July 8, 1880. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
27 
the stand. Mr. Cranston surprised a great many visitors with the 
marvellous bloom of Madame Charles Wood which he showed in his 
seventy-two. His other Roses were very fine, but the best were the 
two I have named, and Horace Vernet, John Stuart Mill, Mdlle. 
Eugenie Yerdier, Sir Garnet Wolseley, and Comtesse d’Oxford. 
You will have no doubt a complete account of the Show furnished 
you by your special reporters, so that I need not go into details as to 
prizes. To sum up. the Show was a very enjoyable one, but not so 
large as some we have seen, as it was conspicuous by the absence of 
some great exhibitors, but ever to be remembered as the one at which 
Mr. Baker and Mr. Jowitt fought their final round in the Palace of 
Crystal.— Wyld Savage. 
Laburnum, and other shrubs. The nest of the leaf-cutters is 
usually worked in solid earth, and the burrow is formed on the 
plan of most solitary bees, but it is carefully and evenly lined 
with pieces of leaf, and the divisions between the cells are of the 
same substance. The Anthophone are another group of mason 
bees. These, having formed a burrow, line it with a material of 
their own making, sand or clay softened with saliva. All the 
bees of this family are smaller than the hive bee, some much 
smaller, in colour usually dull shades of black, brown, or grey.—C. 
CHAPTERS ON INSECTS FOR GARDENERS.—No. 7. 
NEW SERIES. 
The Hymenopterous order, or what is commonly called the 
“order of bees,” includes many species which are very unlike 
bees in appearance and habit; it is even true that in the group 
of the true bees, or “ flower lovers,” there are necessarily placed 
species in which there is only slight resemblance to the typical bee. 
It has been stated that the Hymenoptera are divided firstly into 
two large sections—those that have no stings, and those provided 
generally with such 
a weapon. Having 
dismissed the former 
of these already, we 
now arrive at the 
last section of the 
Aculeata, the sting¬ 
ing bees, very nume¬ 
rous, and in size 
ranging from the big 
humble bee to the 
little Sphecodes, 
which is really about 
the size of an aver¬ 
age ant. We shall 
refer to these in a 
future issue, and in 
the meantime we 
direct attention to 
the family Dasygas- 
trse, which receives 
its scientific name 
from the circum 
stance that the fe¬ 
male insects have a 
mass of hairs be¬ 
neath the abdomen, 
which serves as a 
pollen brush. These 
bees, according to 
their different habits, 
have been called 
mason bees, carpen- 
Fig. 7.—OSMIA LEUCOMELANA (A CARPENTER BEE). 
RICHMOND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
July 1st. 
This flourishing Society held its annual Exhibition on Thursday 
last in the Old Deer Park ; and although in the number and quality of 
the exhibits it was quite a success, yet the unfavourable weather 
somewhat marred what would otherwise have been one of the best 
local shows of the season. During the morning and part of the after¬ 
noon several heavy storms passed over, but towards evening the 
weather became more favourable, and great numbers of persons 
visited the Show. The Princess Mary of Cambridge and the Duke of 
Teck honoured the Society by visiting the Exhibition during the after¬ 
noon, and were conducted through the tents by some of the Committee. 
Five large tents 
were devoted to the 
exhibits—viz., one to 
chiefly the special 
classes for plants, one 
to the general plant 
classes, one to fruit 
and table decorations, 
one to vegetables, 
and one to cottagers’ 
productions. The 
second of those men¬ 
tioned above con¬ 
tained the most at¬ 
tractive portion of the 
display of plants, for 
in it were arranged 
not only the groups 
in competition, stove 
and greenhouse 
plants. Orchids, 
Ferns, Pelargoniums, 
and fine-foliage 
plants, but there were 
also several large mis¬ 
cellaneous collections 
from various nursery¬ 
men. The groups 
arranged for effect 
were very tasteful, 
the prizes being ob¬ 
tained by Messrs. 
Hooper & Co., Covent 
Garden ; Mr. W. 
ter bees, leaf-cutters, and upholsterers ; the last group, which 
line their nests with petals, are not recognised as natives of 
Britain. Even in the same species we have at times a singular 
variety of habit; the common mason bee, Osmia bicornis, while in 
certain situations showing itself partial to cliffs or dry banks, 
elsewhere resorts to decaying tree stumps, or burrows into the 
mortar of an old wall. Osmia leucomelana (fig. 7.) makes choice of 
dead twigs of Bramble. The mother bee removes the pith for 5 or 
6 inches, leaving the intervals to separate the cells. A sufficient 
quantity of food is placed with an egg in each cell, and the whole 
is covered up with a vegetable paste, evidently manufactured by 
the insect. In this instance each young bee can work its way 
out, not interfering with the cells of its brethren. Other Osmias 
pursue the practice of nest-making in branches or in stumps. A 
few species, of which 0. aurulenta is a prominent example, though 
occasionally burrowers in banks, often save themselves this trouble 
by looking for deserted snail shells, that of Helix hortensis being 
taken by preference. There the cells, from four to six, are placed 
in succession within the whorl; but if the bee chances to find an 
empty shell as broad as that of H. aspersa the cells are placed 
in pairs. The leaf-cutter bees are represented in the genus Mega¬ 
chile, and several of these are abundant in gardens ; M. centun- 
cularis, for instance, the females of which also enter hothouses 
and conservatories, where they are perhaps erroneously regarded 
as visitors having designs upon fruit, whereas their object is to 
take fragments of leaves—the Geranium is rather a favourite with 
them. Out of doors we cannot fail to notice the clean cuts made 
by this species and its congeners in the Rose, the Privet, the 
Brown, St. Mary’s 
Grove Nursery, Rich¬ 
mond ; and Mr. Hudson, gardener to H. J. Atkinson, Esq., Gunners- 
bury House, Acton. The latter exhibitor staged a pretty group, that 
was very similar to the one so greatly admired last year, when he 
obtained the first prize. Messrs. Jackson and Son were the only 
exhibitors of nine stove and greenhouse plants, obtaining the chief 
prize with fair specimens, a Bougainvillea glabra being particularly 
fine. Mr. C. Attrill, gardener to C. J. Freake, Esq., Bankgrove House, 
Ham, and S. A. Davis, Esq., Anglesea House, Surbiton (gardener, H. 
Hinnell), bad the only collections of six specimens, neat and fairly 
well flowered. 
Pelargoniums were not numerous but in fine condition, being chiefly 
exhibited by H. Little, Esq., Hillingdon Place, Uxbridge (gardener, 
Mr. Wiggins) ; W. Selwyn, Esq., Sehvyn Court, Richmond ; Dr. 
Francis, and Mr. Attrill; Mr. Little’s plants as usual taking prece¬ 
dence. Ferns were well represented by several collections of hand¬ 
some plants in vigorous health. Mr. Hudson gained the chief prize 
for eight exotic Ferns with fine examples of Davallias, Gleichenias, 
and a good Dicksonia antarctica. J. Wigan, Esq., Clare Lawn, East 
Sheen (gardener, Mr. D. East), and J. S. Rutter, Esq., The Cedars 
(gardener, Mr. B. Morrell), followed with fair specimens. The Rev. 
W. Finch, Woodlands, Kingston Hill (gardener, J. Crafter), had the 
best collection of twelve hardy Ferns, Mr. Morrell and Dr. Francis 
taking the remaining prizes. Fine-foliage plants were shown by Sir 
H. W. Parker, Stawell House, Richmond (gardener, Mr. W. Bowell) ; 
J. E. Meek, Esq., Poulett Lodge, Twickenham (gardener, Mr. Bates); 
and Dr. Francis, who obtained the prizes in the order named with 
well-grown plants. Orchids were not very numerous but generally 
in fair condition; the chief prizes were awarded to C. Hart, Esq., 
Beaufort House (gardener, Mr. Reeves), Messrs. Jackson & Son, and 
A. E. Stearns, Esq., Radnor House, Twickenham (gardener, Mr. C. 
Barry). 
