Stocks, Tagetes (marigolds), Verbena, Virginian Stock, and Zinneas.

Obtain some of the many beautiful varieties of Irises, including some of the Japanese. These bulbous and creeping rooted plants will succeed best in moist situations, but will flower well under ordinary conditions if they are not allowed to become very dry. They need the sun, and will not succeed well in a shady place. There is a variety of Iris foetidissima, bearing variegated leaves, which makes a very ornamental plant. It is not frequently met with in this Colony. The Japanese species is known as Iris Kampferi. There are many varieties of this of great beauty, which are becoming very popular, and deservedly so.

If Bouvardias were not planted early in the fall they should be planted during August or the early part of September if the soil is not too dry. However, although the soil may be very dry, you can plant if you have a good supply of water, and use it in sufficient quantity to keep the plants from flagging. Camellias may also be planted as well as other evergreens. Use some shading if the sun is very hot at midday. An old shingle or two or a little brush-wood will answer very well, but the plants should not be overshaded, or else they will become weak and may die off. Prune roses, and do not be afraid to use the knife well. The usual advice for pruning roses is to prune back hard all those kinds which do not make strong growth, but do not prune back the vigorous growers so hard, or else they will produce too much wood at the cost of flowers. The first thing to do is to cut out clean all dead wood, then if the plants seem to be too crowded cut out clean the crowded shoots, then cut back the remaining branches, and endeavour to make a well-balanced plant and a neat job. To become a really good rose grower one must learn from experience and observation. Use a sharp knife in preference to shears, and do not be afraid of a few scratches from the

thorns. When the pruning is finished, gather up all the prunings and bura them, then clear away weeds and fork up the ground between and around the plants. If you are not a good hand with a fork, and keep tearing and dragging up the roots as you dig, you had better use a sharp spade, for it is better to cut the roots than drag and tear them about. You need not dig up the ground more than 2 or 3 inches deep, and if you stick to such a depth you will not cut many roots. When you have finished this work spread a mulch of dung all over the bed about 2 or 3 inches deep. If you have, say, fifty roses planted 3 or 4 feet apart, you will require a good deal of dung, but, of course, this should be plentiful on every farm. The rose is one of the most interesting and beautiful flowers it is possible to grow, and the best kinds for general purposes are those known as the tea-scented and hybrid teas, for they will be nearly always in blossom if the seed-vessels are cut off as soon as the flowers fade away.

Orchard Notes for August.

ALL pruning and winter spraying must be completed during this month, as towards the latter end of the month the sap begins to rise, especially in the warmer parts of the Colony. Planting should also be completed, as it is not advisable to plant after this month, because if there is a cold, dry spring there is sure to be a considerable loss amongst late-planted trees. The remarks on pruning, planting, spraying, cultivating, ploughing, &c., that have been made in these notes for the three previous months are still to be borne in mind. Remember that everything connected with the working of an orchard pays to be done thoroughly, and you may be quite certain that if it will not pay for doing thoroughly, it has not the slightest chance of paying if done in a careless and slipshod manner.

There is not any large amount of fruit, except citrus, to market during the month, and in the gathering, handling, and marketing of this I can only reiterate the remarks that have been made previously in these notes.

Growers of citrus fruits will have to take active measures to prevent the further spread of diseases of several kinds, which are now spreading so rapidly amongst the Cumberland orchards, that unless growers take concerted action to keep them in check, there is little doubt that it is only a question of a few years before profitable orange-growing in Cumberland will be a thing of the past, as it is now the exception to find an orange or lemon free from disease, the skin being usually either covered with scale insects of various kinds or disfigured with spots, blotches, or scabs, as well as in many cases being badly attacked with the orange rust mite or Maori. I strongly advise all orange and lemon growers to thoroughly spray their orchards as soon as they have taken the crop off, and, if possible, before the blossom opens, with two or three dressings of Bordeaux mixture. Leaving the oranges hanging on the trees till Christmas, or later, is one of the best possible ways to foster and disseminate fungus diseases, because it prevents the trees ever receiving a spraying, as to spray ripe fruit with Bordeaux mixture would spoil its appearance for market, and, also, it is mainly on this ripe fruit that the fungus growths produce the spores that will germinate on and produce the spots, blotches, or other blemishes of fungus origin that will be on the succeeding crop. In my opinion it would be better to sacrifice the late crop for a season, and to thoroughly clean the orchards, as, unless very systematic, thorough and concerted action is taken, I am certain that these pests will not be kept under, as the various fungus diseases multiply so rapidly, or rather produce such vast numbers of spores or seeds, that a single infested orchard will rapidly spread the disease throughout the whole district. Maori, or rust mite, is best destroyed by spraying the trees with a sulphur and soft-soap spray when the fruit is the size of marbles, and dusting the trees with sulphur, applied by means of the sulphur bellows, in the early morning, has also been found very efficacious both on the orange mite and red spider.

E

Growers of deciduous fruits have also a pest to deal with that they should lose no time about. I refer to the black or peach aphis, which attacks peaches, nectarines, apricots, Japanese plums, and almonds. In many districts the cultivation of peaches has been practically abandoned owing to the ravages of this insect, and it is increasing considerably in the coast districts as well. During the winter the insects are semi-dormant, and may be found on the under side of small branches, in young shoots or suckers, near the base of the tree, and on the roots that are near the surface, especially those near the trunk of the tree. All these insects should be completely destroyed-those on the twigs by spraying with resin and soda wash, three or four times if necessary, using a medium-sized Nixon nozzle and a powerful pump, and those on the roots by either injecting bi-sulphide of carbon into the ground round the roots or by forking in lime or gas-lime round the roots, which will cause the insects to leave the roots and ascend the tree. In ascending the trunk the insects may be caught in large numbers by means of a bandage tied round the tree, and then smeared with any viscid substance, such as a non-drying oil, boiled till it becomes very sticky, molasses, &c., or the insects may first be driven from the roots, and then destroyed by spraying as advised.

If the insects are kept well in check during the winter the trees will have a chance to make a good start in spring, and to blossom and set their fruit, after which the spotted lady-bird, Leis conformis, is usually able to keep the aphis in check, so that it does little damage. The chief damage is done just as the buds are bursting, as the insects then cluster in great numbers round any growing shoot, and check leaf and fruit growth to such an extent that the tree is either permanently injured or the crop is destroyed.

Unfortunately the larvae of Leis conformis do not hatch out till the aphis has done the most of its injury, and in this respect I am inclined to think that it would pay us to import and naturalise some foreign or English aphiseating ladybirds, especially the one that is of such value in destroying the hop aphis in England. The naturalisation of predaceous insects has been of immense value to American horticulturists, and I believe it will be found to be equally valuable here.

Codlin moth should be destroyed during the month, by scraping off and burning all loose bark in infested orchards where this has not already been done, as every moth killed now means preventing at least 100 codlin moth pests next season.

American blight should be carefully and persistently fought, and in the case of young orchards especially it should be stamped out as soon as it is discovered, as it is far easier to prevent an orchard becoming affected than to eradicate it from an orchard when it has once become firmly established. In the early districts apricots should be sprayed at the end of the month for shot-hole fungus, and peaches and nectarines for rust, curl-leaf, and peach freckle, using Bordeaux mixture.

General Notes.

PLANTER'S FRIEND.

In our April issue appeared a paragraph relative to the death of cattle after eating the young shoots of this plant. In this connection Mr. W. C. Muston, of Karuah, writes as follows:-"It may be interesting to you to know that when my crop of Planter's Friend was attacked by caterpillars, quite recently, I turned some twenty-five milch cows on it for half a day, and they suffered no ill effects whatever. The crop had not come out in head. Mr. Maiden's remarks seem very tangible re the above."

FLOUR FROM SORGHUMS.

THE following paragraph appears in the Mark Lane Express:-"The great increase in production of non-sweet sorghums in the trans-Missouri territory, and their heavy yield of seed, or grain, are causing not a little interesting investigation as to what various uses it can be put, and this is especially true in Kansas, where a probably larger acreage of these crops is grown than in all the rest of the world. Within the past year considerable attention has quietly been given to testing its milling and culinary qualities, and one roller milling company, at Marquette, McPherson county, reports to Secretary Coburn, of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, having ground no less than 1,000 bushels of Kaffir and Jerusalem corn for household uses.

"From their experience, these millers find that the Jerusalem corn mills' to much the best advantage, and although the flour as at present made has not the extreme whiteness of that from wheat, Secretary Coburn vouches that it makes delicious biscuits, muffins, and griddle-cakes, while the millers claim the Kaffir flour is not so desirable for bread, but makes an excellent pancake-flour.

"Important developments in the adaptability of these new grains for milling and food purposes seems likely in the near future. It is said that when ground in rolls by a gradual reduction process the bran is readily separated, but the difficulty of ridding the flour of its dark specks, so formidable from the cook's standpoint, has not yet been overcome.

"The product of these grains is on the market to some extent as Kaffir meal,'Kaffir flour,'Kaffirina,' Kaffir Graham,' &c., and challenges comparison with any of the so-called 'health' flours at one-half or one-third their price."

STRENGTH OF PARIS GREEN.

PURE Paris green consists of the following constituents, according to Ebrmann :