116 
THE GARDENERS CHRONICLE. 
[Fes. 25. 
NE 
the close of autumn. It has been my opinion that they 
breed amongst the dry paste, by which the paper is fas- 
tened down in boxes and drawers and to the walls, or the 
eggs, being jnvisible from their minuteness and pale co- 
lour, may be in existence and lie unbatched in the pin- 
holes for long periods, which seems the more credible as 
specimens of insects that have been for many years per- 
fectly free from them, will, in a few days, exhibit signs of 
their presence if placed in an unprotected box or drawer, 
however close it may shut. Derham, in his ‘‘ Physico- 
Theology,’’ says that they feed upon the dust of bread, 
fruits, &c., and they appear to be found everywhere in 
kitchens, on old furniture, wainscot, papered walls, and 
window-frames, amongst neglected books and papers, in 
gardens, on the trunks of trees, &e. 
Fig. 1 shows the natural size of the Atropos pulsatorius, 
which is soft, shining, yellowish white ; the head large, 
with two minute granulated black eyes + the feelers rather 
long ; the antenne slender, tapering, nearly the length of 
the animal, and composed of 15 joints and upwards; the 
collar and the thoracic segment are narrow, sometimes 
with a long black spot which extends to the base of the 
head; the abdomen is large and somewhat ovate, a little 
hairy at the extremity, with a black spot at the base, and 
another at the apex, which vary in form and size according 
to the quantity of food in the intestines ; the six legs are 
short, the hinder thighs very stout, the tarsi are triarti- 
culate, and terminated by little claws (fig. 2, magnified) ; 
at some periods of the year I believe they are a little 
larger and more ochraceous. 
I once ined an idea that this minute insect, 
which does not agree with either of the Linnwan descrip- 
‘ON MANURING WITH GREEN CROPS.—No. X. 
(By Proressor Cuarius SPRENGEL. Translated from 
the German.) 
Continued from page 84.) 
‘The common Magdeburg acre consists of 180 square roods, 
‘or 25,920 feet Prussian, which is about ;o; of an English acre.) 
3. Seaweed (Fucus).—The waves of the sea throw seve- 
ral plants ashore in large quantities ; for instance, Fucus 
esculentus, F. saccharinus, F. canaliculatus, F. palmatus, 
¥. vesiculosus, and F. serratus, which are used as a ma- 
nure with great advantage. In England, land which is in 
a situation to be manured with Fuci pays 25 per cent. 
more rent. The bladdery Fucus (Fucus vesiculosus) con- 
tains only 16 per cent. water; and 1,000lbs. of the dry 
herbage contain 32lbs. of chlorates (of lime, soda, and 
magnesia), 351bs. carbonate of lime, 64lbs. gypsum, and 
Tt contains also a great quan- 
tity of nitrogen, all which fully explains its high manuring 
yurg acre. 
numerous small sea-shells which adhere to it. 
conveyed at once to the land, 
lected into heaps for rotting, in which case decomposition 
soon ensues, and many fertilising gases are evolved. It 
is therefore best to bury Fuci as soon as possible. As their 
chlorides of lime and magnesia attract much humidity 
from the air, they are best suited to dry soils, With 
Fuci, Seawrack (Zostera marina) is also driven on 
shore, and is, in like manner, used as manure. 
4, Mushrooms and Fungi (Fungi).—The wise farmer 
who would neglect no means of increasing the p ducti 
ness of his soil, will permit nothing to be wasted, 
be’ first exposed to p ey Pp 
soon; during which process they evolve much ammonia, 
which shows the great amount of nitrogen they contain, 
would be lost. From the chemical analysis of several 
species of Fungi, I find that they are rich in phosphorus, 
sulphur, and chlorine ; and, consequently, are composed 
‘of substances most essential to crops. They approach, 
indeed, in their chemical composition, to animal matter ; 
and we’have seen already that this affords the most power- 
ful manures. Admitting that the large farmer can em- 
ploy his people to more advantage than in collecting Fungi, 
it is very different with the spade-husbandman, and 
cottager, to whom they may be of great utility. 
(To be continued.) 
ENTOMOLOGY.—No. XL. 
Tur Woop-novse Dearu-watcu, named Alropos 
pulsatorius.—There are several kinds of insects called 
Death-watches, from their producing a ticking or knock- 
ing at regular intervals, sometimes for 60 or 70 seconds, 
when it ceases for a short time and the beating is again 
resumed. These sounds being heard best in the stillness 
of night, and probably being noticed in sick chambers, 
where superstitious nurses found marvellous solutions for 
every uncommon occurrence, they became condemned as 
bad omens, as the precursors of death, and were forthwith 
called Death-watches. The minute insects before us have 
been accused of having this ticking propensity, and it is 
now supposed to be produced by their little horny jaws 
when they are feeding ; but I am rather disposed to attri- 
pute the sound to some means the females possess of dis- 
coursing with their friends at a distance, and thereby 
attracting the males to join their society. However this 
may be, their jaws are certainly most mischievously em- 
ployed, which is my inducement for discussing their eco- 
nomy. No one suffers more from the attacks of these 
marauders than the naturalist, whose well-stored boxes 
and presses of insects and plants are frequently entirely 
ravaged by these little pests, So that the delicate wings 
and bodies of the former, as well as the petals of the 
latter, disappear altogether, if collections be neglected for 
twelve months together. Fortunately, in thig favoured 
land, we are not subject to the assaults of the numerous 
insects, which, even in the South of France and in North 
tions, was the larva‘of a little Psocus * (from which genus 
Atropos has been separated by Dr. Leach), not uncommon | § 
in houses; but asthis Deathwatch sometimes abounds inmy | t 
neglected boxes, and I have never detected the Psocus with | t 
it, I have relinquished that opinion. I have since thought | t! 
it not improbable that our Atropos might be the young or | ti 
larva of the large species (fig. 3), but I never found them | i 
together, indeed the only specimens 
latter were in the comb of some vagrant bees oT 
I ever saw of the 
This large species, which from its size J suspected was 
the Termes fatidicum of Linn, is ochraceous ; it has large 
brownish eyes; the palpi are rather short ; the horns are 
not longer than the head, slender, and 11-jointed 5 the 
collar ‘is short ; there are two small pilose elytra ; the ab- 
domen is large, the jncisures are distinct and rusty, as 
well as numerous irregular spots between them, and there 
are one or two black spots towards the apex ; the legs are 
slender, the thighs stout, the hinder pair the least 80 
(fig. 4, magnified). The large eyes, and four stout anterior 
thighs at once distinguish this from the foregoing insect, 
independent of the variation in their size, and the short 
horns, which may be a sexual character, or it is possible 
they may have been injured in the specimen figured. 
These helpless insects have a natural enemy, which 
feeds upon them, called a Chelifer, having two pair of 
claws like a lobster, with which it seizes its prey 5 and the 
most effectual way of protecting cabinets of insects and 
presses of dried plants from their attacks, is to keep them 
in a dry situation ; the cases should be rendered as air- 
tight as possible,when a small supply of camphor will 
preserve the contents from injury ; the drawers, however, 
must be replenished at least annually, but every, SIX 
drain the pots well; on this subject I shall offer a few re~ 
marks next week. 
The propagation of plants for bedding out may now be 
proceeded with, according to the number required ; but 
clumps should not be kept shabby for the want of a few 
plants, as they are readily propagated at this season, For 
cutting-pots I generally use 48s, prepared in the follow- 
ing manner :—Over the hole at the bottom I place an in- 
verted 60-sized pot, and round it potsherds, broken small ; 
over these some moss, and then fill up with a compost of 
peat, sand, and 1 d, in equal quantities, leaving 
about half an inch at the top for white sand, which runs 
into the holes as the cuttings are inserted. A stock of 
pots thus prepared should be kept in a frame or propa- 
ating house ; as nothing is so injurious to cuttings taken 
from, plants growing in heat, as to put them into cold 
soil. Cuttings cannot be too short if they have the ne- 
cessary buds to form a plant; neither can they be inserted 
too shallow if they are made firm in the pots. 
In the vegetable department, sow either on slight 
hotbed or in pans the first crop of Seymour’s superb 
White Celery; also some early Cauliflower, and a small 
crop of impregnated early White Broccoli. If the crops 
before recommended are not sown, no time must be lost 
in getting them in; make your first sowing of Marrow 
Peas, and also put in the last crop of early ones. Spinach, 
Lettuce, Radishes, both long and Turnip-rooted, Dutch 
Turnip, and Early Horn Carrot, if wanted early, must be 
sown without delay. A good breadth of early Potatoes 
must be planted ; and get the ground ready for Onions, 
Carrots, &c., next month. 
On comparing the practical part of my preceding arti- 
cles with the Calendar, by Mr. Beaton, there is so muc! 
ameness in the directions that, in future, I shall not at- 
empt to detail al/ that is required to be done in the Ama- 
eur’s Garden, but confine myself to the elucidation of 
he more important parts of garden culture. This, I 
rust, will be agreeable to the readers of the Chronicle, as 
t will remove the sameness that has hitherto existed, 
and render these papers more valuable than otherwise it 
would be possible to make them.— W. P. Ayres. 
2 Bote a Ee 
HOME CORRESPONDENCE. 
Vegetation of Afghanistan. — 
Your corresp 
inquires of ‘‘ R.,’’ what are the geological features of the 
Affghan mountains, which produce such remarkable bar- 
renness in the neighbourhood almost of the riehly-clothed 
Himalayas. 
granted that the distribution of plants depends chiefly 
In this question it seems to be taken for 
upon the mineralogical nature of the soil. This I am not 
inclined to deny, nor am I prepared to admit ; for I be- 
lieve that in different climates the same circumstances 
will have a very different influence in favouring or pre- 
venting the growth of plants. To proceed, however, to 
your correspondent’s query. J must say that I know not 
whether any precise information has been published re~ 
specting the geological features of these Affghan moun- 
tains. Mr. Griffith, in his report on the subjects con- 
nected with Affghanistan, published in the Journal of the 
Asiatic Society of Bengal, mentions it as a general remark 
in the Army, that, if stones in 1841 could be made a source 
of riches, what a wealthy country Affghanistan would he- 
come. No account is given of the structure of these 
mountains, but very generally their surfaces are imme- 
diately rocky. Some of the offsets are composed of sand 
in all degrees of softness and induration, in which last 
state it becomes tabular. Alternating layers of a con- 
glomerate, often exceedingly hard, are to be met with in 
this sandstone. On both sides of the Valley of Bamean, 
the offsets are composed of earthy or clayey materials, of 
varied and rather vivid colours. Generally speaking, Mr. 
G. says the Affghan mountains are not difficult of access, 
they may be ascended and descended by making use of 
the beds of the draining streams, which are very generally 
dry, except in the season of floods. A section of an 
Himalayan ravine may, he continues, be correctly taken as 
wedge-shaped, V; that of the Affghanistan ravines 
would be a broadly-truncated wedge. Mr. Griffith has 
ell d the general structure of these valleys ; 
months would be better. I have thus kept my e 
of insects for nearly 30 years, free from the slightest 
infection. JI have tried experiments with spirits of tur- 
pentine, petroleum, aniseed, and various essential oils, 
without any permanent effect ; the fact being, 
very soon evaporate and escape 5 consequently, the con- 
fined atmosphere is not rendered destructive to the lies 
Ww 
the mountains which bound them being usually composed. 
of bare rock, while their sides, composed of boulders and 
shingle, from their very gradual nature, have been called 
glacis slopes. In the centre of the valley there is a por- 
tion of tillable soil, consisting of a strip on either side 
js the smallness in number 
of these little plagues, as it is when fairly impreg 
with camphor.—Ruricola. 
AMATEUR’S GARD No. 
America, render it ten times more difficult to preserve 
objects of natural history than it is in England, where, by 
a little care and proper attention, such collections may be 
preserved for an indefinite period. 
These tender little animals are particularly fond of 
damp situations, and have a great antipathy to the light 
of day 3 on opening a box of insects, for instance, which 
has been shut up for a few weeks only without any cam- 
hor or essential oils, they will be seen running to and fro 
in every direction, and secreting themselves as fast as 
possible in old pin-holes; or under the specimens sur- 
rounded by little heaps of dark dust, which they them- 
selves have deposited, and. which is their excrement. It 
is the samevin Herbaria; birds’-skins, &c. ; their motions 
are peculiar, they seem to glide along when disturbed 
sometimes with a jerk, like a skip, and they move side- 
ways or backwarks with équal facility, occasionally re- 
Seco perfectly quiet, when it is very difficult to detect 
pi. ts the mines they disappear, but as soon as the 
employed a kh e bets rature, they are again actively 
y' tue L Beep 3; Sue annoying operations until 
MANGHYS 
Vill. 
I po not recommend the formation of slight hotbeds for 
raising annuals; I object to this practice—firstly, be- 
cause those requiring heat can be more conveniently 
raised in pots ; secondly, because most annuals flower 
best when sown where they are to bloom; and thirdly, 
because, ifa proper stock is sown in the autumn, there 
is no necessity for the extraneous assistance of heat. To 
the hardier annuals recommended a fortnight back, may 
be added Portulaca splendens and Lobélia ramosa, two 
beautiful plants, with Isdétoma axillaris, Tpomopsis éle- 
gans and Schizopétalon Walkérii. Thunbérgias should 
now be sown in heat, as should also Cockscombs, Balsams, 
and Globe Amaranths, if wanted to bloom early; but 
fortunately these formal things are little called for, as the 
blank they used to fill in the greenhouse is now occupied 
by Fuchsias and other better things. . 
In the greenhouse and pits, proceed with potting plants 
for bedding out. Calceolarias and other soft-wooded 
of the line of drainage. Another feature which dis- 
tinguishes these i 
4 
and size of its rivers and streams 5 owing, no doubt, 
to the general dryness of the climate; and in con- 
sequence of this dryness, little evaporation can take place 
from the soil, and therefore little or no dew falls, which 
would otherwise be the case in so clear an atmosphere. 
The Himalayas, on the contrary, though more steep, are 
clothed with vegetation, in consequence, chiefly, of the 
abundant supply of moisture. I say, chiefly, because 
great difference may be observed between the compara- 
tive barrenness of the clay-slate ranges, when compared 
with those composed of lime-stone, mica slate, or Gneiss 5 
of these, sections are given in “ Royle’s Illustrations of 
the Himalayan Mountains,’’ as well as a statement of the 
nature of the climate. From the abundant snow which 
falls in the interior and higher mountains, a constant 
supply of water is furnished to the numerous rivulets and 
rivers. The snow has hardly melted from these situations, 
when the rainy season comes on, and the mountains are 
enveloped in clouds—(those mists of the mountains )—or 
bathed with showers, so that the climate is moist, and the 
temperature moderate and equable. These mountains, 
from their oblique direction, running S.B. and N.W., are 
tna dt 
i fenton 
* Curtis’s Brit. Ent., fol. and pl. 648. 
+ Ibid., fol, and ply 769, 
plants that require it may also be potted, taking care to 
RRA ap Es Leet y 
inf ig by their rainy monsoon, which can 
not, however, cross their lofty summits, 60 that the 
