100 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



is one mass of drooping bright buttercup-coloured blossoms. It is not at 

 all fastidious about soil, growing equally well in poor or rich ground, and 

 is easily raised from seeds or cuttings. 



Two Good Campanulas for Growing in Grass. 



Both Campanula latifolia and C. lactiflora are admirably adapted for 

 growing in the wild garden, and for filling neglected or unsightly corners. 

 The former grows quite 6 feet high at Wisley in the grass, and the latter 

 about 4 or 5 feet high ; and both are always objects of admiration in 

 July. Both species vary in colour from pale blue to pure white, the pale 

 blue of C. lactiflora being the most admired of all. Plants are easily 

 raised from seed, and they should be grown until they are a year old 

 before planting them out ; if put out small they are unable to hold their 

 own against grass, but if of good size, and strong when planted, they 

 grow admirably and quickly make bold masses. In windy places they 

 should be staked before they bloom, as the spikes- or panicles are so large 

 that the plants are blown over and spoiled. No special soil preparation 

 is needed for these plants, as they will grow either in sand or clay. 



Ants and Aphides. 



There can be no question as to the abounding interest that may be 

 aroused by watching the ways of ants in the garden, though the relations 

 that subsist between the ants and scale insects and "ant's cows" or 

 green-fly, as well as some other points in their economy, make them 

 objects of dislike to the garden lover. The following letter from the 

 Rev. H. E. Bishop, M.A., of Middleton Vicarage, King's Lynn, recounts 

 one of the most remarkable instances of the intelligence of ants that we 

 have met with lately : 



" Some gooseberry bushes are trained on a north wall. During the 

 wet weather I noticed that many shoots were encrusted with sand and 

 lime (somewhat like the case of a caddis worm) and on breaking this 

 away we were surprised to find the shoot covered with aphis and the ants 

 busy among them. I examined the cases carefully with Dr. Plowright, of 

 Lynn, and we came to the conclusion that the ants had constructed them 

 to prevent the aphides from being washed away by the rain. The piece 

 broken away was repaired the next day. The upper leaves served as a 

 roof and the sand built round left a clear passage way for the aphides 

 and ants. Since the fine weather began the aphides and the ants are still 

 there, but they have completely cleared away all the casings." 



We once saw a quite similar thing among Cinerarias in a greenhouse. 



