Jane 1, 187S. ] 



JOURNAli OP HORflGULTUBB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



433 



him ts run upon his enemie?, but they will also serve him to 

 beat a rapid retreat from them. The history of the larva) of 

 the Doliohopiilio has yet to be unearthed — literally so, for it ia 

 believed that they are subterranean feeders. 



I must merely quote the unmelodious names of throe families 

 which come next — that is to say, the Lonchopteridre, the 

 Platyperidffi, and the Pipanculida;. The flies in these are not 

 numerous, their habits are obscure, and as they rarely appear 

 in Rardens they do not immediately concern us. Hence we 

 pass to the Syrphidaj (sometimes incorrectly called dragon 

 flies), a family of many genera. Despite the varieties in size 

 and figure we can recognise these flies without difficulty by 

 the large head, peculiarly flattened behind and rounded in 

 front, so that, as Mr. Staveley says, it seems to be all face ; 

 and certainly the flies are not wanting in " check," for they 

 will audaciously settle on the human hand and insert the 

 tongue between the pores of the skin, returning, even if driven 

 away two or three times. This tongue, which is of good size, 

 is bent in the middle, occasionally projecting into a sort of 

 snout. On the whole I think this may be reckoned as valuable 

 a family to the gardener as any one in the order, making 

 deduction for the fancies of a fewlarvEo of the genus Mirodon, 

 which have been caught burrowing into the bulbs of Liliaceous 

 plants. " I need not enlarge," as the old divines used to say, 

 upon the several genera, as there have been already published 

 in this Journal full accounts of the habits of some familiar 

 species. The " hawk flies " of the genus Syrphus are generally 

 banded, and owing to the great muscular force they possess 

 they vibrate the wings with such rapidity as to wellnigh render 

 them invisible when they are poising themselves over flowers. 

 Like the rest of the mature flies in the family they are flower- 

 lovers, possibly now and then predatory, but I do not think 

 they damage petals in the way some other flies do. As 

 wholesale devourers of aphides, the leech-like, assiduous, 

 though unpleasing larvfe of the Syrphi deserve our hearty 

 thanks. The Volucella; have a marked resemblance to humble 

 bees — a circumstance adapted to their habits, aa they are 

 parasitic on these Hymenoptera, and therefore enter their 

 nests without exciting alarm. The larva of the Volucella is 

 small-headed, but armed with a pair of keen mandibles, and 

 manages to devour deliberately the larva of the bee. V. pel- 

 lucens takes its name from the singular appearance of half the 

 abdomen, which is colourless and semi-transparent; this fly 

 intrudes on various bees, also visiting the nests of the common 

 wasp. On the whole we may probably consider these as 

 friendly insects. Under the family of Syrpbidre are classed 

 the drone flies, common enough in gardens ; and from the cir- 

 cumstance that they make a dull buzzing or humming, and 

 that some of them twist the abdomen in a bee-like style, they 

 are reputed to be bees ; but they are stingless and not injuri- 

 ous to horticulture. The name " drone," however, scarcely 

 suits them, as they are far from sluggish. The larva; are 

 mostly aquatic ; it is only needful to refer to the well-known 

 one of Eristalia tenax, the " rat-tailed maggot," concerning 

 which a reverend naturalist discourses so affectionately, and 

 which he seems to regard as a useful deodoriser and disin- 

 fectant provided by Nature, nor need we debate the point with 

 him. The gardener who wishes to make acquaintance with it 

 may easily discover the species in butts of stagnant water. 



The Conopida;, an odd little famUy, have larva; parasitic 

 within the bodies of bees. The flies resemble somewhat those 

 insects, but they have a long projecting elbowed proboscis, 

 which is not formidable, being unaccompanied with mandibles 

 or lancet ; hence the Conopida; do not touch other insects, re- 

 sorting o#ly to flowers. By what means the females contrive 

 to place their eggs on the bodies of living bees has not been 

 satisfactorily made out. And so we pass to the immense 

 family of the Muscida;, before which even entomologists stand 

 in perplexity, so various, yet often so aimUar, are the hosts of 

 species it contains. The habits of the flies, too, are very 

 diverse ; there are some that are flower-lovers, some predatory, 

 some partial to sweets of all sorts, some meat-eaters, and some 

 blood-suckers. It is only necessary to name house flies, blow 

 flies, dung flies, bluebottles, and greenbottles, to bring before 

 the mind's eye unpleasing visions of inaeot-annoyers or causes 

 of positive loss. The whole family presents, however, one 

 well-marked feature which identifies ita members — the thick 

 short proboscis with its two-lobed extremity. In size the 

 species run down from the stout noisy Muscse proper to the 

 minute flies that have leaf-mining larvaj ; but even of these 

 it could hardly be said in the words of an old proverb, that if 

 you put them in your eye you would see none the worse, for 



when they enter the eye, despite their tiny proportions, they 

 cause a good deal of pain ; and on these summer days they 

 seem to have a fancy for flying straight at the eyeball, fas- 

 cinated by its glare perhaps. The flies of the genus Stomoxya 

 draw blood from men and animals ; breeding as the larvie do 

 in dung they are troublesome about houjes and gardens. In 

 general terms I might say that the flies of the family are more 

 hostile to the gardener than the larva; ; perhaps about three- 

 fourths of the larvfe feed in decaying animal and vegetable 

 substances, or are parasitic on other larvic. Still the depreda- 

 tions must be confessed ot the larvie belonging to the genus 

 Anthomyia, hostile to the Onion, Cabbage, and Lettuce; of 

 the Cherry fly (Vitalis Cerasi), of the Rose fly (Psila Rosffi), 

 and many more. In some genera, as in Phora, we have larvse 

 which are injurious to plants, and others parasitic upon cater- 

 pillars. And in the genus Tachinua upwards of 160 species 

 are enumerated, the larva; being all parasites, not invariably 

 on Lepidopteroas larvtc, as they have been discovered on 

 larva; of beetles and bees, and even on spiders. None of the 

 dung flies do harm in the garden ; a few, indeed, destroy other 

 insects, the Scatophaga; especially thus busy themselves. 



Among the flesh flies, I may add, we have the singular 

 circumstance of flies depositing larva;, or even pupee, in one 

 or two species. — J. R. S. C. 



NEW BOOK. 



A Plain Guide to Good Gardening. B;y Sajioel Wood. London: 

 Crosby, Lockwood, & Co., Ludgate Hill. 



That title precisely decribes the nature of the book, for it 

 is plainly written— indeed, its great merit is its plainness. It 

 contains practical notes on the cultivation of flowers, fruits, 

 and vegetables ; also notes ou soils and manures, with hints on 

 the laying-out of grounds and the erection of glass structures; 

 it is copiously illustrated. This is not a book for skilled gar- 

 deners so much as for amateurs and that numerous class of 

 men known as jobbing gardeners, and especially those who 

 have "taken up the business" after a few months' preparation 

 in wheeling soil in some gentleman's garden. But jobbing 

 gardeners when competent (as many ot them undoubtedly are) 

 have not always an opportunity to do themselves credit, and 

 on this point the author has the following sensible remarks: — 



" A jobbing gardener, above all men, should be a good gar- 

 dener, and if one be fortunate enough to secure such a man he 

 should have the liberty to attend to the garden whenever he 

 considers this to ba necessary, and not be limited to a certain 

 day. A little work done timely and judiciously may double the 

 value of a crop. And, as a rule, after a fair general understand- 

 ing as to the requirements of the employer, the gardener should 

 not be interfered with." 



Also on the management of small gardens good advice is 

 given, thus — 



" There is one error commonly committed in regard to villa 

 gardens— namely, a wish to grow a "little of everything," which 

 generally means not growing anything well. This is not the 

 way to perfection. For instance, if there are but twenty square 

 rods of kitchen garden it is folly to attempt to supply a family 

 with every variety of herb and vegetable from such a garden ; 

 and it would be a better economy of time and expense to limit 

 these small spaces to a few of the earliest and best sorts." 



Turning to the chapters on fruits we open at random and 

 find some remarks apropos to the present period of the year. 

 Our author says on page 01 — 



" At the very critical time of the stoning of the fruit of Plums, 

 Cherries, Apricots, and even Peaches, liquid-manure dressings 

 will be found most beneficial ; far more so than heavy dressings 

 of dung during the spring or autumn. For it is evident that 

 the principal reason why stone fruit falls off at this time is be- 

 cause the plant cannot supply nourishment equal to the demand ; 

 and this hquid food is applied just in the condition and in such 

 necessary proportions aa trees thus progressing require. "With- 

 out this liquid manure, from the great evaporation at this time 

 of the year, and the small amount of nutriment found in the 

 soil by the slow progress of the feeders in search of it, the fruit 

 entirely faila." 



We pass on to flowers, and pause at a chapter on a subject 

 which has been alluded to somewhat frequently of late — blue 

 Hydrangeas. On these flowera the chapter runs as follows : — 



" In some localities a blue Hydrangea is difficult to obtain, 

 and when it can be had it is considered a thing out of the com- 

 mon way, and, of course, the grower has good credit attached 

 to his genius. I know of a locality where lovely blue Hydran- 

 geas are naturally produced. That locality possesses a large 



