78 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ April, 
stems. Hand-picking is still resorted to by many, while in hot dry weather it is 
often found sufficient to knock the insects on to the ground, where the “ hills ’’ 
are sufficiently wide apart to expose the ground between to the sun. 
The ravages of the Potato Beetle, though they are spread over a wider 
territory, are not so extensive as they were a few years ago, for as the beetles 
multiplied year by year, so their natural enemies increased pari and Mr. 
Riley, the State Entomologist of Missouri, tells us that in 1871 he found inmost 
of the potato patches through which he passed scarcely a larva of Dorypliora 
that had not one or more eggs of its deadly parasite Lydella doryphorce firmly 
attached to it. Altogether he has now ascertained that about 22 insects attack 
the Potato Beetle in one stage of its development or another ; and in 1872, so 
successful had been the operations of the farmers, aided by its natural enemies, 
that in Mr. Riley’s own locality little damage was done. Toads, crows, and 
ducks eat both larva and perfect insect, and by a little management, chickens 
have in some places been induced to acquire a taste for them, while the much- 
disliked skunk is in many parts unmolested, because he is now known to be an 
enemy of Dorypliora. 
The success which has thus so far attended the efforts of students of natural 
history to combat a most terrible insect scourge is another proof of the advantages 
that such knowledge confers upon the agriculturist. It is but one instance out 
of scores where a little knowledge is not a dangerous thing, and the necessity for 
the dissemination of this little knowledge is all we contend for. As to the Colorado 
Potato Beetle, we do not think it will easily reach this country—if it ever does ; 
but if to be forewarned is really to be forearmed, then on its first appearance every 
cultivator of potatos in this country will be interested in exterminating it, and 
we do not doubt that where there is the will a way will soon be found. We there¬ 
fore do not look with alarm upon the threatened invasion.— (Abridged from the 
“ English Mechanic.'’) 
GAEDEN LILIES.— Chapter IV. 
ESUMING from p. 182 (1873), our chapters on Lilies, we come next, in 
the Eulirion group, to L. giganteum.^ a remarkable Indian species, more 
or less closely related to the Japanese L. cordifolium., both these forms, 
whether species or varieties, differing widely from all other true Lilies 
which are known, in the large size and heart-shaped form of their root-leaves. 
5. Lilium giganteum (Bot. Mag..^ t. 4673).—This noble Lily, as just re¬ 
marked, is distinguished from all known species except L. cordifolium by its broad, 
heart-shaped leaves. From that species, which it closely approaches botanically, 
it is known as a garden plant by its considerably larger growth, and its broader 
perianth segments. Sir W. J. Hooker describes it as the Prince of Lilies, and 
Dr, Wallich, its discoverer, calls it a “ majestic Lily,” which it truly is, 
“growing sometimes to a size which is quite astonishing,” a fruit-bearing 
specimen measuring fully 10 ft. from its base to its apex. L. giganteum ap¬ 
pears to have been first flowered in this country by Messrs. Cunningham, of 
Comely Bank, Edinburgh, in 1852, the plant having attained a height of 10 ft., 
with the flowering portion 20 in. long. The bulbs are as large as an apple, 
and are made up of fleshy ovate scales. The stem, as already stated, often 
reaches to a height of 10 ft.; it is erect, glabrous, rounded, from 1 in. to 2 in. in 
