February 10, 187C. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICUIjTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



Ill 



adding to the beauty of the house iu whioh it is grown, it 

 aeeista in helping to fill the out-flower basket at this dull and 

 diHioult time to get a good quantity of flowers. When out and 

 sent iu the blooms have been taken for Gloxinias : this alone 

 will show how pretty they are. It is amongst the cleanest 

 inmates of the stove, its greatest enemy being red spider ; but 

 by proper drainage and liberal supplies of water when growing 

 freely, with daily ayringings, this pest can be easily kept in 

 oheok if not entirely prevented. Like most other climbers it 

 grows better and makes larger plants when it can be planted 

 out in a prepared border having ample drainage, with a com- 

 post of rough fibry loam, leaf mould, aud a little sand and 

 charcoal, all well mixed together. Having a naked piece of 

 wall at the north side of our plant stove, on the top of which 

 re.st the glass lights, we covered this wall with Lyoopodium 

 deutioulatum by making a network to hold about 10 inches 

 wide of rough loam and leaf mould, and pricking the Ljco- 

 podium all over. I have planted Thunbergia Harrissii on the 

 top, along with several other creepers, and trained them to 

 wires run across the house, about G inches from the glass, 

 and they have done well : some of them are in flower now, 

 such as Ipomo£>a Horsfalliie, Thuubergias, and Euphorbia Jac- 

 quininaflora. This does well, and throws large spikes of 

 bloom. The graceful creeping Fern, Lygodium Bcandens,run3 

 up the wires ; and when trained carefully can easily be out off 

 iu long pieces, for drooping gracefully from epergues. — A. H. 

 — [Tlie Gardener.) 



CHAPTEBS ON INSECTS FOB GABDENEBS. 



No. 5. 

 My good friend Jones was considerably discomfited the other 

 day when I let him into a new fact concerning the details of 

 fly history. It is observable with most persons that they cling 

 closely to the beliefs about natural history which they acquired 

 in boyhood, erroneous as these must often be ; and so my 

 friend held it as " next to gospel " that all flies can do in 

 their perfect state is to suck honey or other fluids by means 

 of a proboscis. I assured him that many of these flower-loving 

 flies have a capacity for doing something more than this, being, 

 iu truth, provided with vigorous maxillfe or jaws, by means of 

 which they masticate the pollen of flowers. It is not easy, 

 obviously, to watch and catch flies in the very act, but 

 dissection has disclosed iu the internal structures of some of 

 'these species a compact mass of undigested nollen. The case 

 is therefore as clear against these depredators, if so they are 

 to be spoken of, as when a pickpocket is caught iu a crowd 

 with a watch in his hand which does not belong to him. But 

 as these flies do not merely eat the poUen, since they serve 

 also as media for its conveyance from flower to flower, their 

 position as agents iu fertilisation evidently requires us to regard 

 this fact in their economy with favour rather than with the 

 reverse feeling. Jones certainly — these circumstances having 

 been made clear to him— did admit that Nature produced, 

 amongst a host of species, more pollen than was actually re- 

 quired, favouring thus the hypothesis that it is intended partly 

 to serve as food for other creatures ; still he didn't like the 

 idea of this wholesale transferrence of pollen by winged insects, 

 seeing that, as he lucidly put it, " ppecies might get mixed up 

 everywhere by-and-by." Against this view I could well urge 

 that flies have doubtless had the same habits they now have 

 for many centuries ; therefore apprehensions about a general 

 fusing of species in a genus or order are needless. 



To resume, however, at the point where we paused in the 

 last paper, we pass from the little Ceeidomyridas to their next 

 of kin, the Bibionidaj, insects not quite so slim and slender, 

 yet gnatlike in appearance and mode of flight. It is only 

 necessary to name B. Marci (strangely called also " St. Mark's 

 Fly,") to remind the gardener of an unpleasant enemy in this 

 family, which shows itself by its effects both iu the flower 

 garden and also among Strawberry beds, the small hairy grubs 

 devouring the roots of plants. Occasionally they muster iu 

 companies, and then necessarily the injurious effects are more 

 marked. The fly itself has a curious " phiz " in the male 

 speoimonB, the front of the head appearing as if it were occu- 

 pied by one large eye. On a closer inspection we perceive the 

 orgaus are separated by a narrow line ; the female insects, 

 however, have the eyes rather small. Others of the Bibionidoa 

 have subterranean larvte, feodiug promiscuously on the roots 

 of grf'ssea aud various plants, aud some feed on decaying 

 matter snoh as dung or vegetable refuse, and therefore to a 

 small extent they are of use. On the whole the Bibionidie 



occupy a neutral position, though a few species are to be ranked 

 with the enemies of the horticulturist. The imago, or perfect 

 fly, in this group has no partiality for flowers. 



A passing word is all we need bestow on the small family of 

 the Simulidaa, curious to the naturalist because the aquatic 

 larva) spin a cocoon for their pupation, by which the insect is 

 only partially protected from the action of the water. The 

 fliea are distinguished by the peculiar broad and flattened 

 aspect of the tibia and the first joint of the tarsns— that is to 

 say, of the shank of the leg and the first joint of the foot. In 

 northern regions the familiar term for these insects is " Sand- 

 flies ;" in warmer latitudes they share the appellation " Mos- 

 quito " with the Culicidas, the Mosquitoes proper. In Britain 

 the Sandflies are not numerous enough to be specially trouble- 

 some, nor do they bother the gardener more than any other 

 man. 



As much might almost be said c f the large family of the 

 Midges, numerous in species, numerous also in individuals. 

 These have slender legs, which are not flattened, and we dis- 

 tinguish them from the true gnats by the costal vein or ray, 

 which is continued along the tip of the wing amongst the 

 gnats, while it ends before it reaches the tip in the tribe of the 

 midges. Nearly the whole of the larvte are aquatic. The slim 

 red maggot known as the bloodworm is a familiar example. 

 One or two species have larva) making their habitations in 

 moist dung ; and one species at least, probably ranking in this 

 family, the Pear Midge (Sciara Pyri) infests our orchards, the 

 larvffi burrowing into the ripe fruit of the Pear and causing its 

 downfall ; but it hardly stands out as a prominent foe of the 

 Pear, though it is sufficiently unpleasant to bite into a fruit 

 that contains a long track filled with the frass of this larva. 

 Many of these midges have the anteurne beautifully feathered, 

 the adornments, as with the gnats, being strictly masculine ; 

 the feminine antennis are, with scarcely an exception, straight 

 and simple. Also, like the gnats, the midges have a propensity 

 for attacking the skin, though some species are quite harmless, 

 aud on the whole they occasion little annoyance compared 

 with the Culicidte. I would not advise any horticulturist to 

 rest his faith upon the popular belief that when a company of 

 midges are seen performing their aerial, and certainly graceful, 

 evolutions at the witching hour of twihght it is a prognostic 

 of an approaching fine day. It is at least an indication that 

 at the particular moment a calm prevails, for these flies do not 

 care to face a breeze, but they will sometimes be out on the 

 wing when it is actually raining, and dexterously dodge rain- 

 drops one of which would carry a miis-'fi to the ground. Some 

 gardeners, I fancy, have a dislike to these flights of midges, 

 supposing that when they occur in gardens, as they frequently 

 do, they attract insect-eating birds to the spot, and induce 

 the birds, if their hunger ia not sated, to attack buda or 

 flowers. I hardly see any good reason for this apprehension, 

 nor for any similar fear in the instance of the true gnats. — 

 J. R. S. C. 



EOYAL HOBTICDLTUEAL SOCIETY. 

 A VERY interesting and faithful account of the rise and pro- 

 gress of the Royal Horticultural Society from the pen of Mr. 

 W. A. Lindsay appears this month in " St. James's Magnzine." 

 Mr. Lindsay was for Eome time Secretary of the Society, and 

 had every opportunity of making himself acquainted with 

 everything connected with its past and present history by 

 reference to documents and other means at hia command, and 

 the way in which he has performed his self- assigned tabk is 

 moat creditable to him. The origin of the Society is thus 

 given : — 



" Ou April 17lb, 1809, was grnuted a charter incorporating 

 the Horticultural Society. The Earl of Dartmouth was created 

 Preeident, Mr. Charles Grcville TteaBurer, and Mr. Richard 

 Saliphury Secretary. The membois of the first Council were 

 the Earl of Powis, the Bishop of Winchester, Lord Selsey, Sir 

 Joseph Banks, Messrs. Acton, Elliot, Knight, Miller, Trevtlyan, 

 Dickson, Hoy, and Smith. Three members were to retire at 

 each annual meeting, and to be replaced by others. Between 

 1804 and 1809 a gradual increase of members bad taken place. 

 The grant of premiums had had the most beneficial effects on 

 practical horticulturists, and patronage only was required to 

 insure success. The publication of the "Transactions " in the 

 form of volumes began in 1812, find it may here be stated 

 that the total number of these volumea cost the Society no 

 less a sum than i'30,000. They were without doubt a powerful 

 means of attracting support, and are still of considerable literary 

 value. 



