April 80, 1885. 
365 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
plants were inserted in rich light soil when the weather gets warm in June. 
We have seen it quite satisfactory in Lancashire. Oxalis corniculata 
rnbra, raised from seed sown now, would be better than the Antennaria. 
The Golden Feather plants must be very small for margins. The space from 
the outside of the triangular beds to the edge should be the same as from 
the inside of the curves to the band of Kleinia. 
. African Falm Oil (Zr. IF.).—The tree producing the Palm oil of Africa 
is Elais gnineensis. It is found throughout the whole of the east coast of 
Central Africa, whence it has been introduced to the West Indies and South 
America, where it is cultivated for its oil. The tree attains the height of 
30 feet. The leaves are 15 feet long, and their footstalks, for 4 feet below 
the leaflets, are armed with hooked spines. The flowers have a strong and 
peculiar smell, like aniseeds mixed with Chervil leaves. The fruit forms 
an immense head, consisting of a great number of bright orange-coloured 
drupes, having an oily pulp and a stone in the centre, and it is from these 
drupes that the oil is obtained. The fruit is first bruised in wooden 
mortars to a paste, and this paste is then boiled in water; a reddish or 
orange-coloured oil rises to the surface, and is removed after the whole 
has been allowed to cool. When fresh it has an agreeable odour of 
Violets, and an oily consistence; but as it is removed into cooler regions 
it acquires the solidity of butter. This oil is called ghea (butter) by the 
natives, and is universally employed by them as butter is in Europe, and 
with it they daily anoint their bodies. The quantity of Palm oil now 
imported to this country is enormous. It is employed in the manufacture 
of candles, toilet soaps, and common hard soaps; and very extensively in 
antifrictions for the wheels of railway carriages. Palm oil contains 31 of 
stearin, and 69 of olein. Besides this oil, which is also called Palm butter, 
there is another oil obtained from the nuts by expression; and by boiling 
these nuts the natives make an excellent Palm soup. The tree yields from 
its trunk an abundance of Palm wine. 
A Good Pansy (J. B.). —In answer to your question as to “ What is a 
good Pansy ?” we do not know that we can give a better reply than in the 
following citation from our manual on “Florists’ Flowers:”—“1, Each 
bloom should be nearly perfectly circular, flat, and very smooth at the edge ; 
every notch or unevenness being a blemish. 2, The petals should be thick, 
and of a rich velvety texture. 3, Whatever may be the colours, the prin¬ 
cipal or ground colour of the three lower petals should be alike ; whether 
it be white, yellow, straw colour, plain, fringed, or blotched, there should 
not in these three petals be a shade difference in the principal colour; and 
the white, yellow, or straw colour should be pure. 4, Whatever may be the 
character of the marks or darker pencillings on the ground colour, they 
should be bright, dense, distinct, and retain their character, without running 
or flushing—that is, mixing with the ground colour. 5, The two upper 
petals should be perfectly uniform, whether dark or light, or fringed or 
blotched. The two petals immediately under them should be alike, and the 
lower petal, as before observed, must have the same ground colour and 
character as the two above it, and the pencilling or marking of the eye in 
the three lower petals must not break through to the edges. 6, If flowers 
are equal in other respects, the larger, if not the coarser, is the better ; but 
no flower should be shown that is under inch across. 7, Ragged or 
notched edges, crumpled petals, indentures on the petal, indistinct markings 
or pencillings, and flushed or run colours, are great blemishes ; but if a 
bloom has one ground colour to the lower petal and another colour to the 
side ones, or if it has two shades of ground colour at all, it is not a show 
flower. The yellow within the eye is not considered ground colour.” 
Peas Eaten (G. IF.).—It is of no use simply wrapping insects in paper, 
and the only way in which there is any certainty of their reaching our 
hands is to enclose them securely in small boxes. After our letters are 
opened some of them necessarily remain for some time before they can be 
attended to, and small insects are often lost. We received the paper 
endorsed Bruchus pisi, but the weevil had gone. We can only give you a 
description ot the weevils that attack Peas. Everyone who is acquainted 
with the seeds of the Pea and the Bean must have noticed that in many of 
them were small, round holes ; and these occasionally are so numerous as 
to spoil the sample, and, indeed, render the seeds totally valueless for sowing ; 
for not one of those thus pierced but would produce either a weak unhealthy 
plant, or not vegetate at all. Those holes in the “ worm-eaten ” Peas and 
Beans are made by a small beetle (Bruchus granarius), produced from a 
grub or caterpillar which has eaten away the vital parts of the seed; and, 
when it has passed through the chrysalis state, and given birth to this beetle, 
the latter makes the hole in order to escape into the open air, there to per¬ 
petrate more mischief upon the growing crops. The body of the beetle is 
a dull brown ; but the elytrse, or wing-covers, are black, dotted with white, 
but scarcely perceptibly so, unless magnified. The antenna:, or feelers, are 
eleven-jointed, black, and thinnest near the head, where they are also tinged 
with red. The head droops, the eyes are prominent, the fore-legs are rusty- 
coloured. This little beetle may be found upon various flowers during seven 
months of the year. In February it may be found on the Furze blossom, 
in June upon the White Thorn, and in July and August upon the Spiraea and 
Rhubarb flowers. The female pierces through the pod of the Pea and Bean 
whilst very young, and often deposits an egg in each seed. Probably the 
best mode of destroying this insect would be to subject the seed, as soon as 
harvested, for some hours, until thoroughly heated, to a temperature of 150°. 
This, we think, will kill the grubs without injuring the seed. Another 
member of this family of beetles, Bruchus pisi, is greatly destructive to the 
Pea crops. It is a small, brownish beetle, usually found at the time the 
plants are in flower, and depositing eggs in the tender seeds of leguminous 
plants, and sometimes in different kinds of corn. In these the larva—a small, 
white, fleshy grub—finds both a suitable habitation and an abundance of food. 
It undergoes all its transformations in the seed ; and the perfect insect 
remains in it till the spring, though in fine autumns the perfect insects appear 
at that season also. The larvae possess the singular instinct of never attack¬ 
ing the vital part of the seed till the last. The Sitonas are often very injurious 
to the Peas as well as to other leguminous crops. The attacked crops may be 
known by the leaves being scooped out at the edge. The beetles begin their 
work at the edges of the leaves, and gradually eat their way onwards,until, 
in bad attacks, nothing is left but the central rib, or merely the leafstalk. 
The beetles appear about the end of March, and are numerous till May, 
when they may be observed pairing. The female i3 after this period full of 
white, somewhat transparent eggs, which, when in captivity, she deposits 
freely on the surface of earth or leaves. The Striped Pea-Weevil (Sitona 
lineata), is of an ochreous or light clay colour, with three whitish or ocbreous 
stripes along the back, and with ten punctured stripes alternately of a darker 
and lighter clay colour along the wing-cases; the horns and legs are reddish. 
The Spotted Pea-Weevil (Sitona crinita), differs from the above in being 
rather smaller, and more of a grey or rosy colour, with short hairs ; and in 
the wing-cases, which have short bristly hairs down the furrows, being 
spotted with black. The colours of the beetles are caused by the scales, with 
which they are thickly covered, and therefore only show well on fresh speci¬ 
mens ; after a while they get rubbed off, and the black skin of the beetle 
appears in patches. These weevils feed by day, and shelter themselves in 
the ground, under clods of earth or rubbish, at night. They may be found, 
according to season, and the crops there may be suitable for their food 
throughout the summer ; but it needs some care in approach to see them on 
the plant, as they drop down at the vibration of a heavy step, and lie awhile 
as if dead. Pea crops suffer most from attacks of the weevil in their early 
stages of growth, as at this time the plants are tender and the leafage 
young, and therefore more liable to injury ; also the number of beetles that 
would do but little harm to a fairly grown plant, soon destroy one with only 
a dozen or so of leaves. It should be kept in view that a stunted growth, 
whether caused by the nature or method of cultivation of the soil, or the 
character of the season, increases the evil by keeping the plants back for a 
longer time in this critical stage of growth. The attacks of the weevils are 
noted as being worst in dry weather, and (as they feed by day) good 
syringings with water or any addition thought fit, such as would make the 
plants distasteful to the beetles and encourage healthy growth, would be 
serviceable. It is noted that a dressing of lime or soot given to the Peas 
(wetting them first to make it adhere) is an easily applied and generally 
effective remedy. As neither of these weevils appear to answer exactly to 
the circumstances of the case you describe, we shall be glad to receive 
specimens of the enemy and of the plants that have been attacked, packed 
securely in a box, the weevils placed in a small one enclosed in the larger 
with the Peas, that should reach us in a fresh state. 
Names of Plants. —We only undertake to name species of plants, not 
varieties that have originated from seed and termed florists’ flowers. 
Flowering specimens are necessary of flowering plants, and Fern fronds 
should contain spores. Specimens should arrive in a fresh state in firm 
boxes, Slightly damp moss or soft green leaves form the best packing, dry 
cotton wool the worst. Not more than six specimens can be named at once. 
(IF. 0.). —1, Acacia linearis; 2, Acacia hybrida ; 3, Acacia obliqua; 4, 
Cryptomeria japonica. (J. JR., Fareham ).—The Morel, Morchella esculenta. 
(J. 0. KJ). —1, Sparmannia africana; 2, Mahonia aquifolia; 3, We cannot 
recognise. ( Gottingham ).—Anemone apennina. ( Thivghill ).—1, Coelogyne 
brunnea; 2, Celsia Arcturus ; 3, a seedling Amaryllis ; 4, Cattleya guttata; 
5, Asplenium formosum. ( F. JR.). —Quite unrecognisable in such a withered 
and crushed condition. (S. IF.).—1, Insufficient; 2, Saxifraga oppositifolia ; 
3, Elmagnus argentea. 
Bees (B. H .).—We know of several excellent stocks of bees much nearer 
London than the district to which you allude, and we see no reason why 
they should not succeed there. 
COYENT GARDEN MARKET.— April 29th. 
PRICES remain about the same as last week, supplies being good. 
FRUIT. 
8. 
d. 
S. 
d. 
8. 
d. 
8. 
d. 
Apples .. .. 
2 
6 
to 4 
6 
Oranges. 
4 
0 to 
7 
0 
Chestnuts .. 
.. bushel 16 
0 
0 
0 
Peaches . 
perdoz. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Cobs.Kent .. 
per 100 lbs. 
55 
0 
0 
0 
Pears, kitchen .. 
dozen 
1 
0 
3 
0 
Currants, Red 
.. £ sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
,, dessert 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
„ Black 
.. \ sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Pine Apples English .. ft. 
3 
6 
4 
0 
Figs .. .. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Plums . 
J sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Grapes .. .. 
6 
0 
10 
0 
Strawberries.. .. 
..a. 
4 
0 
8 
0 
Lemons .. .. 
, ..case 
10 
0 
15 
0 
St. Michael Pines 
..each 
3 
0 
7 
0 
VEGETABLES. 
8. 
d. 
8. 
d 
8. 
d. 
s. d- 
Artichokes .. .. dozen 2 
Asparagus .. .. bundle 7 
Beans, Kidney .. 100 1 
Beet, Red .. .. dozen 1 
Broccoli.bundle 0 
Brussels Sprouts .. ^ sieve 0 
Cabbage.dozen 0 
Capsicums .. .. 100 1 
Carrots.bunch 0 
Cauliflowers .. .. dozen 2 
Celery .bundle 1 
Coleworts dez. bunches 2 
Cucumbers .. .. each 0 
Endive.dozen 1 
Heros .bunch 0 
Leeks .bunch 0 
0 to 4 0 
0 8 0 
0 0 
2 0 
1 0 
0 0 
1 0 
2 0 
0 6 
2 0 
Lettuce .. .. .. dozen 
Mushrooms .. ..punnet 
Mustard and Cress punnet 
Onions .. .. .. bunch 
Parsley .. dozen bunches 
Parsnips.dozen 
Potatoes. cwt. 
,, Kidney .. cwt. 
Rhubarb.bundle 
Salsafy.bundle 
Scorzonera .. .. bundle 
Seakale .. .. per basket 
Shallots.ft. 
Spinach.bushel 
Tomatoes .1b. 
Turnips.bunch 
1 0 to 2 
0 0 1 
4 0 
0 4 
0 0 
0 4 
0 
4 
0 0 
0 6 
8 0 
2 0 
5 0 
5 0 
0 0 
0 0 
0 0 
2 0 
0 0 
4 0 
0 0 
0 0 
PROVISION FOR WINTER. 
As winter lingered upon the threshold of spring, and 
week after week passed by before the season of brisk strong 
