362 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. c October 19 , issz. 
varieties. Their names are certainly a great drawback, and as 
if one of such was not sufficient you can scarcely find a good 
plant without at least two or three names. It is, however, a 
comforting fact that aliases in the plant world are generally 
indications of merit, and convey altogether a different impression 
to aliases borne by men and women. But an alias or two is not 
the only drawback—we find totally different plants under the 
same name. In some cases, if you order the same from three 
different nurseries you will get three distinct sorts of plants, not 
one of which is the thing you want, and there is no recognised 
authority to tell us which is the right name or the right plant. 
Who will start a society for the purpose of making a collection of 
useful hardy plants with systematic classification, and an English 
as well as a botanical nomenclature, such as would be generally 
received ? We do not want the collections of weeds we see in 
botanic gardens—these may or may not have their uses there 
(I am not sure about this part of the subject)—but we want 
collections of plants which are really decorative, and with 
names such as nurserymen would recognise when we give them 
an order. 
As it is at present nurserymen are under a disadvantage, and 
private gardeners have demands on their time and resources 
which they can ill afford to comply with. A lady or gentleman 
sees a collection of plants in a private establishment ; he or she 
if not a novice knows that the same plants are not to be obtained 
in a nursery under the same names, takes notes, and asks the 
proprietor to supply pieces of plants there and then. Of course a 
refusal is out of the question, and it frequently happens that 
when there is only one choice example of a new arrival it has 
to be divided, and perhaps spoiled, when it ought to be easy to 
procure the same plant at the nearest nursery for 9 d. or a shilling 
if the nc menclature was trustworthy. 
But I have slipped away from the part of the subject I intended 
to write about. Within the last three or four years I have used 
some of this class of plants for massing in formal beds in the 
flower garden, and I find they are very popular. The proper 
place for herbaceous plants generally is where they can have a 
background of shrubs, and where there is little or no formality in 
design ; but the few plants I shall name are admissible in circles 
and ovals amongst the strictly geometrical designs, and as they 
pretty well take care of themselves their use is advisable on the 
score of economy, as well as for giving variety in colour and 
habit. 
Budbeckia speciosa (syn. R. Newmanni, syn. Centrocarpha 
grandiflora) is the best of all for this purpose. I have self circles 
of it on the grass, also circles on a groundwork of Purple King 
Verbena, and it is very effective both ways. The colour is bright 
yellow, with a black centre. It grows about 2 feet high, and has 
the habit of clothing itself with flowers quite down to the ground. 
It is very beautiful for cutting, and has been used in thousands 
for church decoration during the late harvest festivals. 
Anemone Honorine Jobert (syn. A. japonicaalba, syn. A. vitifolia) 
is the next best, and the pink variety, A. japonica hybrida, is very 
little inferior to it. The white one especially is useful for cutting. 
The larger the masses of these are the better they seem to look. 
I have self beds of each of them some 10 or 12 feet across. The 
older A. japonica, with dark red flowers, does not grow so well 
with me. 
Lobelia syphilitica and its varieties make attractive small beds, 
but for the dark varieties with blue shades they must not be too 
large. 
Of Michaelmas Daisies the best for this purpose is Aster Amellus, 
about 18 inches high, of a bright purplish-blue shade. This also 
must not exceed 5 feet in the mass. 
Many other occupants of the herbaceous border are quite as 
beautiful as these in their present positions, but from their strag¬ 
gling or tall habit they are unsuited for formal beds.—W m. Taylor. 
BEETLES INFESTING STRAWBERRIES. 
Researches amongst a considerable number of books treating 
of horticulture or of insects fail to disclose any records in the past 
concerning attacks made by the ground or carnivorous beetles 
upon the fruit of the Strawberry. That such is the occasional 
habit of several species is sufficiently proved. “E. D.,” a corre¬ 
spondent of this Journal, was the first to notify the fact, since 
confirmed by Mr. Cornhill and others. The species in the first 
instance published was Harpalus ruficornis ; species in the genera 
Pterosticbus and Amara also prove to be offenders, and very 
likely we shall find more species by-and-by. This discovery may 
be regarded as one result of the greatly increased cultivation of 
the Strawberry of late, possibly owing to the dexterous manner in 
which the beetles usually conceal themselves. Gardeners have 
hitherto laid their damage to the slugs. Upon these it is certain 
several of these beetles prey, and upon a variety of insects, some 
of which are very harmful in gardens. 
To the above tribe, at least occasional enemies, must be added 
the June bug (Phyllopertha horticola), as infesting the blossom of 
the Strawberry some seasons, and checking its development. 
Two of the Otiorhynchi haunt the plant. The black Vine weevil 
(0. sulcatus) in its larval state is to be found at the roots as a 
whitish, frothless, hairy maggot from August to spring. The 
beetles come out in May. The red-legged weevil (0. tenebricosus) 
sometimes visits Strawberries, but it is rather a promiscuous 
feeder, attacking the roots of Currants and Raspberries, and also 
various vegetables. A far better plan than killing the maggots 
is to prevent their appearance by hunting up the weevils ere they 
have deposited eggs.—J. R. S. C. 
AMONGST THE REIGATE ROSES. 
Unlike Canterbury, Reigate has long been famous for its Roses 
and Rose gardens ; indeed it has in all branches of horticulture 
been especially favoured, while in Rose cultivation it has occupied 
a very foremost place. Go back as far as we may in the annals 
of Rose exhibitions, and we shall find that the Reigate growers 
have ever been victorious. The names of such growers as Messrs. 
Waterlow, Heywood, and Sargent are sure to be found in the win¬ 
ning lists, while of late years others have joined them in the friendly 
strife ; and the worthy Vice-President of the National Rose Society, 
Mr. Baker, and Mr. Wollaston have come to the front, and they 
are all not merely Rose lovers but Rose growers, and one is pretty 
sure in going amongst them to get information on some points 
and useful advice on others. 
GREAT DOODS. 
I have been to these gardens at various times, notably at the 
period of their Rose Show, and have recorded my impressions of 
what I then saw. My last visit was paid the other day, and most 
enjoyable it was to go with my excellent friend Mr. Baker and 
talk with those who had watched over and successfully cultivated 
the Rose for so many years. Great Doods, the residence of Mr. 
A. J. Waterlow, is noticeable not only for its intrinsic beauty but 
for the thorough excellence of the gardening all round. The 
Roses are, however, the special favourites of Mr. Brown, Mr. 
Waterlow’s excellent gardener, and are cultivated with great 
success, and under by no means favourable circumstances as far as 
soil is concerned, which is light and hot; but withal that we know 
what splendid flowers Mr. Brown is in the habit of staging, 
and those who have advocated the non-manuring of Roses would 
find it somewhat difficult to get on in the same manner. 
Roses were grown here on the seedling Briar, on their own roots, 
and on a stock which Mr. Brown very much values, the Rosa 
Grevillea or Seven Sisters. It is impossible to see finer plants 
than were here on all these various stocks, those on their own 
roots being especially fine, two-year-old plants having shoots from 
6 to 8 feet high. It was nearly the same on the other stocks. 
By-the-by, Mr. Brown mentioned that in planting his stocks he 
laid the roots on the surface and then earthed them up almost as 
is done with Potatoes ; and thus when he came in the following 
year to the budding he bad merely to remove the earth round the 
collar and then insert the bud, while in ordinary cases the earth 
has to be almost dug out in order to get underneath the surface 
for the purpose. It very evidently saved the back of the operator, 
and as one gets on in life these little matters are of some conse¬ 
quence. That it answered its purpose there could be no doubt 
after seeing the splendid plants that Mr. Brown had under his 
charge. Some persons have been complaining of this as a Roseless 
autumn. It was not so here, and flowers that would not have 
disgraced a stand in July were to be seen in considerable numbers, 
although a large bouquet of splendid flowers had just been cut for 
the Lord Mayor Elect. 
HOLMFELS. 
Mr. Baker’s garden at Holmfels—not at all in the country, but 
in the centre of Reigate—is known to many a rosarian through its 
genial owner and the excellence of the plants which he delights in. 
One would hardly imagine from its situation what an enjoyable 
garden there is in the rear. A beautiful lawn with beds of Pelar¬ 
goniums, &c., stretches up to the rear of the house, and beyond 
this is the Rose garden, and it is quite evident that however orderly 
and well-arranged the whole garden is, it is the Rose which is the 
grand object of affection and care. If a new piece of ground is 
broken up you may be sure that it is for Roses. If a bed is altered 
it is that it may be made into a Rose bed. And here again let 
me say to those who think that it is of no use growing Roses un¬ 
less you have a good Rose soil, that Mr. Baker’s is naturally a very 
