107 



colour ; and so long as they are tolerably double, no- 

 thing first-rate is required as to form and such like 

 properties. For exhibition the case is different ; no 

 matter what the habit, hardly the colour, so long as 

 the form and arrangement of the flowor can be 

 brought near to the ideal of perfection. One of the 

 greatest obstacles in the way of this is the ravages of 

 the earwig, which always is" productive of more or 

 less injury. To avoid this, various plans are resorted 

 to for trapping these vermin, such as hanging bean- 

 stalks, or any other hollow tubes, among the plants ; 

 or inverting small pots, partly filled with moss or lit- 

 tery hay, on the stakes, and then examining them 

 every morning, and destroying all the earwigs which 

 have sought concealment there.* But this is not 

 enough : the flowers must be fixed in the centre of, 

 and just above, small temporary tables, and covered 

 completely during night, and partially daring the day, 

 by inserting a flower-pot over each ; cotton, wool, or 

 other means being also used to prevent the insect 

 crawling up through the slits made to admit the stalk 

 of the blooms to the centre of the boards. Some use 



* That a garden-pot upon the summit of the dahlia stake is 

 not ornamental, must be readily admitted, though its offensive- 

 ness is much mitigated if the pot be painted green. Small or- 

 namental cupolas, similarly painted, would be far preferable, 

 and a clumsy attempt at this is represented at p. 190 of the 

 Gardener's Magazine , vol. 5, N-.SL 



