WATERMELON 



small moth, the larva of which, light, yellowish 

 green caterpillars about an inch long, destroy only the 

 leaves of the Watermelon, but both the foliage and 

 fruit of the cantaloupe or muskmelon. They are 

 "chewers," not "suckers." 



2. The melon louse {Aphis gossypii).— This attacks 

 the foliage, only, in the form of the adult — a small 

 winged green fly, viviparous, whose wingless progeny 

 attain maturity in about a week from birth, and begin 

 to reproduce. 



3. The striii.',l cii.-iinil.cr 1 tie (/'-..■■.-,•.' ,"-.,',M. 



-A small l.la.-k ami v..||,.iv.sl riln, 1 - ■ , , rnr 



of an inch I,.,,-, a|.p.'.-iriim m M'Ini^: :- -! ■ ■ -i" ■ H"- 

 young plants as tli.-y i'm.-ri,'c fn.iii thr ^imimm!, il, lai-v;e 

 at the same time destroying tlie roots. 



4. The flea beetle (Crepidodera cucumeris). Dimin- 

 utive, like all of its kind, but very active, feeding 

 on the young plants in spring, after maturing under 

 rubbish and stones. The adult insect eats the upper 

 surface of the leaves, in irregular patches, and the 

 larvcB are said to burrow their way through the interior 

 of the leaf structure under the surface. 



Remedies: The commercial grower is generally pre- 

 pared to accept the fact that none of these pests is 

 going to neglect him, and therefore makes his prepara- 

 tions to combat all, separately and collectively, and so 

 plans his schedule as to cover the entire list. The fol- 

 lowing is a detail of the operations advised: 



1. Apply a pinch of nitrate of soda to each bill as 

 soon as the young plants are up to insure full vigor and 

 power of resistance to all enemies as they arrive upon 

 the scene. 



2. For the melon worm, striped cucumber beetle and 

 flea beetle, spray with Paris green— 4 ounces to 50 gal- 

 lons of water— for two or three sprayings, at intervals 

 of a week apart. 



3. Spray intermediately, at intervals of a week (mid- 

 way between the arsenite applications) if the melon 

 louse is found to have located on the plants, with a 



1 to 20 mixture of kerosene and water (using Weed kero- 

 sene attachment to sprayer) or with kerosene emulsion, 

 same strength. Whale-oil soap, 1 lb. to the gallon, may 

 be substituted for the kerosene treatment in ordinary 

 cases, but when olidurate resort must be had to carbon 

 bisulrtde. a ti-asp.»iiifiil to the hill, in box-tops, clam- 

 shells or cheap vessi-ls of any kind, under canvas- 

 lioiipei] covers. Tills remedy is unfailing, but somewhat 

 troublesome, and is only .iusfilieil when the commercial 

 grower is lighting desperately for his crop and liveli- 

 hood. A detail of the methods of jirei.arini.- flie 

 remedies here suggested may be obtained fmni the 

 article on Insecticides, in Vol. II of this work, wbi.'li 

 ^6*- Hugh N. Staknes. 



WATSdNIA (Sir Wra. Watson, M.D., 1715-1787, elec- 

 trician and professor of botany at Chelsea). Iriditcece. 

 A genus of 16 species of tender bulbous plants, one 

 from Madagascar, the others from the Cape of Good 

 Hope. They bloom from July to September and have 

 scarlet, rose or white 6-lobed flowers, with usually a 

 long, slender tube which is bent near the base. Wat- 

 sonias are very much like Gladioli, having the same 

 kind of a corm, the same sword-shaped, rigid Ivs., the 

 same kind of a spike and the same season of bloom. It 

 is, therefore, a great mistake to suppose that they are 

 suited only to greenhouse cultivation. The main dif- 

 ferences between Watsonia and Gladiolus, from the 

 horticultural as well as botanical points of view, are the 

 longer tube and regular flower of Watsonia; three of 

 the six perianth-segments in Gladiolus being usually 

 different in size, shape and direction of spread. An im- 

 portant botanical difference is that the style-branches of 

 Watsonia are simple, while those of Gladiolus are bifid. 



Great interest has been aroused in Watsonias recently 

 by the introduction of the ■- White Watsonia," known to 

 the trade as W. Ardemei. The plant might be roughly 

 described as a white Gladiolus. It is likely to receive 

 considerable attention within the next few years. It 

 grows 3 or 4 ft. high, strong specimens being branched, 

 and bears about a dozen fls., each 2K-3 in. long and about 



2 in. across. The purity of its color and its value for 

 cutting make it of exceptional interest to florists. There 

 are other white - fld. forms of Watsonia, but none of 



WATSONIA 



1971 



them seem to be in the American trade. Pure white is 

 the exception in the iris family, while it is a com- 

 mon, if not dominant, "color" in the lily and amaryllis 

 families. 



The White Watsonia has acquired so many names 

 that a short historical sketch of the plant is desirable. 

 All the stock in the trade at present is supposed to be 

 descended from plants cultivated by H. W. Arderne, of 

 Cape Town. The original bulb was found 80 miles away 

 in a peat bog amongst thousands of the common pink-fld. 

 kind. In Oct., 1892, Mr. Arderne had 400 spikes in 

 bloom and in March, 1893, some of his plants were pic- 

 tured in The Garden under the name of Watsonia alba. 

 However, a pure white - fld. form had been previously 

 found near Port Elizabeth and a bulb sent to J. O'Brien, 

 of Harrow, flowered in England in 1889 and was then 

 fully described as W. iridifolia, var. O'J^rieni, the 

 name adopted in this work. In the recent discussions 

 of the plant the fact has been overlooked that T. S. 

 Ware, of Tottenham, cultivated a white variety in 1880, 

 it being figured in The Garden for that year as Wat- 

 sonia aU>a. A nearly white form was cultivated in Eng- 

 land as early as 1801, but the tube was pinkish outside 

 and there was a rosy spot at the base of each perianth- 

 segment. 



William Watson, of Kew, was the first to emphasize 

 the close horticultural parallel between Watsonia and 

 Gladiolus and ti. uii^e the whole group upon the atten- 

 tion of the plain lu.eMer. 'I'his suggestion, coming from 

 the man who iiiav ln' sai.l t,, have created the modern 

 Cape Primrus ■ Stre|,t.. carpus, should result in an- 

 other i'hm rie-, .1 I 1. rids bef<ire many years. However, 

 the W.I I ' IS not so easily and safely stored 



(Ten. ,,,■ . [Hi,. II I. is: perianth with long, curved tube, 

 the lowest and uarrowest part ascending a short dis- 

 tance above the calyx; the tube is then dilated into a 

 cylindrical or funnel-shaped portion which bends down, 

 usually at a sharp angle; segments equal, oblong, spread- 

 ing; stamens unilateral, arcuate, inserted below the 

 throat of the tube. Baker, Handbook of the Iridese. 

 Flora Capensis, vol. 6. 



U-1 • 



.2. angusta 



D. Spih, s l.n. I '-'II lid. 



E. Vis .,,1,1,1 



EE. FIs. ,.,s, ,,,l ,,, ithile 



r. Lr... l.,-\ III. Hide: spikes 



about 12-nd 3. Meriana 



FF. Lvs. tvider: spikes diiiser, 



about SO-fid 4. iridifolia 



DD. Spikes dense, S0-50-f!d 5. denaiilora 



CC. Stems shorter, mostly 1-2 ft., uii- 

 branched. 



D. Tube iyit-2 in. long r>. coccinea 



DD. Tube 1'^-!% in. long 7. humilis 



AA. Upper part of tube short and broadly 



funnel-shaped 8. rosea 



1. aletroides, Ker. Bright scarlet or pale pink-fld. 

 species, 1-2 ft. high, remarkable for the short perianth- 

 segments: stem simple or branched: spikes C-12-fld. 

 B.M. 533 (rosy scarlet, splashed with cardinal, the inner 



segments white at the tip). 



2. angiista, Ker. ( 11'. iridiffilia, var. fiilgens, Ker.). 



Scarlet-fld. sy ir, ,lisii,,-iiislied from W. Meriana by 



the color of the ils. ami hy the shape of the perianth- 

 segments. In II'. ,i,i;ii,st,: Ihi' segments are decidedly 

 acuminate, while those ,,i ir. Jferiana are more nearlv 



I iHiinr suddenly. Also the style of 

 I., ilie ti|M.f the perianth-segments, 

 ( il (Ines ni.t. B.M. GOO. Gn. 17:230 

 :■. cucviiieu), ii:92-3. 



oblong and i 



