Queries and Answers. 501 



My nursery ground lies on the banks of a small stream, and is of a light 

 rich soil, about 3 ft. deep, under which is a stratum of gravel from 2 to 

 3 ft. deep, lying on a bed of strong clay. If any of your entomologists can 

 give me a description of the most likely way of getting these insects destroyed, 

 I should esteem it a particular favour. I am, Sir, &c. — Jo. Dykes. Kil- 

 marnock, June 21. 1830. 



The insects sent from the Comber nursery were not a third part of the 

 size of those received from Kilmarnock, and, as mentioned at the time, 

 they belong to the Ztermestes family. The Kilmarnock insect is a weevil, 

 the Otiorhynchus notatus of Stephens, Cat. Brit. Ins., p. 172., the Curciilio 

 vastator of Marsh, Brit. Ins., p. 300. It may be said to be without wings, 

 and what, in usual cases, are the wing covers, are attached to the skin, 

 thick and hard like the shell of a tortoise. Lime water we should think 

 would have no effect on this insect, and a decoction of tobacco or monk's- 

 hood, would be too expensive. Water heated to 150° or 160°, and applied 

 in ihe evenings after the insects had come out, might possibly do something. 

 In a nursery in the neighbourhood of Stutgard the trees are brushed over 

 in the winter time with a mixture of cow-dung and loam, to guard them, as 

 we were told, from some species of beetle which attacked them in the 

 spring. This plan might be tried. 



Mr. Rodger, who is mentioned in this communication as a " keen horti- 

 culturist," is the landlord of the principal inn (the Turf Inn) at Kilmar- 

 .nock, to which a garden, upwards of a Scotch acre in extent, is attached, 

 and part of it beautifully laid out as pleasure-ground for the gratification of 

 guests. There is also in the house a small library, and different London 

 newspapers and magazines are taken in. We mention these things to 

 stimulate others to follow so excellent an example ; and we hope that every 

 gentleman's gardener will not only try to persuade the publicans and inn- 

 keepers of his neighbourhood to enlarge and improve their gardens, but 

 will lend them his advice and assistance in doing so. Every gardener may 

 be able to spare a number of seeds and herbaceous plants ; and though he 

 cannot be expected to spare trees or shrubs, yet he will do a man who 

 knows little of plants a great service by giving him a list of what he ought 

 to purchase from the nurseries. As climbers and twiners, Lonicera flexuosa, 

 Wistaria Consequawa, Eccremocarpus scaber, Clematis florida, Jtragene 

 austriaca ; as wall trees and shrubs, Chimonanthus fragrans, Magnolia pur- 

 purea and conspicua, Pyrus japonica, itosa odorata, Noisettza, Boursaulri, 

 Grevilh, and Drummondz; as bush shrubs, .ffibiscus syriacus (all the varieties), 

 Arbutus £/nedo, Aucaba japonica, Viburnum pyrifolium, Photinia glabra 

 /rhododendron, Azalea, Andromeda, Faccinium, and Daphne, several species 

 of each ; as trees, Pyrus spectabilis, Primus Mahdleb virginiana, Amelan- 

 chier canadensis, Halesia tetraptera, Cercis 5iliquastrum, Jcacia glutinosa, 

 Crataegus Oxyacantha coccinea ; besides the commoner showy things ; may 

 and might ornament every publican's garden and house-front south of In- 

 verness. Mr, Rodgers has a particular plan of growing celery, of which he 

 has written an account that will appear in our next. — Cond. 



The Sayings as to Bees (p. 223.) have been current in Essex so long as 

 I can remember, and, as I am informed, from time immemorial. — D. French. 

 Harlowe, April 26. 1830. 



The Sport of Plants. — Sir, Can any of your readers give a physiological 

 reason for the sport of plants. I sowed the seeds of a cockscomb plant 

 which was of a most beautiful crimson colour, and several of the plants 

 showed yellow flowers, though I had carefully removed those that were 

 yellow the year before, previously to their forming any pollen ? Yours, &c. 

 — W. S. Buckingham, May 31. 1830. 



Stools of Ash Coppice. — Having observed, in cutting down coppice- wood, 

 that occasionally an ash stub was to be met with that did not shoot forth 



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