Editors Letter- Box. 189 



Querist, Boston. — Your bulbs which have increased so as to break the pot 

 are those of the west-wind flower, Zephyranthes : it is a charming little summer- 

 blooming plant, and does well in the open border, drying off, and being kept 

 away from frost in winter. 



Your other "bulb, with a black skin, long leaves, and scarlet, peculiar-shaped 

 flowers," is probably Amaryllis {Sprekelia)fermosissi)mcs^ or Jacobean lily. It 

 requires the same treatment as the Zephyranthes. 



Z. A. — Best varieties of quinces ? — There are not many kinds of quinces in 

 cultivation, and all are good ; but the most popular in the market is the Orange 

 or Apple Quince. Rea's Seedling is a variety of the Orange, a third larger, not 

 generally tested ; but, wherever tried, it proves very large and of fine quality. The 

 tree is a strong grower, with dark, vigorous foliage. The Pear Quince is later, 

 and is excellent for flavoring apple-sauce in the winter. We recommend plant- 

 ing mostly Orange or Rea's Seedling, with a few of the Pear. 



Messrs. Tilton & Co., — Will you give me your opinion as to when is the 

 best time for me to sell my crop of Early Rose Potato ? I planted ten bushels 

 last spring ; and I now have three hundred bushels which I would like to sell. 

 The ten bushels I planted last spring are the product of a peck the season 

 before. . G. T. 



Our advice is to sell when you can get the best price, which you can judge 

 of as well as we. But sell them at fifty cents a bushel rather than let them rot. 



H. E. B., South Haven, Conn. — Your beautiful wild flower is the cardinal- 

 flower {Lobelia cardinalis). It is described, and directions given for its cultiva- 

 tion, in our last volume, p. 351. 



Idem. — The worms on the pear-shoot sent are the Arctia texfor, Hyphantria 

 texior, or Spilosoma textor, of Harris's treatise, commonly called the " fall caterpil- 

 lar," or " fall web-worm." Besides the pear, plum, apple, cherry, and quince, which 

 you mention, it is also destructive to the elm-tree. Towards the end of August, 

 or in September, they disperse, eating whatever plants happen to come in their 

 way, till they find suitable places of concealment, where they make their thin 

 and almost transparent cocoons, composed of a light web of silk with a few hairs 

 mingled. They remain in the chrysalis state through the winter, and are 

 changed to moths in June and July. The eggs are laid in a cluster on a leaf, 

 near the extremity of a branch, and are hatched from the last of June to the 

 middle of August. They eat the upper surface of the leaves, proceeding down 

 the branch, covering the whole with their web, which is often three or four feet 

 in length. The only way to destroy them is by crushing the caterpillars ; and, as 

 with other insects, this is best done when they are young, — the sooner the 

 better. 



The presence of large numbers of insects in your neighborhood will not ac- 

 count for their scarcity on your place. They would be more likely to be plenti- 

 ful there when there are plenty around you. 



