May 22, 1366. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



381 



fortnightly meeting. Mr. Berkeley having remarked that Brownea grau- 

 dit^eps, which he had once seen in flower in Fifeshiro, is quite as hand- 

 some as the .Tonesia, passed on to Gloxinia Lady Cremorne exhibited 

 by Messrs. Veitch, which might be compared to the Hose-in-Hose 

 Primula in appearance, but differed from it in not having a coloured 

 calyx lite the corolla, but a corolla in two separate divisions occupying 

 the same relative positions as the two tlivisions in hose-iu-hose flowers. 

 Lilacs Charles X. and Dr. Lindley then came under notice, and the 

 former was described as being by many degree'^ the tiner ; also the 

 Long-podded Radish, the Raphanus caudatus of Linnceus. There are, 

 it was stated, two perfectly distinct varieties — one the Rat-tailed 

 Radish of Madras, the other that sent out by Mr. Bull, of which the 

 pods attain a much greater length. ' A branch of Holly sent by Mr. 

 Vrockter, of Clifton, was the nest object of atteuliou. It was in that 

 peculiar state known as fasciated, which is very common in Asparagus, 

 and arises from several Btems becoming united or grafted together 

 during their growth. The efficacy of sulphur as a remedy for the 

 Hop-mildew was then touched upon, and although a prejudice had 

 existed among cultivators again^^t its use, and the Hop-factors had by 

 their refusal to purchase Hops fi*om grounds where sulphur was em- 

 ployed preventeil those willing to use it from doing so, the factors 

 were now convinced that it exercised no prejudicial effect on the 

 quality of the beer, and Mr. Berkeley added he was happy to hear 

 that they had withdrawn their opposition. 



TEACUES AND PEAKS IN NEW ZEALAND. 



We have received from Mr. Swale, of the Avonside Botanical 

 Gardens, a dozen of Royal George Peaches grown by liim. 

 They are of very large size and weight, and fiilly equal to any 

 grown in England. These specimens ehow what can be done 

 here for the cultivation of the Peach, The soil and climate of 

 New Zealand are admirably adapted for this purpose, and it is 

 a subject of regi-et that gardeners do not pay more attention to 

 the culture of this fruit. The bright sunshine we enjoy here 

 is eminently favourable to their growth. The gardeners and 

 amateurs, in too many instances, are satisfied with Peaches, 

 the ordinary production of the ground. Now, the climate is 

 almost similar to their natural habitat, Persia, and with a 

 little care and attention it is possible to raise Peaches equal to 

 those grown on walls in England. The chief requisites are to 

 thin out the crop, and by judicious pruning to admit a free cir- 

 culation of hght among the trees. — Lyttleton Times, Feb. 23?-rf. 



[Note from the Ghoweh. — One dozen of theso Royal George 

 Peaches weighed 4j lbs. good weight, and in circumference the 

 average size of the Peaches was 8| inches. In this instance I 

 may mention a Windsor Pear tree, about sis years old, which 

 produced me in this unfavourable season with us for Pears a 

 crop weighing nearly 2 cwt. (within 4 lbs.), of good-sized fruit, 

 a register being kept of the weight gach time any were picked 

 xor sale. The crop of Windsor Pears does not ripen he:e all at 

 one time. They are in great demand at Is, per pound. — ^W. S.] 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S MEETINGS. 



The Aprh:, Meeting was presided over hy the new President, Sir 

 John Lubbock, Bart. Amongst the donations to ths library were 

 the pubUcations of the Royal Society, a monogi'aph of the Plat^'pedes, 

 bj M. Chapuis, (tc. 



Mr. W. W. Saunders exhibited a remarkable group of eggs of some 

 tmknown insect (most probably a species of Hemerobiidfle), from 

 Aastralia, affixed in a ruw on the bark of a tree by slender peduncles, 

 ■which were alternately directed in opposite angles ; the eggs also, which 

 are oblong, being alternately placed longitudinally and transversely. 

 Also, the lai-v£B of a Beetle, probably belonging to the Lamellicorn 

 tribe, which exhibited an elongated fungus of the genus Sphitria, 

 growing out of each side of the neck like a ram's horn. Also, four 

 larva) of a species of Locust, from Austraha, about half an inch long, 

 attached to a twig ; one of them was tightly held head downwards by 

 the other three, which were themselves so locked in a close embrace, 

 and had their legs bo intricately entangled, that it s.'cmed as if they 

 had been unable to extricate themselves and thus had died. 



Mr. Rogers sent for exhibition specimens of Pimpla oculatoria, one 

 of the Ichneumonidaa, which he had reared from the egg-bag of a 

 Spider found under the loose bark of an Oak fence. The species had 

 previously been reared on several occasions from Bramble sticks, which 

 had been bored into bj other insects in order to build their nests 

 therein. 



Mr. F. Smith exhibited a specimen of Bemtex olivacea, which was 

 stated to have been taken many years ago by Dr. Hicks, near Glouces- 

 ter. It had been fignred hy Donovan as BritiBh, under the name of 

 B. octo-puuctata, but as no locahty had been recorded, it had been 

 subsequently doubted whether it is a truly Britiah species. 



Mr. J. J. Weir exhibited some larvai supposed to he the oommon 

 Mealworm, which had been found in a wine-cellar, where they had 

 - done considerable damage by eating through the corks of port wine 



bottles, so that tho wine had escaped, the aealingwax with which the 

 cork^ had been capped not having proved a proveulive agaiust their 

 entrance into them. They had only partially attacked the corka of 

 sherry bottles, whieli had consequently escaped, probably in conae- 

 qnence of the flavonr imparted to the cork by the wine not proving 

 palatable to the larvai. It was suggested, as a probable cause for their 

 incursion into the cellar, that bran might have been used in packing 

 tho wiup instead of sawdust. 



Mr. W. W. Saunders said that numerous instances of the injnry 

 done to wine corks by various insects had been brought before tho 

 Society. Ho remembered a case in which a number of lurvro of 

 Dennestes lardarius (which had been brought into tho Docks with a 

 cargo of skins), made an incursion into a neighbouring warehouse, in 

 which wore stored some manufactured corka, which they perforated 

 and rendered useless. Largo damages were claimed against tho 

 Dock Company, and a lawauit seemed imminent, but tho matter was 

 finally compromised. 



The May Meeting of the Society was held on the 7th inst., the 

 chair being occupied by W. Wilson Saunders, Esq., F.R.S., &c., Vice- 

 President. The donations to the library received since the last meet- 

 ing were very numerous, iucludiug tho publications of the Royal, 

 Linnean, and Royal Agricultural Societies, the Entomological Societies 

 of the Netherlands and Stettin, and an ostensive series of cntomo- 

 lo^cal works presented by the Secretary, J. VV. Dunning, Ksq. 



Mr. McLaehlan exhibited some galls found on Ground Ivy a.t 

 Le^visham, supposed to be those produced by Aylax Glechomre, which, 

 however, occur singly, whereaa those now found formed a cluster of 

 four. 



Mr. Bond exhibited a fine variety of Cabera exantheraaria, reareJ 

 by the Rev. M. Horton. 



Mr. Newman exhibited some larvffi of Hepialus lupulinns, de- 

 stroyed by a fungus (Sphreria?), which occupied the whole of the in- 

 terior of their bodies, sending out its mycelia in all directions through 

 the skin, whilst in some specimens a stout capitate column rises from 

 the nock of the larvfe immediately behind the head, evidently tho 

 fructification of the fungus. This curious formation is well figured 

 in the "Entomologist" for the present month. 



Mr. Stainton exhibited some Dipterous larvre, sent from Alloa by 

 Mr. Borthwick, which had entirely destroyed the main stems of young 

 Wheat plants in that neighbourhood. 



Mr. Saunders, however, stated that the habits of this insect had 

 been previously well observed, and that its result was tho throwing 

 out of an abundant supply of lateral stems, no more injury being done 

 to the crop than by pasturing sheep upon Wheat when growing too 

 luxuriantly at the beginning of the season. 



Mr. Stainton also exhibited a number of drawing's of the larvse of 

 various species of Microlepidoptera, made by Miss Wing, from speci' 

 mens which he had collected at Meutoue and Cannes, amongst which 

 was Prays oleellus, which is as injurious to the young shoots of the 

 Olive as P. cui-tisellns is to those of the Ash ; also, a di-awing of a 

 true gall formed on the shoots of Gy]isophila eaxifraga by a small 

 Lepidopterous larva (Gelcchia sp. ?). The only other instance hitherto 

 observed of a true gall formed by a Iicpidopterous larva is that pro- 

 duced upon Polygonum aviculare by Asychnia ffiratilla. He also 

 exhibited a drawing of another larva (Gelechia sp. ?), which he had 

 found feeding on the bark of tho Spindle Tree, beneath masses of ex- 

 crement of Yponomeuta Evonymella. 



Mr. Janson exhibited specimens of Throscus elateroides, a species 

 of small Beetle, new to Britain, taken by Messrs. Brewer and E. Smithy 

 near Rochester. 



The Chairman exhibited some Interesting nests of Spiders and 

 Oiketici, from Australia ; and 



Mr. E. L. Layard gave an account of the manner in which tho 

 caterpil ars of the last-named genus (also found at tho Cape of Good 

 Hope. Cevlon, ttc), construct and enlarge the curious sack-hko cases 

 in which they reside. 



Mr. Howard sent a small collection of insects of various orders, 

 from Port Natal. 



Mr. Layard called the attention of the Society to the fearful ravages 

 of a small species of White Ant at St. Helena, which had been in- 

 troduced into the island about twenty years ago from the west coast 

 of Africa, and which threatened to destroy every portion of timber- 

 work in the island. Already James Town may be said to be devas- 

 tated by it. The Cathedral was entirely destroyed, as was also tho 

 Library and its contents. Teak is the only kind of wood they will not 

 eat, although they freely bore through it. He also cave an account of 

 the habits of Honey Bees at the Cape of Good Hope, where, although 

 they sometimes took up their abodes in caverns, &c., where they had 

 abundance of space, they swarmed as often as our domestic Bees con- 

 fined in hives, and that, too, notwithstanding various means had been 

 tried, includiug the use of Nutt'a hives, without any satisfactory result 

 in preventing the swarming. 



Tho following papers were road: — "Notes on Collecting Lepidop- 

 terous Insects during the Spring of 1866 at Hy(;re3," by the Rev. 

 Douglas Timins, M.A. " Descriptions of New British Icbneumonidffi," 

 by Mr. Thomas Desvignes, in which nearly thirty new species belong- 

 ing to Gravcnhorst's genus Tryphon were described. 



The (Chairman announced that the part of tho Society's "Trans- 

 actions " containing Dr. Wallace's prize essay on the culture of the 

 Ailanthus Silk Moth, was ready for distribution among the members. 



