228 General Notices. 



the first is the only one that is unattackable. The others drop to the 

 ground, creep into some dead leaf or cavity, and there undergo their trans- 

 formations. It therefore occurred to Mr. Blaud that if, shortly before these 

 caterpillars drop to the ground, he were to dig a ditch round his Olive trees 

 the caterpillars would fall into it ; and that then, by throwing back the 

 earth, he would bury them alive. He tried the method, and found it an- 

 swer perfectly. 



Another Olive-scourge is the Oscinis or Dacus Oka, a little fly, which 

 deposits its eggs in the Olive fruit, where they hatch and become a grub, 

 which feeds upon it. These grubs in the autumn crawl forth, descend the 

 branches, and bury themselves an inch or two below the surface, where 

 they undergo their transformations and pass the winter. Mr. Blaud buries 

 them, too, by throwing 18 inches of mould over the soil at the foot of the 

 Olive trees, and beating it down. Out of this tomb the flies never emerge. 



These facts, and twenty others, prove that if we still suffer from the 

 attacks of our insect enemies, it is the fault of our negligence, or ignorance, 

 or both, and that a study of the habits of these minute creatures, if its re- 

 sults are applied by men of skill and judgment, will reduce them, as it has 

 reduced other living things, entirely under the dominion of Man. — Gard. 

 Chron., 1847, p. 203. 



The Cultivation of the Calceolaria as an Annual. — As the Calceolaria may 

 be grown as an annual, I shall begin treating of it as one of those plants 

 that can be sown and flowered the same season. Those who have not got 

 any seed should get some immediately ; it can now be obtained from any 

 seedsman, and, as they are plentiful in most parts of the country, and bear 

 seed freely, the seed can be got cheap. The seedlings, if treated in the 

 following way, will flower in July, August, and September. The seed 

 should be sown in a slight heat, not below 55 degrees, nor above 65 de- 

 grees, because, if higher, the seedlings will draw up long and slender, too 

 much so to bear handling well ; for they must be transplanted as soon as 

 they have three or four leaves, and the sooner it can be done the better. 

 The soil should be loam, leaf-mould, and sand, very fine. As the seed is 

 very small, it should scarcely be covered with the soil; a little moss put 

 over the pot until the plants begin to spring, will be quite sufficient, but it 

 must be removed before the plants can be drawn off with it, as there is 

 some danger of that sometimes. The soil for the transplanting should be a 

 little stronger and coarser than what they were sown in. They may be 

 put in at about one inch apart, each way, for the first planting, and tiien the 

 largest ones removed as they show themselves, to give both the weaker ones 

 and themselves more room. They may be potted at once, or they may be 

 again transplanted into pans or boxes, to save room and pots ; for, by that 

 time, pots will be in great demand for the many things that are easier plant- 

 ed out, if previously well established in pots. Meanwhile, the calceola- 

 rias will be growing on in the boxes, and, if lifted carefully and potted, 

 just when the first pots are emptied into the flower garden, they will not be 

 much later in flowering than if they had been potted after the first trans- 

 planting. The soil should be richer and coarser every time they are shifl- 



