October 23, 1874. 



JOURNAL OF HORTIOULTUHE AND COTTAGE (iARDENER. 



363 



plantations have the lower part of their stems bound up with 

 moss in order to try if the bark would not swell and in- 

 crease more rapidly ; but it has had the effect of showing, by 

 the bursting-out of rootlets from the part so bound with damp 

 moss, that the plant throws forth roots readily from the 

 bark, and thus may be easily propagated by ciittiugs. The 

 Government has recently been again in correspondence with 

 Dr. Hooker on this subject, and it is to be hoped that the cul- 

 tivation will be again renewed and prosecuted continuously. — 

 (yatiire.) 



We learn from the " Belgique Horticole" that that 



cryptogamic pest the Puccinia jiALVACEABUsr is making sad 

 havoc among the Mallows and Hollyhocks in some parts of 

 Belgium. 



Professok Gabba has been examining the efeecis of 



AMMONIA on the COLOUR OF ELowEEs. It is Well known that 

 the smoke of tobacco will, when applied in sufficient quantity, 

 change the tint of flowers ; but Prof. Gabba experiments by 

 pouring a little ammonia liquor into a saucer and inverting a 

 funnel over it. Placing the flowers in the tube of the latter 

 he finds that blue, violet, and purple-coloured blossoms be- 

 come of a fine green ; carmine and crimson become black ; 

 white, yellow ; while parti-coloured flowers, such as rod and 

 white, are changed to green and yellow. If the flowers are im- 

 mersed in water the natural colour will return iu a few hours. 

 Professor Gabba also found that Asters acquire a pleasing 

 odour when submitted to the fumes of ammonia. — (Englisli 

 Mechaiiic.) 



The volcanic soil in the neighbourhood of Vesuvius is 



stated to be an antidote to the Potato disease and other 

 fungoid diseases of plants. It is also said that it is found of 

 great value in the treatment of Phylloxera ; this, however, 

 remains to be proved. — {Xaturf.) 



The Phylloxera has appeared in Switzerland, and the 



delegates of the wine-growing cantons met on the 5th inst. to 

 consider the best means of preventing its extension. 



The consumption of Osiers for various purposes, in 



England especially, is very great. Besides her own production, 

 this country imports more than 5000 tons, valued at about 

 £10,000. About three hundred varieties of Osiers are known, 

 the most important beds being situated near Nottingham. The 

 home produce being insufficient to meet the demand, great 

 attention is being paid to the cultivation beds in Australia, 

 and a considerable quantity is yearly produced in that country. 

 — {Nature.) 



THE BEST CURRANTS. 



The old Red Dutch and White Dutch are good reliable sorts, 

 and we would not advise anyone who has them growing in his 

 garden to throw them out. Larger Currants, however, may bo 

 picked more readily ; they make a finer show on the table, and 

 they last longer on the bushes without drying. 



The two sorts that we place above all others, therefore, are 

 the White Grape and Versailles or Cherry. Mixed together 

 they make a beautiful table dish. The only drawback of the 

 White Grape is the slow and straggUng growth of the bush ; 

 but this objection is obviated by giving them clean and mellow 

 culture, applying manure occasionally, and keeping them suffi- 

 ciently pruned. It will not do to neglect them, and to allow 

 them to become enveloped in grass and weeds — the usual fate 

 of Currant bushes with careless managers. The Cherry, on 

 the other hand, is a strong grower, and does not absolutely 

 need such generous treatment, but it is better to cultivate it 

 well, and prune the bushes as they require it. Our own 

 bushes of the Cherry, which have stood in the garden fifteen 

 years, are three times as large as those of the White Grape 

 planted at the same time, and they always bear profusely. 

 When allowed to hang long, and become fully mature, they 

 lose their objectionable acidity, and are a rich and agreeable 

 berry. 



The Versailles is so nearly like the Cherry, that if the planter 

 has one he need not take the trouble to procure the other, 

 although the bunches of the Versailles have the advantage of 

 being rather longer. 



The Victoria and Prince Albert are good very late varieties 

 — the former red, the latter pale red — a few of which may be 

 planted for a succession. 



All that is absolutely needed in the pruning which we have 

 alluded to is to cut out the old and enfeebled wood, to give the 

 younger shoots, evenly distributed through the bush, a better 



chance to grow. This will make large bunches and berries. — 



(Goiinlnj Gentleman.) 



THE BEAUTIFUL AND USEFUL INSECTS OF 

 OUR GARDENS.— No. 26. 



In view of the great destruction of life that is ever going on 

 in the insect world, it has been suggested that the phrase of 

 " dying a natural death " can have hardly any meaning there. 

 So many insects have their lives cut short by quadrupeds, 

 birds, reptiles, fishes, and by their own bretliren, besides what 

 they are liable to from the hand of man and atmospheric 

 influences, that to die thus suddenly seems the more natural 

 mode, and death by decay or old age rather out of the usual 

 order of things. We know that it is almost impossible to find 

 a dead donkey, and though this cannot be said of insects, the 

 number of bodies one sees about of creatures belonging to this 

 race is comparatively small ; for those that are suddenly killed 

 are often as suddenly eaten up, even to the fragments. And 

 in the case of the few insects that die peaceably, their friends 

 have never any occasion to resort to cremation, as mites and 

 other small creatures are generally at hand to reduce the car- 

 case to a mere shell. Some birds also, as is well known, 

 though they will not usually eat dead insects, hunt up beetle 

 elytra and moth wings to interweave with their nests. 



The Scorpion Flies (see fig. 107), however, frequent visitants 

 to the garden during the summer season, prey upon living 

 insects in their imago state ; the larvic, about which not much 

 is known at present, are conjectured to feed upon the roots of 

 plants. That they live under the earth is certain. Whether 

 they are strictly vegetarian may be questioned, since it is quite 

 possible that, like the fiies into which they develope, they may 

 not withstand the temptation to devour anything alive that they 

 come across in their subterranean rambles, and wliich it is in 

 their power to master. A glance at these insects as they dart 

 about amongst the leaves in the sunshine at once suggests to 

 the looker-on their aflinity to the Dragon Flies, though they are 

 not so agile nor so fiercely carnivorous as their relatives. But 

 I have no doubt a Scorpion Fly can put away in a day a fair 

 number of small insects. As two or three species are reported 

 to feed upon those leaf-rolling caterpillars which the gardener 

 finds it BO difficult to deal with, we have reason to be obliged 

 to them. I have myself freiiueutly seen them on bushes which 

 were swarming with caterpillars, but could not detect them in 

 the act of tearing these from then- abodes— an act, neverthe- 

 less, which it is most probable they perform, and for which the 

 long head with its powerful jaws and the spined feet are par- 

 ticularly fitted. 



History carries back the name of Scorpion Fly to the days 

 of Aristotle, who fancied these insects were winged scorpions 

 of diminutive size, though in the mind of some a doubt may 

 arise as to the identity ; for, of course, Aristotle did not leave 

 us a figure of the Scorpion Fly he knew. The joints of the 

 abdomen do suggest a comparison between the two. Other ob- 

 servers have seen a resemblance between the shape of the head 

 (in one species at least) and that of the horse. We miss the 

 brilliancy and lustrous beauty of the eyes so observable in the 

 Dragon Flies ; but yet these organs are keen enough in the 

 Scorpion Fly tribe. The wings are gauzy, as in the Dragon 

 Flies, and spotted with shades of grey and brown, while the 

 forceps at the taU of the male fly indicates another resemblance ; 

 this is said to have strength to pierce the human skin, but I 

 incline to doubt this. The females, unhke the Dragon Flies, 

 have an ovipositor or egg-placer, rendered necessary by the 

 mode in which the eggs are deposited, otherwise they are 

 equipped as are their partners, and they subsist in the same 

 manner. The legs of these insects, to which allusion has already 

 been made, are well worth looking at under a moderate raag- 

 nifying power, as they are surrounded with finely-cut spines 

 arranged in rings, while the " knee joints " are fringed and 

 spurred, and the extremity of the foot bears toothed claws, 

 which have been compared to those with which some spiders 

 are furnished. The I'anorpid^c fall into that division of the 

 Neuroptera where the pupa state is inactive, and they are 

 nearly allied to the Hemerobii, or Lace-wing Flies, the no- 

 torious foes of the aphis. We have five British species, the 

 most familiar of which is P. communis, supposed to be partial 

 to places that are damp or low, in preference to elevated lands. 

 This may be connected with the habits of the larva. There 

 may be more than one brood of these flies in the year ; if so, 

 the winter would be passed in the egg state, the eggs first laid 

 in the summer producing larvee that grow rapidly, and deve- 



