186 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[May, 
ure, others are equally positive in its praise. 
On the continent it seems to have made a better 
record, and the journals speak highly of it. 
How it will behave in the open ground here, 
remains to be seen ; if it only does as well as 
the single Lobelia Erinus and its varieties, we 
shall have no reason to complain; the original 
species being from the Cape of Good Hope, we 
shall expect this to be more at home under our 
bright suns, than in the duller climate of Eng¬ 
land. At any rate, if it does not serve us well 
in the border, there is no doubt that as a pot 
plant, and for vases and baskets also, it will 
prove one of the best of recent introductions. 
We thank Mr. Cliitty for convincing us that a 
lobelia can be both double and handsome. 
Straw Mats—Quickly Made. 
BY H. SACKER8DORFF, BERGEN CO., N. J. 
The article in the April Amer. Agriculturist , on the 
Lancashire mats, or screens, induced me to try to 
make the ordinary mats by this method. As the 
mats needed for covering hot-beds, cold-frames, 
etc., are required to be of a different size from the 
Lancashire screens, as well as of less thickness and 
weight, a different frame was necessary. To make 
this I procured ten strips each 71 feet long, 2 inches 
wide, 1 inch thick, and four pieces of the same ma¬ 
terial 41 feet long, for cross pieces. Each end of 
the long strips was “halved,” for half its thick¬ 
ness. Two of the cross-pieces being laid down, 
five of the long strips were placed, one in the mid¬ 
dle, one for each side, and the other two equidis¬ 
tant from the center and side strips, as in the dia¬ 
gram, and firmly nailed, this made one-half of the 
frame ; the other half was made in the same way, 
.and the two hinged together at one end as in the 
drawing. The space between the long slats 
When the two parts are shut together, is one 
inch. To keep the frame from springing apart, 
after being filled with straw, a hook and screw-ring 
was fastened on each side at the center, and two on 
the end. The frame was now finished, and after 
laying it upon a pair of horses, it was filled with 
straw laid crosswise and evenly, with the but-ends 
projecting beyond the frame an inch on each side. 
The halves, being fastened by means of the hooks, 
it is set on end and kept in an upright position by 
any convenient support, and is ready to be sewed. 
The needles used are about five inches long, and 
half an inch thick, and can be made of any light 
wood, as the mats, being only an inch thick, do not 
require such strong needles as those described in 
April. The sewing is done in four places, the 
stitch being the same as described for the Lanca¬ 
shire mats, with the addition of tying each stitch, 
making a simple tie each time the thread is put 
through. This tied stitch is very secure, and pre¬ 
vents any slipping of the twine. This differs from 
the other mats, you will obseiwe, in having the 
straw laid crosswise and the sewing done length¬ 
wise, as shown in the illustration by the dotted 
lines. After the sewing is finished, the projecting 
ends of the straw are cut off even with the frame ; 
which may be readily done with a strong, sharp 
knife. For hot-beds the mats are made 7 feet long, 
in order that there may be 6 inches to hang over 
at each end ; the frames are made 6 inches 
longer, as so much is lost in the length by 
the taking up in sewing. Their width, 41 feet, allows 
two mats to cover three 3-feet sashes. These mats 
are light, flexible, and strong, and can be made 
about twice as quickly as by the old style of weav¬ 
ing them. Two men with a little practice can 
readily make ten mats in a day, while, according to 
Mr. Peter Henderson, two men, by the old plan, 
can only turn out five mats a day. 
[The foregoing comes from a friend whose gar¬ 
dening operations we have frequent occasion to 
observe; we have examined his mats, and are 
sure that for excellence and apparent durability, 
they are superior to any we ever made in the old 
way ourselves, or have seen made by others. To 
any market gardener who uses many mats, (and 
some have hundreds of them,) this one hint as to 
the saving of time is worth in money value the cost 
of the Agriculturist for the rest of his life.— Ed.] 
What is a Soup-Bunch? 
A gardener who sends his “truck” to Chicago, 
writes that he sees “ soup-bunches ” quoted at a 
good price in the market reports, and writes to 
know what they are, and what he shall grow to 
make them. A soup-bunch is variable as to quan¬ 
tity and quality. It is essentially celery tops, pars¬ 
ley, leeks and thyme; sometimes other herbs arc 
added, but so far as we have noticed those sent to 
the New York market, there are rarely any other 
than these in the bunch. The relative portion of 
the contents varies with the season. In fall when 
celery is being taken up, 
the refuse heads, too 
small to store away for 
winter, are put in, later the 
outer leaves that are trim¬ 
med off in bunching are 
used. In summer the 
leaves of celery that has 
been grown for the pur¬ 
pose, are put in. To grow 
celery expressly for this, 
some tall kind is sown, and 
it is grown without earthing up, the object being 
the green leaves only. As to quantity, we can give 
no rule. The size of the bunch depends upon the 
season, but at best it can only be described as a 
handful. The customs in the Chicago market may 
be different from those of New York, and it will be 
well for our gardening correspondent to make spe¬ 
cial inquiry as to this, as such are the prejudices of 
people in these matters, that an article too much in 
bis soup-bunches would be quite as likely to spoil 
their sale as one too few. In visiting a strange 
place, we always make it a point to examine the 
market, and learn upon what the people live. Cities 
so near together, and between which there is such 
constant intercourse as Boston, New York, and 
Philadelphia, offer marked contrasts in their mar¬ 
ket customs, while the differences between those of 
these cities and New Orleans on the one hand, and 
Montreal on the other, are curious and interesting. 
A few years ago we saw in the Charleston, S. C., 
market, soup-bunches that far eclipsed anything 
we had before seen. The track stalls were kept by 
middle-aged negro women, who, as to age, size, 
weight, and volubility in importuning persons to 
purchase, might have been the same that we saw 
there 25 years ago. These old negroes put up their 
soup materials with an eye to the tasteful that would 
quite put to shame the slovenly huddles of the New 
York markets, and deserved to be called “soup 
bouquets” rather than “soup-bunches.” Wemake 
a sketch of one of these from memory, which is 
given on page 184. The basis, or frame-work 
was a cluster of celery-leaves, conspicuous at each 
side of this were crescents cut from some kind of a 
squash or pumpkin ; onions, small turnips, and car¬ 
rots, were then tastefully worked in, while sprigs of 
slender sweet-herbs, imparted to the whole a finish 
that one would think hardly possible with materials 
so devoid of beauty as pot-herbs. It will be seen 
from this that in so insignificant a matter as a soup- 
bunch, the markets of different cities demand not 
only different materials but different styles of pre¬ 
paring them, and whoever is to supply any market 
with any produce must first learn its ways. In the 
New York market the bunches are sold from the 
wagons,and are not handled by the commission men. 
FRAME FOR MAKING STRAW MATS. 
Bean and Pea Weevils. 
The common pea-weevil (Bruchus pisi) is unfor¬ 
tunately too well known all over the country, 
though with regard to this, as well as many other 
common insects, there is a great want of popular 
knowledge as to its habits, many thinking that it is 
only found in those peas which have not been 
properly kept after harvesting them. The eggs are 
laid by the mother beetle, upon the very young 
pods as soon as they begin to form, the work being 
probably done in the night; they are very minute, 
and of a deep yellow color. The newly hatched 
grub or larva, yellow with a black head, makes its 
way through the pod, and irlto the nearest young 
pea, one grab only to each ; the hole it makes in 
the pod soon grows over, but on the surface of the 
pea a minute discolored spot may be observed. 
Once within the pea, the grub “ grows with its 
growth,” usually avoiding the plumule or growing 
point of the seed ; by the time the pea has become 
ripe, the grub has completed its growth, and is 
ready to go into the chrysalis or pupa state, but 
before doing this it has the instinct to provide for 
its future exit, by making a circular hole to the 
surface of the pea, but without cutting through the 
seed-coat or hull of the seed; the presence of the 
weevil or “bug” in peas, is known by this semi¬ 
transparent spot upon the surface, the hole being 
covered.only by the thin parchment-like covering or 
skin. In some cases the perfect insect or beetle 
comes out the same fall, but it generally remains 
dormant until spring. If peas containing these 
insects are sown, the trouble will be continued, as 
the weevils will make their way out, and be ready 
to deposit their eggs at the proper time. When the 
seed peas have holes in them, the perfect insect has 
left, or is dead ; as such peas will germinate, it is 
popularly supposed that they are just as good for 
seed as sound peas; that this is not the case, Mr. 
Peter Henderson has proved by experiment; the 
grub of the weevil having devoured a large share 
of the nutriment intended for the early growth of 
the young pea, the plants are feeble when they 
come up, and lacking sufficient food at the start, are 
never so vigorous and productive as those from the 
sound seed. Within the past twelve years or so, 
A BEAN WEEVIL 
has appeared in beans of various kinds, over a 
wide extent of country ; it was first noticed in the 
New England States, but now extends as far west 
as Missouri, and we every year receive specimens 
from widely separated localities. Some supposed it 
to be the same as the pea weevil, others thought it 
to be the granary weevil, and entomologists were 
puzzled over it, and referred it to one or another 
species of Bi~uchus. 
At last Prof. C. V. 
Riley, in one of his 
admirable reports j'| 
upon the Insects 
of Missouri, (1871), k ^ 
described it as di-1| giy 
stinct from any 
other species, and 
called it Bruchus 
fabtc, the American 
Bean Weevil. For a detailed entomological de¬ 
scription of the insect, reference may be made to 
the above mentioned report. All that farmers and 
gardeners require to know, is the fact that while 
really distinct from the pea weevil, its habits are 
very similar; the eggs are laid upon the young 
bean-pod, in the same manner as the others are 
upon the young pea-pod, and it goes through simi- 
A BEAN AND ITS WEEVIL. 
lar transformations. There is one important differ¬ 
ence in their habits, while in the pea but one grab 
grdws and develops in each seed, in the bean there 
are several, as many as 12 or 14 being sometimes 
found in a single bean, and the whole interior con¬ 
tains nothing but the grubs and their excrement; 
no matter how many there may be in a bean, each, 
before it goes into the pupa state, makes a smooth, 
nicely lined cell. The accompanying engraving 
from Riley’s Third Report, gives a bean with its 
many spots, a beetle of the natural size, and one 
much magnified, to show its markings. This weevil 
