34,4: 
AMEKIOAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Skptesebeb, 
beak-gkass. — ( Yucca fllamentosa.) 
sects came in too great numbers to be disposed 
of by hand-picking, and they produced larvse in 
abundance, which, are quite equal in their rav- 
ages to their troublesome parents. The full- 
grown larva, or "grub," is about half an inch 
long, of a lemon-yellow color, and covered with 
spines, which are yellow near the body and 
black above. These are themselves armed 
with short bristles. As the larva has sis of 
these spines upon each ring of its body, it pre- 
sents a formidable appearance under the magni- 
fier. The engraving (fig. 1,) shows the larva of 
twice the natural size. It eats the cellular tis- 
sue of the leaves, in circular patches, an inch or 
more in diameter, leaving the net-work of fibres, 
as shown in fig. 2. They seem to work upon 
either side of the leaf indiscriminately. We 
made an application of powdered white helle- 
bore to the vines, without any marked effect, 
and have since resorted to hand-picking. 
Tying Material— The Bear-grass, or Ad- 
am's Needle. — (Yucca filanieniosa.) 
The commonest of the Yuccas is the Y. Jila- 
inentosa, commonly known as Bear-grass and 
Adam's Needle, and in some localities called 
Cliff-Lily and Gardener's Twine. It is a native 
plant, being found wild as far north as Virginia, 
and is quite common further south. It has lono- 
been known in our gardens, and of late years 
has become quite popular; fine old specimens 
being highly ornamental for their leaves, and 
surpassingly beautiful when they throw up their 
enormous panicles of white flowers. Our pur- 
pose is, to speak of it as a useful rather than as 
an ornamental 
plant. An article 
on tying ma- 
terials on page 
261 (July), in- 
duced Mr. Jas. 
T. "Worthington, 
of Chillicothe, 
0.,topresentthe 
claims of the 
Tucca as a su- 
perior article 
for bands and 
strings. Mr. W. 
considers it of 
great value, not 
only to the gar- 
dener but to the 
farmer, and ad- 
vocates its culti- 
vation for its 
useful leaves. He 
states that when 
the plant is well 
established, or 
the third year 
after planting 
out a shoot or 
sueker,hundreds 
of leaves maybe 
removed with- 
out injury. He 
sets the plants 
four feet apart 
each way. Mr. 
Worthington, in 
a communica- 
tion to the Scioto 
Gazette, upou 
the same sub- 
ject, says: "For 
all purposes 
where a string is needed, from a bouquet to a 
bacon ham, including bands for grape-vines and 
shocks of corn, and for garden vegetables, it 
has no equal and requires only to be generally 
kuown to be universally cultivated." We have 
known the Tucca to be used in some of the 
Missouri vineyards, and thank Mr. Worthing- 
ton for calling attention to its availability for 
other purposes. Plants are sold by most nursery- 
men, the catalogue price being 50 cents each. 
— . • »_ — 
The White-spotted Calla. 
{Ricliardia albo-maculata.) 
Last year we received from Messrs. Bennett 
& Davidson, Florists, of Flatbush, L. I., a spec- 
imen of a Calla quite unlike the well-known 
Ethiopian Calla, and which was ascertained 
to be the White-spotted Calla (Ricliardia albo- 
maculata). The present one seems to be but lit- 
tle kuown, and having grown it for two seasons 
we think it merits more attention than it has 
received. The plant is smaller than the com- 
mon Calla, growing about two feet high, and 
though it has a general resemblance to that, it 
will be seen from the engraving that the leaves 
are different in shape and are distinctly marked 
with numerous white spots. The spots, though 
they appear quite white by reflected light, when 
held between the eye and the light are found to 
be translucent. The flower, or more properly, 
spathe, the shape of which is given in the en- 
graving, differs in form and in size from that of 
the common species. It is white without, but 
purple at the base within. The plant is a sum- 
mer-flowering one; planted out in the open 
Shallots. — [Allium JEscalonicum.) 
The early "green onions" which appear in 
our city markets are properly Shallots — a dif- 
ferent species from the common onion. The 
mature bulbs are smaller, oblong in shape, and 
made up of several smaller bulbs, which are en- 
closed in a skin like that of an onion. They 
keep with difficult}', as they are very apt to 
start into growth. In flavor they are stronger 
than the oniou. With us they are chiefly used 
iu the green state ; but abroad they are employed 
when mature for flavoring soups, etc. Being 
perfect!}'' hardy, shallots are best planted in 
September. The bulbs are broken up, and the 
separate s<> f s, or "cloves," are planted in good 
soil, in rows a foot apart, the sets being six 
inches apart. In planting they need to be 
simply pressed into the soil with the fingers. 
They require no protection during the winter. 
white-spotted caela.— {Sichardia albo-macu!ata.) 
ground it has flourished in ordinary garden soil, 
without any care in watering, and has threwn 
up an abundance of foliage and a succession of 
flowers. It produces seed freely, though it mul- 
tiplies so readily by offsets there is no need of 
growing it from the seed. The thick rootstock, 
or "bulb," may be kept through the winter, in 
a dormant state in a bos of dry earth, in a 
greenhouse or other place where there is no 
danger of frost. The plant is from Natal, and 
was first described by Sir Wm. Hooker, iu 1860. 
A recent French work mentions it as a spotted 
variety of the Ricliardia Africana, the common 
Calla, which is an error, as it is distinct from 
that species iu several important particular's. 
