372 
ENTOMOLOGY.-NO. 2. 
names, and from admixture of varieties in the same 
bed, as Mr. Long-worth supposes; which several 
causes have prevented him from forming correct 
conclusions, and have resulted in an incongruous 
mass of erroneous positions. The ideal doctrine of 
Mr. Downing that «■ all strawberry plants in their 
natural state are perfect in both organs, and stami- 
nate or pistillate ones, chance monstrosities, producr 
ed from high cultivation,” is a radical error , and con¬ 
tradicted by facts well known to every close ob¬ 
server. And the opinion expressed by Mr. Down¬ 
ing that plants however perfect will degenerate into 
the pistillate form, from over-bearing and conse¬ 
quent debility, and that Hovey’s Seedling has 
done so, carries with it two absurdities. In the 
first place, if such variation were caused by exhaus¬ 
tion, powerful nourishment would produce a resto¬ 
ration ; and, secondly, the position that a plant, 
over-worked and debilitated, should thenceforth 
assume the power of being more productive than 
ever, is contrary to the whole order of nature. If 
such a rule could be applied to man and quadru- 
eds, the results would be vastly important and 
eneficial, and it is with much regret that I express 
my doubts. This second position, it will be also 
perceived, strikes directly at another opinion ad¬ 
vanced by Mr. D., that when aplant has reached this 
state, it will produce finer and more abundant crops, 
“ because the whole blossom (meaning the whole 
force) of the pistillate plant is devoted to the fruit 
itself.” For however rational and correct this last 
position may be, as advanced by Mr. Huntsman in 
respect to plants in their natural vigorous state, it 
can scarcely he deemed fey any rational mind to 
apply with equal force to varieties that have attain¬ 
ed this character from unnatural and absolute pros¬ 
tration. I have waded along thus far in this ques¬ 
tion, although after reading several articles, and 
finishing with Mr. Downing’s last one, I felt, as to 
replying, just as Mr. Webster did at Faneuil Hall, 
two years ago, only with the difference of a single 
word. Mr. Webster there remarked, “ Where 
shall I go?”’ I asked myself; Where shall I 
begin ?” All the remarks which I have ventured 
to make in the foregoing article, were advanced 
without seeing Mr. Downing’s strawberry beds, 
and are based, wholly on my own investigations, 
and on the unerring order of nature. I have since, 
however, inspected the strawberry beds in his own 
grounds, and shall be able to shed some additional 
light as to the cause of Mr. D.’s almost unaccount¬ 
able errors, which I think by making some addition 
to the suggestions already advanced, as to their 
cause, will be pretty fully explained. 
I have taken thus much pains in this matter from 
an ardent desire that the strawberry question 
should be settled and set at rest for ever; it having 
savored too much of wheat changing to chess, or 
rather of a wom-out bull changing to a prolific 
heifer. In the meantime, I shall be gratified at any 
facts and arguments calculated to sustain the fol¬ 
lowing statements made by Mr. Downing, and also 
that the “ many persons” referred to by him, may 
be named, so that their strawberry beds may be ex¬ 
amined. “ Notwithstanding Mr. Longworth’s in¬ 
credulity, we still assure him, that two years ago, 
we raised a remarkably fine and large crop of 
Hovey’s Seedling Strawberry, without the proximity 
of any sort whatever. The same results have to our 
own knowledge been attained by many persons this 
season, who-have grown large and perfect crops of 
the same variety for the first time, in gardens 
where there has been no other strawberry of any 
kind, or only in distant portions of the same garden . 
We have examined these plants of Hovey’s Seed¬ 
ling, when in flower, and found the blossoms large 
and perfect in stamens and pistils .” 
Note. —The italicising of some passages in the 
above extract is my own, and intended* to elicit 
attention. Wm. R. Prince. 
Princes Linncean Botanic Gardens and } 
Nurseries, Flushing, Sept., 1846. ) 
ENTOMOLOGY.—No. 2. 
Having gained a general knowledge of those 
forms and appearances which insects assume before 
they reach their perfect state, the gardener or agri¬ 
culturist should next make himself acquainted with 
their classification. 
All insects are either winged or not winged. 
This fact gives rise to two primary groups, viz. :— 
First.— Apterous Insects, or those which in no 
period of their existence are ever furnished with 
wings ; as the spider, centipede, &c. They under¬ 
go little or no change; that is, they come from the 
egg or from the body of the parent, nearly in the 
same form they are destined always f-o preserve. 
Second.— Ptilota or Winged Insects r on the other 
hand, undergo the changes already described ; first, 
larvae, then pupae, and finally, full-grown, and with 
wings capable of flight. These are called perfect 
insects, and comprise ail butterflies, bees, wasps, 
beetles, dragon-flies, and ants. These last enter 
into this great division ; for although the majority 
of those we see are without wings, still they are 
only the neuters or imperfect ants, the true males 
and females being each furnished with four wings. 
As nearly all the insects which relate to agricul¬ 
tural and gardening operations belong to the class 
of Ptilota or four-winged insects, I shall confine 
my remarks to these only, pointing out the leading 
divisions, and defining them in such language as 
can be understood by the most unscientific. 
The Ptilota or perfect insects, are naturally 
arranged into five orders, and were named by Lin¬ 
naeus as follows:—1. Lepidoptera. 2. Hymenop- 
tera. 3.. Hemipteia. 4. Coleoptera, and 5. Neu- 
roptera. 
Lepidoptera .— This well-known and beautiful 
order is characterized by four wings, thin, membra¬ 
naceous, and covered with a fine, powdery sub¬ 
stance ; this, on being magnified, is shown to con¬ 
sist of innumerable minute scales, lying one upon 
another* like those of fishes. Lepidopterous in¬ 
sects are known, in common parlance as butterflies, 
moths, &c.; these are, in fact* natural divisions, 
and comprehend many thousands of species. Few 
insects of this order are injurious to the agricultur¬ 
ist* but to the gardener and the orchardist some oi 
them are, indeed, a bane. 
The insects of the numerous and splendid- tribe oi 
butterflies are well characterized by flying only dur¬ 
ing the middle of the day. In their caterpillar state- 
they all feed upon the leaves of plants; and when 
