206 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND VOTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 8, 1887. 
require regular waterings through the season, and when in active 
growth liquid manure. 
Now, it will require a second season’s growth to produce strong 
blooms, although with every appliance they may be bloomed the first 
season, providing the roots were very strong. A second season’s 
culture, however, will amply repay the exercise of patience. 
In November of the first year they had better all be moved, 
and those r oots which are through the pots trimmed away, for 
if suffered to proceed unprotected I fear the check would be too 
great in the second autumn. Being turned round, therefore, or re¬ 
plunged they will be ready for another summer’s culture ; and about 
the second week in October, or as soon as the foliage begins to 
assume an autumnal tint, those which are required for very early 
forcing may be unplunged, the side fibres outside the pots cut off, 
and the pots placed in a very sunny corner, to hurry their buds to a 
state of rest. Before the sharp frosts set in they may have their 
decayed foliage cut away, and be plunged overhead. 
About the third practice little need be said. The soil will of 
course be prepared as advised in the first detailed practice, and in 
planting the roots may be either dibbled thickly in rows or planted 
all over the bed. In all other respects they may be treated as the 
others, and at the end of the second summer they will be fit fir 
forcing. The buds intended for selecting from must be taken up in 
the beginning of November, and the roots sorted carefully—all the 
largest crowns being reserved for potting. These may be singled 
out and dibbled into anysize of pot or box desired, and protected as 
recommended for the others. 
Thus much for culture outdoors. Now a few words about the 
forcing. There is no difficulty in this procedure if plenty of time 
be given ; for they would, doubtless, blossom much before the usual 
period, if only placed beneath the greenhouse stage ; but to obtain 
good blooms in December and January is altogether another affair. 
To accomplish this, it is necessary to resort to bottom heat, and I 
have found from 70° to 75° most congenial. My practice is to 
plunge them overhead in warm tan or leaves ; but care must be taken 
to uncover them as soon as they have sprouted about 2 inches 
m length, or they will become so weak as not to be able to sustain 
their weight. It is necessary to place a lighter or finer material over 
their crowns when plunged, or the pressure of the leaves or tan will 
bind them down and spoil their character. I always pile up a mound 
of finely riddled old tan over them, and this answers admirably. 
M e sometimes force them in the Mushroom house, sometimes in 
front of a Pine pit ; and, indeed, the structure is quite immaterial, as 
darkness is essential until they have sprouted a couple of inches. 
Care must be taken on their first introduction to light that it be done 
gradually, and it is best to place them in a shady part of the green¬ 
house or other structure for awhile, protected equally from cold 
currents of air and from sunshine, and they should be frequently 
syringed ; in fact, a rather moist atmosphere is indispensable, and a 
temperature from 50° to 60° will be amply sufficient until in blossom, 
when the cooler they are kept the finer will the blooms be, the longer 
they will endure, and the higher will be their scent. 
W hen the foliage becomes green by exposure to light and air 
they will be improved by sunshine at an early period ; but as the 
spring advances little sunshine will be necessary. They will require 
water liberally whilst in blossom. The freer the circulation of air 
the higher will the scent be ; and I should prefer, at the blooming 
period, a temperature of from 40° to 55° to a higher one, and they 
will thus continue much longer in blossom.—R. E. N. 
A STUDY IN MY GARDEN. 
[By H. W. S. Woreley-Penison, F.L.S., &o.] 
It is July, and the season of 1887 being, after the almost unparalleled 
winter preceding it, remarkably late, my Roses are in full bloom now, 
instead of in June, as is usually the case. The severe and long continued 
cold weather has played sad havoc with most of our garden treasures. 
All the flowers have been more or less short-lived. Pinks, Larkspurs, 
Columbines, Speedwells, Saxifrages, Lilacs, Laburnums have all passed 
away before we had more than time to know that they had come. Their 
advent, long delayed, was succeeded by many days of suddenly coming 
hot weather without one single shower of rain. The consequence has 
been that the plants lacked stamina, as we call it ; their blossoming has 
proved too^ exhausting a process for their powers, and has soon come to 
an end. So far, the only flowers that appear not to have suffered are 
the good old-fashioned Snapdragons and Sweet Williams. These seem to 
be quite independent of all the unfortunate influences affecting the 
rest. 
Among the sufferers I find my Roses, as I fully expected would be 
the case. They are late in appearing, and they lack the full, healthy, 
glorious beauty that is a source of so much joy to anyone who cares for 
his garden. The dull appearance of the leaves speaks of damage done 
by frostbite during the bitter cold of May. The result is that the circu¬ 
lation of the life-giving sap is impeded, and an unhealthy condition of 
the plant-tissues comes about. 
This would be disastrous in itself, but there is a further and much 
more deadly mischief to follow. Just as unhealthy soil generates 
diseases in virtue of its being exactly the kind of soil in which disease- 
germs can best be propagated, so a Rose tree whose tissues are rendered 
abnormal by bad circulation, forms a sort of living soil in which 
“ germs ” can grow and flourish. So surely as this condition of affairs 
exists, so surely will the germs be found. With what result? This—• 
that the fresh young shoots of the Rose will very soon be entirely 
covered with what is known as the “ green blight,” or plant-lice, or by 
the more learned name of aphides. 
These will be present in such large numbers that in even looking at 
the tree it is impossible to avoid seeing that the shoot is loaded with 
them. I wish, in this paper, to go beyond this point, and to watch and 
observe them ; to find out from what germs they originally came ; to 
ascertain their method of life and the work they do ; to see how they 
fare in the struggle for existence ; who their friends may be, and who 
their foes. 
Such a life-history as that which the aphis presents to our view will 
furnish an admirable example of the fund of interest and instruction 
that always rewards the steady culture of the observing faculty. - 
It is, perhaps, most convenient to begin this study at the “ egg ” 
period, although, for some reasons, it might seem better to start from 
the time when the insect itself can be easily seen and examined. 
If a Rose tree be carefully inspected during the winter, there will 
be seen on the twigs a number of tiny grains, very much like those of 
gunpowder, giving the appearance of such a powder, or that of black 
pepper, having been scattered or dusted all over the twig. These are 
the minute eggs of the aphis. They were laid by the winged femalesin 
the preceding autumn, and when first deposited were of a greenish 
yellow tint, which has slowly changed to the black hue just described. 
They are securely fastened to the plant by a gummy fluid secreted by 
the insect as she passes them from her ovipositor on to the twig. 
In the case of the Rose aphis, the eggs are comparatively large, being 
over onc.-third the length of the parent, and are placed singly, only three 
or four being inside the body in the fully developed state at one time. 
Directly one egg is laid the germ of another is ready to be perfected, so 
that one aphis may deposit a large number during her lifetime. Some 
species of aphis place the eggs in groups of four, five, or six, while there 
are others which deposit the eggs in clusters of some hundreds. Of these 
very fertile aphides that found on the Larch is an example, where each 
separate egg has, moreover, a tiny stem of cement attaching it to the 
plant-surface. 
As a rule, as soon as the eggs have been laid the female dies, the 
laying process being sufficient to exhaust all vital power. 
If for any reason, such as a low temperature, this process should be 
delayed, the parent lives for a much longer period, in obedience to a 
well-known law of insect life by which the death of such a creature is 
postponed until it shall have fulfilled its great life-task—that of pro¬ 
viding a family who shall inherit its “ goods, chattels, and effects.” 
It is stated that the Larch aphis, before named, forms an exception 
to the general rule that the winter time is passed in the egg state. In 
these aphides the last brood of the autumn season do not deposit eggs, 
but pass the winter in hibernation, and awake in spring to take up their 
duties once more. I have not myself verified this statement; therefore 
1 take it on trust, but there are good authorities for it. 
The exception proves the rule, however, which is that only in the 
egg condition can the frost of winter and the absence of proper food be 
sustained. 
The winter having passed away, the eggs, safely hidden away as far 
as is possible from harm, are quickened into life by the warmth of 
spring, or early summer, and the first brood of “ green blight ” appears. 
These are of course, infantile aphides. 
Now, it is perfectly well known that nearly all insects pass through 
certaiu metamorphoses—some incomplete, some complete—as they are 
respectively termed. In these metamorphoses we find four different 
conditions, as follows :—1, The egg. 2, The larva, caterpillar, or grub. 
3, The pupa, chrysalis, or nymph. 4, The imago, or perfect insect. 
The hymenoptera, including bees, ants, &c., are examples of complete 
metamorphosis, where larva and pupa differ entirely from the perfect 
insect, and where for the most part the pupa is quiescent. (The gnat, 
belonging to the diptera, has an active pupa, which, however, takes no 
food.) 
The neuroptera, including dragon flies, May flies, &c., are examples 
of incomplete metamorphosis, where larva and pupa are more or less 
like the insect, and are active. 
The dragon fly changes its coats, but not its body to any great 
extent. 
The bee changes its body form inside the coats. 
How about the aphides 1 Where do they come in this classification ? 
They belong to a group termed homoptera, or “ like-winged,” so 
called because the wings, when present, are all alike in texture— i.c., the 
front pair and the hind pair are entirely membranous and transparent. 
They undergo incomplete metamorphosis, being very much of the same 
outward appearance in all three stages. 
Now, some naturalists distinguish between larva, pupa, and imago 
among the aphides, and so far as the direct result of the egg-form goes, 
they may be right; but we shall presently see that at a later period, 
genuine living aphides are produced, which form a notable exception to 
the almost universal rule of metamorphosis, since they pass through 
nothing of the kind. In this, they resemble certain insects of a low 
type, such as the parasitic lice, the skip-tails, and a few others. 
