202 



JOUENAL OF HORTlCtJLftJKE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



t March 5, 1874. 



wherever it comes in contact with the skin. If a wounded spot 

 be touched by it, severe inflammation ensues, which is hable 

 to pass into ulcers, and anappUcation of it to the eye endangers 

 vision to a very serious extent. 



Fiij. 1 gives an idea of the Colorado Potato beetle in its 

 different stages. The eggs are of a deep orange-yellow. The 

 larva on first emerging are of a blackish hue, which passes 

 quickly into a dark red, with a slight orange tint. On attain- 

 ing their full size the colour varies between orange, reddish- 

 yellow, and flesh. At c. Jig. 2. is shown the pupa ; at a the 

 perfect insect, natural size ; a foot is portrayed at ft ; a wing- 

 case considerably enlarged at d. The ground colour of the 

 latter is creamy-yellow (mhin-gelh), with five black longi- 

 tudinal stripes, of which the third and fourth unite at the base. 



Doryphora does not by any means confine itself to the Po- 

 tato. In places where that esculent is wanting, it will support 

 itself on any other member of the Solanaceous order — the Egg- 

 plant (S. Melongena), the Tomato (S. Lycopersicum), or the 

 Winter Cherry (Physalis viscosa). Indeed, in the northern 

 parts of Illinois and in Wisconsin, incredible as it may appear, 

 it has established itself in the Cabbage garden as readily as in 

 the Potato field.— Fk. H., State of Illinois.— {Hardwicke's 

 Science Gossiji.) 



[Our attention to the above was enforced by the following 

 note from a gardener's worthy companion : — 



" My husband's eyes are not in a writing condition. He asks 

 me to send you a paper (but doubts not that you have seen it) 

 containing a notice of the Colorado Potato beetle. It has been 

 sent to my husband by Mr. Beaulah, an intelligent farmer and 

 Journal admirer, who has for a long time been making in- 

 quiries, and say3 that his private information from the States 

 warrants him in raying that the account is nothing overdrawn. 

 My husband thinks if the pest find its way to England it will 

 be in a pupa state with seed Potatoes, or that some enthusiastic 

 naturalist will inirse some precious specimens, and get them 

 over alive, and then expect a medal from the Entomological 

 Society for his skill and perseverance."] 



A SUGGESTION. 



A THODGHT has struck me that the Eoyal Horticultural 

 Society might do good service by offering prizes or certificates 

 of mei-it for the best-managed gardens in the district in which 

 it holds its provincial exhibition, thus taking a lesson from 

 our cottage-garden societies. It does not take a very sharp 

 eye to perceive the improvement that takes place in village 

 gardens where merely nominal prizes are given : weeds disap- 

 pear, crops grow more vigorously, aud the men are better. I 

 am av/are that the difficulties would be greater in judging large 

 gardens — it would be difficult to find judges Im whom everyone 

 could place confidence, but I believe competent and impartial 

 men are to be found. The expenses would be great, but I 

 think the benefit to be derived would be greater. 



The provincial meetings of the Koyal Horticultural Society 

 are getting to have the character of annual gatherings of gar- 

 deners. We can always reckon on meeting some old friends 

 aud making a few new ones ; and I must confess that I attend 

 these meetings more for this purpose than for seeing the exhi- 

 bition itself. We can also generally arrange to make our little 

 holiday tour at the same time by visiting some of the places 

 in the neighbourhood. But there is a difficulty — there are 

 always more places within reach than one can find time and 

 money to visit. All these places are reported in the horticul- 

 tural papers to be wonderfully good, and it is true there is 

 something good in each of them ; but one cannot get at the 

 comparative quaUty of them, aud is always disappointed in all 

 because some are better and some worse than expected. In 

 a little tour I took at the time of the Exhibition at Manchester 

 last September I had the pleasure of seeing what I believe was 

 the best managed garden I ever saw, and I had hardly heard 

 the name of it before, aud certainly should not have thought 

 of going there to look for good gardening had I not been 

 directed by one who knew. If some scheme could be launched 

 whereby we could have au authoritative comparison of some 

 of the best gardens within reasonable distance of the exhi- 

 bitions it would be a great assistance to those who, like myself, 

 are anxious to pick up as much information as possible in the 

 shortest time, while the man who ."should be fortunate euou;'h 

 to bo marked out as the best gardener within twenty miles 

 would have something to be proud of. We know v.-e cannot 

 ho certain that a man is a good hand at his profession because 

 he sometimes takes the first prize for Grapes or Cauliflowers. 



Perhaps his principal attention has been given to those par- 

 ticular things he exhibits and others have been neglected, or 

 they may be the only good specimens he has ; but examine 

 them where they are growing, and give prizes or certificates 

 for the best house of fruit of any one kind, the best managed 

 kitchen garden, or the best general gardening, and you at once 

 stamp the recipients of these honours as something to admire 

 and imitate. — Wm. T.\ylok. 



ROSE PETALS. 



I WISH to say a few words in favour of Eoses with large 

 petals. Grace and beauty of form in our floral queen must go 

 with large petals. The smaller-petaUed Roses are to the eye 

 of the artist often too confused and abrupt in their gurves to be 

 nearly so graceful as the larger ones. We must all admit that 

 the most beautiful shape for a Eose is the deeply-cupped or 

 half-globular form, as in Madame Eothschild, Pierre Notting, 

 Marechal Niel, Ac. With this shape it is evident that much 

 of the reverse or back of the petal is seen, and when in red 

 Eoses this is of a whitish tint or dull leaden purple, which is 

 too often the case, the beauty of the form is seen to disad- 

 vantage, as colour attracts and fills the eye before it takes 

 note of shape : therefore it is most desirable that brilUant- 

 coloured Eoses should be thorough, or the same on both sides ; 

 and it would be well in judging a new Eose to bear this in 

 mind, as well as the importance of large well-curved petals. 



The moat perfect specimen of a large-petalled Eose I ever 

 saw was a Lielia, nearly globular, measuring 5J inches in 

 diameter by nearly 4 inches deep. After this magnificent 

 bloom had stood three days, and been twice exhibited, I mea- 

 sured some of its .singularly large, thick, shelly petals, 4 inches 

 in diameter, and like lovely pink saucers. The curved, arched, 

 or shell-shape of the petals adds greatly to the endurance of 

 the flower, and exhibitors have often proved that the beet 

 Eoses to stand long journeys are those approaching the globular 

 in form. — Henky Curtis, Devon Eosery, Torquay, 



JAPANESE GAEDENS. 



Shimonoeeki, November 25th, 187^. 



I AKEiVED here from Yamajuchi on the evening of the 22ad, 

 having travelled overland. 1 found the lUce crop all secured, 

 and the price has fallen to about l.Jt/. rio or Gx. per picul. The 

 country is now beautiful in appearance, owing to the different 

 colours of the leaves on the trees. On the hillsides the .Ja- 

 panese Wax tree (Ehus succedanea), which is extensively culti- 

 vated south of Kobe, and which grows to the size of an ordinary 

 Apple tree, or the Chinese Tallow tree, has now turned the 

 colour of its leaves from green to a deep blood-red, and as they 

 ripen they fall off. 



The country between Nagasaki and Kobe is, as I have before 

 stated, noted for its excellent climate, and here flowers and 

 shrubs grow to great perfection. At the present time you can 

 hardly pass a single house without noticing the beautiful 

 Chrysanthemums, some of the blooms fuUy 6 inches across 

 them, and of every colour. As this is the royal flower it is 

 cultivated to a great extent, and the flowers are taken to the 

 large towns, where there is no room for small gardens, and sold 

 to the merchants, &c. The .Japanese gardener imderstands 

 the art of cultivating the Chrysanthemum far better than wo 

 do in England, and there is much for our floral friends to learn 

 in their cultivation. I can assure them that the wonderful 

 size to which these flowers are brought would astonish them. 

 I find that the .Japanese are veiy careful in selecting the best 

 soil they can procure, and only allow two or three blooms to 

 come to perfection at the end of each shoot. Some of the 

 flowers are remarkable, and most peculiar in form and colour, 

 and I never saw any like them in England. We have white 

 petals striped with red Uke a Carnation or Camellia, others 

 looking like the fringe of a shawl. 



When I was last at Nagasaki I visited several large nurseries 

 at that place, and found several shrubs and plants of extraor- 

 dinary size. What would some of our English florists say to 

 having Azaleas 45 feet in circumference? — such was the case 

 with one of which I took the measurement. The Japanese, as 

 I have before informed you, have a neat way of cutting and 

 training their shrubs. Some are perfectly flat at the top, 

 reminding you of a dining-room table, and when in flower the 

 Azalea, trained in this way, is a gorgeous sight. I also noticed 

 several variegated plants, the names of which I have been 

 unable to learn, except those which are very general, includ- 



