THE GARDENERS* CHRONICLE 



133 



bam a rootf jkusoiious rang, «"» « ,c 7'" , 

 1-wTai.from a house is aa sure a sign of s..ne forc- 

 Siing evil as the ticking of the death-watch, and that 

 itiBthe natural habit of the earwig to creep into the 

 of Bleeping persons, causing madness by pene- 



tr»tii>2 the brain. "« V rv V »** -« «.« f .v«~»m »»- - 

 few subsequent articles, to offer to our readers a simple 

 dieest of the leading principles of Entomology as a 

 scrence. which, from the everyday occurrence of its 

 objects and the great effects they produce upon the 

 labours of the gardener, merit at least some portion of 



"^neTf the commonest errors into which the ordinary 

 iaquirer falls, arises from the general notion that every 

 small animal which is neither a bird, beast, nor fish, must 

 be an insect. Such a notion is often imbibed from the 



that the star-fish and the polype, the tape-worm ana uie 

 ascarid, the snail and the o\> r, are not articulated 

 animals, and therefore cannot be insects. 



But although the articulated structure of the body is 

 a character exhibited by all insects at some period of 



of the earth in a moist state, thereby preserving all ujp 



fibres, and, in addition to keeping down weeds, when dug 

 in it enriches the ground. Unfortunately, if this cover- 

 in" or mulching was practised in private kitchen -gardens, 

 it would be considered slovenly. Nevertheless, it is mv 



not allowed. Janus Cuthill, Camberwell. 



tin of natural history placed in the hands 01 cnildren; tenuation or absence of some primary character at its 

 J^l!^ to the higher animals, points of junction with others income m^^ 



their existence (generally, indeed, throughout all thestages opinion that, during summer all crops ought to have a 



of their lives) all articulated animals are not necessarily good mulching. This would greatly assist, hungry 



insects. Here, however, we must bear in mind the gard— - <■**■* * necessarv Quantity of manure 



excellent observation of Messrs. Kirby and Spence, 



u There is no general rule without exceptions, and no 



character is so universal as to be distinctly exhibited by 



every member of a class or other natural group. Thus 



in the majority of the mites ( Acarus, Linn.) the body is 



marked by no segments, and the only articulation, or 



incision, is in the legs, palpi, &c; but as the exception 



does not make void the rule, so neither does the ex- 



Fig. 11. 



ith hilate the class or group." (Introd. to Entomology, vol. iii. 

 mammak b'irds, and fishes, and all remaining Kinds p. 4, note d.) 



the ereater portion of such works are occupied w 



of animals are crammed into the smallest possioie com- 

 pass. Here, under the head of Insects, or Insects, &c, 

 we find the lobster and the shrimp, the scorpion and the 

 spider, the butterfly and the beetle, the leech and the 

 worm, the snail ajid the oyster, the starfish and the 

 polype, all classed together, and thus, without any defi- 

 nite idea as to what are the real characters of the 

 classes to which these various animals belong, a general 

 idea impresses itself on the mind that the name of 

 Insect may be applied to them all. 



But what is an insect f This is a question which can 

 only be satisfactorily answered after a few preliminary 

 remarks on the chief divisions into which the inverte- 

 bratcd animals, or animals without back-bones, are 



divisible. 



A first great division, or sub-kingdom of those 

 animals which do not possess an internal vertebral 

 column (or back-bone) is termed Radiated, and consists 

 of great numbers of creatures for the most part resident 

 iu the ocean,.or in fluids, which have the limbs or arms 

 radiating from a centre. Many of these exhibit so 

 fantastical a resemblance to flowers, that a poet thus 

 writes of them : 



«< 



Seat have. 





An well'aa earth— Vinet, Roses, Nettles, Melons, 

 Mushrooms, Pinks, Gillj flowers, and many millions 

 Of other plants, more rare, more strange than these— 

 As Tery nshes living in the seas." 



Here belong the sea-anemone, sea-urchin, star- 

 fishes of Various kinds, Medusae, coral plants, and the 

 many strange sorts of zoophytes and polype— creatures, 

 of whose nature, whether as animals or plants, doubts 

 have been entertained by many eminent writers. 

 Amongst the radiated animals have also been arranged 

 by the first zoologists, the strange tribes of intestinal 

 parasites, or Entozoa, such as the ascarides, tape-worms, 

 Ac., in all which the radiated character of the sub-king- 

 dom is more or less obsolete ; and a greater resemblance 

 to the general notion of the type of insect-form is adopted, 

 but which, from their internal structure, nervous sys- 

 tem, and mode of development, are more properly refer- 

 able to the sub -kingdom Radiated. 



A second great division or sub-kingdom is termed 

 Articulated ; it comprises all those animals which have 

 the body of a symmetrical form, composed of a series of 

 rings or segments, and having a peculiar arrangement 

 of the nervous system, consisting of a double thread 

 running along the whole length of the body, united at 

 certain distances by knots or ganglions, from each of 

 which knots extend nerves, so that each may be likened 

 to a separate brain ; and hence the dissemination of 

 nervous intelligence over the entire body, and the facility 

 with which many of these animals pursue their func- 

 tions after part of their bodies have been injured, or 

 oven cut off. We need hardly state that insects, spiders, 

 <jrabs, leeches, and earthworms, are Articulated animals. 

 The third and last great division or sub-kingdom of 

 Invertebrated Animals is termed the Molluscs ; it con- 

 sists of those soft-bodied animals which neither possess 

 a radiated nor articulated body, but which are covered 

 with a soft integument, are destitute of jointed legs, 

 and have the nervous system unsymmetrical in its 



The soft consistence of the body of most 

 of these animals renders defence necessary, and this is 

 effected by the formation of hard calcareous coverings 

 of infinitely various forms, which are called shells, the 

 materials for which are secreted by the animals them- 

 selves. The oyster and garden snail are the most 

 familiar instances of this sub-kingdom, and closely allied 

 to the latter is the slug, which is not furnished with an 

 outer shelly covering, although on examining its internal 

 structure it is found to possess a small rudimental one. 



1 



The red-spider, or mite (Acarus te^arius), male and female, 



with the mouth and web. 



Strictly speaking, indeed, the term insect (that is, an 

 animal cut into sections), is synonymous with Articulated 

 or Annulated ; but the Linnsean character of the class 

 Insecta, "small many-footed animals, breathing by lateral 

 spiracles, defended by a bony skin, and provided with 

 moveable sensitive antennae," excludes not only crabs 

 and other shell-fish breathing by gills (which Linnaeus 

 introduced among insects), but also spiders, which have 

 no antennae, and all the Annelids (or earthworms, 

 leeches, seaworms, &c), which are equally articulated 

 and furnished with a double knotted nervous system. 



The distribution of the articulated animals will furnish 

 us with a more extended reply to the query, " What is 

 an Insect !" and will be the subject of our next article. 

 /, 0. W. 









arrangement 



E £gs, young, and shell of garden snail. 



On reviewing the characters of these three sub-king- 



MARKET GARDENING ROUND LONDON. 



No. IX. Mushrooms. — These are much sought after 

 in Covent Garden market, where their annual sale 

 amounts to several thousand pottles, each pottle weigh- 

 ing a pound. Mushroom beds are made after the fol- 

 lowing manner : — As the fresh manure is brought 

 home from the London stables, the short material is 

 shaken out of it, and" the long strawy part is kept for 

 the purposes of covering as well as for forming the 

 iuterior of ridges, for all Mushroom beds out of doors 

 are made into ridges. The manure if not allowed to 

 heat before it is put into the beds, if that can be pre- 

 vented ; for previously heated material does not pro- 

 duce such fine Mushrooms. The fresher the horse-dung 

 is the longer will the crop last ; and every gardener who 

 makes up beds with unheated droppings, knows how 

 superior they are to fermented manure. If this is pro- 

 perly attended to, it does not signify what kind of mould 

 is used for surfacing the bed with. Market gardeners 

 obtain enormous crops from ridges covered with com- 

 mon light well-enriched mould. When the interior 

 temperature of the ridge gets down to 80°, it is 

 spawned with pieces about 2 inches square, placed 

 about a foot apart : the bed is then moulded over 

 2 inches thick, pressed with the feet, and afterwards 

 beaten with the spade. It is then watered and beaten 

 again with the spade, and smoothed down. The more 

 the mould is pressed the finer the crop is, and the more 

 solid the texture of the Mushroom. This and green or 

 unheated manure constitute the two grand secrets in 

 Mushroom growing. Mushroom beds made up in this 

 1 way want but little watering, and when they are 

 watered, it ought to be with liquid manure. The 

 ridges are covered with straw and mats ; such ridges 

 as these are continually being made, and when well 

 formed, they last from two to three months in good 

 bearing. I believe I am correct in stating that there 

 are about 1 acres of ground round London continually 

 under Mushrooms, which are all wanted for the various 

 metropolitan markets. 



Mulching. — Summer covering, or mulching, with 



GRAFTING. 



eftGrafting: fig. 1 1 . (Greffc en fente 

 dite a VAnglaise.) This mode 

 is not generally employed, ex- 

 cept for hard-wooded plants, 

 with little sap, and small me- 

 dullary sheath. 



Operation. — Take a straight 



well-grown shoot, and cut it to 



the length of two or three 



eyes ; cut the base with a long 



slope opposite the lower eye ; 



make a .longitudinal slit in the 



face of the slope, so as to form 



a tongue. Let a counterpart 



be made in a stock of the same 



size as the scion ; introduce the 



tongues of each into the slits 



prepared for them, and thus 



unite the whole. A piece of 



paper tied round this graft will 



be sufficient for securing it* 



Cleft-grafting in the side 

 of young Stems, Branches, 

 and Shoots, of the same sizr 

 as the Scion : Fig. 12. Opera- 

 tion. — Whatever [may be the 

 nature of the scion, its base 

 should be cut in as lengthened 

 a wedge- shape as circumstances 

 will permit. The place in- 

 tended for it in some analogous 

 stock should be previously fixed 

 upon, and always in the fork of 

 a small ramification of the young stem, or in the axil 

 of one of its leaves, or of an eye. This young stem 

 should be cut back a little above ^. , 



the place intended for the in- S- • 



sertion of the scion, always taking 

 care that the small stump has 

 one or two eyes left, or some 

 small branchlets, half leaves, &c. 

 We make at the place selected 

 f )r the operation in the stock a 

 somewhat slanting cut, down- 

 wards, till it reach the medullary 

 sheath, dividing it into two nearly 

 equal parts, as may be seen by 

 the figure. This cleft should be 

 made by a single effort, and as 

 quickly as possible, in order that 

 the blade of the knife may not 

 have time to deposit oxide of 

 iron, which is always injurious to 

 vegetation. The place being thus 

 duly prepared for the reception 

 of the scion, it is inserted ; and 

 it must be maintained in its 

 position, and otherwise attended 

 to according to the principles 

 explained under the head of 

 " General Observations." 



This newly -in vented mode 

 may be substituted for all the 

 others comprised in this group, 



and it possesses many advantages which cannot be ob- 

 tained from them ; for it is applicable to plants of which 

 the branches and other younger productions are of the 

 smallest possible dimensions. I have grafted by this 

 proceeding some Heaths and Junipers, of which the parts 

 worked were scarcely one-twenty-fifth of an inch in 

 diameter. 



The different species of Oaks, Beeches, Walnuts, and 

 Chestnuts, &c, either in the solid or herbaceous state, 

 generally take well by this mode of grafting. We can, 

 moreover, easily comprehend the advantages which 

 result from the small stump being reserved for the pur- 

 pose of drawing the sap, which, forced to collect in it, 

 descends along the bark, and powerfully contributes to 

 the union of the adjoining parts. During the time that 

 the graft is taking, the productions which are developed 

 on the small stump should be pinched, or otherwise kept 

 iu check, in order to prevent them from producing a dif- 

 ferent effect from that for which they were intended ; after 

 the graft has fairly taken, the small stump should be 

 gradually more and more reduced, till it entirely dis- 

 appears. Translated from the French of D'A Ibret. 



TRADE MEMORANDA. 



Can any one inform us who J. Bruce, of 17, Burling- 

 ton-street, Liverpool, is 1 Perhaps some agricultural 

 implement dealer may be able to answer the question. 



^oms, we at once obtain a first answer to the query, 



1 i!!? 1 i8 - an inse . ct * namelv > tliat an insect is an articu- 

 lated animal with a symmetrically arranged knotted 



nervous system : and at the same time we have learned 



Home Correspondence 



The large Elms in the " Crystal Palace* — I hare 



covering, 

 stable litter, is extensively practised by many of the first- 

 rate market-gardeners, not only in the case of Straw- _ # r 

 berries, but also in that of plantations of Gooseberry read, with attention, your observations upon the pro- 



* In M. D'Albret's figure the tongues are represented much 

 to i long. Fijsr. 11, as here Riven, will conyey a correct idea of 



trees 



This 



mulching not only keeps all fruit clean, but it has many 





other advantages , 



surface 





