152 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[May, 



year by Bishop de Schweintz, and was very care- 

 fully done — the original is in German. 



In the narrative of the captivity of the Gilbert 

 family, Rebecca Gilbert states that in the autumn 

 of 1780, "when they arrived at their settlement, it 

 was the time of gathering their crops of corn, pota- 

 toes, pumpkins, and preserving their store of hick- 

 on,- nuts." Another of the captives, Thomas 

 Peart, says, "When they had loitered at home a 

 few days, they set about gathering their winter 

 store of hickory nuts ; from some of them they e.\. 

 tracted an oil, which they eat with bread or meat 

 at their liking." 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



On the Larv.e of the Codling Moth. — The 

 Rev. N. Coleman, of Berlin, Conn., notes in the 

 NeTU England Zoological Ouarlerlyihe. following : 



" As is well known, the early brood of the Cod- 

 ling moth, Carpocapsa pomonella, pass through all 

 their changes in a comparatively short period, 

 while the late brood do not produce the imago till 

 the next spring. It is not so well known, proba- 

 bly, that the late brood remain in the larval state 

 till spring. From some observations made the 

 past season it seems certain that this is the case. 

 While looking after Canker-worm moths, Novem- 

 ber 29, 1881, 1 found a cocoon of a Codling-moth 

 under a piece of bark on an apple tree ; and on 

 opening it the larva was found to be unchanged. 

 Another cocoon was found April 25, 1882, and on 

 examination the larva in this was still unchanged. 

 Just how much longer it would have continued in 

 the larval state is a question I cannot now answer." 



New Hybrid Silk Moth. — Mr. Alfred Wailly, 

 whose reports on silk-producing and other Bom- 

 byces reared by him have been published in this 

 Journal, has submitted to the Council specimens 

 of cocoons and moths of a new silkworm, which 

 he has reared by the crossing of Attacus (An- 

 theraea) Roylei, female, the Himalayan oak silk- 

 worm, with Attacus (Antheraea) Pernyi, male, the 

 North China oak silkworm. The resulting hybrid 

 is larger than either of the parents. Mr. Wailly 

 writes that " the larvae of the hybrids were reared 

 with the greatest success in France, Germany, 

 Austria, England, Scotland and United States of 

 North America, and everywhere splendid cocoons 

 were obtained. This year (1882), in April and 

 May, the moths of this hybrid emerged from the 

 cocoons in equal proportions of male and female, 

 all perfect insects, which paired with the greatest 

 facility." He concludes by saying: "Contrary to 

 what has taken place with the crossing of different 

 species of silk-producing Bombyces, I have this 



time produced a new species, which is larger, 

 stronger, and I think superior in every respect to 

 the parent species, and susceptible of reproduc- 

 tion." Some notes on these hybrids were read 

 before the Entomological Society on May 3, 1882, 

 by Mr. W. F. Kirby. — Society of Arts Journal. 



Ros.\ minutifolia. — We have before us a dried 

 specimen in bud of this beautiful little thing, 

 recently discovered by Dr. C. C. Parry, in Lower 

 California. We suppose the ladies will exclaim, 

 " Isn't it cute 1" when they see it, or perhaps, "The 

 little dear 1" We shall pardon them for these 

 phrases, for we feel like joining with them. The 

 little "moss" around an ordinary bud, has always 

 given a new value to the ordinary rose ; here we 

 have a bud set among leaves which are all like 

 mossy beds. We are glad to know that Dr. 

 Parry has recently succeeded in getting a good 

 supply of roots, and which are now growing nicely 

 in his garden at San Diego, California, so that we 

 may soon see it in culture everywhere, as well as 

 this little bud in a dry state. 



The Name Arborvit.e. — Why Thuja occiden- 

 talis came to be known as "Arborvitae" has long 

 been a puzzle to the botanists. In the proceedings 

 of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadel- 

 phia, just issued, there is a note showing that the 

 tree was distributed by King Francis the First, of 

 France, under the name of Arbre de vie, between 

 1534 and 1547 (when he died), and that it was 

 probably received through Jacques Cartier's expe- 

 dition. Reference is made to the Indian remedy 

 which, during the terrible winter sufferings of the 

 band, saved the lives of a remnant from death 

 by scurvy. This tree, compared by Cartier's 

 editor to a French oak, Ouercus ilex, in size, is 

 supposed by modern botanists to have been the 

 white spruce, Abies alba, and that the remedy was 

 simply spruce beer. The note shows that this is 

 improbable, and the author hazards a guess that 

 the arborvitce was the life-saving herb, and the 

 facts account for the origin of the name. — Inde- 

 pendent. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Pteris tremula. — "J. M.," Torrington, Conn., 

 says : In the March issue of the Gardeners' 

 Monthly, in Mr. Falconer's " Notes by the Way," 

 I see he expresses surprise at Pteris tremula being 

 hardy here. The variety mentioned is what I 

 have long known as such. Yet I may be in error 

 as to its nomenclature, and am not prepared to 



