Angnst 20, 1874. ] 



JOURNAL OF H0RTICULTU51E AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



165 



second week in July till the end of September. The list of 

 kinds upon which I depend is — Rivers' Early Beatrice, Early 

 Rivers, Rivers' Early York, Rivers' Dr. Hogg, Grosse Mignonne, 

 Noblesse, Royal George, Bwrington, Rivers' Lord Palmerstou, 

 Walburton Admirable. These are arranged in the order ol 

 ripening, but I am by no means certain that this Selection of 

 the kinds I have actually in cultivation might not be improved 

 by the addition of two or three more of the Rivers strain. 

 Early Alfred, for instance, bears an excellent character, notably 

 for flavour ; Alexandra Noblesse, too, I am inclined to think 

 good. Can anyone assist me? I invite discussion, because I 

 feel assured that a more general knowledge of Mr. Rivers' 

 numerous seedlings, both of Peaches and other fruits, will 

 prove conducive to the general good. I have several of these 

 among an extensive collection of fruit of all kinds under my 

 oare, and can confidently assert that those kinds which have 

 already come into bearing, tend to the conviction that Mr. 

 Rivers' descriptions are most reliable and trustworthy, and 

 they may be depended upon as the calm and honest deductions 

 of a veteran practitioner. — Edward LnCKHCRST. 



STAG'S-HEAD FERN. 



YonB correspondent " Beta," page li4, mentions that a 

 Fern so called grows on the limestone formations, what is the 

 botanical name of the Fern? Does not " Beta" mean Lyco- 

 podium clavatum, common Club Moss ? Tbis I have met with 

 on the mountain slopes in the Isle of Man, where it grows 

 luxuriantly, trailing on the turf. I brought some fine speci- 

 mens home ; a portion I planted in an outdoor fernery, the re- 

 mainder in pots in a cool greenhouse (I did not try a Wardian 

 oase) ; but neither existed much longer than about twelve 

 months. If " Beta's " Stag's-head Pern is so hardy and 

 easily cultivated, possibly he has discovered something that 

 novices like myself have not seen or heard of. — F. P. 



[The " Stag's-head Fern " cannot be a Platycerium. If he 

 ■will send us a specimen we may be able to identify it. — Eds.] 



DESTROYING WASPS. 



Amongst the many modes of destroying wasps' nests de- 

 scribed by your contributors, I do not notice a very convenient 

 one that has been adopted at various places with as fair a 

 share of success as any other mode that I have ever seen tried. 

 It is simply a snuib composed of dry gunpowder and flowers 

 of sulphur, broken up line, mixed in the proportion of about 

 three of the latter to one of the former. The sciuib is made 

 by wrapping a piece of common brown paper round a stick 

 about as thick as the forefinger, the paper being three or four 

 ply thick, when it is tied with string or matting, and being 

 drawn off presents a sort of paper tube. One end is after- 

 wards closely tied up, and the tube is then filled with the 

 mixture, pressing it tightly in with a stick, and then tying the 

 other end. A squib of 3 or 4 inches long is generally sufficient 

 to stifle a wasps' nest for a reasonable length of time. It burns 

 with a searching smoke for at least halt a minute, and is easily 

 lighted by holding the end to a candle. Of course, digging 

 out the nest is necessary, and I do not know of any effectual 

 way of destroying wasps without digging out. 



Placing offensive-smelling substances at t'ne mouth of the 

 hole is an old-fashioned mode, as I have seen it adopted more 

 than twenty years ago with a ball of loose tow or something 

 of t'nat kind soaked in turpentine, and put into the mouth of 

 the hole, and sometimes the spirit has been poured into the 

 hole, saturating the soil so as to give oft deadly fumes to the 

 wasps attempting to pass it ; but they sometimes succeed in 

 •digging out tor themselves another outlet. Other substances, 

 as coal tar and muriatic acid, were recommended before paraf- 

 fin became common, but I have most faith in some process in 

 which digging-out forms a part, and I have also most confi- 

 dence in the use of gunpowder as a stupitying agent. I may 

 add that I have seen it often enough used alone in a wetted 

 state, and made up into the form of a cigar ; but it is more 

 •costly than when mixed with brimstone, and requires some little 

 practice to wet it up into the proper condition to burn as long 

 a time as possible, for if too wet it will not burn at all, and if 

 not wet enough goes oft too soon, whereas the squib rarely or 

 never fails, and is in every way convenient. 



Although we had quite the average number of queen wasps 

 in the spring, I have since met with one but very rarely up 

 to the time I write (August 10th) ; this is unusual, for we 

 generally find them more or less abundant as the Gooseberries 



ripen, whereas this year this fruit will be all gone ere wasps 

 make an appearance. Another maxim seems also not to apply 

 this season, that a good Plum year is sure to bring plenty of 

 wasps. This season the crop of Plums is tolerably good around 

 here. A near neighbour of mine gathered upwards of three 

 hundred bushels last week — I believe all or nearly so of Early 

 Orleans — and yet I do not hear of a single wasp. That we may 

 have them yet is very probable, but that they are not likely to 

 be so numerous as they sometimas are is e(jually certain. It is, 

 however, somewhat strange that they are not numerous this 

 season, as it has been unusually dry, and although we have 

 been visited with frequent and sudden changes of temperature, 

 there has been no lack of hot days, yet amongst the many 

 enemies we have had to encounter, wasps have not been one. 

 If they fail to appear at all, the circumstance will cause no 

 regret, for although they, as well as moat other things, have a 

 useful mission, there are few amongst ns willing to give them 

 credit for anything but mischief, and we never Lear of that 

 very useful and praiseworthy Society which is instituted to 

 prevent cruelty to animals ever throwing its shield over wasps 

 and snakes, against which we all wage war.^J. Eobson. 



THE BEAUTIFUL AND USEFUL INSECTS OF 

 OUR GARDENS.— No. 23. 



It does not require a large amount of philosophy to make 

 the fact obvious to iis, that individuals of the genus Homo 

 most remarkable for beauty or for size seldo ii possess in the 

 like degree either wit or wisdom. The " Admi able Crichtons " 

 of our race are rare ; and we look upon it as a matter of course, 

 with a few exceptions, that those who possess certain ad- 

 vantages or excellencies lack others which their neighbours 

 boast of. Thus things are equalised ; and though here and 

 there we find a man head and shoulders above those of the 

 race around him, like Saul of old, yet through all human di- 

 versity there is generally traceable a weak point or deficiency 

 which prevents, or ought to prevent, each one from unduly 

 exalting himself at his neighbour's expense. Curiously enough, 

 matters are very much the same iu the insect world. The 

 handsomest, rarest, largest insects are not at all of necessity 

 the most sagacious and the most active. Look at the Lepi- 

 dopterous order for instance, comprehending the butterflies and 

 moths. Throughout that division of insects we find the wings 

 clothed with scales, giving bright and varied tints, surpassing 

 what is displayed by most of the species belonging to the other 

 orders, yet that marvellous instinct, almost akin to reason, 

 which has rendered some tribes of insects so memorable, is 

 less noticeable among the butterflies and moths. We must 

 seek it in its potency in the dwellings of the bee and the ant, 

 or study it in the despised gnat or beetle. 



I have been particularly struck with this fact in rearing the 

 Hawk Moths, where we have both beauty and size. The cater- 

 pillars of several of these seem exceedingly dull and stupid. 

 Should the pod, plant, or twig on which they are feeding 

 wither-up, they do not appear to have always sense enough to 

 quit it and start on an exploration to obtain a fresh supply. 

 In a breeding-cage, though green twigs may be placed almost 

 touching the heads of some of these, such as the Poplar 

 and the Eyed Hawk Moth, they still hold on the dry or 

 well-nigh bare twigs, unless removed from them. Nor is 

 this an easy thing to do, the grip of one of these caterpillars 

 being exceedingly firm, no doubt given as a natural protection 

 against their being watted away by the wind against their will ; 

 but still one would suppose they would have the sense to 

 loosen their hold rather than suffer injury. It is not so, how- 

 ever, and more thin once, in attempts to lift a Hawk Moth 

 caterpillar from a twig, I have seen the body torn from the 

 claspers, which remained attached to the object, and the crea- 

 ture thus perished through what might be called a perversion 

 of instinct. Then, again, when a number are kept in the 

 same box, they in their wanderings about, though they may 

 be well supplied with food, are apt to fall to and nibble the 

 curved horns with one of which the back of each individual is 

 adorned. As there is no proof that in such cases the in- 

 dividuals have quarrelled, and, like the Kilkenny cats, resolved 

 not to spare each other's tails, but begin the onslaught by 

 seizing these, it seems rather like a foolish sort of experiment 

 on a new food, scarcely likely to be very palatable. Nor do 

 these caterpillars when adult show the judgment we might 

 suppose they would, in the selection of a place for pupation. 

 The Eyed Hawk caterpillar which often deTours the Willow 



