March 11, 1875. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICDLTUBE AND COTTAGK GARDENER. 



201 



stretched upon a light framework of poles made sufficiently 

 high for walking under. 



It may be well to remind beginners that trenches filled with 

 manure and rich soil as I have described may readily be 

 adapted to the culture of moat bush fruits, but they would be 

 totally unfit for fruit trees. Raspberries and kindred fruits of 

 lowly growth love a deep, cool, rich soil, and it was a knowledge 

 of this fact that induced me to adopt a plan which success has 

 proved to be right. — Edward Ldckhdrst. 



AURICULA GROWING UNUSUALLY. 



Wn.iT is the proper mode of treating an Auricula which has 

 grown up with a bare stem and throws oat no offsets at the 

 collar ? One writer says that one may safely cut off the lower 

 part of the root, so as to replant deeper ; bat I cannot but fear 

 that a large root cut through might rot and ruin the plant. 

 — G. S. 



[Never having had an Auricula that grew up in this mode I 

 feel hardly competent to advise, but certainly cutting-off would 

 not do. I should suggest planting it deeper. — D., Deal.] 



THE MINISTRY OP FLOWERS. 



I WAS once told of a gentleman who, passing through a street 

 in London, had his attention arrested by a poor woman stop- 

 ping to gaxe at some flowers he was carrying, and, with tears 

 in her eyes, exclaiming, " Thank God, I have seen a flower ! " 

 He was so touched by the circumstance that he gave her the 

 bouquet. This happened some years ago ; but the sweet 

 bright flowers are nearly as rare and quite as precious to the 

 dwellers in the flowerless sunless alleys now as then. 



The influence of a few flowers was lately shed in the imme- 

 diate neighbourhood of the " Refuge." Watch the opening of a 

 box — the spring wayside flowers it contains have been gathered 

 by little school children in a far-off country village, and the 

 loving offering accepted and used for the refreshment of the 

 weary ones cooped-up in the tiny dark stifling rooms in the 

 east end. Listen to the joyous shout of our rescued little ones 

 as Daffodils, Primroses, and Violets are in turn unpacked ! 

 Follow the sweet blossoms to the room above, where the widows 

 gather for their work, and listen to the praises falling from 

 those white pinched lips. 



Come with me next to a close gloomy attic in a street 

 hard by. In a corner lies a poor invalid, the tiny flame of 

 life fast dying out. See how the dim eye sparkles for a brief 

 moment as it catches sight of the fragrant nosegay the Bible 

 woman carries ; bend down gently, and watch the wan face as 

 a smile of welcome to the beautiful flowers plays over its 

 features; then she raises them to her lips, and kisses them, 

 oh, so tenderly ! and we can just hear the faint whisper, " My 

 Father has sent them to wile me away home." Before the 

 cock crow she is gone, " wiled away home" in very truth. 



The mission of those flowers is not yet ended, but I will only 

 mention one more incident. 



A letter from a dying emigrant girl to her mother, who lives 

 in one of the worst courts, has to be taken. But a short time 

 since it was said to be impossible for the workers to venture 

 there. However, the work must be done ; so Miss Macpherson 

 sets forth, accompanied by one of her helpers, and carrying a 

 bunch of the flowers. Entering the court she is besieged by 

 little children and rough women, whose eyes are black from 

 fighting, all clamouring for a flower. One by one the flowers 

 are given ; and oh, the softening influence they exercise ! 



The way into that court is now opened, and we know the 

 little flowers have accomplished their mission. This mission 

 sprang from a very trifling incident. Some five or six Snow- 

 drops were enclosed in a letter, little thinking of their destiny. 

 Soon after word came that the lady had shown them to her 

 sewing class of poor widows ; the flowers were passed round 

 for each of the two hundred "to have a smell," and then 

 divided they were carried to cheer three dying persons, one of 

 whom expired clasping the little flowers. — E. A. H., Home of 

 Industry, Commercial Street, Spitalfields, E. 



[Extracted from " Woman's Work," with part of a letter 

 from the authoress added. 



If Miss Stanley would like some Laurustinus sprays in flower 

 and also Ivy sprays I can send her some. In due time there 

 will be plenty of Lilacs (coloured) ; these she can also have. 

 I will also send her one consignment of Rosea in dne time. I 



cannot offer more, as people oome from Southampton and 

 other places far and near to see the Roses, and would be much 

 disappointed if they came and found the best Roses cut and 

 sent away. — (Rev.) W. F. Radclytfe, Okeford Fitzpaine, near 

 Sliillhiristone, Dorset. 



THE BEAUTIFUL AND USEFUL INSECTS OF 

 OUR GARDENS.— No. 30. 



I HAVE long felt that some injustice is done to the beetle 

 race by various epithets applied to such insects, and by figur- 

 ative allusions in which they appear. " As blind as a beetle " 

 is a familiar phrase decidedly erroneous in its generalisation, 

 though there are some beetles which, if not positively blind, 

 do not make extensive use of their visual organs. Perhaps the 

 misapprehension in this instance has arisen partly from the 

 blundering way in which some beetles move along. My friend 

 the Dor may be taken as an example (he is already beginning 

 to sniff the approach of spring) ; but I myself set down his 

 peculiar movements not to imperfect vision, I rather ascribe 

 them to remarkable obstinacy. A phrenological examination 

 of the skulls of beetles would probably prove that in this order 

 firmness or resolution are more marked qualities than in any 

 other order of insects. " Beetle-headed " in some counties is, 

 I am told, a phrase employed to denote human stupidity; but 

 it is very unfair in its application to the insects of the Coleo- 

 pterous order, which are quite as wise in their generation as 

 any of their brethren. Then, again, what an insult it is to all 

 respectable beetles that such a villainous scamp as the common 

 cockroach should be called a black beetle ! though the mis- 

 take doubtless arose from some non-entomological domestic 

 imagining that the cockroach was the same creature as the 

 beetle designated popularly the Churchyard Beetle (Blaps 

 mortisaga), not by any means confined to churchyards and the 

 like places, but common also in yards and sculleries in various 

 parts of London, and found in country dwellings frequently — 

 a scavenger not without utility in its way. 



These and other causes have made the name of beetle rather 

 an opprobrious one, and occasionally, when I have been point- 

 ing out to some one a beautiful insect of the order, I have 

 been met by an incredulous smile, as much as to say " That 

 can't be a beetle." Some of the handsome Cerambycidie, such 

 as the Musk Beetle (Aromia moschata) certainly offer a great 

 contrast to some of the gloomy-looking species. Our illus- 

 tration (fig. 50) exhibits the imago and pupa of Ctrambyx 

 Heros, a species much resembling our own Musk Beetle, but 

 of larger dimensions. Like others of the Cerambycidie this 

 beetle visits gardens, not with any particular Ul design. Its 

 larva feeds upon wood, and the older authors gave most of the 

 Cerambycid.T? a good character, stating that they only fed on 

 decayed or decomposed wood ; but Mr. Newman asserts, in a 

 recent number of the " Entomologist," that these larvje prefer 

 sound wood, and therefore to an extent they may be regarded 

 as hostile to the plantation if not to the garden. We do not, 

 however, make much account of the injury we receive from 

 Cerambyx larv£P, because our trees have so many enemies 

 more serious. Just so does the Londoner trouble himself little 

 about the uinepeuce per ton he has to pay for the City dues 

 in the face of the exorbitant advance of twelve shillings or so 

 which the merchant has now added. 



The long necklace-like antennae of the Musk Beetle are 

 occasionally an impediment to the creature's free locomotion. 

 A party of them has been observed on a tree trunk with their 

 antennffi singularly interlaced and entangled. Whether they 

 had drawn together in sport, or whether, like wild bulls, they 

 had engaged ia combat, is not known. The elytra or wing- 

 cases display a variety of tints ; the green ground is shot with 

 a bluish tint, or with purple and gold : on the surface of the 

 thorax and abdomen are also fine indentations. Taking its 

 name from the Musk it is really better entitled to be called 

 after the Rose, the scent having most resemblance to the per- 

 fume of the Sweetbriar, and therefore decidedly agreeable. It 

 will adhere to the hand for some little time after the insect 

 has been taken in the fingers ; and Mr. Wood concludes, from 

 his observations on the species, that the insect can emit or 

 suppress this at its pleasure. As one man's meat is another's 

 poison, so what is an agreeable odour to some beings is as 

 repulsive to another ; and if we regard the scent of A. moschata 

 as one of its means of defence, there must be some foe deterred 

 thereby from seizing it. Birds there are which prey upon such 

 seemingly uninviting morsels as these hard-cased insects. A 

 peculiar chirping sound is produced by the Musk Beetle, not 



