JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January 20, 1881. 
48 
of three joints, and in colour it is a rich brown, the extremity of 
the body only being whitish. Though not as common as we 
might desire it to be, this weevil, by name Anthribus albinus, is 
to be seen occasionally in gardens and conservatories, where the 
females seek out the scale (or coccus') of some species or other, 
upon which they deposit eggs, the lame subsisting upon these 
insects.—J. R. S. C. 
THE WINTER HAUNTS OF WASPS. 
In your last issue “A Kitchen Gardener” asks for infor¬ 
mation respecting the winter haunts of wasps. Having spent 
much time collecting and studying insects, I can, perhaps, give 
him the information he requires. I believe the chief winter 
quarters of queen wasps are nests in which they were hatched. I 
have dug many nests out of banks at the commencement of 
winter, and there have always been two or three queen wasps 
hybernating in them. But all do not pass the winter in the old 
nests ; I have often found them under the loose bark of trees, 
amongst fallen leaves, in sheds, and various places, where they 
lie up in a state of torpor until the warm days of spring awaken 
them to life. After a fresh bed of leaves has been made up in 
the forcing houses in winter time, a queen wasp will sometimes 
be seen flying about, having been carried in with the leaves and 
awakened out of its torpid state by the warmth of the house. 
If “A Kitchen Gardener” thinks of destroying wasps in 
their winter quarters, I am afraid he will not be very successful, 
as he might hunt for a whole day and not find one ; but every 
one should be hunted and killed when they appear on the wing 
in spring time, when they are generally sluggish in their flight, 
and are easily caught. It is better to pay for them then than 
wait until they have established a colony.—A. Barker, Ilindlijp. 
The last issue of the Bulletin de la Federation des 
Societes d’Horticulture de Belgique contains a number 
of reports from the various affiliated Societies, with the names 
of the officials and the number of members in each. A translation 
is given of a document recounting the particulars of a botanical 
excursion in Colorado, containing much interesting informa¬ 
tion respecting the flora of that region. The eighth edition is 
also included of the “ Correspondance Botanique,” the very useful 
work of Professor E. Morren, which is still more extended and 
improved than former editions. For naturalists having a wide 
correspondence such a work is indispensable. The last-named is 
also published separately at No. 1, Boverie, Liege. 
- From the report of the Royal Southampton Horti¬ 
cultural Society for the past year we learn, that notwith¬ 
standing the rather heavy loss of the autumn Show, there is a 
balance of £98 to the credit of the Society. About one hundred 
new members have joined the Society, so that the prospect is 
rather encouraging. It appears Mr. Hinds, gardener to Lord 
Wimborne, has offered a guinea towards a silver cup to be given 
for a stand of Chrysanthemum blooms at the next autumn Show— 
an example it is desirable should be followed by other con¬ 
tributors, so as to render the cup creditable to the Society. 
Mr. Gower of the Tooting Nurseries has also promised a prize 
value £5 5s. 
- “ Having to place something fresh on the dinner table 
every evening,” observes a correspondent, “ on one occasion flowers 
of Cypripedium insigne were used with Maidenhair Fern. I 
had no idea how effective it would appear, and it has now become 
quite a favourite. I also place about a dozen blooms in a glass 
with foliage, and it is equally pleasing. I have a hundred blooms 
of it left on the plants in a cool house, and I fully mean to make 
the most of these.” 
-We learn that Mr. W. Iggulden of Orsett Hall, Romford, 
has been appointed gardener to the Earl of Cork and Orrery 
Marston House, Frome ; and Mr. T. Record, Sheffield, gar¬ 
dener and bailiff to C. A. Hanbury, Esq., Belmont, East Barnet. 
- A writer in Case’s “ Botanical Index ” has the following 
relative to the uses op Yuccas: —“The bruised root of all the 
Yuccas were formerly used very extensively by all the natives, at 
least on the Pacific coast, for making a soapsuds in washing, and 
at the present time it is not an uncommon sight to see the semi- 
civilised Indian and her Mexican half-sister still using this vege¬ 
table soap, which they call ‘ Amole,’ in the Mexican villages, 
even as far north as Utah. It certainly possesses the economic 
advantage of always being handy and ready for use on the desert 
plateaus of the West, while if these indolent people were to de¬ 
pend upon their own exertions for making their supply in the 
ordinary mode of making soap there would probably be very little 
used by them.” 
- “ R. H., Penzance'' observes that Garrya elliptica is 
one of the most graceful of evergreen shrubs. Its chief beauty 
consists in its long catkins, which in winter hang in elegant 
tassels from the ends of the shoots. It is a hardy evergreen 
shrub, preferring sandy loam as its soil. It is best propagated by 
layers in the autumn, which when taken off should be potted and 
placed in a cold frame to become established. It may be also in¬ 
creased by cuttings under a handglass in sandy soil towards the 
end of summer. 
-- The schedule of the Bristol Spring Show Society 
states that the next Exhibition will be held on March the 23rd 
and 24th in the Victoria Rooms, Clifton, when, in addition to 
numerous prizes in the classes, special prizes of a silver cup 
value four guineas, two guineas and a half, and one guinea and a 
half, will be offered by the Treasurer, Walter Derham, Esq., for a 
collection of Hyacinths and Tulips. The Banksian bronze medal 
of the Royal Horticultural Society will also be offered for the 
best twelve Hyacinths in any class except Class 1. 
- One of the latest additions to the Kew collection is the 
pretty Begonia socotrana, a new species from the island of 
Socotra, where it was found by Dr. I. B. Balfour in his recent 
explorations. It has roundish peltate leaves and pinkish flowers, 
with four or six divisions nearly equal in size. A plant flowered 
last month at Kew, from which, we are informed, a coloured 
plate for the “Botanical Magazine” has been prepared. We 
recently observed a specimen in one of the compartments of the 
new range, which indicated the character of the plant and its 
probable value for decorative purposes. 
■- “ Practitioner ” sends these observations on inferior 
Celery —“ For many years we have been in the habit of raising 
a quantity of Celery very early in the season to have it of large 
size for the autumn exhibitions. In changeable seasons many 
plants run to seed before they are of full size, but others do not, 
and, as a rule, we always find these to be very inferior in quality 
and ‘ pithy ’ by November or December. Another batch of plants 
is raised and planted much later—so late, indeed, that many of 
them are not more than half or three parts grown by November, 
and it is very rarely that we find a single ‘ pithy ’ head in this 
late batch. When Celery makes rapid growth during the hot 
weather of August and September it is seldom sound, but wdien the 
growth is made in the colder weather of October and November 
it is always solid. 
- A correspondent writes—“Complaints are very fre¬ 
quently made about the ridiculous manner in which the names 
of plants are lengthened in catalogues, and that there are just 
grounds for such complaints is well shown by the following names 
from a catalogue selected at random from some dozens. Antirrhi¬ 
num majus nanus picturatum, Eschscholtzia californica grandi- 
