BIL 88 



— ♦ 



BILLBERGIA. Ten sppcies. Stove | 

 epiphytes. Suckers. Rich mould. | 



BILLOTIA acerosa. Green-house 

 everprRen shrub. Cuttirif^s. Sandy peat. 



B 1 N DW K 1 : D . Con volvulus . 



BINDWHKD. Smilnx Aspera. , 



BIOPHYTVM sensitiium. Hardy an- 

 nual. Seeds. Common soil. 



BIRCH. Betula. 



BIRCH. Carpinus Betulus. 



BIRDS are benefactors as well as in- 

 jurera of the gardener. They destroy 

 millions of grubs, caterpillars, and : 

 aphides, which would have ravaged his 

 crops ; but at the same time they com- : 

 mit sad havoc upon his fruit and seeds. 

 The wisest course, consequently, is to 

 scare them from the garden at such 

 times, or from the portions of it in 

 which they can be prejudicial, but to 

 leave them to visit it unmolested when- 

 ever and wherever they cannot be mis- j 

 chievous. Thus in early spring a boy : 

 or two will drive them away during] 

 such time as the buds of the gooseberry, 

 currai't, and plum, are open to their 

 attacks ; and again during the time that 

 the cherries are ripe. To keep them 

 from the fruit of late gooseberries and 

 currants, it is sufficient to interlace 

 thickly the bushes with red worsted. 

 To keep them from attacking peas and 

 other vegetables just emerging from the 

 soil, a similar display of white thread 

 fastened to pegs about six inches from 

 the surface, is also efficiently deterrins;. 

 Nets, where availal)le, are also suffi- 

 cient guardians. By these aids, but 

 especially by the watching during cer- 

 tain seasons, the gardener may protect 

 himself from injury at a very trifling ex- 

 pense, without depriving himself of the 

 services of the most sharp-sighted, most 

 unwearying, and most successful of all 

 insect killers; and, it should also be 

 added, one of the most agreeable ap- 

 pendages to rural life. Without birds, 

 next to flowers, the cotintry would be 

 desolate. What delightful associations 

 and recollections present themselves as 

 we call to mind the chir[)ing of the 

 wren, the homeh' notes of the familiar 

 cat-bird, the gambols of the martin, and 

 the periodical visits of the confiding 

 robin and snow-bird. 



BIRD CHERRY. Cerasus padus. 



BIRD PEPPER. Capsicum bacca- 

 tum. 



BIRD'S BILL. Trigonella ornitho- 

 podioides. 



BL A 



BIRD'S EYE. Primula farinosa. 



BIRD'S FOOT. Orthinopus. 

 . BIRD'S FOOT, Euphorbia orthino- 

 pus. 



BIRD'S FOOT TREFOIL. Lotuf. 



BIRD'S NEST. Asplenium Nidus. 



BIRD'S TONGUE. Ornitho gios- 

 sum. 



BIRTHWORT. Aristolochia. 



BISCUTELLA. Twenty-three spe- 

 cies. Hardy annuals and herbaceous 

 perennials. Seeds. Loam and peat. 



BISERRULA pelecinus. Hatchet 

 vetch. Hardy annual. Seeds. Sandy 

 loam or peat. 



BITTER SWEET. Solanum Ihd- 

 camara. 



BIVON.^A LUTEA. Annual. 

 Seeds. Dry sandy soil. 



BIXA. Three species. Stove ever- 

 green trees. Seeds or cuttings. Sandy 

 loam and peat. 



BIZARRE. See Carnation. 



BLACK ARCH MOTH. SeeBomhjx. 



BLACK CATERPILLAR. See^<Aa- 

 lia. 



BLACK FLY. Haltica nemorum. 

 This is only one of the several popular 

 names by which the turnip fly is known. 

 The gardener is not so liable to suffer 

 as is the farmer, from its ravages, yet 

 he is sufficiently open to them to ren- 

 der a knowledge of its habits desirable. 

 Mr. Curtis says : — 



" The eggs of the common striped 

 turnip fly are laid on the under side of 

 the rough leaf of the turnip from Aprd 

 to September ; they hatch in two days. 

 Their maggots live between the two 

 skins or cuticles of the rough leaf, and 

 arrive at maturity in sixteen days. The 

 chrysalis is buried just beneath the sur- 

 face of the earth, where it remains 

 about a fortnight. The beetles live 

 through the winter in a torpid state, 

 and revive in the spring, when they de- 

 stroy ihe first two leaves, called the 

 cotyledonous or seed leaves of the 

 young turnip. There are five or s;x 

 broods in a season. These insects are 

 most to be feared in fine seasons. 



" Heavy rains, cold springs, and long 

 droughts, destroy them. Their scent is 

 very perfect : the beetles fly against 

 the wind, and are attracted from a dis- 

 tance. The rapid growth of the plant 

 is the best security against them : to 

 secure which, sow plenty of seed all of 

 the same age. Burning the surface of 

 the land is beneficial, by destroying the 



