262 



JOURNAL OF HORTlCtJLTUBE AND COtTAGE GABDENEB. 



( Marcli 27, 1873. 



it has not been bred in such a locality, bavmg doubtless le- 

 VleA thither at evening's dusk, attracted by ^^^ °^°Yt~ 

 summer flowers ; and then thereafter, haying satisfied '*« appe- 

 tite sought a convenient spot to promote its digestion by 

 aking rest-a wise precaution which is not instmctive, unfor- 

 tunately, in living creatures of a nobler type. The foro wings 

 with their delicate marblings of dark brown harmonise v^y 

 nearly with the tint of many palings which are innocent o the 

 tar-brush, and even the white dots might pass for tmy bits o 

 Lichen ; the reddish base of the hind wings is mostly eonceaed 

 from view. I have taken a female moth hanging by one leg 

 from the bar of an iron railing in a garden, seemingly m jus 

 the position to furnish a choice morsel to some bnd. She was 

 not incubatiug. No! but preparing to lay eggs; «!? ^n the 

 course of an hour after she deposited about loO. These are 

 largish, and it is noticeable that through the membrane befo e 

 hatching, one can perceive the young larva coiled up head to 

 tail. The full-grown caterpillar is of goodly size, and striped 

 as in S. TUias, which in colour it also resembles. _ The anal 

 horn, however, is without any blue. A singular variety of this 

 larva turns up now and then, and is suffused J^tl ™sy 

 tints ; the moth therefrom is not dissimilar from the oidma y 

 type. Kept in breeding jars or cages, the larv.-e of S. Populi 

 have a peculiar habit of attacking each other's extrem ties 

 and the result is that their anal horns as they grow large 

 appear more or less disfigured. . , ^, . ri„„^^i 



A moth of right noble proportions is the Unicorn or Convol- 

 vulus Hawk (Sphinx Convolvuli), figured on page 261 rather 

 a rare visitant to the garden, but more partial thereto than are 

 many others, being fully sensible to the attractions of the 

 flower beds. Single specimens are picked up in all pai'ts of 

 England, and even near London, more usually m the eastern 

 districts. That it occurs also in the western suburbs I have 

 had proof, since in the autumn of 1871, when passmg through 

 a market garden near Putney, I came upon a patch of Convol- 

 vulus which had escaped cultivation, and I at once perceived 

 traces of the law- work of some large caterpil ar, the bitten 

 leaves affording one proof, and another also stil more unmis- 

 takeable beiug given by the large pellets of ™ss, as the 

 Germans say, which could only have been left by some large 

 Sphinx. The only species likely to feed upon the plant m 

 question was that before us; but as, unfortunately for the 

 observer, the caterpillar is apt to hide itself m the day, I in- 

 stituted a search for it in vain. According to the statements 

 of some it descends to the earth, or even enters it ; this at 

 least is certain, that the insect is rarely detected m the larval 



The moth has rather a grey and shaggy appeai-anoe, the 

 body bemg well clothed with down ; the abdomen has a broad 

 grev stripe down the centre, and pink and black bands on each 

 side. The delicate markings on the fore wings soon disappear 

 after S. Convolvuli has been a short time on the wing. A 

 friend of ours once received a specimen from Devonshire that 

 had been picked up on a gravel walk, and ere it came mto his 

 hands it had been thoroughly washed to rernove the dirt, 

 which was effectually got rid of— and also all the scales of the 

 wings ! — J. B. S. C. 



[For the illustrations from Figuier's " Insect World " gifen 

 with this paper we are indebted to the courtesy of Messrs. 

 Cassell.Petter, & Galpin, of Ludgate HUl, who liberally placed 

 them at our disposal. — Eds.] 



CEEOSOTING WOODWOEK. 



1 HAVE read " Obsekvbii's " communication in your Issue of 

 the 6th inst. with great mterest. I have just ordered the 

 woodwork of a new greenhouse, and I find that I can get tue 

 same creosoted, at a place where such work is done as a 

 matter of busmess, at about the cost of two coats of p^t. 

 There is no doubt as to the advantages that creosote would be 

 on the outside, but I always have had an idea that tax and 

 tar spu-its exercised a very injurious action on plants, i 

 should feel obliged if your correspondent would say whether 

 he has found any injui-ioua effects upon cUmbers touching the 

 creosoted wood, and whether any drop that may fall off the 

 wood on a plant burns the leaves in any way.— U. 



[" Obseevek" repUes as follows ;— The creosote, labour, fire, 

 &c., ought to cost about one-third that of a coat of pamt. 

 The wood should only remain in the creosote two hours ; it 

 much longer the creosote runs out of the wood again. For a 

 house of 52 feet by 1-5 the whole expense was 12.-. I had a 



trough and small boUer close by. Everyone knows that if 

 creosote drips on the leaves it will kill them. I have used it 

 for many years without any drawback. After six months 

 plants may come m contact with the creosoted wood without 

 injury.] 



PEAT FUEL FOR GAEDENING PUEFOSES. 



An answer to a correspondent relative to this subject will be 

 found in another column, and as it is a subject deservedly 

 obtaining much attention now that coals are so enhanced in 

 price, we copy the following from the Irish Fanners' Gazctlc. 

 It will be seen from this that in Bavaria peat is used for heat- 

 ing the boders of railway engmes, and as it is eflicieut for that 

 there can be no reason for its not being efiioient for the gar- 

 dener's hot-water boilers. 



At a meeting of the members of the Eoyal Dublin Society the 

 first commuuication was by Mr. Alexander MacDounell, the 

 subject being " Notes on Peat." The paper dealt with the clit- 

 ferent descriptions of peat made in Belgium of w-hich he found 

 the density to correspond substantially with that found in the 

 bogs of Ireland. One cubic foot of peat was found to be equal 

 to 8.7 lbs. of German peat, and varied from to 12 lbs. per cubic 

 foot. Peat in some parts of Germany was dried m sheds, a 

 process which he believed to be very expensive. He explained 

 at length the most approved methods for the production of com- 

 pressed peat, and expressed his behef that a satisfactory solution 

 of the question of compression would be the making of a p-e^t 

 part of the west of Ireland. He obsei-ved that nearly all the 

 machines which were used in the peat factories of Holland and 

 Belgium for condensing purposes were constructed upon almost 

 the same principle— of first disintegrating and almost destroy- 

 ing the fibre, and then forcing the pulp, by screw pressure, 

 thiough a groove, after which it was cut to the required size. 

 The specific gi-avity of peat manufactured was greater than that 

 of water, and as a rule exceeded the density to which Irish 

 manufactured peat was hitherto reduced. By a machine whicli 

 he had used hitherto for reducing the raw part of peat to a pulp, 

 the continental principle of cutting the fibre was to some extent 

 resorted to ; but by a new machine which he intended to bring 

 shortly into operation the fibre would not be thoroughly dis- 

 organised and cut up, but rather reduced by a series of blows to 

 a homogeneous consistency ; the machine employed bemg a 

 slightly modified concrete miser, in which the blades were set 

 atl sUght inclination, so as to produce a sort of screw motion 

 urging the peat forward to the moulds after it was properly 



™A'^dfscussion followed, and a member remarked that beyond 

 all doubt in remote districts peat could be utilised to a very 

 gi-eat extent, and he hoped it would be ; but, at the same time, 

 he personaUy did not think that they had facts to justify them 

 in coming to the conclusion that it could be made the subject of 

 large commercial operations, to be carried to any very great 



^Vhe Chairman said that both peat and coal were used on the 

 Bavarian railways in proportion as facility for procuring either 



° The Chairman asked if the principle of drying peat by heating 

 the sheds had been tried. ,.i;K„;„i 



Mr. MacDonnell said no attempt had been made at aitiheial 

 drying that he eoiild discover. If peat was dried too quickly it 

 would crack. It would be well to make some experiments upon 

 the partial drying of peat for the first couple of days. Extrava- 

 gant statements had been made in reference to the cost of peat. 

 The fact was that there was no machine-made peat, and tney 

 had no idea whether machine-made turf was going to cost 5s. or 

 10s. a-ton. Both figures were stated, and he thought one had as 

 good a right to say Cs. as 10s. a-ton. 



rPeat is, perhaps, nearer to us in Loudon than we have hither- 

 to beUeved, for in The English Mechanic we read that Accord- 

 ing to Mr. J. E. Scott, the Registrar of the London coal market, 

 an immense deposit of peat lies within seven miles of the lioyal 

 Exchange, and within 10 feet of the surface, extending from 

 Bow Creek, Blackwall, along both shores of the Thames to the 

 sea. Tills only requires to be 'dug, dried and scientifically 

 treated ' to add a valuable fuel fit for aU and e^'ery purpose for 

 which coal is now used. This is good news ; but who wiU dig, 

 dry, and scientificaUy treat' this fuel, and sell it, cheap I J 



Death of Mr. Jabez J. CnATEK.-We regret to have to record 

 the sudden death of Mr. Jabez J. Chater, of the GonviUe Nur- 

 series, Cambridge, on March 10th, from heart disease The de- 

 ceased was the fifth son of Mr. W. Chater, the celebrated raiser 

 of prize Hollyhocks, and it is not too much to say that to mm 

 may be attributed a good deal of his father's success with that 

 flower. For the last ten years Mr. Jabez J. Chater has been 

 at the GonviUe Nurseries, Cambridge, where he has been the 



