JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
372 
[ October 21, 1880. 
everyone has passed or trod upon by the roadsides—an insect of 
a dingy black, about two-thirds of an inch in length, having three 
ridges on the wing cases. This insect and several of its brethren 
feed upon decaying substances, animal, or occasionally vegetable, 
a favourite mark of the larvae being the stale marrow bones often 
thrown out upon rubbish heaps. The larvae of the Silphse re¬ 
semble the beetles is being made for rapid locomotion, having 
long and spined legs ; their bodies are, moreover, shorter and 
thicker than are those of the Necrophori, each side of the head is 
furnished with six eyes. Silpha quadripunctata, shown in figure 69, 
a little larger than life, is one of our useful beetles, red-brown 
spotted with black, and travels over the branches of Oaks and 
other trees devouring caterpillars. Wandering amongst the grass 
and low herbage the larva also preys upon such insects as it can 
overpower. But a less favourable account has to be given of the 
dark-looking S. opaca, the larva of which has been detected in the 
act of devouring the young leaves of Beet and Mangold Wurtzel. 
(See page 295.) Another species of Silpha, again, may put in a 
claim to be considered the gardener’s friend ; this is the small and 
smooth S. laevigata, which, in spite of their protective slime, 
grapples with good-sized snails and kills some of them. We 
dismiss this group of beetles with a brief mention of the “mimics,” 
which have received their popular name from the readiness with 
which they “ tuck in ” the head and legs if alarmed, when as they 
lie motionless they resemble some inanimate object. Those in 
the genus Hister live upon decaying substances, and as they are 
often brought into gardens with manure suspicion attaches to 
them which they do not deserve. One small beetle of the group 
is an enemy to Truffles; however, it has curiously curved hind 
legs, and its colour is indicated by its Latin name of Anisotoma 
cinnamomea ; it fortunately confines itself to this non-important 
vegetable.—J. R. S. C. 
At a meeting of the General Committee of the National 
Rose SociETY fa held on the 12th insf. at the rooms of the Horti¬ 
cultural Club some matters of importance were decided. The 
Metropolitan Show will probably be held at the Crystal Palace on 
Saturday, July 2nd, and considerable alterations have been made 
in the schedule so as to give better opportunities for small growers 
to compete. The Provincial Show will be held at Sheffield on 
Thursday, July 14th, and an offer made by Manchester to incor¬ 
porate an autumn show of Roses with their International Fruit 
and Flower Show in September next was accepted. 
- Amongst the many interesting exhibits at the Interna¬ 
tional Food Exhibition held in the Agricultural Hall we noticed a 
fine Collection of Grapes which were contributed by Mr. A. 
May, Fruit Merchant, St. Swithin Lane, Cannon Street. They had 
been grown by Mr. Ward, gardener to S. N. Miller, Esq., Bishop 
Stortford. The size of the bunches and berries and the excellent 
finish indicated the careful and judicious culture they had received. 
The most noteworthy of all was a bunch of Syrian said to weigh 
18 J lbs.; it had two immense shoulders, and was in very good con¬ 
dition. A bunch of White Nice weighed Ilf lbs. in similarly good 
form. Two handsome bunches of Gros Guillaume weighed together 
12 lbs., and three bunches of Alicante weighed 16 lbs, and for 
bloom and size of berries and well-formed bunches they could 
scarcely have been surpassed. Gros Maroc were also represented 
by a few bunches of moderate size, but with extremely large 
berries. Two Pine Apples, 7 lb3. and 7f lbs. each, with Pears, 
Apples, Bananas, Melons, Pomegranates, Brazilian Oranges, and 
many other fruits rendered this stand of especial interest to the 
horticulturist. 
■- In the greenhouse at Kew three good plants for 
roofs OR pillars are now flowering most abundantly—namely, 
Cestrum aurantiacum, Cassia Sophora, and Passiflora cseruleo- 
racemosa. The Cestrum is very similar in habit, foliage and 
shape of the flowers to the well-known Habrothamnus elegans, bu^ 
the colour of the flowers is a rich orange yellow tint, very bright 
and distinct. The Cassia has bright green pinnate leaves and 
terminal clusters of pale yellow flowers. The Passiflora is well 
known as a beautiful floriferous hybrid between P. racemosa and 
P. cterulea. All succeed in a moderately rich well-drained soil. 
- Mr. C. Smith describes in The Gardener as follows a 
fine crop of Melons at Cardiff Castle -.—“The plants, seven 
in number, were planted in a border 2 feet wide and 14 inches 
deep, in a compost of soil which had produced two crops of 
Melons before the crop I am going to describe. Mr. Pettigrew 
is not particular as to the quality of the soil he uses for growing 
Melons. His success depends more on giving the plants liberal 
supplies of liquid manure and light top-dressings, to induce root- 
action near the surface, than trusting to any special soil. Three 
crops were taken from the plants which I allude to—namely, eight 
fruit from each plant each crop, or twenty-four Melons from each 
plant, makinga total of 168 fruit to the seven plants, which averaged 
3b lbs. each, or in all 588 lbs. Many of the fruit of the first crop 
were more than 5 or 6 lbs. each, but they were smaller in size 
towards the end of the season. They were, however, all pre¬ 
sentable fruit, and none of them under 2 lbs. in weight, and of 
the very best quality. The variety which produced the enormous 
crop was Eastnor Castle, a green-fleshed kind, of which we have 
a very high opinion. Mr. Pettigrew devotes great attention to 
the cultivation of the Melon ; and it must be gratifying to him, 
as well as to the many visitors who come to Cardiff Castle, to see 
annually such magnificent crops of Melons as are grown there.” 
- The display of Chrysanthemums in The Inner 
Temple Gardens, which annually attract so many visitors, 
is likely this season to be even more satisfactory than usual. 
The plants are in robust health, the foliage dark green, and 
clothing the stems well up to the flower buds, which are also 
exceptionally clean, stout, and promising. Mr. Newton very 
reasonably anticipates having a better show than he has had for 
several years, and judging from the general condition of the 
plants and the large number of buds they are bearing we have 
no doubt it will prove so. The plants are now under cover, and 
in the course of a fortnight many flowers will be fully opened. 
- In the Middle Temple Gardens a glass structure has 
also been erected for Chrysanthemums, and Mr. Snelling the 
gardener in charge has over three hundred plants arranged. They 
are rather small and a little backward, but as the buds are 
showing freely there will probably be a good and satisfactory 
display. 
- “lu. R.” writes, “One of the good qualities of Carpet 
Beds is the long period during wfflich they remain bright and 
effective. I recently observed an instance of this in one of the 
London parks, where the carpet designs were almost as attractive 
as they were a month ago, the Alternantheras not having been 
destroyed by frosts, and the colours remaining surprisingly 
bright.” A manager of one of the -parks informed us the other 
day that the carpet beds last rather too long : he wished they 
were over, as he wanted to prepare the beds for bulbs. 
-A useful hardy plant for flowering at this time of the year 
is EupAtorium ageratioides. It bears heads of white flowers 
very similar to those of Eupatorium riparium, but the leaves are 
much larger and ovate in form. The plant grows about 3 or 4 feet 
in height, and succeeds in any ordinary garden soil, affording a 
supply of flowers until destroyed by frost. Though it has been 
in this country about 240 years it is by no means so common as 
many other plants of much less usefulness. 
- A new Vine pest has made its appearance in the Rhein- 
thal, canton St. Gall. The disease is said to resemble in some of 
