P4 



JOUHNAL OF HOETICULTUEE 4HD COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ February 4, ISCO. 



taste or sweet in smell, bnt for its efBcaey. Our smell is the 

 surest evidence that onr snlpbnr is in a soluble state, and, 

 tberefore, more active than in mere meebanical mixture." I 

 thought there was much reason in what the old box said, but 

 that still I would send my troubles to the Journal. — Giebdrst 



COMPODND. 



POMOLOGICAL GLEANINGS. 

 We have received from Rev. C. P. Peach fruit of the Easter 

 Beueee Pear, grown against a stonewall at Appleton-le-Street, 

 in tfce North Hiding of Yorkshire. We notice them here be- 

 cause of the excellence of their flavour and the tenderness of 

 their flesh, as an indication of what may be done with this 

 variety in such northerly situations as that mentioned. Mr. 

 Peach says, " We began to eat them November 8!b, and as it 

 is now January 2(!th, it is a very long season for Pears off the 

 same tree. The Pear is grafted on a Quince, and originally 

 planted against a rough stone wall, which I found would not 

 do to train to ; so I have let the tree grow wild, and the top is 

 now 8 feet higher than the low wall. The fruit was borne 

 nearly equally all over it." 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

 Dk. Perceval Wright has succeeded to the Professorship of 

 Botany in the Dublin University. 



J The Eev. SI. J. Berkeley is appointed Her Majesty's 



Commissioner at the Inieknaiional Hobticcltceal Exhi- 

 bition AT Hamrurg. 



We have received the prize schedule and rules of the 



Great Fruit and Flower Show of the Caledonian Hokiicdl- 

 TURAL Society, to be held in Edinburgh on the 8th and 9th of 

 September next. The prizes are numerous and liberal; and 

 every variety, form, and colour of fruit imaginable will find a 

 class wherein it may be exhibited. There are classes for fruits 

 from foreign countrie.", and special prizes for France and Italy, 

 Austria and Prussia, Germany, Holland and Belgium, United 

 States, British North America, Turkey, and Egypt. Such a 

 schedule will surely be an inducement which will draw together 

 one of the finest displays of Fruits ever seen in this country. 



The following prizes are offered for competition at the 



Fruit Committee of the Royal Hortioultdral Society, to be 

 held on Tuesday the IGth inst., viz.— 1, Dessert Apples, single 

 dish, £1, 15s., 10s. ; 2, Dessert Pears, single dish, £1, loe., 10s. ; 

 3, Dessert Apples, three dishes, £1 5s., 15s., 10.«. ; 4, Apples, 

 Bix dishes of the best kept fruits, £1 5s., 15s., 10s. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S MEETING. 



The first meeting of this Society during the present year was held 

 at Burlington House ou the 4th of January, Mr. W. H. Bates, the 

 President, being in the chair. Amongst the donations to the library 

 received since the last meeting were ttie publications of the Linnean, 

 Royal, and Geneva Societies, and the " Entomologists Annual for 

 the present year. 



Mr. Frederick Bond exhibited a number of specimens of the com- 

 mon Tortoiseshell Butteifij, which had been reared during the past 

 summer, and which were uniformly of very small size and darkly 

 coloured — pecuUarities owing, as was supposed, to the extreme heat 

 and dryness of the season, which had parched the food-plants of the 

 caterpillars, and a?celerated the development of the insects, which had 

 remaiued in the chrysalis state less than a week. He also eshibited 

 a dark variety of the female of the Purple Emperor Bntterlly. Mr. 

 E. G. Meek exhibited specimens of Dittnthcecia B&rrettii, taken by 

 Mr. Gregson in Ireland, and Mr. Boyd a specimen of Crambua my- 

 elins, captured at Blair Athol, being the second known British specimen. 



Mr. T. Smiih exhibited a very iuteresfinp series of the nests and 

 cells of various Indian species of Bees, Wasps, and other Hymenop 

 tera, collected by Mr. C. Horoe, and presented by him to the British 

 Museum. Drawings of many of these productions, and of the insects 

 by which they were made, were also exliihited by Mr. C. Home, who 

 was present, and gave some details of the habits of the different 

 species. Amongst these was a leaf-cutter Bee, which had formed its 

 cells inside a terra cotta vase, having only a very small aperture : 

 there were also the cells of the smallest species of Indian honey Bee. 

 Apis floralis, the male of which had been regarded as a distinct 

 species, and named Apia lobata fay Mr. Smith. Mr. Home likewise 

 exhibited the cocoon of a largo species of Bnprestis (Stemocera 

 chrysis), of which a number had been found in the earth at the foot 

 of the tree in which the larva; had fed. 



The Secretary exhibited some photographs of Wasps' nests, pre- 

 sented to the Society by Mr. John Hogg, and supposed to have been 



built by Vespa arborea. Smith, and V. britanoica, Leach. These 

 nests had been descril)cd by Mr. Hogg in a paper read at the last 

 meetiup of the British Association at Norwich. 



Mr. F. Smith read a memoir on the aJhnities of the curious genus 

 Sibyllina, Wcstwood, which he had at first thought belonged to the 

 family of the Ants, but which he now regarded as referable to the 

 Ichueumonid£p. Professor Westwood. in reply, defended its position 

 as one of the Aculeata. 



Mr. A. E. Eaton communicated a note on the structure of the 

 ovipositor in winged insects, with reference to the recent investigations 

 of M. Lacaze-Dnthiers and Dr. Packard. Mr. Edward Saunders 

 read descriptions of some new genera and species of exotic Buprestida-. 



Professor Westwood exhibited a species of plant Bug, which be bad 

 received from Mr. Thwaites, of the Public Gardens at Paradenia, in 

 Ceylon, iu which island the insect is very injurious to the Rice planta- 

 tions. It appears to be identical with the Leptocorisa varicomis. Fab. ; 

 also a small species of Icbneumouid^e, the larva of which is externally 

 parasitic on the surface of the body of a small spider in Ceylon. He 

 also read descriptions of some new genera of exotic Coleoptcra, of 

 which he exhibited drawings and dissections. 



GARDENING IN TOWNS. 

 Last week I sent you an account of my practice in growing 

 bulbs that bloom tolerably well in the City smoke. With your 

 permission I will add a few more remarks in continuation of 

 the subject. 



Glamolos. — The Gladiolus is very showy, and the bulbs, 

 if taken up after they have bloomed and the stems have died 

 away, will last for years. The bulbs should be dried and stored 

 in dry cocoa-nut fibre refuse or sand, hut before doing so the 

 young offset bulbs should be taken off the sides. I plant early 

 in February, as I have found that if planted in the autumn 

 they are likely to rot before they commence growing. I dig a 

 hole in the border about 9 inches deep, and fork up the bottom 

 to give good drainage ; then with a mixture of one-third rotten 

 dung and two-thirds loam I fill-in the hole, and with a trowel 

 open the ground to the depth of 4 inches, and put at the 

 bottom a little sand. I fill up with sand after the bulb has 

 been planted, as this assists to drain off the wet and keeps 

 away the worms. If planted in patches let the bulbs be inches 

 apart, and in the summer evenings supply them well with 

 water. Arrange the colours according to taste. The varieties 

 are very numerous, and any of them will grow in a smoky 

 atmosphere. 



The English and Spanish Irik. — These do remarkably well, 

 and are very pretty with their distinct stripes. They should 

 be planted in October, from 4 to 5 inches deep, in sand, anil 

 will grow in any situation. If fresh earth can be obtained put 

 a little round them ; but they will do without it, and bloom 

 freely. 



Jonquils. — Like the Iris these bloom very freely, and may 

 be treated in the same manner. They are rather pretty, have 

 a very sweet scent, and can be grown in almost any soil. 



Polyanthus Narcissus should be treated in the same way as . 

 the Hyacinth. There are many sorts, and all are hardy, bnt 

 the colours are few. For spring blooming they are very nseful. 

 Those I have are showing the bnds already and are 3 inches 

 high, but I am afraid of the frost. 



Lilies. — All the hardy varieties I plant from October to 

 January. The common Lilinm candidnm does best when 

 planted early in the autumn, and soon commences to grow. 

 It requires a little attention when 4 or 6 inches high ; short 

 sticks should then be placed round the stems for support and 

 protection against the wind and those pests to gardeners, the 

 cats. They are very brittle in the stem. Lilinm chalcedonicum 

 (Tnrk's-cap), L. tigrinum (Tiger), L.martagon, L. anrantiacom 

 (Early Orange), and L. bnlbiferum (Early Bed), have all 

 bloomed freely with me. Any mixture of soil will suit them, 

 but the fresher and richer the better. They should be planted 

 5 inches deep in common sand, and when digging the borders 

 be careful not to disturb the roots. 



The Japan Lilies. — This beautiful family of Lilies will 

 bloom very freely in borders if not too much exposed to 

 draughts. I plant them in November in 5-inch pots. If small 

 bulbs, put three in a pot ; if large, put only one. The compost 

 should he three-sixth parts of rotten turf chopped up with a 

 spade but not sifted, mixed with two-sixths leaf mould or peat, 

 the remaining sixth being silver sand or good sharp common 

 sand. Drain the pots well, and plant the bulbs halfway down 

 the pot ; then keep them in a cold frame without water, and 

 on fine days give plenty of air. When sure of no more frost 

 plant them out in the borders, putting a little of the same 



