THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[J 



20, 



emplified in the one figured, but they were so closely 

 placed, that as they grew they crowded each other until 

 they appeared like one mass, often as large as the fruit 

 of a Horsechesnut. On the 24tli June, and for 10 days 

 or more after, the flies kept hatching in multitudes, and 

 of course, on opening the galls, I found the little pupa? 

 curled up in their cells, where I had detected the larvae 

 in May. It is an exceedingly curious question, \\ here 

 do the Gall-flies deposit their eggs at this season ? I re- 

 leased at least 500 this morning (28th June) from the 

 box containing the galls, all of which appeared to be 

 males, although some were twice as large as others ; on 

 the following dav many females hatched, but as there 

 are no catkins 'upon the Oaks now for them to de- 

 posit their eggs in, what can be the nidus selected by the 

 summer brood, which, there is every reason to believe, 



w 



lived ...._, — j . - 



that some of the pupa? may lie dormant in the fallen 

 galls until the ensuing spring, when they may issue forth 

 in due time to puncture the male flower-buds of the 

 Oaks, and thus proceed in their usual course ; or it may 

 be that a very few of the females hibernate, for if we 

 reason from analogy, it seems incredible that such im- 

 mense numbers should be doomed to die without 

 depositing egg^ t which are undoubtedly impregnated ; 

 yet it is evident if some extensive check were not given 

 to these little animals, no Oak could escape, for they 

 are still hatching in swarms from the few galls I received, 

 and it is very important to observe that \\p to this time 

 I have not detected a single parasitic fly amongst them ; 

 it is true that these may appear at a more convenient 

 season, when the larvse are in existence, and this I hope 

 to ascertain. 



summer brood, which, there is every reason to ucuc^, 

 will die long before winter arrives, for many of the males 

 lived only a few days in the box ? It is certainly probable 



J . ., * 1- J «,„♦■ J rt *\,a fallen 





P 



The little fly of the woolly Oak-gall was named by 

 Linneeus Cynips Quercus-ramuli ; the mnle (fig. I, the 

 natural size being shown by the crossed lines, fig. 2), is 

 shining, ochreous or fulvous ; the antenna? are long, 

 slender, and 15-jointed, the third joint being the longest; 

 the head is subferruginous, brown at the base, with three 

 large ocelli on the crown ; eyes black ; thorax with three 

 brown patches before the middle ; the scutellum is sur- 

 rounded with* chesnut brown ; petiole short ; abdomen 

 much smaller than the thorax, intensely black and 

 polished, the apex pointed, with an incurved aculeus capable 

 of elongation; wings pubescent, superior, very long, with a 

 costal cell, a triangular basal one, two submarginal cells, 

 ■with an imperfect, minute, triangular areolet at their 

 union, from which issues a nervure extending to the 

 posterior margin ; the pulvilli and claws are black. The 

 female is stouter ; the antennae have only 14 joints ; the 

 abdomen is as large as the thorax, ovate-conic, but not 

 acuminated, with an oviduct beneath; it is shining, 

 fulvous, the basal segment only black. Fig. 3 exhibits 

 one of the woolly galls with the anthers of the catkins 

 more or less enveloped, one having a smaller gall pro- 

 duced near the extremity, fig. 4. Curtis's Brit. Ent. 

 may be consulted for the descriptions and dissections of 

 Cynips, pi. and fol. 688 ; and his Guide Gen., 564, for 

 a list of the species. — Ruricola. 



TRENCH CULTURE OF THE PELARGONIUM. 



(Concluded from page 460.) 

 Raising from Seed.— The seeds should be sown in the 

 year in which they are matured, or in the spring follow- 

 ing. If the seeds have been taken early in July or August, 

 you may sow them immediately ; their produce will acquire 

 strength enough to stand the winter, and most of them 

 will bear flowers the following season. The mode 

 of sowing is as follows. Fill pots or boxes within 

 one inch of the top, witb good earth well sifted and 

 rather light, smooth it well on the surface, draw lines 

 with your finger, put the seeds into each line, cover them 

 lightly with the same earth, water them, and then place 

 the pots or boxes on the steps in the greenhouse or 

 under a frame. Take care to keep the earth constantly 

 moist, and shade them from too much sun, which would 

 harden the earth, and impede the vegetation. In fifteen 

 or twenty days many of the seeds will be above ground. 

 When the new plants have three or four leaves, put them 

 separately into small pots, keeping as much earth as 

 possibleabout the roots ; water them and pat them in m 

 greenhouse or under a frame, shade them from too much 

 tun for a few days, and in less than a week they will have 

 taken root. If you wish to have stronger plants, to 

 flower almost all the spring, put them in an old hot-bed 

 in the open air ; plant them in such a form that they 



mavbe covered with a glass; when, they are perfectly 

 rooted remove them sufficiently early to allow them to 

 establish themselves in their new situations before the 



winter. " ,. 



Insects hurtful to the Pelargonium.— If the aphis, 

 or green fly, attacks the plants in the greenhouse, 

 they are easily destroyed by a strong fumigation of to- 

 bacco ; this should be done in the morning, when the 

 plants are vervdry. In this way plants may be preserved, 

 without fearing that the smoke will injure the plants or 

 flowers. There is another kind of insect which is very 

 destructive to the Pelargonium, produced by a small but- 

 terfly, which deposits on the plant its eggs, which the 

 heat of the greenhouse hatches in the autumn, and during 

 the winter; these destroyers show themselves by the 

 parenchyma of the leaves being eaten ; there is no way of 

 getting rid of them, except by looking for them atten- 

 tively, and picking them off the plants ; and they are 

 very difficult to be seen, because they are usually of the 

 colour of the plant which nourishes them. When the 

 plants begin to show their first flowers, or a short time 

 before, if you think that the fibres spread over the sides 

 of the pot, they must be watered once or twice during 

 the period of flowering, with liquid manure, or water 

 which has percolated through good garden-mould ; if the 

 former be used (and it is decidedly preferable), that from 

 the dung of cows is best. This precaution will consider- 

 ably strengthen the plants during the whole time of their 

 flowering. But such stimulants should not be applied 

 after the buds appear, because they occasion too luxu- 

 riant growth of leaves, to the injury of the flowers ; ex- 

 perience showing that plants, whose leaves have been too 

 much developed, have fewer flowers, and those of a 

 smaller size, than if the plant was less luxuriant. This 

 observation applies not only to the Pelargonium, but to 

 the Dahlia, and a number of other plants, which run too 

 much to wood, aud bear few flowers, when they are 

 planted in a very rich soil. A second flowering of the 

 Pelargonium may be obtained by putting only a part of 

 the collection into the greenhouse ; those that are left 

 outside will begin to flower when those that are inside 

 have ceased ; these will perhaps be even finer, for it is 

 known that the flowers which bloom in the open air, 

 and under the direct influence of the light, have a more 

 brilliant colour, supposing, of course, that the weather 

 is warm and mild; otherwise, they must be taken in, 

 and put with the rest, because warmth is necessary, in 

 order to obtain large and well-blown flowers. By atten- 

 tion to the foregoing directions, no collection of plants 

 will afford more pleasure than Pelargoniums. 



Criterions.—K plant of high merit for propagation 

 should be strong and healthy, not much inclined to run 

 to wood, nor to grow tall ; the peduncles slight, but suf- 

 ficiently firm to support the truss, which ought to 

 consist of from three to five flowers ; each flower, clear 

 in colour, should have five petals— two superior, two la- 

 teral, and one inferior; or, as it is generally expressed, 

 two superior and three inferior petals. The principal 

 colours are red, orange, rose, and carnation, with their 

 gradations and shades ; but lilac is not often admitted. 

 Each of the superior petals must be entirely covered with 

 a large crimson or black spot, well velveted in the 

 centre, surmounted by carmine or lake, more or less 

 deep ; but the clearer the spot on the petal, and the 

 more it resembles a fine piece of velvet, the greater its 

 merit. M. Bataille has obtained some varieties in 

 which a spot of the most beautiful velvet entirely covers 

 the upper petals (with the exception of the edge), which 

 spot is embroidered with a white zone that produces the 

 most beautiful contrast. There are some kinds in which 

 the five petals are spotted ; it is particularly so in the 

 dark colours, of which there has not yet been found a 

 perfect flower ; but as the colour of the lower petals is 

 always lighter than that of the upper ones, so their spots 

 are always less dark. All the petals should be of good 

 substance, very smooth and well united, without any 

 folds or tendency to curl much outwards when the flower 

 is in bloom ; and then it should assume as nearly as pos- 

 sible a circular form, which cannot be the case if the 

 petals are narrow and lanceolated, with, of course, a 

 considerable space between them. 



set in, which was the means of their continuing to pro* 

 duce good Peas for about thirty days. The banks were 

 5 feet apart. Cormack's Prince Albert was sown on 

 banks on the same border on the 4th of January, 1844 ; 

 they were up on the 14th; in bloom on the 1st April; 

 and were gathered entirely on May 14th. I could have 

 gathered a small dish on the 10th of May from them. 

 This is a very prolific and fine-flavoured Pea. On the 

 same day, and on the same border, another portion of 

 the Warwick was sown. These, although having exactly 

 the same treatment as the two above sowings, with re- 

 gard to banks, hoeing, earthing, sheltering, sticking and 

 watering, stopping or topping, &c, no favour being 

 shown either to one or the other, were in bloom on the 

 13th of April, and gathered on the 28th of May. Al- 

 though thus fairly treated, my old favourite Pea was four- 

 teen days behind the Albert. About thirteen years ago- 

 I compared the Warwick on a long south border with 

 several others ; of these Early Peas, the Warwick, 

 proving itself then superior to the others, retained my 

 favour ever since. Next year, should the Albert prove 

 the same as it has done this year, I can only call the 

 Warwick a Pea for a second crop. Last year I sowed 

 the two above Peas on the same day, under the same 

 preparation and management ; the winter, however, was 

 so mild, that they got too "gay," and were very much 

 cut and crippled in the spring, but enough was left to 

 fully prove the superior earliness of the Albert over the 

 Warwick that time. With regard to Shilling's Grotto- 

 Pea I have not yet fairly proved its earliness. I sowed 

 it this year to succeed others on an open quarter on the 

 4th of March. It was above ground on the V2th ; in 

 bloom on the 4th of May ; and gathered on the 12th of 

 June. Its height was 5 feet. It was not so prolific as. 

 the two above Peas. The pods with me were wide and 

 rather short; but it is a fine-flavoured Pea, and of a 

 baautiful colour when cooked. 



SOUTH WALL. 



Home Correspondence. 



Peas. — In these improving times, when every man is 

 expected to render his assistance in giving his mite of 

 information, I beg to state the result of Early Peas as 

 they have proved with me this season, hoping that it 

 may be the means of eliciting from others the result of 

 their experience, so that no one may be tempted in any 

 way to be biassed by what I have myself proved to my 

 satisfaction. Some years ago, but since I have been in 

 practice, it was thought early to have Peas fit for table 

 by George the Third's birthday (the 4th of June) : since 

 those days, in different parts of the country, I have 

 gathered Peas from ten to twenty-one days earlier. 

 After a long, dreary winter, every family seems to wish 

 for young Peas as soon as they possibly can get them — 

 no one finds fault on account of their being brought too 

 early to table. In last November, having a south border 

 of late Cauliflowers cleared off, and put into a place of 

 protection for winter purposes, the border was trenched 

 and formed into banks, which were left rough and open 

 to sweeten for Early Peas ; having great faith in the 

 Early Warwick Pea for some years, a portion of the 

 banks was sown on the 14th of December ; the Peas 

 were above ground on the 28th ; in bloom, April 6th ; 

 stopped, that is, had their tops pinched off, on the 12th ; 

 and were gathered from on May 18th. The height was 

 4 feet 6 inches, the crop was heavy, and the pods well 

 filled. They were mulched soon after the dry weather 



WALK IN FRONT OF SOUTH BORDER. 



I find great advantage by sowing Early Peas in the 

 above method ; first, they enjoy a greater portion of sun 

 during the short days of winter and in spring ; second, 

 the earth lies dry, sweet, and wholesome ; third, the 

 banks break the wind from each other, so that the Peas 

 lie well sheltered, although the banks are so sloped that 

 the rows of Peas have the full enjoyment of all the sun ; 

 the banks are 5 feet apart, A, B, and C representing 

 them ; height of back sloped, 2 feet ; sloping to the 

 front, about 3 feet 6 inches ; and the Peas are sown or 

 transplanted 1 foot from the bottom. The above method 

 is not only good for the Peas, but the border is so sweet- 

 ened and pulverised by its being continually hoed, that 

 the crop is sure to do well that succeeds the Peas.— 



James Barnes, Bicton. 



Peach-trees.— With regard to •'Omikrons' Peach- 

 trees, Mr. Roberts (p. 389) imagines that I lay too much 

 stress on the attacks of insects, and deep and stagnant 

 borders ; and he supposes that the cause of disease pro- 

 ceeds rather from ill-ripened wood. Now, this I never 

 doubted : nearly all the evils to which the Peach is lia- 

 ble are traceable to this alone, and for this very reason J. 

 both practise and recommend the use of shallow borders, 

 which I consider the very basis of all accli »**»"»*» 

 and this, with the chopped turf, is all that can be de- 

 sired in that respect ; with the latter there is a much 

 greater freedom of root, and earlier action through the 

 months of April and May, at the time I conceive lt is 

 much needed ; for who would expect good t nut and 

 healthy young wood from torpid roots imbedded from 

 one foot to three in putrid and stagnant soil ? }™ eTe 

 fore trust that I shall not be farther *»™*™*™%£ 

 let it be remembered that of the ten todamental points 

 which I assumed in my answer to Om nk ron 

 sound maxims in the cultivation of the Peach eighths 

 least have a direct reference to tbe ripening of the w 

 Indeed I may say that with me this is ev ery thing, . J 

 this alone I rely? Mr. Roberts need be nnd r n .alar 

 about Peach-trees becoming too luxunan tine opp 

 turf, -such is assuredly not the case as my trees 

 dandy prove ; they are an exact medium as to ^tren^ , 

 and gum is unknown to them ; therefore there can 

 harm in chopped turf. Perhaps I ought howeve 

 have written more guardedly. If turf wa cut as tu 



for turfing lawns, for this W™'J£°^™w U- 

 prised to find the trees in a showery.season to ^^ 



riant ; but the turf I use is, perhaps from *™ the 



thick; and being put in the hole in iwngb AW^ 

 water readily escapes. Turf used m this jay &t 



mechanical properties for many years, and « s ^^ 

 the end of ten or fifteen years, will be fonna . 



more mellow character than what "termeu ^ ^ 



which signifies good soils ™*W eT0M ^ on 



to assure Mr. Roberts, that the summery topp^ . § 

 which I presume the equalisation of the sap i ^ 



by no means productive of the e«^»^£ who can 

 apprehends. When a shoot ^rsts in o laterals, ? ft . % 



expect healthy blossom-buds above that i ssne ss 



tolerably evident, then, that this n^**™Jn of the 



r 



as 



is 



lerably evident, men, vu- .-.- -- r - ti 

 maintained at the expense of the lower F 



