236 
[Arri 11, 
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 
thus produced, appearing almost at the same instant as 
the disease which gave birth to it, might by some be 
considered as a new being arising from a seed or 
sporule, instead of its being merely an extension of the 
existing vegetable in a new form.— 4n Inquirer, Elgin. 
SELECT PLANTS FOR BEDDING OUT IN 
FLOWER GARDENS. 
(Continued from page 220.) 
2. LOBELIA ERINUS COMPACTA.— This variety differs 
from L. erinus grandiflora in being smaller and more 
delieate, in its pale-green aspeet, in its less robust and 
nearly upright growth, and in forming an extremely 
dense and compact plant, with a much greater disposi- 
tion to form p fl buds. When multiplied 
by seed, the flowers vary in colour from every shade of 
ultra-marine to a bright sapphire-blue. The latter is 
its most permanent character, to perpetuate which it 
should, in common with all varieties which degenerate 
in colour, be increased annually by cuttings. Although 
less favourable than the latter for forming large groups 
r beds, from its dense and upright growth, it is, never- 
theless, by far the most beautiful of all the varieties for 
ducing abriili ingle eff rock-work, or small 
dixi nc ifa nda EA 
itself, it had forced the pupa-case half-way through the 
woolly stopper, which held it fast by the serratures. 
his pupa is shining ochreous-brown, long and ceylin- 
drieal, with two trausverse elevated lines of little teeth 
on the back of each segment, one being short, the other 
interrupted only on the underside, the serratures in- 
clining towards the tail ; the apex is also spiny, and 
there is a horn on the forehead (fig. 2). 
The female moths appear later, and are found until 
the end of August* ; many of the eggsare laid in July, 
and the larvee issue from them so as to cast their skin 
in September, aud arrive at maturity the following 
June. These moths fly towards the evening, and the 
males are very active and lively, but of rare occurrence 
compared with the sluggish females; these are fur- 
nished with a strong horny ovipositor for inserting their 
eggs in the crevices of the bark ; they are oval and ofa 
pale salmon colour (fig. 4), and one I had laid about 
300 eggs in one mass; when first hatched the larva 
feeds upon the bark of the tree ; but it soon afterwards 
pierces the solid wood, and the late Mr. A. Matthews 
made some observations on its economy, which will 
further develope the habits of the caterpillar. His atten- 
tion was called to the subject by seeing a small mass of 
ly decayed sawdust protruding from the bark 
parterres. Being of recent intr " PI p 
for picturesque effectis not generally known. A small 
bed was devoted to its culture last summer in the 
Royal Gardens of Buckingham Palace, where, from its 
remarkable profusion of conspicuous bright blue flowers 
and neat, compact growth, it was described by all who 
saw it-as extremely beautiful. In a few cases the 
variety has been idered to be uni ing (1), 
which is easily explained, either by reason of a defec- 
tive growth or from the possession of an inferior 
variety from seed. I have seen no other plant of simi- 
lar habit worthy of being compared with it, In order 
to obtain a stronger growth, previous to planting out, 
the following treatment was followed :-- 
Established cuttings of the current year were grown 
in a house-pit devoted to rearing young stock of Fuch- 
sias, Verbenas, &c., well exposed to the light, and 
where a generally uniform and genial temperature was 
maintained at from 66° (and occasionally 70°) by day 
to 55° by night, until the plants were removed from 
pots of 3 inches diameter, and established in pots of 
5 inehes diameter. Whilst the plants were in the former 
size, a limited number of them were treated upon the 
principle deseribed in the last Paper, by having the 
terminal growth of each (amounting to nearly one-half 
of the entire plant) uniformly cut off, thereby inducing 
X more prolific growth. This process was 
hen the plants were re-established in the 
zed pots ; and on their again assuming a vigor- 
ous growth, they were removed to a cold pit or frame, 
and gradually exposed to the open air preparatory to 
planting out for the summer. 
The temperature in which they were grown, previous 
to being pianted in the open ground, has been care- 
fully noticed, in consequence of the too little importance 
attached to the necessary means for obtaining fine 
growth in plants, otherwise requiring ordinary manage- 
ment, 
Could we but read the language of flowers, as ex- 
pressed by their imperfect growth, it would be but to 
reproach us for having transplanted them from the 
bright and genial influence of their own summer skies, 
to bloom imperfectly under the cold and blighting atmo- 
sphere which too often attends their imperfect manage- 
ment. The perfection of beauty in flowers is, in a great 
degree, dependent upon ci fe ble to its 
development ; and like a statue assumed to exist in a 
lock of marble previous to its sculptured form, which 
nothing less than the intimate knowledge and com- 
munion of the artist with the principles and practice of 
his art can bring to light, so it is with flowers. 
The arm of the sculptor is impotent to wield the im- 
plements of his genius apart from the favourable influ- 
ences which awaken and sustain his energies ; and the 
cultivator of plants, who aspires to the highest attain- 
ment in his profession, must also feel the inspiring in- 
fluences of nature, over the circumstances which give 
birth to the noblest efforts of professional skill.— William 
Wood, Pinz-applesplace. 
Tue Woop Leoparp Moru (Zeuzera ZEsculi).— Con- 
spicuous amongst the tree-destroyers is a pill 
similar in its habits to that of the goat-moth, but it is 
much smaller, being only 14 inch long, fleshy, of a 
yellow colour, with four black raised'spots on each side 
of the segments, excepting the thoracic and apical 
ones ; the former has a black shining horny shield, and 
the latter is also partially black and horny ; the spira- 
cles are black, and there are two black spots on the 
head; it has six pectoral, eight abdominal, and two 
anal feet (fig. 1) ; it lives in the trunks of various trees, 
as the Apple, Pear, Quince, Lime, Mountain-ash, 
Walnut, Hazel, Holly, Ash, Elm, Beech, Birch, Oak, 
and Horse Chesnut, from which it receives its specific 
name, not a very apposite one, as it very seldom attacks 
that tree, In Feb, 1845, a portion of a small Oak- 
branch was sent to me with one of these larvze in it ; 
a longitudinal tunnel had been found, not quite in the 
centre, about the size of a swan’s quill, and there it re- 
mained for several months, I wrapped the wood in 
brown paper, through which the caterpillar ate a hole 
directly opposite that in the wood, previously to chang- 
ing to the pupa, and covered the entrance with a woolly 
web and fibres, I imagine, of the paper, and about the 
end of June a male moth hatched. In extricating 
I 
of a Pear-tree in May, above four feet from the ground, 
On removing the bark it appeared that the caterpillar 
had first worked downward, and formed an irregular 
cavity in the wood, from one-eighth to three-eighths 
of an inch deep, which was to receive, and was partly 
filled with excrement; it then returned, having in- 
ereased in strength and size, and in all probability 
changed its skin, and proceeded to bore a tunnel, a 
little above its entrance, about half an inch in diameter, 
regular in shape and gradually receding from the sur- 
face of the tree, until it had extended nearly a foot in 
length, when it was 1} inch from the bark, and at the 
summit the caterpillar. was found with its head ascend- 
ing. The larva usually changes to a chrysalis just be- 
can recommend a simple and safe procedure, whereby 
out of a few good seed Potatoes a far greater number of 
strong and fruitful Potato plants may be produced than 
by the usual plan. I was led to this practice by the 
wish to increase as rapidly as possible the new sorts of 
Potatoes which I had grown from seeds, and which ap- 
peared to me especially promising, in order that I might 
be the sooner able to judge of their utility. 
It would occupy too much space to detail all the ex- 
periments I have made, but I may state generally as 
the result, that I have been able, out of every sound eye 
of a perfectly sound Potato, to obtain at last three strong 
Potato stalks, all three of which bore perfectly de- 
veloped and ripe Potatoes. The following is the plan pur- 
sued :—From the sort of Potatoes I wished to preserve, 
I selected the strongest and most beantiful. Potatoes ; 
these I placed, in the beginning of March, in a hotbed 
which had been already used, or I prepared a hothed 
on purpose with horse-dung, and upon this I placed the 
Potatoes so thick and near one another, that at least 
from 25 to 30 might be counted on every square foot ; 
these were then covered with about 4inches (Quer- 
Finger) of earth, and the frame was closed. In the 
course of from 14 days to three weeks the Potatoes had 
germinated and grown so rapidly as to project against 
the glass of the frame. A spot of ground was then pre- 
pared for the transplanting of the Potatoes, and after 
the sashes had been removed about eight days, to 
accustom the plants to the air, the Potato plants were 
taken up, and every one of the tubers was separated 
from the stalks by a peculiar turn of the hand which 
may be easily acquired. The shoots thus removed were 
again planted close to each other, either entire or 
divided into many parts, in the piece of ground pre- 
viously prepared, and were protected at night or on 
cold days, by covering them over with boards and fine 
faggots or straw. Here they were allowed to remain 
till the weather permitted their being planted in the 
open field. Although this treatment has been generally 
su ful. 
neath the bark, in a thin web which it p y spins, 
and the serrated rings are admirably adapted to hold 
by the web and aid the moth in forcing its way through 
the covering, and eventually slip out, as is evident by 
the empty pupa-cases of -this and similar timber-feed- 
ing larvee being seen projecting from the trees where 
the moths had recently hatched; and I expect that 
such larvee either secure to the imago a means of exit, 
by previously eating a hole entirely through the bark 
and closing it by a web, sawdust, and excrement, or 
leaving so thin a covering that the animal has strength 
enough to force its way through, softened, as it may be, 
by the fluid with which all Lepidoptera are charged at 
the period of their final transformation. 
si 
The wood-leopard moth has been found in various 
parts of England, and was abundant-some years since 
in St. James's-park, where the wings were scattered 
about by the bats, which fed upon their bodies. It is 
a singularly beautiful moth, and of considerable size, 
the female sometimes measuring 21 inches, when the 
wings are expanded. The maleis much smaller ; it is 
white,the wings aresomewbat transparent. The nervures 
ochreous,with numerous large round and oval blackspots, 
having a chalybeous or green tint on the superior ; but 
they are much smaller and paler in the inferior ; the 
antennee are black, shorter than the thorax, setaceous ; 
the first 18 joints are bipectinated, the rays forming an 
oval; the following joints are slender and pubescent 
(fig. 3) ; the head and thorax are densely clothed with 
the finest wool; the latter is long and oval, with six 
large black spots in two lines down the back ; the eyes 
and legs are black, the latter deep bluish ; the abdomen 
is banded with grey and black. The female has simply 
setaceous antenn:e, the basal joints woolly ; the abdo- 
men is large and much blacker than in the male. 
Fruit-trees may be protected from these mischievous 
larvee by painting them with whale-oil soap as recom- 
mended in this journal, v. ii., p. 304; and no doubt if 
tobaeco-smoke could be forced into perforated trees, it 
would drive out the larvæ, just as rats are ejected by 
water.—Ruricola, 
GERMAN PAMPHLETS on rnz POTATO DISEASE 
AND REMEDIES. 
No. 4.—What Artificial Means may be used to obtain 
froma few Seed-Polatoes a large number of Plants, 
and an abundant produce of Tubers2- From the 
* Annalen der Landwirthschaft,” Band VII. Heft 2. 
Tur need of Potatoes for seed, which must be felt in 
the coming spring, naturally draws attention to Oe 
it has happened that the night 
frosts have done severe injury to the plants. I have 
sometimes allowed the Potato plants to remain in the 
hotbed, by removing with the fingers the tubers from 
the shoots, and replanting the latter i diately. I 
does not at all signify, if from the thickness of the 
plants, one is obliged to lift the Potato shoot quite 
out of the ground, in order to remove the parent 
tuber. The hotbed need not, after this process, be 
covered with the frame, but merely at night covered 
over with the boards, or if necessary a straw mat. This 
plan is undoubtedly the best for the growth of the Pota- 
toes in the open field, but it renders necessary another 
bed for the farther growth of the parent tubers. 
Whether the parent tubers have been separated from 
the stalks upon one plan or the other, they should be 
placed in either the same hotbed or in another, and 
laid out in the same way as at first. By this treatment 
every sound parent tuber immediately sends forth new 
plants, and produces in a much shorter time than be- 
fore from every eye a plant as sound and healthy as at 
first, and they grow so much faster than the first, that 
they will frequently be ready to plant in the open field 
with the first, In the same manner a third crop of 
sound and healthy plants may be obtained, which will 
be ready for planting out at the end of May or the be- 
ginning of June, and from which an abundant supply of 
Potatoes may be harvested. It is seldom that a single 
eye has failed in yielding shoots a third time, and I 
have often succeeded in obtaining them from more than 
half the eyes a fourth time, and these have produced 
beautiful large Potatoes, perfectly ripe, and such as 
might be used for seed or for the table. 
The difficulty of this mode of treatment lies in the 
backwardness of the first produce of shoots, which will 
prevent their being planted out time enough for a third 
produce to make their appearance, so as to ensure a 
perfect harvest. There will always be some difficulties 
to be met in getting three shoots from each eye, but in 
this way alone when successful can the largest quantity 
of Potato plants be secured from any given quantity of 
seed Potatoes, When the tubers produce three sets of 
shoots, it is found that for every acre (morgen) of land 
a hotbed frame will be required about 5 feet long, and 
4 feet broad, provided the plants, when placed out in 
the field, are set at their usual distance. 
I come now to speak of this plan not where the ob- 
ject is to save the Potatoes on account of the deficiency 
of the harvest, but as a cheaper and better one than 
that which is now generally adopted, for the purpose of 
growing Potatoes. Inthe course of taking up Potatoes, 
or during the winter, the finest, largest, and ripest tubers 
should be selected for the purposes of seed. In the 
middle of March, treat them as described above hy 
placing them near one another in a hotbed, exposed to 
the free air in April, and at the beginning of May ; or, 
should night frosts prevail about the 13th or 14th, plant 
them out in the field, and then plant them somewhat 
deeper, and there will be found little occasion to plant 
again on account of failure, A field planted with tubers 
eut up will show many more vacancies than by this plan. 
After separating the shoots from the parent tubers, they 
should be placed together, and about 3 inches of earth 
heaped over them. In 14 days, at most three weeks, 
the hotbed will again be covered with the strongest 
plants, which may be planted out in the field, 
Without the help of a hotbed, only poor plants are 
obtained, which yield but an indifferent produce. 
"Throughout the wiiole procedure there is required the 
means of meeting the deficiency. From experier 
* For dissection and a figure of the female, sce Curtis’s Brit, 
Ent, plate 722, 
aid of heat and maturation, in order that more than 
one fruitful sound plant be obtained from a single eye. 
