December 10, lf6i ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



441 



may expect bulbs, PriniroseR, and other early flowers ; but in 

 the dark days we must be satisfied in (general with gazing upon 

 ornamentallooking plants, and as only such as can bear '20' of 

 frost are suitable, their number is far from being great. 



For some years I have urged the claims of winter gardening 

 instead of that of spring, because of the much longer period 

 that the one has to do duty than the other. Under the best of 

 circumstances and with the best possible selection of plants, it is 

 seldom that much display is made in spring gardening until 

 April. Crocuses and Primroses may have been in some time 

 before that if the winter has been mild, and the first-named as 

 well as Snowdrops may have all flowered during March, but 

 even if they should have done so, what was there to look at in 

 December and January, and often long after that? This pro- 

 longed interval may certainly be turned to better account than 

 is often done ; and as plants having a light-coloured or varie- 

 gated foliage form the best contrast with the dark-coloured 

 damp ground, any possessing foliage of such a character are 

 acquisitions. I hope, therefore, to hear something more of 

 this plant, and I will again advert to winter gardening and the 

 plants suitable for it. — J. Eobson. 



POMOLOGICAL GLEANINGS. 



We never had more striking evidence of the influence of an 

 orchard house over the quality, size, and beauty of fruit than 

 was afforded by two Apples, part of the crop grown at Ham- 

 burg, in the orchard house of Mr. Johann Wesaelhoeft. One 

 of the Apples, the White Calville, is well known as a large and 

 excellent dessert fruit ; but the specimen sent was larger than 

 large, for it measured 14 inches in circumference, and in every 

 other merit surpassed those we have had from an open wall. 

 The other specimen was of the Melon Apple, and this was the 

 largest we ever saw of the variety, being 131 inches in circum- 

 ference, most brilliantly coloured, and all that a culinary Apple 

 should be — flesh high-flavoured, and cooking tender. 



A CORRESPONDENT, "E. M. B. A.,'' writos to us as 



follows : — " In the interesting account given in the Journal of 

 the ' DoYENNK DC OoMicE Pear,' I venture to think that either 

 the writer or the printer of the article in question has fallen 

 into a mistake in accenting the last letter of Doyenne. Turn- 

 ing to Contanseau's French Dictionary I find as follows : — 

 ' Doyen, s. m., 1, dean ; 2 (of age), senior. Doyenne, s. m., 

 1, deanery ; 2 (Pear) Doyennfi.' The explanation of the latter 

 word rather implies that Doyenne is correct ; nevertheless, it 

 seems to me that Doyenne should be regarded as the feminine 

 of Doyen, the word poire, which is feminine, being understood. 

 Cornice is evidently derived from the Latin word comitium, an 

 assembly ; so that ' Doyenne du Comice ' must mean ' Dean 

 of the Assembly,' a title to which, from the account you give, 

 it is justly entitled. It can scarcely be maintained that any 

 one should name a Pear ' the Deanery of the Assembly ' instead 

 of the Dean — (. e., the Chief of the Assembly. The one makes 

 excellent sense, the other is little less than rubbish." 



[All authorities, French and English, place the accent on 

 the last letter of Doyennii, and, we think, correctly. The first 

 Pear so named was raised in the garden of a French deanery, 

 and literally means " the Deanery Pear." Since then many 

 Pears resembling it in some one or more qualities have received 

 the same name, with'some affix to mark that they are differing. 

 Thus we have the Doyenno d'Alenf;.on, or Deanery Pear of 

 Alencjon ; Doyenne d'Automne, or Autumnal Deanery Pear ; 

 and full twenty others. Doyenne du Comice we believe is the 

 Deanery Pear of the Committee, it having obtained the special 

 approval of the Committee of the Horticultural Society of 

 AJigers.] 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S MEETING. 



In conseqnence of a recent arran£;ement the meetings of this Society 

 are now held twice in most of the winter months, and are discontinued 

 during the autumnal ones, instead of taking place onco a-month 

 throughont the year as heretofore. The second meeting was accord- 

 ingly held on the IBth of November, the chair beinj^ occupied by the 

 President, \V. H. Bates, Esq. Amongst the donations received since 

 the last meeting were various American publications on Natural 

 History, which clearly proved that a great movement in the study of 

 the natural sciences is taking place in the United States. The 

 Lyceum of New York, the Natural History Society of Boston, the 

 Entomological Society of Philadelphia, and the Essex (U.S.) Insti- 

 tute, were amongst these Societies. 



Mr. Frederick Bond exhibited specimens of one of the Plant Beetles, 

 Ckrysomela polvgoni (Phsedon polygoni, Steph.), of which immense 



numbers had oicturrod in various parts of Cambridgesliiro in the 

 middle of the mouth of September, crawling about the footpaths ia 

 such profusion tliat they might have been collected by basliels. The 

 lurvie on a prcvions occasion had been found to be vei-y destructive 

 to Tarea. He also exhibited a specimen of Poha nigro-cincta, one of 

 the rarest of !tho British Noctuid:c, from the Islo of Man ; Diauthajcia 

 capsincola variety, from Warrington ; and Tapinostola Elymi, from 

 Norfolk. 



Mr. McLachlau exhibited a scries of specimens illustrating the 

 entire history of one of the most remarkable British insects, I'^noicyla, 

 pusilla, a species belonging to the order Trichoptera, containing the 

 Caddiee Flies, but dififering from every other recorded species in being 

 terrestrial in the larva state, feeding upon damp Mosses and Lichens, 

 and forming a small, moveable, trumpet-like case, in which it resides, 

 and from which the perfect insect is developed in tho umnths of 

 October and November, the males being furnished with full-sized 

 wings, whilst the females are wingless, thus resembling some of the 

 small case-making species of Moths. The insect had been discovered 

 by Mr. Fletcher, near Worcester. 



A specimen of Papilio Machaon, captured near Rupert House, 

 Hudson's Bay, was exJiibited, being the lirst instance of that species 

 having been taken in North America, although a closely allied speciert 

 (regarded, indeed, liy some writers as a local variety), occurs in Cali- 

 fornia not unfrequently. It was also stated that Pontia Kapa?, one 

 of our commonest European insects, had been introduced within tha 

 last thirty years into North America, where it had become greatly 

 disseminated in Maine and Vermont. 



A prospectus of a new general specific and synonymical Catalogue 

 of tho Diurnal Lepidoptera, by Mr. Kirby, was distributed. 



The Secretarj- read an article by Dv. Perkins, on the luminous 

 species of Elateridffi found in the Now World, where they are knowu 

 under the common name of Cucujo. 



Professor Westwood exhibited drawings and dissections of several 

 new and auomalous exotic Hymenopterous insects, including a new 

 genus which had been referred to the families of the Ants and S&nd 

 Wasps, but which the author considered more nearly allied to the 

 Vespidip. Another new genus was also described, nearly allied to 

 the curious genus Trigonalys, of which, also, three new beautiful 

 species were described. He also stated that the new British Noc- 

 tuideons Moth, recently captured at Folkestone by Mr. Briggs had 

 proved to be Leucania albi-macula. 



PORTRAITS OF PLANTS, FLOWERS, AND 

 FRUITS. 



Oncidicm MACRANTHUii (Large-flowered Oncidium). Nat.ord., 

 OrchidaceiB. Li7ni., Gynandria Monaudria. — A magnificent 

 species. Native of Peruvian Andes, at an elevation of from 

 1000 to 14,000 feet. Flowers veUow and purple.— (i-'ot. Mag., 

 t. 5743.) 



Parrotia persica (Persian Parrotia). Nat. nrd., Hammame- 

 Iidacea>. Linn., Pentandria Digynia. — One of the rarest trees in 

 cultivation. Nativeof Northern Persia. Its special beauty is the 

 foliage, which late in autumn is gorgeously orange, golden, and 

 scarlet, and hangs long. — {Ibid., t. 5744.) 



Campanula isophtlla (Ligurian Campanula). Nat. ord., 

 Gampanulacert. Linn., Pentandria Monogynia. — A very 

 beautiful, rare, hardy herbaceous plant. Native of Liguria, 

 between the Gulf of Tuscany and the Apennines. Flowers blue. 

 —{Ibid., t. 5745.) 



Lychnis Lagasc.^ (Lagasca's Lychnis). Nat. ord, Caryophyl- 

 laoea;. Linn., Pentandria Monogynia. — One of the most rare 

 and most beautiful of our rock plants. Native of North-western 

 Pyrenees. Flowers rose-coloured. — {Ibid., t. 5746.) 



Agalmtla staminea (Long-stameued Agalmyla).^ Nat. ord., 

 Cyrtandraceni. Linn., Diandria Monogynia.— Native of Java. 

 Introduced by Messrs. Veitch & Sons. Flowers scarlet, with 

 yellow throat, and purple stamens. — (Ibid., t. 5747.) 



Madresfield Court Black Grape. — " This Grape is worthy 

 of the warmest commendation both in regard to its appearance 

 and quality. It was raised by Mr. Cox, gardener to thi' Earl o£ 

 Beauchamp at Madresfield Court, Great Malvern, some half- 

 dozen years since, and was selected as the best of a batch o£ 

 seedlings obtained from the Muscat of Alexandria and the Black 

 Alicante intercrossed in both directions. It proves to be a 

 Grape of excellent quality, setting its fruit as freely as the 

 Black Hamburgh, than which it takes about a fortnight longer 

 to ripen. 



" The Vine is of a robust constitution, producing short-jointed 

 wood, with prominent pointed eyes. The fruit-clusters are 

 large, regularly tapered, and handsomely shouldered. The 

 berries are large, of a longish oval shape, like those of the 

 Muscat, perfectly black, and covered like those of the Alicante, 

 with a fine thick bloom. They are attached by stout warted 

 footstalks. Their skin is tough; and their flesh is firm 



