178 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February f8, 1589. 
expenses from any part of England or Wale?, to any person who will 
exhibit at the autu nn Show, to be held at Brentwco 1, Essex, in October, 
1889, a blue Chrysanthemum.” Mr. Lewis his made a safe offer, and 
we fear there is not likely to be a very spirited competition for his 
prize.—C. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS SHOWING BUDS. 
I FIND many varieties are showing flower buds this season, some 
before the cuttings were ready for potting singly, and other since. The 
first to show this bud was Princess of Wales, followed by its sports Mrs. 
Heale and Violet Tomlin ; then came Jardin des Plantes, John Salter, 
Lady Hardinge, Mrs. Shipman, Meg Merrilies, and Ralph Brocklebank. 
The Queen family show no signs of bud formation at present. Three 
years ago all my Queens formed buds early, and when November came 
I had no cause to regret it, for they all produced blooms large enough to 
satisfy the most eager of exhibitors. When removing this early bud I 
take off the shorts two or thieS joints below, for I have noticed in some 
cases if the bud only is taken out the uppermost growth will form 
another bud, which causes a great loss of time in the production of 
wood. I shall be glad to hear through the Journal if other growers are 
being troubled in the same way this season, and their experience of it in 
past seasons.—J. Doughty, Angley Park Gardens. 
INSECTS OF THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
INTRODUCTORY. 
The multitudes of insects tint haunt our flower gardens from 
spring to autumn, some flying, some crawling, and some also 
leaping, are very differently regarded by the poet, the naturalist, 
and the horticulturist. The poet thinks they add life and beauty 
from the animal world to the rich display made by the floral 
kingdom ; the naturalist regards them as curious objects of study, 
both as to their structure and habits ; but the horticulturist is apt 
to look upon them all as creatures whose presence he could well 
dispense with. He may be, and in these days of education he 
probably is, aware that a part of them at least do not hurt his 
plants in any way; still he has to wage such constant war with 
others, and adopt so many measures of precaution, that he is 
seldom likely to have much admiration for insects generally. I 
have often wondered how it is that the works of the old gardeners, 
who wrote upon English horticulture while the art was in its 
infancy here, contain so few references to the proceedings of 
destructive insects. It has been suggested, indeed, that they had 
but a small number of these pests in their day. I cannot see any 
reason for supposing this was the case ; they must have had them, 
though they have not troubled to record their losses, or give any 
account of the remedies (if any) that were tried. 
It is a fact that should be as well known to gardeners as it is to 
observant entomologists, that of the insects to be noticed in and 
about gardens, only a part, certainly the lesser part, are in any way 
injurious to the culture of flowers. With regard to our houses, the 
matter is somewhat different, and the majority of insects found in 
these may be looked upon with suspicion, but some do no harm, 
having either got within by accident, or entered only for the 
purpose of taking honey from the flowers ; and, especially where 
gardens are situated in or near the open country, many insects seen 
on the wing, both by day and by night, are merely casual visitors or 
by-passers. On the differences observable with regard to the 
insects in town and country gardens, if London is to be taken as 
a sample, I can speak confidently from long acquaintance, the 
advantage is not on the side of the town. Many would no doubt 
suppose that detached gardens, or those in villages situate near 
fields, lanes, perhaps woods, from this circumstance would be more 
liable to insect pests than those encompassed by houses, because 
insects could readily transfer themselves from wild plants to culti¬ 
vated. London gardens have oft been my study, from its centre to 
its interbelt of semi-rural residences, and I know for a fact that 
these are specially prolific in insects, a set-off against some of the 
advantages which London cultivators of flowers certainly possess. 
The abundance of insects in London gardens is worthy of note 
when we consider that the metropolis has five millions of inhabitants. 
I attribute it to three things—Firstly, to the scarcity of insecti¬ 
vorous birds, the sparrow evidently doing little towards their 
destruction ; secondly, to the higher temperature of London 
favouring their increase ; thirdly, and doubtfully, to the com¬ 
parative absence of some of the parasitic enemies, which, with 
caterpillars particularly, help to reduce their numbers. 
Gardeners are too well aware that they have to wage war with 
hidden as well as open foes, with the insects that attack roots and 
underground stems, or tunnel in the boughs and twigs of plants, or 
lurk in flower-heads and seed-vessels. The great trouble expe¬ 
rienced is, that particularly amongst the root-infestors, gteat 
damage is done sometimes before the ciuse of the mischief is 
discovered. But in the general way we do not find subterranean 
insect enemies are so apt to beset the roots of our flowers as they 
are to injure those of vegetables and the fruit-bearing trees and 
shrubs. There are, however, some orders of plants, such as, for 
instance, the Irises, the Lilies, and the Amaryllises, which offer 
special attractions to insects that bury themselves in the earth, or 
keep just beneath its surface. 
The insects of the flower garden, then, maybe divided into three 
groups—those that are harmless, or almost so, but not of any 
service ; those that are injurious to plants by either killing them, 
checking their growth, or preventing the development of the 
flower and seed—in some instances their mischief is confined to the 
act of disfiguring leaves or flowers ; and lastly, those whose pro¬ 
ceedings are beneficial to us. Such insects come naturally into two 
divisions—those that destroy other insects which are garden pests, 
and those who assist in the fertilisation of flowers, either directly . 
by their transferring pollen from the anthers to the stigmas, or 
indirectly, as by opening up flowers, and so favouring the diffusion 
of pollen ; and we are only now beginning to understand the 
position which the world of insects occupies with regard to flowers 
—in fact, Sir John Lubbock seems to imply that from insects, 
generally w T e gain more than we lose in flower culture. “ It is not 
too much to say,” he remarks, “ that if on the one hand flowers 
are in many cases necessary to the existence of insects ; insects, on 
the other hand, are indispensable to the existence of flowers, for if 
insects are adapted with a view to obtain honey and pollen from 
flowers—flowers, in their turn, often owe their scent and colour, 
their honey, and even their distinctive forms, to insects ; ” and Mr. 
Belt gives an example, showing how an insect may be serviceable 
in a way no one would suspect. There is, he says, an ornamental 
Acacia, Avhich a leaf-cutting ant haunts and disfigures ; but the 
plant bears hollow thorns, and has also at the base of each leaflet 
a gland producing a sweet liquor. Crowds of another species of 
ant live in the hollow thorns, feeding on the secretion of the 
Acacia, and by their constantly roving over the shrub they not only 
drive off the leaf-cutters ; in addition, Mr. Belt thinks, they protect 
the leaves from being devoured by quadrupeds. 
Undoubtedly some of the insects that visit our flowers, in or 
out of doors, though harmless in their winged state, and prompted, 
only by a desire for honey, are, in their larval condition, causes of 
damage to fruit or vegetables, and therefore their destruction may 
at times be advisable if it can be accomplished. There are instances, 
also in the flower garden where a species of insect is injurious as a 
larva yet useful when adult, because it is then a slayer of other 
species. Again, such an insect as the wasp, so eager to attack fruit 
when it has opportunity, is also predatory, killing many insects 
while on the wing, and it has been observed that it is occasionally 
of service in the fertilisation of Orchids. Many more four-wdnged, 
and some two-winged insects, are valuable friends to the garden, 
because they reduce the numbers of the injurious species by seizing 
them in their perfect state, or depositing eggs of destructive grubs 
upon them while they are in a state of growth. It is important 
therefore to distinguish friends from foes if possible. Many of our 
methods of insect killing unavoidably terminate the lives of both 
the insects and their parasites, which is certainly to be regretted,, 
for all our exertions would not do much towards keeping down 
noxious species if their natural foes did not help.— Entomologist. 
CASTLE GARDENS, CARDIFF. 
Having an hour to spare the’other day when at Cardiff, I took the 
opportunity of again visiting these gardens. Mr. Pettigrew is noted as- 
a Eucharis grandiflora grower, and I doubt if such specimen plants as. 
those under his care are to be found elsewhere in the country. The 
plants are from G feet to 1 foot in diameter, grown in 18, 16, 12, and 
9-inch pots, and being in different stages of growth, they give a supply 
of b'ooms throughout the year. The house containing the largest plants 
is a large span-roofed, GO feet long, with a centre bed about 10 feet wide. 
In this bed are plants 6 feet in diameter, the pots quite full of large- 
healthy bulbs. The foliage is of a dark green colour, quite thick and 
tough. I wrote a few lines about these plants in the Journal for April 
23rd, 1885. At that time I had the pleasure of seeing some 1000 open 
blooms, and I can say without hesitation if they had been carefully 
counted they would reach near 1500, and nearly as many buds to open. 
The plants receive no more bottom heat than the atmosphere of the 
house affords. They are potted very firmly. Mr. Pettigrew does not dry 
off the plants, but gives them the same treatment throughout the year. 
The plants stand in the same house, and receive plenty of heat, mois¬ 
ture, and water at all times, plenty of water when the plants need it. 
Plenty of free drainage is provided to allow a free passage of water. 
There is no water standing on the surface of the soil for a few minutes- 
after watering. It runs through as if from a sieve, and in this state- 
these plants, with a temperature of 70°, would take much more than if 
the drainage were defective. The plants are only potted about once in 
six or seven years, and this applies only to the smaller ones. I know he 
has plants in the same pots as he had eight or nine years ago, and these 
are some of his finest specimens, which receive careful feeding at the 
proper time, this being an’important point to which great attention is 
i paid. 
