INSTRUMENTS. 



153 



inu'la. 



into fragments, are inserted in the 

 soil, either at a foot or a yard apart, 

 according as it is wished to have the 

 ground wholly or partially covered 

 with mushrooms. The fragments are 

 inserted ahout two inches in depth, 

 and the turf is firmly pressed over 

 them with the foot. The operation 

 occasions no derangement of the turf, 

 and it may be performed with the cor- 

 ner of a spade or a trowel. The time 

 is April or May, and the mushrooms 

 will make their appearance in the 

 September or October following. The 

 turf is not injured, and much amuse- 

 ment is sometimes produced by the 

 unexpected appearance of the mush- 

 rooms. 



Insects are extremely destructive 

 to flower-gardens, particularly those 

 belonging to the section Lepidop. 

 tera, which includes the butterflies 

 and moths. Some of the Coleoptera, 

 or beetles, are also very injurious, 

 while in the grub state. It would 

 take too much space in a work like 

 the present, to give even the names of 

 all the insects which injure flowers ; 

 but some of the most destructive are 

 mentioned by their popular names 

 as they occur in the alphabetical series, 

 and a few words said on each. Entomo- 

 logy should, however, be studied by 

 every one who loves flowers ; as it is 

 of great service to the florist to know 

 these destructive creatures under all 

 their changes. It is true that insects 

 are, in most cases, only injurious in 

 the caterpillar state ; but often, by de- 

 stroying a chrysalis, — or a moth, or 

 butterfly, before it has had time to 

 lay its eggs, the mischief which would 

 have been done by the brood which 

 would be raised from them may be 

 prevented. 



Instruments differ from imple- 

 ments in having steel edges or blades, 

 and in cutting wood instead of sepa- 

 rating soil. Those required for the 

 flower-garden are knives of different 



kinds, cutting-shears, flower-gatherers, 

 the scythe for mowing, and the bill, 

 or the bill-hook, for cutting hedges. 

 Knives are of many different kinds, 

 and formerly all garden-knives were 

 hooked at the extremity of the blade. 

 It is now found, however, that this 

 hooked form has a tendency to tear 

 rather than to cut, and the best mo- 

 dern knives of every description have 

 a straight cutting edge, and a sharp 

 point,ratherthan a rounded one. Those 

 which are used for pruning or cutting, 

 generally have no particular form of 

 handle; but those which are used for 

 budding or grafting have an ivory 

 handle, which terminates in a flat 

 chisel-like form, for raising up the 

 bark, when inserting buds. In gene- 

 ral, it may be sufficient to observe, 

 that a pruning-knife should have the 

 extreme end of the handle thicker 

 than the end next the blade, in order 

 that it may never slip through the 

 hands of the operator ; and that it 

 should be somewhat curved to give a 

 greater purchase. A few glances at 

 a cutler's, or in the seed-shops, would 

 give a better idea of the sort of knives 

 which an amateur ought to procure, 

 than a page of directions ; but pur- 

 chasers should be cautioned against all 

 complex forms, in which a number of 

 blades, including saws and chisels, and 

 sometimes also screw-drivers, gimblets, 

 and hammers are included in the same 

 handle. An excellent substitute for 

 a knife for the lady gardener is found 

 in the pruning-shears with a sliding 

 motion, by which, what is called a 

 draw-cut is produced, instead of what 

 is called a crushing-cut, which bruises 

 the bark, and renders the wound dif- 

 ficult to heal over. (See Pruning 

 Shears.) 



Inu v la — Composites. — Elecam- 

 pane. Some of the foreign species 

 of this genus are very showy plants, 

 all with orange-yellow flowers, and 

 large coarse stalks and leaves. They 



