November 19, 1874. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HOETIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



443 



their proper ripening is imposeible, and sucb infected fruit 

 may be expected to make its way to the ground during July — 

 accompanied by its internal enemy, let it be noted, for the 

 Jarva fogaciouely remains within until the Apple falls, to save 

 itself the trouble of a long and perilous journey to the earth. 

 This event having taken place, it very speedily pierces a holo 

 in the rind, and seeks a convenient spot to bury itself. The larva 

 of T. testudinea is directly distinguished from a Lepidopterous 

 larva by its possession of twenty legs, exceeding by four the 

 " regulation " number among the caterpillars of butter8ies and 

 moths, which does not go beyond sixteen, though faUing as low 

 as ten. Another peculiarity is that the body is very much 

 wrinkled, the ground colour being a dull white with a pink 

 line passing down the back ; the head is tawny. As will be 

 surmised, the pupation lasts through the winter. 



It is to the species known as Blennocampa or Selandria 

 Cerasi that I wish particularly to draw attention, because I 

 rather apprehend that it will give us some trouble if we do 

 not watch it. In America species of the genus have been 

 recognised a long time by horticulturists, and they are popu- 

 larly called " Slug worms," not unsuitably. Some of them 

 were noticed by Keaumur, who also termed them slug larvae. 

 Of course, any person unacquainted with entomology would 

 hardly credit the fact that flies will be developed from these, 

 the aspect is so entirely different from that any ordinary 

 larva presents. There are upwards of thirty British species of 

 this genus. All do not, however, mask themselves from danger 

 in this peculiar way, for protection is, I suppose, the object of 

 the slimy disguise. Feeding only by night, and remaining on 

 the leaves throughout the day, this exudation shields the 

 larva from the summer or autumn sun, and may also ward off 

 the attacks of parasites to some extent — only to an extent, 

 though, for it may be assumed that B. Cerasi, like every other 

 species, has a parasitic foe. How and when it makes an effec- 

 tive inroad upon the slime-clad larva is as yet a mystery. 

 Slug-like as the larv* of B. Cerasi look, they are provided with 

 the usual complement of legs, but they are very short, and the 

 head being retractile and drawn under the next segment com- 

 pletes the deceptive appearance. In North Kent and other 

 districts near London these larvas have been abundant through- 

 out the past season, though in many places they seem to 

 limit themselves to the Hawthorn hedges, which presented 

 a sickly aspect, being attacked by B. Cerasi ere they had hardly 

 been able to rally from the inroads of the little Ermine Moth 

 (H. padella), which, owing to the backward summer we had, 

 spread its unpleasant webs upon the bushes later than usual. 



Gardeners and nurserymen, unfortunately, are not suffi- 

 ciently alive to the necessity of dealing promptly with this 

 species. It is folly to wait until it attacks fruit trees. When it 

 has shown itself upon the Hawthorn we may be sure there is 

 every probability that it will not stop short there, but make 

 its way at last to Plum, Cherry, or even Pear trees, should 

 such be handy. Observations with regard to B. Cerasi are as yet 

 too few to enable us to judge as to what influence atmospheric 

 phenomena have upon the species. In some districts in the 

 midland counties it was seen in comparatively small numbers 

 for three years preceding 1869 ; that year and 1871 it appeared 

 in hosts, and was then noticed to decrease somewhat. In 

 other parts of England it was exceedingly abundant in 1871-72 ; 

 during the following year we did not hear much about it, and 

 now it has again been troublesome. I am inclined to think 

 that cold winds do not much affect the insect. Heavy rains 

 would possibly annoy or destroy it by removing its exudation, 

 and washing it from the leaves. Powdered hellebore has been 

 proposed as a remedy, but as the editor of the " Entomologist" 

 remarks, this is not a convenient nor a cheap application, even 

 if proved effective. To pick the larva; off would be a hopeless 

 task, and syringing with some of the approved compounds 

 now in use may be deemed as likely a plan as any. — J. K. S. C. 



SUKPLUS VEGETABLES. 

 In the Journal of October 29 th I noticed a suggestion by a 

 correspondent signing himself " Beta," to the effect that in 

 large gardens where there are so many surplus vegetables, it 

 would be a better plan, instead of throwing them to the 

 mbbish-heap, to sell them to the greengrocer. Now I should 

 like to suggest an amendment to that plan. Very often where 

 there is a large garden there is a farm attached to the estate, 

 and of course there would be a number of men employed ; 

 now I think where they could afford to throw so many vege- 

 tables away, they could as well afford to give them away ; of 



course I mean to those employed on the garden and farm. 

 For instance, at the place where I am living till lately all the 

 surplus was thrown away, but now almost everything that is 

 not absolutely required in the house is sold ; there are six of 

 us in the garden, and more than that number on the farm, and 

 though we should be glad of a few vegetables, we never have 

 any given us unless we ask, and we are not very fond of 

 begging. As we work from six tiU six in summer, and from 

 light till dark in winter, we have not much time to enable us 

 to raise any for ourselves, and so we should consider it a great 

 boon to get a few vegetables given to us now and then, and I 

 think the loss would be very trifling to our employer. — F. W. 



AURICULAS.— No. 2. 



Although in white edges both edge and paste are circles of 

 white, yet they do not by that similarity lose all powers of 

 contrast. There is always a delicacy of difference between the 

 hoarfrostiness of the edge and the heavy snowfall on the paste. 

 I think there is no lovelier form of the flower than the true 

 white edge. It is the Auricula in her modest glory, in her 

 (jridal dress. 



But as with the noble green edges, so with the gentle whites, 

 the truly great are few. Smiling Beauty is the best one out. 

 I make that reservation because I possess a plant of a young 

 sort that is destined to beat Beauty everywhere but in her 

 constancy. She is never out of character, and the young sort 

 sometimes sports a little into undue size of its golden tube. 

 But it will lead the beautiful class with its marvellously broad 

 round petal, brilliant snowy edge, laid on as in no other; 

 ground colour rich black velvet, delicately worked upon the 

 pip ; paste dense and brilliant ; tube bright gold. As I am not 

 the raiser I may say so much for this white seedling. Next to 

 Smiling Beauty comes Taylor's Glory, and although I shall 

 notice some other good whites, these three are the most perfect 

 we have. Glory equals Beauty in its true white edge, but the 

 body colour is a reddish violet plum, while that of Beauty is 

 velvety black. Beauty is always circular in paste, and Glory 

 wavy, by which it loses a point. 



The failings of white-edged flowers are not few. Petals in 

 this class are often pointed, and sometimes a little lacking in 

 substance. Smith's Ne Plus Ultra is a really fine white, with 

 rich chocolate ground colour, petals a little pointed. Smith's 

 Ann Smith has a snow-white edge, ground colour a cold blue 

 steel with a dash of violet, petal pointed. Lightbody's Countess 

 of Duumore is a fair white with chestnut ground, pip too 

 pointed. Smith's League a good white, black body, petal 

 pointed. 



In properties of edge a common fault is that it is not dense 

 or white enough. Hepworth's True Briton is fine as a white, 

 but is often only a heavy grey edge ; its petal is a model of 

 breadth and smoothness. Such flowers as Trail's White Rival, 

 HinchcUffe's Lily of the Valley, Lowe's Maggie Lauder, 

 Smith's Lady Sale, and Pott's Regulator are often only grey 

 edges of various intensities ; but can all come white, the last 

 two are the best of them. Cunningham's John Waterston is a 

 bold good flower, and classed as white, but like too many of 

 them is frequently a grey. Again, in some varieties the white 

 edge is dingy, or soon turns sere. This last is a fault in 

 Taylor's Favourite and Lee's Bright Venus. In Popplewell's 

 Conqueror and Lightbody's Fair Flora I have never seen a 

 clean white edge at all. 



In body colour the fault is mainly that of impurity, the 

 meal creeping over it as in Countess of Dunmore, and notably 

 in that nondescript Fair Maid, which should never have been 

 sent out at all. Lee's Earl Grosveuor has occasionally come 

 impure with me, but is mostly correct, and a very fine sort, and 

 very late. Summerseale's Catharina and Ashworth's Regular 

 are two real white edges, but under-sized. Regular is beauti- 

 fully correct. McDonald's Miss Arkley is a little small as well, 

 but a glowing flower, the white edge contrasted with a warm 

 crimson ground colour that in certain lights produces an effect 

 upon the flower like that of sunset upon snow. Lightbody's 

 Robert Trail is an enormous plautmaker with rich pips, some- 

 times white-edged, and often too small and cramped in the 

 two outer zones. Campbell's Robert Burns is fair, and Cheet- 

 ham's Countess of Wilton is a good old white. 



All that I have named are worth growing, except Maggie 

 Lauder, White Rival, Fair Maid, Fair Flora, Countess of Dun- 

 more, and Popplewell's Conqueror. These are particularly 

 beautiful in habit of foliage, but will not do for the exhibi- 

 tion table. Of the white-edged class, however, as a rule, we 



