August 18, 1855.] 



THE GARDENERS 1 CHRONICLE. 



551 



iration. Dr. M. says that- " Through the early Rummer 

 lie colonies of the aphides are windless ; but later in 

 the season individuals appear in their grazing flocks, 

 w ho have magnificent wings stuck rigidly and proudly 

 from their backs. Now these winged aphides are 

 like the winged ants, the males and females of the 

 species" This, I am aware, is a description which is 

 received by naturalists. It is the fact upon which that 

 singular modification of Steenstrup's theory of alter- 

 nation of generation is applied to the reproduction of 

 the aphis. But it certainly is not exactly correct, and 

 I should not be surprh i if the theory were itself upset 

 upon more extensive examination and closer observa- 

 tion. It i fl nofc true tnat * ne wm g e d species appear only 

 at the end of summer or in the last brood, a fact of 

 which I have long been aware ; but whether these 

 insects are all winged females or not I am unable at 

 present to say ; but the following facts are interesting, 

 and may stimulate some of your readers to a farther 

 examination of the subject. In the latter end of June 

 of this year, just when the Thistle began to show its 

 unwelcome head in our fields, I found several of these 

 plants in my meadow, close to my garden wall, covered 

 with the pitchy black aphis Cardui. They were the 

 first aphides I had seen out of doors this year. I dug 

 up several of the plants, plunged the roots into a glass 

 containing water, and placed them in a room for obser- 

 vation. The great majority of the aphides were wing- 

 less, but some of them had wings. In a few days they 

 had increased considerably in numbers, but the wingless 

 insects developed wings in great numbers — so much so 

 that they became the most numerous of the two. I saw 

 several of the wingless insects in the act of parturition, 

 but none of the winged. I saw no conjunction of the 

 sexes, but I admitted the possibility of this, as my 

 observations were confined to a short time each day. 

 The winged insects, when fully developed, took wing, 

 and covered the small window of the room. I saw them 

 in all stages of their wing growth. Now, perhaps, these 

 observations are not sufficient to reason upon, 

 but they are quite enough to prove that the 

 winged aphides are not the last brood. Their 

 wings are clearly given for locomotion ; if they 

 are all females, and viviparous, they are the 

 means by which the family is so quickly propagated 

 from plant to plant ; if they are male and female, 

 which I confess is very probable, there is an 

 end to the generally received opinion of their repro- 

 duction. I confess i should be glad if this were the 

 case, as the bud within bud theory, although vers won- 

 derful, has no other positive analogy in animal nature. 

 In Steenstrup's " Alternation of Generations," the inter- 

 mediate condition of the animal is dissimilar < her to 

 the first or last. It is not in the least more wonderful 

 than larva, chrysalis, and imago among insects, but 

 according to the theory of the develops, nt of the aphis 

 we have the sexual intercourse but one* in eleven 

 generations of an insect precisely similar in all 

 its phases. I beg you will accept these remarks 

 only for as much as they are worth. I am quite 

 confident my aphis Cardui brood was the first of 

 the season. I saw the wings developed from the 

 wingless insect; and 1 saw the viviparous birth of 

 many from the wingless female, while the winged variety 

 were clustering about my wn ,w. C. /?. Bm, Ortdb- 



lands, Stowmarkct, A ug. 1 s 



receipts, and being told that they were part of the balance 

 in hand last year and not capital, he expressed his 

 approval of the accounts, and moved that the reports be 

 received and printed Votes of thanks to the President, 

 Council, and officers, and similar routine business con- 

 cluded the meeting. 





a 



0ricttt$* 



HORTici-LTt-RAL, Avgu* 14.— At a special general 



meetmg held this d, , the Right Hon. Lawrence 

 ouuunintlie chair, William Wilson Saundera, Ksq 

 *m unanimously - | .-ted a new Member of Council and 

 treasurer, m the room of Dr. A. R. Jackson, <i. ceased # 



piwi 1 ^ B 5 TANIC ' A *9- 10.— Anniversary. J. W. 



Ed \i • K " ' ' wfts selected president, and 

 ak' / Ur J o r ,hhhk *> Esq.. treasurer. The Earl of 



^a Professor 



« e Council 

 Con 



isfield, General Buckley, 



elected new members of 



f or the ensuing year. In their report the 



w 



one^f r T* 8eilte ' i "the condition of the Society as 

 W*8ton n r ,, i temptod P ro *P*ritv." although from the 

 " aomTi Ume8 the auioul1 * <>f the receipts had been 



a t>rZt \ l9m lhan U WS8 lMt 7** r >" aml " anticipating 

 Council h d,In ' m,hnn than h»» •dually occurred the 



Slid §! i ? hm * continued in a high state of eultun 

 ttsinhV 7!; ,raot,r of the exhil >ns has b n fully 

 In th ' T,,fl nurnDfkr of tickets sold was 24 

 teCBin* r ' P ° rt ° f t,le •^itors it Appeared that the 

 We^fiHQ/ o iing 5 * L 3* L for «hibttk»i tickets, 



giro! Vu\ ' hesides the balance left in hand last 

 <w a»J07. Usr2d. 9 making a total of 12,449/. 18*. 2d. 



1175/ ,fn<uU were M ' ia * 2d >f wWch »><^<* 

 salanL !5* 5 ™™! of dekenturea, and leaves in hand a 



than all the 



** Bom " WUI J" lhe bociet y, which include 1601/. 5#., 



ai >4 fruit**!? l ° the 8UcceMful exhibitors of plants 



*" c&th rorn the secretarie8 , and curator's reports 



coll lhe ft ttendance of students from 



lle ges and artists had increased materially; 



leCtUreS WPrP W«ll .♦♦«t,,1«J . *k** « L«„nn„m 







CX Jm. Zmi 5 » > coMidemi.lj- more 

 ttegnn, t8 J of theSo «ety, which inclu. 



the 



b erof 



7 C7 



>een furnished to professors 

 ards of 400 snecies had been 



W 'llou K hhv vt rf etum ot Derb «<*°«« pi"*. Sir H. 1\ 

 of Exchequ hi ** k * d * ^ ue8,ion r *" l * fin £ to the sale 



bills, 



^otffe* of 3Boofc$* 



— ♦ — 



TJiompson *s Gardening Booh of Annuals (Simpkin) will 

 be useful to the inexperienced amateur, who desires to 

 know what to select for his annual garden, and how to 

 cultivate it. The directions are plain and useful, and 

 the list of species as long as any reasonable person can 

 desire ; to which we may add, what is no small praise 

 in these days of book manufacturing, that the descrip- 

 tions are faithful, with no tinge of exaggeration. We 

 need not say that of all branches of cultivation, that of 

 annuals best suits the purpose of persons of moderate 

 means, as it is among the greatest aids to the decoration 

 of places where cost is the last subject of consideration. 

 In this most especially they possess a merit of their own 

 that by skilful combinations of even the commonest of 

 them, effects are to be produced in the open ground 

 which the rarest and costliest of novelties cannot sur- 

 pass. A few old-fashioned hardy annuals, well- grouped 

 and well-grown, in the hands of a man of taste, will give 

 to the meanest plot of ground all the brilliancy of a regal 

 parterre. This has been admirably shown, as we are 

 informed, in the permanent horticultural exhibition now 

 open in Paris, and we hope that the lesson will have been 

 diligently studied by the visitors. The great point is how 

 to group well and how to grow well. Upon the former 

 subject Mr. Thompson does not touch — upon the latter 

 he gives useful advice, as a specimen of which may be 

 taken the following remarks upon soil, a terrible stumb- 

 ling block with the inexperienced: — 



"Soil. — Perhaps the soil best suited to a majority of 

 the annuals, and we might add of plants in general, is 

 a light friable loam, containing a moderate amount of 

 vegetable matter, and sufficient sand to render it porous; 

 but as it rarely happens that the amateur has much 

 choice of soil, it is fortunate that most of them will 

 succeed in any but such as is of an extremely dry, 

 sandy, or calcareous nature, or of a stiff, heavy, reten- 

 tive character. In the former the plants are sure to be 

 starved, and in the latter, if they ever fairly, take root, 

 there is generally an undue development of the foliage 

 at the expense of the flowers. In soils of this descrip- 

 tion much may be done by thoroughly breaking up the 

 superficial crust ; or, as it is technically termed ■ trench- 

 ing 9 it at least one spade deep, digging in sand, road- 

 scrapings, or in the absence of anything better, coal- 

 ashes, which usually contain a large proportion of 

 silicious matter ; and if the operation be performed in 

 autumn, so that the loosened soil is thoroughly exposed 

 during the winter to the disintegrating influences of 

 frost, and other atmospheric agencies, the advantage 

 will bo greatly increased. In soil of an opposite 

 character, i. c. sandy or calcareous, the remedy will 

 obviously consist in the addition of loam in conjunction 

 with decayed leaves, or very old rotten manure ; or, 

 where expense is no object, the surface soil may be 

 ent ; xely removed to a depth of 6 or 8 inches, and its 

 place supplied with the best loamy compost at hand. 

 In town gardens, where the staple is of a dry burning 

 nature, these ameliorative measures will be especially 

 necessary ; for when, as is usually the case, these are of 

 limited extent, and walled in, the heat in summer is so 

 great, that a 6oil of richer and moister character than 

 miuht be necessary in other localities is indispensable. 

 With these exceptions, however, it is only in extreme 

 that the measures suggested will be necessary ; 

 measures which, let it be observed, parenthetically, 

 though alluded to in connection with annuals, are really 

 applicable to the culture of most other ornamental plants, 

 whether herbaceous perennials, bulbs, or shrubs, the only 



ifference in their requirements being that a smaller 

 depth of soil will suffice than would be desirable for most 

 perennial plants. In ordinarily good soil, an annual 

 dressing of leaf-mould, decayed turves, or thoroughly 

 rotten manure, in quantities proportioned to the require- 

 ments of the toil, dug into the depth of a few inches, 

 will be all that is requisite ; these should be applied in 

 spring, only just previous to sowing the seeds, or much 



f the benefit resulting from their application will be 

 lost, though a simple digging may be advantageously 

 given in autumn. The use of strong crude manures of 

 an animal nature should be carefully avoided, though for 

 those who have a turn for experiments, we may state 

 that bonedust, and the superphosphate of lime may be 

 safely employed, and with some advantage in poor soils, 

 as well in the culture of annuals as of plants of a longer 

 duration. The bonedust must be as fine as possible, or 

 but little advantage will result from its use, on account 

 of the longer time required for its decomposition when 

 in a coarser state of division. It should be dug in with 

 leaf-mould, or in the same way, either in the precise 

 spot where the seeds are to be sown, or over the general 

 extent of the border. The superphosphate of lime, 

 being more soluble, wilt be best applied only after the 

 seedlings have attained the height of an inch or two, 

 and should be strewn, in small quantities, around and 

 over the patches in moist weather. Saline manures, 

 such as nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia, are 

 also unobjectionable, and may be employed in the same 

 way, though they are more generally applied in a state 

 of solution, a teaspoonful of the salt being sufficient for 

 a gallon of water. Many annuals, especially those of a 



robust habit, will bear an occasional dose of weak liquid 

 manure, of which, however, mention will be made more 

 appropriately under another head. It may be useful to 

 know that a large number of the annuals succeed well 

 in peat or heath mould, and may therefore be sown in 

 the borders of peat-beds, or round groups of Uhodor 

 dendrons, or similar shrubs ; but l here are very few for 

 which it is really indispensable, and for these a light 

 sandy loam with an admixture of leaf-dust often answers 

 nearly as well. 5 * 



Garden Memoranda. 



GUNNERSBURY PaRK, THE SEAT OF BaRON DE ROTHS- 



CHILD.— The trees on that portion of the Peach wall here 

 which has been faced with glass, as described at p. 550 of 

 our volume for 1853, have again this year borne moat ex- 

 cellent crops of large and finely coloured fruit, which with 

 the exception of that on a tree of the Te'ton de Venus, is 

 already nearly all gathered. The advantage of thus 

 covering existing walls with glass is well exemplified in 

 this case, in which the size, appearance, and flavour of 

 the fruit, owing to the facilities provided for giving 

 plenty of air, are quite as good as those of Peaches 

 grown on the open wall, while the certain ry of having a 

 crop is secured, and where the consumption is not very 

 great, fruit of excellent quality might be had until it can 

 be obtained from out of doors. The piece of wall covered 

 here is 124 feet in length, the glass protection being put 

 up in the form of a narrow Peach-house, with short 

 sliding sashes on the roof, an upright front about 6 feet 

 high, the back wall being 10 feet in height, and the width 

 of the house about 5 feet. The front sashes are 

 swung by their middle on pivots and move outwards, 

 and additional ventilation is afforded through openings 

 furnished with horizontal wooden slides in the slate 

 panelling between the short piers which support the 

 frontage. The interior can be warmed when required 

 by means of a flow and return 4-inch pipe, which is led 

 along the front immediately opposite the little venti- 

 lators last spoken of. Thus the cold air admitted gets 

 partially heated before it reaches the trees, and that at 

 a time when the leaves are young and tender, and there- 

 fore least will bear a check. Two narrow shelves, one 

 above the other, run along the whole length of the 

 front, forming convenient places for Strawberries in 

 pots, not only for forwarding them a little for forcing, 

 but also for keeping them from wet late in autumn, too 

 much of which, it is well known, greatly injures them. 

 The Peach trees are, of course, confined to the back 

 wall, which has been plastered with cement and fur- 

 nished with a wire trellis for training them on. The 

 trees are extremely healthy, without any signs of mil- 

 dew or red spider, and they have made abundance of 

 good bearing wood for next year. 



The young Vines with which all the vineries have 

 been planted have made excellent wood, and such as 

 are two and three years old have borne some good 

 bunches. Vines in pots are also grown here to some 

 extent, and with great success, as the beautiful exhibi- 

 tion of them produced by Mr. Forsyth, at Chiswick, in 

 June last, served to indicate. They are struck from 

 eyes put in in spring, and the rest of their treatment 

 differs little from that practised in other places ; the 

 great point aimed at is to get the wood thoroughly 

 ripened, without which no good results need be ex- 

 pected, and to this end they are placed on shelves, and 

 have their rods trained as dote to the glass as possible. 



Two new span-roofed houses, each 50 feet in length, 

 with paths up the middle and beds on either side of 

 them, have ju^t been put up here by Messrs. Gray & 

 Ormson for growing plants in, and already one of them 

 contains a small collection of some of the better and 



Two btds of 



showier kinds of Orchids, as well as other things 

 quiring the temperature of a stove. Among them was 

 Coleus Blumei in excellent condition, the variegation of 

 the foliage being unusually rich and beautiful. When 

 skilfully grown, and its colours well brought out, as 

 they were in this instance, few plants remarkable for 

 fine foliage are handsomer or better worth cultivating 



than this. 



The flower garden is, as a matter of course at this 

 season, well filled with flowering plants ; but owing to 

 the late rains, the beds generally scarcely looked so gay 

 as tluv evidently have done. Tom Thumb and 

 pink coloured Geraniums in the way of Lady Holms- 

 dale, Calceolaria viscosissima and integrifolia, Lob ^ 

 lucida, the white variegated Alyssuro, and ' * 



sort were, however, in good condition. 

 Agapanthus umbellatus were coming nicely into flower, 

 and will, doubtless, be beautiful late in the season. 

 These were not planted out, but plunged in pote so as to 

 be easily moved and taken under cover again for the 

 winter. Two rustic baskets elevated on short pedestals 

 and filled with Fuchsias were particularly striking. The 

 plants measured nearly A feet across, and were beauti- 

 fullv in bloom. The variety was Defiance, a robust 

 growing sort, which displays its crimson flowers in 

 large clusters, well out at the ends of the 

 branches, and is therefore well adapted for this 

 kind of decoration. Two beds, one of crimson and 

 the other of common China Roses, were also very 

 pretty. These varieties, we need scarcely say, bloom 

 most profusely, and last long in beauty. On the east 

 aide of the lawn the bedding plants are placed in baskets, 

 the raised handles of which, covered as they are with 

 Convolvuluses, Ipomoeas, Maurandjas, Lophospermuma, 

 and Eccremocarpus scaber, serve to create variety and 

 improve the flat appearance which is sometimes coi 

 plained of in beds ot low growing plants. Stationed 





