May 7, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
881 
useful as hellebore powder, without fear of possible evil consequences.”— 
J. W. Whitton. 
“ Trees dusted with hot lime and soot, and there was no further trouble 
with the caterpillars.”— W. Ward. 
“A few handfuls of roachedlime thrown over the infested plants stopped 
the evil.”—T. Brunton. 
Paraffin as watering in spring and washes to the infested bushes. (For 
method of mixing paraffin washes, see “ Paraffia“ Wash,” and “Emulsion” 
Index.) 
“ Gooseberry Sawfly caterpillar only appeared slightly. A watering of 
paraffin had been given early in the spring to the stems of the bushes and 
the ground beneath them.”—J. Kay. 
“ Paraffin, in the proportion of 4 ozs. to a gallon of water, was decidedly 
serviceable, but could not be U3ed after the fruit was ripe.”—T. H. Hart. 
AUTUMN OR WINTER REMOVAL OF SURFACE SOIL FROM UNDER 
THE BUSHES. 
For prevention of all attack, excepting what may be borne on the wing 
by stray Sawflies blown from elsewhere, I believe the above plan to be the 
most certain. 
The caterpillars go down in autumn a little below the surface, the depth 
varying from about 2 inches to somewhat more, according to nature of 
ground. There they lie in Bmall brown cocoons, like little pellets of earth, 
during the winter ; and when the leafage comes out in the spring, so do the 
Sawflies from their cocoons under the bushes, and lay their eggs to start 
attack on the leaves. If the earth is removed, with the cocoons in it, and 
got rid of it in any way, the amount of attack is enormously lessened. 
“ For twenty years Gooseberry Sawfly caterpillars have not occurred in 
the gardens under treatment, in any quantity. The surface soil under the 
bushes is annually removed in winter, a deep hole is dug in one of the 
quarters, and in this the removed soil, with whatever may be in it, is buried. 
The soil under the Gooseberry bushes is replaced by that out of the hole, 
with the addition of some manure.”— Alex. Anderson. 
“ When there is reason to fear an attack [ i.e ., when there has been bad 
attack the previous year, Ed.] the soil should be removed to the depth of 
2 inches round the bushes in the early spring, and a good sprinkling of lime 
dusted round each bush; by this means the caterpillars are cleared away 
and destroyed.”— George McKinlay. 
“ Caterpillars not nearly so injurious as last season. During the winter 
I removed all the surface soil from under the bushes.”— John Matheson. 
“ Gooseberry bushes in my garden, from beneath which the earth had 
been scraped a few inches deep in the previous autumn and replaced by 
manure, &c., were free from attack.”— Ed. 
I have also a note from a gardener in this district near Isleworth, where 
Gooseberries are largely grown, that one method of treatment is to scrape 
all the surface from beneath them in the autumn and to form it into a line 
between the rows of Gooseberry bushes, and there dig it in. 
In this way a great amount of attack is prevented, but it is necessary to 
be careful as to having the scraped-off surface soil dug in thoroughly. On one 
occasion I saw the first part of the operation carried out on a large scale,— 
the earth was scraped from under the bushes and formed into lines between 
them,—but there work stopped ; consequently the cocoons lay just as safely 
as if nothing had been done, and when spring came the Gooseberry leaves 
were again riddled by the caterpillars. 
DRESSINGS OF GAS-LIME AND LIME. 
“ I dress over all my Gooseberry ground with gas-lime in early spring 
before forking over the soil, and have not seen one of these caterpillars for 
three years.”—T. Boyd. 
“ I am now satisfied that I have benefited by the application of gas-lime 
between my bushes. Grubs there certainly have been, but, whilst they have 
almost stripped other bushes of their leaves, those on the dressed ground 
are little the worse for the attack.”—T. H. Hart. 
“ Currants and Gooseberries in the open garden have kept free from 
attack. I think this was owing to the trees being dressed with lime early 
in the spring. Currant trees on the wall not dressed with lime were 
attacked.”—A. Ward. 
PYROLA ROTUNDIFOLIA. 
Our figure represents one of the most charming families of dwarf¬ 
growing hardy plants in cultivation. They are by no means numerous, 
but it sometimes happens that the less in number are the species 
the greater is the interest attaching to them. The greater number of 
these plants are natives of Britain, while some are from North America 
and the Pyrenees ; but no matter where they are from, they form one of 
the choicest groups of plants that we possess. Why they have remained 
so long in background and been excluded from our rockeries and other 
shaded situations is to me incomprehensible. Their evergreen pear- 
shaped foliage is a sufficient recommendation for them, to say nothing 
of their spikes of white and other coloured flowers. They are met with 
in shaded and sheltered alpine regions among decaying vegetable matter. 
They are very accommodating when taken in hand for decorative pur¬ 
poses, and they are fine for exhibition in the spring and summer. Afford 
them the elements under which they are found, and then success is 
almost a certainty. 
They are admirable plants for cool ferneries under glass in the shade ( 
but they are impatient of wet, and must be provided with efficient drain¬ 
age. A mixture of peat, leaf soil, and coarse grit is a suitable compost 
for them to grow in, but with the beat attention we sometimes have the 
reward of foliage only, or accompanied with only very few^flowers, while 
at other times we are richly rewarded with a full supply of beautiful 
flowers. They are charming for the bouquet and any other decorative 
purpose for which cut flowers are adapted. 
They are increased by seed and division, which is best done when the 
plants have done flowering. The kinds most generally met with are 
P. media, P. minor, P. rotundifolia, P. secunda, and P. elliptica, but they 
are all worthy of culture, and ought to have a place in every collection of 
rock and border plants.—N. 
TEMPERATURE FOR ODONTOGLOSSUMS. 
The cool system of treatment advocated by some cultivators for these 
plants is a mistake. Many Orchids will live if frost is only excluded, 
but what is the condition of the plants the following spring ? 0. Alex¬ 
andras will bear this treatment perhaps better than any other, but to be 
able to just keep the plants alive or preserve the majority, is not sufficient 
Fig. 69.—Pjrola rotundifolia. 
for those anxious to retain their plants in perfect health through the 
winter and increase their strength as rapidly as possible. 
Odontoglossums, or what are termed cool Orchids, will not do satis¬ 
factorily in a night temperature of 45°, falling 5° lower in the morning. 
The temperatures given very rarely allow of fixe beat being applied, but 
if the temperature externally falls 8° or 10° below the freezing point, and 
inside will fall considerably below 40°. Even if this only occurs occasion¬ 
ally, the temperature is too low for these plants, and O. Alexandras will 
soon have the tips of its leaves browned, while not only will the foliage 
damp of O. cirrhosum, but the pseudo-bulbs will decay. In a proper 
temperature the last-named is a very free robust grower, and increases the 
number of its pseudo-bulbs rapidly, but in a low temperature it fails just 
as rapidly. Ada aurantiaca will not pass the winter in the temperature 
described, for it is one of the first to show the effects of the cold, and 
finally succumbs. The same may be said of that lovely Masdevallia 
tovarensis. This and Mesospinidium sanguineum will not live in such a 
