500 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ December 2, 1880. 
Several writers have asserted that cockchafers are particularly 
abundant triennially, but I have not found this confirmed by obser¬ 
vation. Amongst the many applications recommended as remedies 
for the grub few are more effective than a solution of ammonia in 
some form, or else “gas lime,” when these can be brought to 
operate upon the spots where the grubs are congregated. A 
smaller and comparatively harmless beetle that is occasionally 
supposed to be a young cockchafer is the pretty Amphimalla 
solstitialis, which emerges later in the season. From these species 
we gladly proceed to notice a more pleasing insect, the Rose- 
chafer (Cetonia aurata), and none can deny that the green and gold 
surfaces, marked on the upper side with curiously curved lines 
and dots of white, are handsome as seen when the beetle is at 
rest, or should it be flying it displays to us as well a delicately 
veined pair of gauzy wings. I wish, however, that I could believe 
the species is as harmless as some people think it; but it certainly 
visits the Rose for the purpose of biting the petals, and it is stated 
on good authority to do damage now and then to the flowers of 
the Strawberry, and Candytuft proves an attraction. The bloom 
of the Elder and Privet bring to them C. aurata ; and I recollect 
noticing one June morning a profusion of these beetles in the 
lanes intersecting some Fulham market gardens, where they 
caused some astonishment. The circumstance, however, was 
rather a puzzle, for it seemed most probable that the insects must 
have lived in their larval condition somewhere not far off, and 
there were not many trees in the immediate neighbourhood, 
though the usual food of the larva is presumed to be decaying 
wood. Kirby and others have discovered a larva they regarded 
as C. aurata in the nests of ants; and although on investigation 
Fig. 83. Fig. 90. 
amongst gardens I failed to find any subterranean beetle grub was 
known which corresponded with the larva of the species, I suspect 
it is also a root-eater. Mr. F. Smith relates that a friend one day 
passing the stump of a tree gave it a kick, and to his surprise it 
fell to pieces, while there tumbled out of it above a hundred of 
these pupae enclosed in their close cocoons of gnawed wood. A 
rarer beetle than the Rosechafer, and one which is only desig¬ 
nated by the Latin name of Gnorimus nobilis, resembles the fore¬ 
going, but is rather less. The larva has been taken near London 
in the solid wood of the Apple. The garden species that is oddly 
named the Bracken-cloak, or in some districts by the still stranger 
name of “ Cockerbundy,” presumed to be from the Welsh, Cocli-y 
bond/m. In length it averages half an inch, the head and thorax 
being dark green, and the elytra or wing cases rusty brown. 
These do not quite reach to the extremity. This insect, probably 
Phyllopertha horticola, is far too partial to gardens, and pursues 
a similar course to the cockchafer. The eggs are laid upon the 
ground, and the newly hatched grubs burrow in and feast on the 
roots of any plants that may be conveniently near, during June 
and July pay attentions to flowers in gardens or iu orchards, and 
they have been caught in the act of nibbling fruit newly set. At 
night they may be swept off plants and shrubs into a net. Of 
late, however, this pest seems to become less abundant. 
Our next group of beetles, which completes the first great divi¬ 
sion of the Pentamera, is called Priocerata. These, that is to say 
in plain English, are the “ saw-horns.” The moderately long 
antennae are toothed or serrated, with some exceptions. This 
splits into two very natural families, one being hard-bodied the 
other soft-bodied, with antennaa and legs rather longer. The 
Elaters, a “ name of terror,” stand out prominently in the first 
family—beetles that are harmless enough in their beetle aspect, 
and which do really nothing to provoke us to destroy them, except 
that they will prove themselves the parents of another generation 
of wireworms ; for though this appellation has been, and still is, 
conferred upon various insects, of right it belongs to the larvae of 
the Elaters, or “ skip-jacks ” or “ click-beetles,” and especially to 
that of E. lineatus. Though this is a prominent garden foe, others 
beside it occur on cultivated land ; but others, like E. sanguineus, 
a blackish-red beetle found in woods, feed chiefly on the roots of 
wild plants. The wireworm (fig. 90) is dreaded not only as a con¬ 
sumer but as a waster, for as it works sinuous tracks amongst the 
roots it does a greater mischief than do larger grubs which keep 
near to one spot. So tough and flexible is the skin of one of these 
that a heavy roller passes over it without doing it injury, and the 
many expedients tried for their destruction have only a partial 
success. The beetles are far less vigorous than the larvte, and 
they are provided with a singular means of defence or escape, 
which has conferred upon them their popular name. By means 
of the movement of a joint with which the breastplate is furnished 
in and out of a groove, the Elaters can spring into the air when 
lying upon their backs. This organ is shown at rest in fig. 88, 
and sideways as in use in fig. 89. In this same family we have a 
few English representatives, small in size, of the gorgeous Bu- 
prestidre of warm regions.—J. R. S. C. 
SAWDUST FOR PROPAGATING PLANTS. 
Your correspondent “W. K.,” page 458, strongly recommends 
cocoa-nut fibre refuse for propagating, and he is perfectly right. 
I may state that I have never found any material that produces 
roots so quickly, surely, and numerously, in all plants that I have 
tried in it as sawdust fresh from the forester’s sawmills, and it does 
its work perfectly for twelve months without being renewed. 
Pitcher-plants, including such varieties as lanata and sanguinea, 
strike freely in sawdust, and scarcely a cutting of any plant fails 
in it. I never saw plants make such enormous numbers of rootlets 
in any other material. I once potted a Pine Apple in it, and in a 
very short time the whole dust was so permeated with roots that 
when they were washed clean they resembled a wig of roots more 
than anything else. A Camellia was tried m it with the same 
result. 
These facts may be of service to many who are able easily to 
obtain sawdust who cannot so easily procure silver sand or cocoa- 
nut fibre refuse. The sawdust used here is from Spruce, Larch, and 
Oak, all mixed together aud laid about 4 inches thick over a 
heated chamber.—I). Thomson, Drumlanrig . 
CIIRYSANTPIEMUM AND FRUIT SHOWS. 
LIVERPOOL. 
St. George’s Halt, in this city is a noble building with imposing 
architectural adornments, and it was fittingly occupied on the 23rd 
and 24th ult. by some of the finest collections of plants, cut blooms, 
and fruit that have been seen at any of the autumn shows of the 
year. The weak section of the Show was that which included the 
specimen large-flowering Chrysanthemums, which were too closely 
and formally tied, the twisted stems being very apparent—not one 
bent stem should be seen in a well-trained plant ; still the winning 
groups contained good examples of culture. The strong sections 
were those devoted to cut blooms and fruit; the former, especially 
those in the winning stands, being of remarkable excellence; the 
latter, notably the Grapes and Pines, indubitably the best that have 
come under our notice during the month. The specimen Pompons 
were also remarkable for their high artistic finish and the quality of 
the flowers and foliage. The blooms were disposed with mathematical 
precision in concentric circles, only one flower being retained on each 
shoot. Some of the plants were too flat, yet they were extraordinary 
examples of skilful manipulation, though necessarily stiff and formal ; 
such plants are never seen at southern shows. Following the classes 
in the order of the schedule we commence with a notice of the 
Specimen Plants. —In the class for six large-flowering Chrysan¬ 
themums Mr. J. Stephenson, gardener to Major Pilkington, gained 
the first prize with fresh and well bloomed plants of Lady Slade, 
Jardin des Plantes, Mrs. Geo. Bundle, Prince Alfred, Barbara, and 
Nil Desperandum. Mr. W. Tugwood, gardener to J. G. Morris, Esq., 
Allerton, was second with good examples of Jardin des Plantes, 
Mrs. Geo. Bundle, G. Glenny, and Fingal. Mr. J. Hughes, gardener 
to R. G. Morran, Esq., a rather close third. In the class for four 
plants Mr. W. Tugwood was deservedly awarded the first prize for 
good examples of Lady Talfourd, Empress of India, Prince Alfred, 
and Mrs. G. Rundle ; Mr. Stephenson was second, and Mr. J. Hughes 
third. 
In the class for six Pompons Mr. Tugwood was first with excellently 
grown and symmetrical specimens of St. Michael, Lilac, White, and 
Golden Cedo Nulli, and Prince Alfred. Mr. S. Whitfield, gardener to 
J. T. Cross, Esq., Aigburth, was second with little smaller but 
equally fresh plants. In the class for four plants Mr. Tugwood was 
again first, Mr. S. Whitfield second, and Mr. C. Finnigan third, all 
showing well similar plants to those above mentioned, except Aurore 
Boreale, which w'as staged in the first-prize lot. An extra prize in th's 
class was awarded to Mr. Blackroore, gardener to Captain Pemberton, 
for very neat specimens. Mr. Woolwright, Mossley Hill, was first in 
