S6H 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[Dec. 28, 



pears to be plentiful in the Midland Counties. Tins, 

 with Magnum Bonum, Sultana (also one of Sherwood's 

 seedlings, of rather inferior character), and Trafalgar, ap- 

 pear to be the principal varieties. 



In flamed bizarres they are also deficient. Captain 

 White, with its heavy breeder, beam or flame ; Potter s 

 Albion, with a tinged cup (not the Albion of the metro- 

 polis), Dutch Catafalque, E*rl St. Vincent, and Poly- 

 phemus, are amongst their best. The growers here ap- 

 pear to be quite alive to the importance of raising seed- 

 lings from fine sorts, with clean cups and perfect 

 shapes, and great quantities, of all ages, are coming for- 

 ward, some of which were blooming, the majority being 

 bvblomens, and decidedly the best of this class that I saw 

 was a seedling named Sarah Anne ; it was a perfectly 

 feathered flower, with the colours beautifully distinct ; 

 Wasiingtons are also well-grown here, with Queen 

 Cha lotte and Sable Rex. which last has a stained cup ; 

 Bienfait and Lilliard Violet are amongst their best 

 feathered byblomen*, and the Norwich Black Bagot 

 was in very good character. After looking through the 

 mo- 1 noted collections, I walked to Chellaston, a village 

 a few miles from Derby, where a large number of seed- 

 lings are grown. Here I saw but few old varieties, but 

 this deficiency was made up by the quantity of really 

 fine flowers, which have become rectified, or have as- 

 sumed their proper character, by breaking into colour 

 from the breeder. Unfortunately, hundreds have been 

 sold in the self state, and dispersed over the country 

 without name or number, which I fear will cause irre- 

 mediable confusion. I was highly pleased with the col- 

 lection, as all the flowers with foul or bad-shaped cups 

 had been removed, leaving little to condemn, but much 

 to admire. A flamed rose called Lady Stanley was extra 

 fine, decidedly hetter than Strong's Duchess of Kent. 

 Fanny Cerito, also a flamed rose, which was first broke 

 into colour at Nottingham, is an acquisition to this 

 scarce class. I saw fine flowers of every colour- 

 superbly feathered and flamed byblomens, bizarres, 

 and roses of every shade. Having purchased a few 

 that took my fancy, I made the best of my way to 

 Spondon, and from thence by train to Nottingham. 



The collections here contain a greater quantity of 

 London flowers than those at Derby, though one of the 

 most successful exhibitors, who during the last twenty 

 years has gained one hundred pounds worth of plate, has 

 but few. In his beds I saw large quantitiss of old esta- 

 blished favourite*, at least sorts that are esteemed at Not- 

 tingham ; for I must not attempt to conceal the fact that 

 several of the varieties pointed out as his pan flowers, 

 through the above-named series of years, would not have 

 been tolerated amongst the metropolitan growers. The 

 sorts were, Royal Sovereign, Magnum Bonum, and Vic- 

 tory— Feathered Bizarres. Captain White, Albion 

 (Potter's), and Lord Milton— Flamed Bizarres. Lil- 

 liard, Norwich Black Bagot, and Pap Bienfait— Fea- 

 thered Byblomens, Queen Charlotte, Sable Kex, and 

 Violet Wallors — Flamed Byblomens. Lady Crewe, 

 Triomphe Royal, and Lady Middleton — Feathered 

 Roses, unique. Flambeau de la Duchesse, and Turner's [ 

 Lord Mill— Flamed Roses. 



Tin -e appear to be old standards, but I learn that 

 several are repudiated, and will not now be counte- 

 nanced, as the taste of the Nottingham florists is fast 

 assimilating to that of the south-country growers. In 

 my inspection of the various beds I recognised the fol- 

 lowing : — Polyphemus, which I have seldom seen in 

 better condition ; Titian, Leonatus 4 Po8thumus, Lavinia, 

 Paul Potter, Agalia, Bijou des Amateurs, Strong's 

 Duchess of Kent, Goldham's Earl of Liverpool, Man- 

 teau Ducal, Lucullus, &c. Of the varieties peculiar to 

 the neighbourhood I particularly noticed Plantagenet, 

 broken from the breeder this season — a fine, heavy- 

 feathered bizarre, perfectly clean, and equal to Roynl 

 Sovereign ; Pilot, a fine cupped-flamed bizarre, in the 

 style of Captain White, without showing the breeder 

 colour, neither does the flame break through at the top 

 of the petals ; Prince of Wales, an extra fine- feathered 

 byblomen, was also in the same collection ; Lady Mid- 

 dleton (before noticed) in first-rate character ; Incom- 

 parable le Grand, a flamed byblomen, an exceedingly 

 pretty flower of rather a rosy-purple ; Rider's Julile — 

 the beam of this flamed bizarre is not very distinct, still 

 I admired its style. Here was pointed out to me La 

 Belle Nannette ; certainly a very pretty flower, but 

 as certainly a Triomphe Royal, though possibly pos- 

 sessing a superior strain. 



Arlette, a splendid feathered Rose ; the breeder was 

 raised, I learn, near Manchester, This was " a gem of 

 the first-water," and though said to be tender it is a 

 great acquisition. Rose Camellius, a pure and excel- 

 lently marked* flamed Rose, rather too long in the cup, 

 and very much like Flambeau de la Duchesse. Sancta 

 Sophia — feathered byblomen. This was broke from a 

 breeder, raised by the same amateur who originated 

 Arlette from seed, and most certainly was a noble flower ; 

 it was something in the way of Lawrence's Friend, 

 though not quite so heavily feathered. This was the 

 first that had been grown at Nottingham, and was indeed 

 a fine variety. Lord Milton, of which I saw many 

 strains, from the veriest rubbish to a really good flower, 

 but the bad ones preponderate ; still, as a flamed bizarre, 

 it is a sort that will be grown. Magnum Bonum, or 

 Sir Sidney Smith, appears to be very plentiful in the 

 neighbourhood, and being steady, it is much thought of 

 as a stage flower ; still it bears no comparison with the 

 blooms of Royal Sovereign and Victory, which came 

 under my notice. Tricolors are not much cultivated ; 

 Strong's Flora, and Lawrence's Duke of Clarence, being 

 the only two that I observed. In byblomens, Queen 



Charlotte is considered a first-rate flame ; still it has a | 

 long cup ; and in comparing it with the Derby Seedling, 

 which had here broke in a flamed state, I most certainly 

 think that Sarah Anne was the best of the two, the 

 white being of great purity, and with a shorter and better 

 cup. La Bien Aimee, a flower somewhat like Violet 

 Alexander, was beautifully marked ; it was also too long 

 in the cup, but still is an acquisition. That delicate and 

 singularly marked flower, Cenotaph, I saw in only one 

 bed ; it was well grown, and the violet beam up each 

 petal was very distinct. One of the florists pointed out 

 two London flowers — Osiris, and Duke of Devonshire — 

 remarking what inferior sorts they were ; but in the 

 miserable specimens submitted to me, I could not recog- 

 nise a trace of the features of these really two fine 



varieties. 



Before concluding my remarks on the Nottingham 

 Tulip beds, I may allude to a few of the breeders grown 

 there, which are of extraordinarily fine properties, and 

 apparently much sought after. I give their names as 

 they were pointed out to me : Bizarres — Rienzi, 

 Comus, Invincible, Duke of Hamilton, Earl of Notting- 

 ham, and Joseph Strutt. Byblomens. — Lady Clifton, 

 Madonna, Miss Longden, and Mrs. Sherwin. Roses. — 

 Arlette, Amelia, Pauline, Lady Sale, Favourite, and 

 Anastasia. — W. 





THE JERSEY GRATIOLI. 



(Syn. N'orris's Pear.) 

 This is the name proposed for a most excellent variety 

 of Pear, specimens of which were received for inspection 

 and a name from H. W. Bucknall, Esq. ; from one of 

 which, of medium size, the accompanying representation 

 has been made. The following communication was for- 

 warded by Mr. Bucknall along with the fruit: "Oct. 12 — 

 I herewith transmit you half-a-dozen Pears ; I sent you 

 the same variety about this period last year. [Noticed, 

 Gardeners' Chronicle, vol. iii.,p. 721.] You then said you 

 believed it to be in cultivation in the neighbourhood of 

 London. I have since taken great pains to ascertain the 

 variety, without any effect; and the only tree I can learn 

 to be in existence is one in my own neighbourhood. Are 

 you still of opinion that you cannot determine the name 

 of the fruit ? If so, please to take particular notice of it. 

 As a Pear cultivator, I do not hesitate to pronounce 

 that, according to my own taste, it is the finest Pear: in 

 flavour, and in all its qualities, I ever met with. I trust 

 theie will reach you in perfection, which I think they 

 will be in two days or so. The fruit I have chosen is of 

 an average size; the tree is a fine old standard of 40 or 

 50 years, and a very free and constant bearer. I think it 

 a great pity that the variety should not be promulgated, 

 and I shall be very happy to be the means of extending 

 its cultivation." Fully agreeing with the above remarks, it 

 is presumed the notice here given will prove acceptable, 

 although the origin of the variety cannot be satisfactorily 

 traced ; neither can the application of the name Gratioli 

 be accounted for, as this name has been for centuries the 

 acknowledged synonym of the Summer Bon Chretien, a 

 very different fruit from the one in question. The 



Tul Broic 



sorneicnnt rougn 



et .-• ■ 



ing outright; flesh melting, like honey, exceedingly rich. 

 It, however, continues but a short time in perfection, as 

 is generally the case with early Pears. In its decay it 

 does not become mealy or insipid, but still retains its 

 honied nature. Its season is October. The tree grows 

 vigorous, with erect, dirk-brown shoots. The buds are 

 rather obtuse and hoary. Leaves ovate-oblong, shortly 

 acuminate. — R. T, 



Gratioli, or Gracioli, being held synonymous, as above, 

 by Duhamel, Dr. Diel, and many other French and Ger- 

 man authors, was sufficitnt cause for demurring in 

 naming the fruit in 1843, as alluded to in Mr. Buck- 

 nail's letter ; and more especially as the name of Gra- 

 tioli had only been heard indistinctly and casually applied 

 to the present variety. But, according to Mr. Langelier, 

 who is well acquainted with this fruit, it is cultivated in 

 Jersey under the nr.me of Gratioli. This being the case, 

 it has been considered proper to designate it as the Jersey 

 Gratioli, in order to prevent its being confused with the 

 Summer Bon Chretien, which of course it otherwise 

 would. It is also called Norris's Pear, from having of 

 late been extensively cultivated by Mr. Norrii, one of 

 the greatest fruit-growers in the neighbourhood of Lon- 

 don. The fruit is regularly formed; the eye is in a very 

 even depression, open, the segments of the calyx stand. 



f- ENTOMOLOGY. 



Dilophus febrilis. — ( The F 'ever-fly, ,)— The eco- 

 nomy of this insect is very similar to that of the Bibio 

 marci, which was recently described in this Journal, and 

 the perfect insects are nearly related. It was named 

 febrilis by Linnasus/from its being frequently observed 

 in the houses of persons suffering from intermittent 

 fevers ; and it certainly is a remarkable fact that, during 

 the summer when the cholera visited England, these 

 flies appeared in such multitudes, that even the lamp- 

 posts were often covered with them, in the vicinity of 

 London. If such occurrences be not altogether acci- 

 dental, and merely extraordinary coincidences, the only 

 solution I can give is, that the state of the atmosphere 

 which superinduces certain diseases, is at the same time 

 congenial to the metamorphoses of certain flies. During 

 the last summer a genus of flies called Chlorops, whose 

 larvse are very injurious to the Wheat and Barley-crops, 

 appeared in vast numbers, and one of the species in such 

 swarms at the end of September in a house that had 

 been visited by scarlet fever the preceding summer, that 

 the ceilings were literally covered with these little flies ; 

 it was stated " that you could scarcely place your hand 

 where they were not : small crowds of the house-fly also 

 hung about the window-frames." In this instance the 

 ceilings had been whitewashed, the glare of which had 

 probably attracted the flies, and the windows being 

 almost constantly open, they had free ingress. Such 

 was the case in October, when I observed the same spe- 

 cies of fly in multitudes in an unoccupied house ; indeed, 

 a cross-light, or even a mirror opposite to a window, will 

 often attract insects, especially the.Diptera, or two- 

 winged flies, to a great extent. 



About the end of July, 1841, 1 received a considerable 

 number of the larvse of .Dilophus febrilis, that had been 

 detected in a Vine-border amongst the horse-muck; 

 they are a quarter of an inch long, shagreened, of a snuff 

 colour, or ochreous brown; they are slightly convex, 

 wrinkled, 8nd destitute of feet ; the head is much nar- 

 rower than the body, very glossy, and of a chestnut 

 colour; ten of the abdominal segments are wrinkled, 

 with a spiracle on each side, excepting the second and 

 third ; the penultimate segment is rounded with four 

 teeth, and the anal one has four similar teeth, with two 

 large spiracles near the base : fig. 1, magnified— 2, the 

 natural size. 



These larvse changed to pupae, in the earth, in the 

 beginning of August ; they were white with a yellowish 

 tinge; the thoracic nortion was very gibbous on the 

 back ; the short antennae were visible through the skin, 

 and the head was furnished with two short thick points, 

 like many of the Papilionidse, or White- Cabbage butter- 

 flies, &c. ; the abdominal segments were slender, the 

 edges somewhat projecting, the. apical one was tubercu- 

 lated, and the tip furnished with two acute teeth (ng. d, 

 magnified ; 4, the natural size). On the 21st of the 

 same month they produced perfect flies. J 



The male of D. febrilis is intensely black, shining, 

 and hairy ; the head is hemispherical and covered with 

 large eyes, densely pubescent and of a reddish-brown 

 colour, with three minute ocelli, forming an elevated 

 triangle near the base. The mouth is furnished witn a 

 broad lip and two incurved palpi; the antennae are very 

 short, stout, cylindric, and composed of eleven perforate 

 pubescent joints ; the thorax is oval and gibbous, .with 

 two transverse rows of minute teeth before ; the scatei 

 is short and broad ; the abdomen is rather narrower, ana 

 eight-jointed; the apex clavate : the wings are incumbent 

 in repose, iridescent, perfectly transparent and white, 

 excepting the costa, which is slightly tinged with .brown 

 the costal nervures are piceous, the others are very 

 faintly traced ; a radial nervure, uniting with the costal 

 one at the middle, forms a brown spot at the extrernity^ 

 the halteres are terminated by a large c^P re9 , sed ^ fi r ° t ^ 

 club ; the legs are long ; the anterior thigh are the 

 thickest, and their tibia, the shortest, the apex bMg«tf 

 rounded by a toothed coronet ; there are several s.ort 

 spines also on the outside ; the tarsi are slender and five 

 jointed, terminated by claws and P»»^ l \( fi ^/" . \ h9 

 female is very different : the head » much smaller, tM 

 eyes are small, oval, and not meeting on he^wn. * 

 abdomen is brownish, ovate narrowed a he barf, a 

 the tip is furnished with two little styles ; the v ingi ^r 

 much longer and larger, entirely brown, the costa being 



