224 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



I March 19, 1B68. 



under side of all the wiiifTs, or the npper side of the nuder wings alone 

 in varions Lepidoptera. considered as a secondary sexual character, 

 instancing the Fritillary Bntterflies, in which the under side of the 

 ■wings is marked with silvery spots. The President, however, suggested 

 that this peculiarity in these butterflies could not be-regarded as con- 

 nected with the sexual developmLiit, as the females were as much 

 ornamented as the males. Mr. Weir stated that he had noticed a 

 curious fact in connection with the brightly coloured under wings of 

 the common Tripho^na, which .seemed to indicate that this system of 

 coloration was of no use to the insect in deceiving birds which invari- 

 ably endeavoured to seize the moth by its very conspicuous hind wings 

 on its attempting to escape by flight, many instances of the moth with 

 torn hind wings having been observed by him. Mr. Staiuton read 

 letters from Mr. Heni7 Doubleday and the Rev. Mr. Hellins relative 

 to the numerical proportion of the sexes iu specimens of moths reared 

 by them individually. The former of these gentlemen affirmed that 



the males were decidedly more numerous thau the females, and that 

 in the whole of the Microlepidoptera he had never obsen-ed an instance 

 in which the females preponderated; whilst Mr. Hellins as decidedly 

 stated that there were more females thau males produced in the 

 majority of the species which he had reared ; and Mr. F. Bond and 

 Mr. MacLachlan stated that in the large Bombyeida', they had reared 

 the two sexes in nearly equal numbers. It was important that the 

 observation should be derived from reared specimens, as in a state of 

 nature it often happened, from the different habits of the two sexes, 

 that only specimens of one sex would be noticed by ordinary observers ; 

 as, for instance, in the common May Fly (P'.phemera vnlgata), it is 

 only the males which unite in the beautiful dances in the air which 

 every one must have observed. The President also called attention, 

 to a memoir just published by Dr. Iviesenwetter. in which he has 

 applied the Darmnian theoiy to the development of distinct and per- 

 manent races in various species of insects, especially Chrysomelida^. 



A RIBBON BORDER OF PELARGONIUMS AND VIOLA CORNUTA. 



I DIFFER from your correspondent, " M. H., Acldam Hal!,''' in 

 the Jonrnal of February 27tli, auent a little favourite of mine, 

 yclept Viola cornuta (I detect little difference between the rival 

 queens of that ilk). Viola cornuta Turple Queen might be 

 said to have swayed a regal sceptre last year over the accom- 

 panying little kingdom or queendom of Flora, and right royally 

 did she discharge her office, albeit not clad in sheen of crim- 



son or gold ; not gaudy certainly ; but with a quiet lovelinesR 

 all her own did she entwine herself round the hearts of her 

 beholders, her ermined companion, the tomentose Cerastium, 

 acting well as a foil for her beauty. Very chaste indeed was 

 the combination, lightened up by the bright yellow variegation 

 of the circles of Cloth of Gold Pelargonium, and the brilliant 

 shades of scarlet of the other circles. 



1. Viola comnta Purple Qneen. 



2. Cerastium tomcntosum. 



I S. Cloth of Gold Pelargonium. 

 [ 4. Imperial Crimson Pelargonium. 



This chain border occupies the centre of a long strip of grass, 

 bounded on one side by a shrubbery, and on the other by a 

 terrace wall some G feet high, clothed with Koses, Jasmines, 

 &c. On the top of this retaining wall, from the level of the 

 terrace above rises an ornamental parapet wall of dressed open- 

 Vfork Bath stone 3 feet high. From this terrace and the end 

 grassy platform a bird's-eye view of the border is obtained, 

 the windings of the cable being distinctly traced, and the 



5, 8. St. Fiacre Pelarponium. j 7. Cybister Pelargonium. 



6. Bnrnu P.iea-soli Pelargonium. | 9. Lord Palmerstou Pelargonium. 



general effect last year, planted as indicated above, was greatly 

 admired. I daresay a better effect would have been produced 

 had some good dark-foliaged and bright-coloured Pelargonium 

 alternated time about with the Cloth of Gold ; but the arrange- 

 ment, though a show of uniformity was kept up, partook some- 

 what of our whilom Mentor, poor Beaton's pincushion beds, 

 inasmuch as expediency dictated in a measure the materials 

 employed. — W. Hudson, Chase Cliiic, Derby. 



BOILERS FOR HEATING BY HOT WATER. 



At a recent meeting of the Leeds Professional Gardeners' 

 Friendly Benefit Society, Mr. E. Featherstone, gardener, St. 

 Ann's Villa, Burley, Leeds, read some notes on boilers used by 

 himself or known by him for heating garden structures. We 

 readily pubhsh these notes, and would do the same gladly with 

 any notes which a gardener would send us, relating facts on 

 any horticultural subjects, whether in his own experience or 

 observed by him iu the practice of others. Such records of 

 facts are among the best additions to knowledge. 



" Where there are many houses, and a continued high tempe- 

 rature to maintain, no doubt the hot-water system is found 

 far superior to the old flues. Granted, then, that to secure the 

 test boiler suited to our purpose must be the first consideration. 



" We have at St. Ann's Villa a kind called the Pocket Boiler, 



five of which are now heating fourteen houses very effectively ; 



and believing that they are not in such general use as their 



merits deseve, I thought the accompanying sketch of one 



Fig. 1. 



ff. Flow pipe ; t, return pipe. 

 (fig. 1) would be of interest, as affording some means of com- 

 parison to others perhaps more extensively used. 



" It will be seen that they are very simple in construction, and 

 being all of cast iron are, therefore, very durable ; also that 

 they bear some resemblance to the old saddle boilers, but, per- 

 haps, more to one I have seen advertised as the terminal 

 saddle, and which I have no doubt is a very good boiler. 



" A neighbour of mine (Mr. Wright), has bad one of them put 

 in place of a more complicated boiler, which failed after being 

 in use only a very few years. After a few weeks' trial he speaks 

 well of it, though I fancy one detect in it is the flaps or sides 

 of the saddle not being deep enough to admit of its holding 

 more fuel ; and as the firebars are hollow and part of the 

 boiler, the fireplace cannot be made larger by setting the boiler 

 on a course or two of bricks, which is an advantage of the 

 Pocket Boiler. 



"I object to hollow firebars, as tending to prevent thorough 

 combustion — a matter I hold to be nearly as important as 

 utilising the heat ; indeed, in our case, where we have to burn 

 a low quality of fuel, consisting of cinders that fall through 

 the bars of iron-puddling furnaces, it is of the first importance 

 to ensure thorough combustion. 



" About three years ago my employer, Mr. Butler, bought one 

 of Clarke's Patent Water Jacket Boilers to heat the front hall, 

 passages, &c. ; but it fails entirely when it is attempted to 

 burn the same quality of fuel as we burn in the garden. I 

 attribute this to the hollow firebars and water jacket, as it is 

 called. 



" Our Secretary (Mr. Sunley), has in use one of Marriott's 

 boilers, about which there were some inquiries a short time 

 since in The Jovbk.^l of Houticulti-ce. He says that he isi 

 perfectly satisfied with it, and would not exchange it for any 

 other kind of boiler. 



" Other two neighbours of mine have boilers like fig. 2, 

 with which they are both highly satisfied. For small places, 

 to burn any quality of fuel, and to need little attention, I 

 strongly commend them. Not the least of their recommenda- 

 lions are their low price, simplicity of construction, and dura- 

 bihty. 



