February i, iSpi.] 
THE TROHCAL aORIOULTURIST. 
58 * 
GARDEN NOTES. 
(From the Pivi'e^dintjft of ihr'' Agn~7{oriicnhnral 
Sociffn of MadraA.) 
ARAtiCARiAK.— A nuiuher of young AravrariuA were 
planted cut, in October, on each Hide of tho main 
walk from tho entrance gate, aiul with tho exception 
of threo Bnecimena of A. fndmifh'i. look very healthy. 
Atteniptn have been made, on former occasiona, to 
pow .1. hldiriUii^ iu potH and in the open ground, 
out have failed. Mr. Whiteside informed tho Com- 
mittee that lie had made several attempts to grow 
Ara^fcana hidmiUu in hia garden, and that, when it 
was removed from the i)ots in which it was tliriving 
and planted in tlie open ground, it invariably died 
in a few weeks. On the other hand, Asoavaria rx* 
cfha did very well in the open. 
Bamboos. — M r. J. S. Clamble, (’onsorvator of 
Forests, recently identified the following species of 
Baml)oo, which are growing in tho Bocioty’a Gar- 
dens : — 
Jiaudnvia anmdiuarra . — India and Burmah. 
„ vooa. — China. 
,, riibjanK var. China. 
FrpholoHtavhtioio HaveKt'f'nx, — Burmah. 
JfrndrorAdomn.s hoiMtIfovit . — Bikkim, Bhutam, Asaain. 
,, fjiijantfUH. — Penang. 
„ striefu-i . — India and Burman. 
Ochlandra '^I’innevolly. 
Triiinnhu'hifHiu hills of India. 
The plants of /tfudivrofauttf'i haunltnini and Temo- 
Atuehifum inghtii were raised from seed received from 
Calcutta and Trivandrum resiiectively. The giant 
Boinhoo, iJfiidrorafanniH f/igantruA, has been recently 
iutroduced into tho Public Gardena at Trivandrum 
(Travancoro) from Ceylon, and is flourishing in the 
moist climate. 
fire,dni traranconvo . — Seedlings of /f. trurannuira 
(Rle])hant grass) were received from Mr. Ithodes 
Moi'gan in lHH(j. One of these is now KH feet higli 
and r> feet broad, and is much more effective as an 
ornamental i>lant than the ordinary Bamboo. 
iJillriiia Mjhi’ioHa has flowered recently for the first 
time in the Gardens. Tlie plant is 10 feet high. 
Victoria rkoia — Tlie Honorary Becretary reported 
that, while visiting Ceylon rocontly, he took over 
witli him, at the request of His hJxcellency Sir A. 
Haniilton Gordon, some young plants of Metorio 
for the new tank in the Fort Gardens, Colombo. 
Two of those plants were, at the date of his de- 
parture from Ceylon, two months later, growing 
lapidly in tho tank, which is supplied with running 
Water, and looked perfectly healthy. Some seeds of 
1 o.fo/m iTf/(n, wliicli had been sent to Ceylon ear- 
her in the year, germinated a short time before his 
arrival on the Island. 
The i'ictoria regia in tho Society’s Gardens, whicli 
Wrh removed last year from the tank near the Palm 
House to the tank in the nursery, is in a very flourish- 
condition. In December, out of sixteen leaves, 
measured 7 foot 8 inches in diameter. 
Sir Charles Lawson observed that the leaves of 
Bio Victoria, rrgia near the Palm-House seem to have 
JJiiuiniHhed in size under the infiuenco of the slightly 
nj’ackish water, with which the tank is supplied, 
-the tank in the Nursery Garden is supplied with 
^ain Water, and tho greater size of the leaves, as 
compared with those in the other garden, is noticeable. 
Ikhkct pKSTs.‘-Mr. Tliurston exhibited specimons 
Of the following species from the Madras Presidency : — 
L ‘'^uaAfHA grfnnoAy one of the f/rAfnriida', w hich is 
fpported to do groat damage to tho paddy plants in 
Bie Balasore District, Bengal, tliougli Mr. \i. do 
■^K-eville is inclined to doubt tho fact. 
I.aiugidf'M rfjd.'t, one of the I.gra'uida^ wlllch is 
^aid to do HO much damage to the (’ardamoms in 
Ceylon that from 5 to B) per cent, of the fruit 
capsules are perforated by the insect. And Mr. Owen 
estimates tho damage done by it to ho sometimes as 
*^ntch as Kf> to IKI per cent, to young plantations. 
I ‘a inti o erilhonivH, owe of the which 
•as Ijeen reported l)y Mr. Cameron of Bangalore to 
tack lemon trees, 'rhe insect also do©a much 
uu-mage^to youug budded oitviiges. 
4. Crg^toi'lnjachus mangifera^ the Mango Weevil. 
5. ^ Larvae of a noctual moth Aclara nmicerte^ w'hich 
is said to attack Castor-oil plants, and reported by 
the Collector of Ganjam to attack sugarcane, paddy, 
and brinjals. 
(>. Xrziira xiriduia^ the green Bug, which is re- 
ported by Mr. Cameron as occtirring on potato halms 
in Bangalore. 
Much information on these and other pests will 
be found in the Indian Museum * Notes on Indian 
Insect Posts.' The Committee considered that it is 
very advisable to keep a collection of Insect I’ests 
which ai'e injurious to plants and trees for inspection 
in the Society’s office. The Honorary Secretary 
will be gla<l to receive specimons accompanied by 
notes thereon. 
JtnANciiiNO Palms.— " In the Jommal of the Linnean 
Focirfg, 1871, Vol. XI., Dr. Shortt published an ac- 
count, with illustrations, of some branched Palms 
from Southern India, tho species mentioned being 
tlie Palni\Ta l*altii or Borassus, and the Cocos. Our 
npsent illustration (fig. ‘10) is taken from a photo 
kindly sent to ns by Mr. T. H. Storey, the Su^rin- 
tendent of tha Sujjan Niwas Gardens, Oodeypore, 
Uajpootana. The speoios represented is the Wild 
Date, Pliconix silvestris. Mr. Storey tolls us the oc- 
currence is quite rare, he having seen hundreds of 
miles of Dale trees, but only this one group of 
branched I’alms growing in a jungle, about 30 miles 
from Oodeynore. Mr. Storey continues: “There is 
a large beetle (identified for us by Prefessor West- 
wood, as Scamha‘ih* ((h'gctrtt) rhinoeeixn*) which is 
very destructive to the Palm family. It bores a hole 
right through the centre of the tree, and cuts all 
the leaves off. I think this beetle may be the cause 
of the Date Palm’s brandling. I have in the garden 
one tree which has been attacked, and it is now 
throwing out a side-shoot.” Wo have no donbt 
Mr. Storey’s conjecture is correct, and that the 
branching is an attempt to remedy the evil conse- 
quences of the injury inflicted by the insect.” — f/ar- 
drarr'a ('hfvmrie, September 7, 1H89. 
The Committee olwerved that in some instances, 
tlie parts of the flower, instead of attaining the 
normal conditiin, assume the form of leaves. Some 
years ago Dr. Shortt sent to Surgeon-General Bidio 
an example of this in a Coconut, which has, un- 
fortunately, been lost. A good example of a branch- 
ing Palmyra Palm is, or was a few years ago, grow- 
ing in the Assistant Collector’s bungalow at Uaiunad. 
Ml. Whiteside informed the Committee that, some 
years ago, he found, in the l^olnr taluk of the N. 
Arcot district, a Palmyra tree which hod three 
branches, the stem of tho tree being encircled by 
tho roots of a lioalthy youug Banyan tree, the seed 
of which had, doubtless, been deiKisited by a bird. 
He had the tree photogiaphed, but the plate w'aa 
unfortunately broken when on its way to Madras to 
be developed. 
Manoo Wkkvil. — ( Crgidorhijnchtis viaugifera). In a 
note on a communication from the curator of tho 
Perak Museum on the subject of this pest, * Nature ’ 
observes (August ‘22, 1880) that “it is believed that 
it Jays its cf^^gs in tlie flower or very young fruit, 
for in the ripe fruit there is no external mark to 
show where it gained an entrance, and it is not un- 
til tho porfoct insect oats its way out of tho mango that 
it is possible to tell whether any particular fruit is 
sound or diseased. Some varieties of the mango en- 
joy completo immunity from the attacks of this 
in.sect, and it has lioen noticed that even particular 
trees of varieties which are not so favoured always 
escape. U’his fact seems to hold out a hope that, 
by careful selection, good varieties of the fruit 
could bo raised, which would not bo subject to the 
attacks of this destructive nest. The character which 
renders the fruit unsuitable for tho weevil is, and 
prohalily alw'ays will remain unknown, as our senses 
may not be keen enough to detect the particular 
taste or smell which pi-events the female from laying 
lier eggs in the fruit of the naturally protected trees.^ 
[As a rule mangoes grown in Ceylon seem to be 
free from insocts. We can only roinoniber BOtUQ 
giQwa at Jaffuft being iufested,— B p. 
