OTI 



413 



OX A 



fleshy, slightly curvei^, and having nu- 

 merous short rigid hairs on the body. 

 About the middle of May these grubs 

 change into white pupae, which have no 

 cocoons, but are placed in oval cells, in 

 the earth, perfectly smooth on the in- 

 side. They remain in the pupa state 

 about fourteen days, and become bee- 

 tles. In this latter state they are quite 

 black, and the elytra, or wing-cases, 

 are rather deeply furrowed. In the 

 Berlin Botanic Garden they have been 

 found to infest the roots of saxifrages 

 and trollius, growing in the open bor- 

 der, and cause their death. 



" The only methods of destroying 

 them are, at this time of the year, to 

 examine the roots of sedums and other 

 succulent plants, and crush all that may 

 be found ; and in June, when the per- 

 fect insects appear, to look among the 

 pots, where they are usually lurking, 

 and kill them as soon as they come out, 

 before they have time to deposit their 

 eggs." — Gard. Chron. 



O. tenebricosus. Red-legged garden- 

 weevil. Mr. Curtis says, — 



" The maggots of the red-legged 

 garden-weevil are found round the base 

 of the stems of wail-fruit, sometimes 

 in very great quantities, a few inches 

 below the surface, where they undergo 

 their transformations. The beetles, 

 which are old offenders, come out only 

 at night to feed upon the buds of wall- 

 fruit, doing great mischief to apricots, 

 peaches, nectarines, plums, &c. They 

 first destroy the fruit, and subsequently 

 attack the bark and leaves, so as not 

 unfrequently to endanger the life of the 

 trees. They commence their depreda- 

 tions in April by eating the unexpanded 

 blossom-buds, clearing out the centre, 

 and leaving only the external bractea, 

 and occasionally fragments of the im- 

 mature leaves. They will thus proceed 

 along a branch until all the buds are 

 destroyed, and afterwards demolish the 

 young eyes which ought to produce 

 wood-shoots, until nothing is left but 

 the bare branches. 



" The beetles bury themselves by 

 day in the earth, close to the founda- 

 tion of the wall to which the trees are 

 trained, likewise round the stems of 

 the trees, and most probably in chinks 

 of the bricks, and other dark hiding- 

 places. When recently hatched it is 

 clothed with a delicate yellow pube- 

 Bcence, forining little irregular spots 



upon the elytra ; but they soon wear 

 off and disappear, when it becomes of 

 a shining black, inclining to a pitch- 

 colour. 



" The larvae of these otiorhynci being 

 as destructive as the perfect beetles, 

 the main object ought to be to destroy 

 the former, if possible, in the autumn, 

 which probably would be most readily 

 effected by stirring the earth all along 

 the base of the wall and round the 

 stems of the fruit-trees, and then sprin- 

 kling salt pretty thickly over the broken 

 surface; or salt and water, or, perhaps, 

 liquid-manure, might be equally bene- 

 ficial — if hot the better; for it seems 

 evident, from the peculiar spots in 

 which they generate, or rather undergo 

 their transformations, that situations 

 sheltered in a great measure from the 

 wet are most congenial to their habits. 

 The beetles can only be arrested by 

 hand-picking, with a candle and lan- 

 tern, and afterwards pouring boiling 

 water upon them, as their shells resist 

 moderate heat." —Gard. Chron. 



0. notatus attacks the young shoots 

 of the raspberry and rose, piercing 



j them to the pith. 



OXALIS. Wood-sorrel. One hun- 

 dred and twenty-four species. Chiefly 



I green-house half-hardy and hardy bulbs, 

 though some are shrubs, others herba- 



} ceous, and a few annuals. The bulbs 



; are increased by offsets, the shrubs by 



I cuttings, the herbaceous by division, 

 and the annuals by seed. They all 

 thrive in sandy loam, manured with 



j leaf mould. See Sorrel. 



0. Deppii. — Plant bulbs of this in 

 pots, at the beginning of March, and 

 shelter in a cold pit or green-house. 



I When all fear of frost is passed plant 

 them in a light soil, and in a southern 



i aspect, about twelve inches apart each 

 way; or the bulbs may be kept out of 

 the ground altogether until the middle 

 of April, and then be planted at once 

 in the open soil. It should be trenched, 

 and a little manure turned in with the 

 bottom spit, as for other tap-rooted 

 crops. The scaly bulbs, from which it 

 is propagated, grow in a cluster round 

 the crown of the root. The only culti- 

 vation required, is to keep the crop 

 free from weeds, and to water plenti- 

 fully in dry weather ; otherwise, if the 

 roots are allowed to become dry, they 

 split upon the occurrence of moist 

 weather. Protect from early frosts, in 



