262 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



September, 



common sense, they make a law for themselves 

 which they do no define, and which whene\'er 

 they do define it, will convict them of frequent 

 and flagrant violation. 



The raising of hybrid Orchids has brought 

 about a curious crisis in botanical nomenclature. 

 The binomial system may be said to be nowhere. 

 Take a few e.xamples. I will begin with the 

 actual ('ymbtdium cbunieo-Lowianum, Cymhid- 

 ium giganteum and Cymhidium pendulum. Then 

 I will effect a cross between Cymhklium gigan- 

 tcum and Cymhhiium pendulum, and the selected 

 offspring shall be called CymlikJium gigantco- 

 Ijendulum. This last I will cross with (^ymbidium 

 ehurnco-Lowkmum, and the result shall be a 

 beautiful Orchid with the interesting name Cgm- 

 hklinm ehurnco Lowkmum-giganteo-penduhtm . 

 We shall have to manipulate generic names in 

 an equally elegant manner; we cross LtEfia with 

 Cattleyn and obtain a new genus to be called 

 Lelkj-Cattleya, and we cross in an opposite direc- 

 tion to obtain Cattle ya-Lcelta. The orchidists 

 are endeavoring to turn the world back to what 

 we may speak of as pre-Linnean times, and they 

 substitute descriptions for names, and where a 

 definition is wanted they provide a confusion. I 

 submit that we are not to have descriptions in 

 the place of names, and that while the binomial 

 system suffices for all ordinary purposes it should 

 be maintained in its original integrity. The use 

 of supplementary names is allowable only as 

 representing varieties, and may be framed on a 

 variety of plans with almost unlimited latitude, 

 consistent with propriety and convenience. Very 

 often our plant names do injury to science and 

 disgrace the inventors of the ugly and unpleasant 

 names. 



Variety Names. In naming varktics, and es- 

 pecially garden plants, there must be much 

 liberty allowed, and here ample room may be 

 found for commemorative names, and for such 

 as may be termed fanciful and playful. But 

 common sense will object to freedom in this 

 region irrespective of the class of subjects to 

 which the names are applied. For such things 

 as Dahlias, Pelargoniums and Phloxes, descrip- 

 tive names are rarely wanted. But in such a 

 group of plants as the varieties of Ilex aquifol- 

 ium, for example, we seem to need descriptive 

 names, those of a personal or geographical 

 character being inappropriate. We have a Holly 

 a[)propriatel.v named LaurifoUa, and the name 

 is useful as a guide to the plant. Suddenly in the 

 midst of Hollies we find Madame Brint, where a 

 lady should not be in the midst of sombre colors, 

 and other characters that have nothing especially 

 feminine about them. 



In the year 1871' I bestowed some care in the 

 classification and nomenclature of the Ivies. I 

 adopted or invented descriptive names for all 

 the varieties I could obtain; and you will find 

 them entered as lohed, arrow-Unved, wrinlded, 

 round, angular aniiso forth. The personal names 

 I abolished without hesitation. For example, I 

 found an Ivy bearing the name of Olumi; and as 

 the Glym would not light me to the character, I 

 named it Tortunsa, because it had a twisted leaf. 

 One that I found bearing the sweet name Rhnm- 

 l}<iidea iihnvata latifalki I observed had a leaf that 

 might be likened to the Greek letter D, and I 

 called it Deltiikleo. The world did not accept my 

 proposals with joj'ful thanks, for in truth ths 

 men who knew absolutely nothing about Ivies 

 were the most free of their abuse; and I never 

 cimdescended to tell them, as I might have done, 

 that many of the names they condemned as new 

 and ridiculous, were good old names that I sought 

 to re-establish in the place of later names that 

 were altogether inaiipropriate. 



The Bemedy. It you ask me what is to be 

 done, I can only answer that I have more faith 

 in public opinion than I have in any of our or- 

 ganized societies, councils and committees. It is 

 doubtful if an effective board of nomenclature 

 could be constituted, considering how local and 

 academic the so-called learned societies for the 

 most part are. A revising board would have to 

 be in correspondence with all botanical and jier- 

 haps with some horticultural societies, not only 

 of Europe and America, but of the world. 



Were certain common sense principles agreed 

 upon for a basis of operations, an immensity of 

 good work might be accomplished with but a 

 shadow of the effort that appears to be inevita- 

 ble, so long as we consider the matter in the 

 abstract only. Let us take the Rromeliaceous 

 plants for an example. The late Professor Ed- 

 ward Morren has left for the appropriation of 

 such a board a systematic revision of all the 

 materials for a rectification of nomenclature. 



One example is as good as fifty. Specialists will 

 be found to differ in their methods of operation, 

 in their views on classification and nomenclature, 

 but as a rule they may be relied upon for minute 

 knowledge of facts, and the business of a revising 

 board would be to turn their labors to account 

 in aid of a distinctly formulated system; the 

 board would have to harmonize rather than in- 

 vent; and to parcel out the work and keep con- 

 trol in view of fundamental principles. 



Grapes as Affected by Climate 

 and Situation 



{Paper by Geo. W. Campbell, the introducer of the 

 Delaware Qrape. before the Nurserymen's Associ- 

 tion. Coruiluded from page 'i^.\ 

 Mr. Ricketts' Grapes, although many of them, 

 as grown and exhibited by himself, were of 

 great beauty and excellence, have not proven 

 generally successful, and the most of them, I 

 think, can only be grown to perfection by special 

 care or in very favorable situations. The .Jeffer- 

 son has been with me one of the most successful, 

 and among the best flavored, though sometimes 

 rather tardy in ripening. John Snider, one of 

 the oldest Grape-growers in southern Ohio, at 

 Lancaster, gives the Jefferson the position of 

 " the finest Grape on the American Continent." 

 But Secretary Williams, of New Jersey, finds 

 the Jefferson unsatisfactory and of little or no 

 value. 



The Brighton Grape is deservedly popular in 

 many places, but it often fails in productiveness. 

 This must always continue, for the cause is 

 found in its imperfect blossom, with short fila- 

 ments and reflexed stamens. In favorable sea- 

 sons, with bright and mild weather dnring the 

 period of infloresence, the pollen seems sufBci- 

 cient to fertilize and produce perfect fruit. But 

 if cold and rainy weather prevails at this period 

 the Grapes fail to set, and few and imperfect 

 clusters are the result. Some of the Rogers' 

 Hybrids and the newly introduced Moyer Grape 

 are in the same class. 



Most persons who plant a large number of 

 different kinds of Grapes come to the conclusion 

 that we have too many varieties. This is doubt- 

 less true as applied to any one locality; but the 

 very kinds that do not succeed in that particular 

 may be both successful and valuable in other 

 places which are suited to their special require- 

 ments. Occasionlly, when we have pleasant 

 and sunny weather extending late into autumn 

 without unseasonable frosts or cold rains, some 

 of the Grapes of southern origin, such as 

 Catawba and Herbemont, and even our northern 

 Clinton and Zoe, become rich and high flavored 

 with a sweetness and refreshing sprightliness 

 which are only attained in our climate in ex- 

 ceptionally favorable seasons. The inference 

 here is plain that in other places where such 

 favorable conditions exist naturally the same 

 happy results will as naturally follow. 



The point I wish to make is that success in 

 Grape culture requires that varieties should be 

 selected which are especially adapted to the 

 locality where they are grown; and that because 

 a Grape does not succeed in one section, it is by 

 no means certain that it may not be both suc- 

 cessful and valuable in another to which it is 

 fitted naturally. 



The area of adaptation is evidently much 

 wider for some varieties than others. In our 

 section of country the Labrusca type— includiug 

 Concord, Worden, Moore's Early, Ives, Lady, 

 Martha and Woodruff— will probably be found 

 more generally successful than any other class; 

 but there are, doubtless, in some portions of the 

 south, other varieties which are better adapted 

 to their soil and climate than any of these. The 

 Delaware Gra])e would probably be fouud 

 adapted to as large an area as any other in culti- 

 vation, except for its unfortunate liability to 

 mildew of the foliage : and I am not without 

 hope that the use of the sulphate of copper 

 remedies may so far overcome this difliculty as 

 to permit the successful growing of this valuable 

 variety to an extent even bej'ond that of the 

 Concord by i-eason of its constitutional resistance 

 to the attacks of Grape-rot. 



I regard as of the greatest importance the use 

 of these recently discovered remedies against 

 the various maladies which have been so preva- 

 lent and so discouraging to Grape-growers. I 

 believe that their general adoption and general 

 use will not only greatly enlarge the area of 

 successful Grape-growing, but will also enable 

 us to grow profitably many of the finer and par- 

 tially tender varieties in sections where it would 

 be impossible without them. 



'Our Insect Friends. 



lExtractsfrom an essay reeul before the Missouri State 

 Hortieultural .Society, by Mary E. Murtfeldt. 



Out insect friends are far more numerous 

 than people generally are aware. As one 

 phase of their usefulness in a general way 

 insects are busy from morning till night, 

 and from night till morning, carrying the 

 pollen from the anthers of one plant to the 

 stigmas of another of the same kind, thus 

 insuring vigor to the germ and perfection 

 to the fruit. 



Our orchards, our vineyards, our berry l)eds 

 are all more productive for the swarms of bees, 

 flies, beetles and butterflies that flit from one 

 flower to another, scattering the fructifying 

 germs. The Crimson Clover fields would be ban- 

 ished from our landscapes but for the bumble 

 bees. 



Insects are the chief food supply of the great 

 majority of birds and food fishes. We can 

 scarcely realize the aid they afford in the reduc- 

 tion of decaying animal and vegetable sub- 

 stances. It is, however, to those species, which 

 by their cannibalistic and parasitic habits assist 

 so immeasureably in keeping in check other 

 species, which are undeniably injurious to us, 

 that I desire more particularly to call attention. 

 We must be able to distinguish our friends from 

 our foes. It may almost be set down as a rule 

 that the ugliest and most ferocious looking of 

 insect larviv are the ones in all cases to preserve. 

 And it may also be said that grace and beauty of 

 the perfect insect is, with many species, in exact 

 ratio to the fierce ungainliness of their immature 

 forms. This is especially true of the cannibal 

 beetles. 



The tiger beetles we see along our paths in the 

 spring, running with the extreme lightness and 

 agility and rising readily on the wing, are great 

 hunters, while their larvae, which rest at the 

 bottom of a perpendicular hole in the ground 

 five or six inches deep, and the size of a lead 

 pencil, are genuine trappers at the top of their 

 burrows, and hundreds of bugs, ants, flies and 

 worms are required to nourish a single larva? to 

 the stage of maturity. The larger ground beetles 

 also hunt on the surface of the earth, while their 

 larvte burrow in all directions in search of cur- 

 culio and other larvsf that enter the ground there 

 to transform. 



The preying mantis or devil's horse (Mantis 

 Carolina) is another (very valuable, though un- 

 canny looking insect. Its singular egg masses, 

 which resemble what geologists call a "trilubite" 

 shovdd by no means be destroyed. While it is no 

 respecter of species, beneficial or injurious, it 

 devours far more of the latter than the former. 

 The short winged females which are incapable of 

 flight are especially ferocious, and manj- of 

 the winged but less robust males furnish their 

 conjugal partners with a dinner. 



Among the species of cannibal beetles which 

 merit our highest regard are the so-called lady 

 birds (Coccinellidip). Wc have native to this 

 country .50 or fiO species, but not more than 13 or 

 1.5 of this number are abundant and widely dis- 

 tributed. They are all of small size, the largesi 

 not exceeding one-third of an inch in length, 

 and in coloring, various shades of red, with 

 black dots, prevail. The larvse are elongate 

 dark colored, often spiny grubs, with six long 

 sprangled legs, and present a rather repulsive 

 appearance. When ready to change they attach 

 themselves by the tail and either push the larvie 

 skin backward or split it open on top, but remain 

 within it until the beetle is ready to appear. The 

 especial function in nature which these insects 

 were apparently designed to fulfil is to keep in 

 check the myriads of Iplant lice and bark lice 

 that multiply at such an incredible rate that no 

 human agenc.v is sufficient to cope with them. 

 Simultaneously with the appearance of the 

 aphids or plant lice, come several species of these 

 beetles, two or three lace-wing flies and syrphus 

 flies, and a large number of big and little para- 

 sitic species, and while the plant lice extract the 

 sap with their innumerable little beaks, the 

 larger insects seize them in their jaws and drain 

 them of their vital fluids or puncture their plump 

 bodies to lay their eggs, which hatch into tiny 

 grubs within the bodies of their victims, and 

 within a few hours destroy their appetites for 

 plant nectar, and soon convert them into a mere 

 house and larder for the knawing worms within. 

 All these predacious species develop with great 

 rapidit.v, and soon so reduce the ranks of the 

 vegetable feeders that the grain crop is rescued 

 from destruction. 



