28 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 14, 1870. 



surface of the bark, and devouring the wood to snch a depth 

 that the limb was weakened and blown off by the wind. After 

 making its horizontal circuit it then worked its way perpendi- 

 cularly in the ordinary way. 



Fig. 1. — The female moth, life-size, with her ovipositor protruded. 



The way generally recommended for the destruction of this 

 devastator, is to blow tobacco smoke into the holes. This 

 might do very well in cases where the insect is near the orifice, 

 and the burrow is shallow ; but in cases where it extends to the 

 length of 1, 2, or 3 feet, it will be impossible to reach it by this 



Fig. 3. 



Fig. 3. — The skin of the chrysalis. 



Fig. 2. 

 Fig. 2. — The caterpillar within the tunnel it works in the tree. The 

 roundish mass beneath the caterpillar is the woody du st it leaves behind, 

 and of which it forms its cocoon. 



mode. The only sure course which suggests itself is to wait 

 till the period in June, when the grub has gone into the chry- 

 salis state, and its powers of further destructiveness have 

 ceased, and then to plug up the holes. This will either suffocate 

 it, or it will effectually prevent it from emerging, as in the 

 imago state it is incapable of eating its way out. In this way 

 the reproduction of that individual at least would be prevented. 

 The common house sparrow is a great enemy of this moth. 



FOBMING A FLOWER GAEDEN.— No. 2. 



THE DESIGN. 

 p Vert complicated geometrical patterns are, as a rule, to be 

 avoided, for unless the resources of a garden are fully equal to 

 its requirements such designs are rarely to be seen without 

 some flaw in the colouring, or some bed whose ragged appear- 

 ance tells of a failure in the supply of plants in spring. It is 

 well, therefore, when deciding upon a design, to bear in mind 



the means which the gardens afford of filling the beds satis- 

 factorily. A few well-filled beds are far preferable to the most 

 elegant design to which the gardener is unable to do full justice 

 from insufficient means. Moreover, the design of a flower 

 garden should be strictly in keeping with its surroundings ; for 

 instance, a terrace garden with its formal accessories should 

 certainly be severely geometrical, while in a shrubbery garden 

 a somewhat more irregular style might be adopted with advan- 

 tage. As a fair example of this style I give the plan of the 

 flower garden at Egerton House. It is about half an acre in 

 extent, and is in the centre of the shrubbery. The centre of 

 the garden is traversed by a wide walk leading from the house 

 to the bottom of the pleasure grounds, and when the garden 

 was made, a circular Bpace 60 yards in diameter was allowed, 

 but the walk was to be retained, as well as the two large Oaks, 

 one on each side of it, so that a suitable design had to be worked 

 out in such a manner that the shade of the Oaks might be 

 avoided as much as possible. In practice I have found the 

 accompanying plan answer very well ; and it is worthy of note 

 here that the plants in the large circular beds 17 and 42 are 

 invariably of the kinds known as fine-foliaged plants. A line 

 of Christine Pelargonium between the inner band of Gnaphalium 

 and the Farfugium has been tried, but was not very successful. 

 From my experience of these beds, I would never depend on 

 anything but fine-foliaged plants in beds at all shaded by trees. 



Another important point is the maintenance of a sufficient 

 proportion of turf among the beds, which should not be crowded, 

 but should have a sufficient breadth of nature's green around 

 them to afford an agreeable relief, whereby the brilliancy of 

 their colours will be much enhanced. To no style does this 

 principle more forcibly apply than to those large single beds 

 from 50 to 100 feet in diameter which are occasionally to be 

 met with ; such beds are a flower garden in themselves, and 

 when skilfully managed are very beautiful, but to be effective 

 they require a wide expanse of turf around them ; for if large 

 beds, like these, are placed in a confined position, surrounded 

 by shrubs or narrow walks, they are far more likely to strike 

 the eye as huge blots than as masses of floral beauty. 



With regard to the shape of flower beds, sharp angular forms 

 are to be avoided as far as practicable, as they are difficult to 

 fill well, and their hard abrupt outlines stand out boldly and 

 uncompromisingly. Very different from this is the soft flow 

 of a scroll partaking of the character of Hogarth's line of beauty, 

 or the graceful sweep of a circle, pleasant to look upon from 

 whatever side it is viewed. Scroll patterns, however, though 

 very beautiful, must be adopted with caution, as in most in- 

 stances, to do full justice to their graceful outlines, more space 

 is required than for any other style ; for if the curves of the 

 scrolls approach each other so closely as to leave but little 

 space for turf or gravel, the colouring is apt to appear crowded 

 and confused. 



THE PLANTS. 



In a selection of the most suitable plants for flower beds, 

 many kinds grown entirely for the beauty of their foliage justly 

 claim a leading position, and from their undoubted excellence 

 and great utility we gladly accept and welcome them as almost 

 indispensable aids in enabling us to carry out our designs. 

 Their excellencies are many. They offer to the artist many 

 shades of colour not to be obtained from blossom ; some soft 

 and subdued charming neutral tints which are most useful to 

 tone down or divide the glowing brightness of their more showy 

 neighbours ; while others, by their bright and gorgeous colour- 

 ing, not only rival the gayest flowers, but owing to their greater 

 stability and immunity from many of those evils to which the 

 blooms from their frailty are liable, not unfrequently take the 

 place of flowering plants, and in some gardens to a much 

 greater extent than I like to see ; for, after all, the blossoms of 

 flowers possess a soft and refined beauty unapproaehed by 

 foliage, and therefore the more flowering plants we can intro- 

 duce with safety the more general will be the appreciation of 

 the entire design. 



Grey-leaved Plants. — To our old friend Cerastinm tomen- 

 tosum must be awarded the leading position as the best dwarf 

 plant of its colour for an edging or front row. When well 

 managed nothing can surpass it, as it makes a dense growth, 

 yet is prevented by its multitudinous leaves and shoots from 

 appearing at all heavy, and it becomes a neat compact mass 

 of pearly grey, which is most effective next to tuif. Ceras- 

 tium should always be transplanted once a-year ; it strikes 

 root freely from cuttings in the open air in spring and autumn, 

 and such young plants are best, as they quickly meet if 

 planted an inch or two apart, but if old plants are retained 



