deposit of spittle has within it one or two 
young insects, that I never doubted to be the 
young £y ; for thousands of said spittles are 
seen in weedy places in prairies and old fields 
just before they have myriads of flie6. But 
since 1 wrote, the inquiry, persons who pre¬ 
tend to know say that it; is not the fly, but 
only a bug. I still believe it is the fly, as I 
cannot see where else so many can come 
from.—J. S. V., Muscogee, I. T. 
The little insect in the “frog-spittle” is 
the larva of the bug which issues therefrom. 
You may call it a “fly” if you choose, but 
the insect belongs to t he whole-winged bugs, 
(Homopteru). There arc many species of 
this insect, mid the Aphrophoru quadrangu¬ 
lar is of Say is usually very abundant on 
weeds and grass growing in low, wet places. 
The myriads of flies found frequenting such 
places, and occasionally alighllug on or suck¬ 
ing up this frog-spittle, arc very far from be¬ 
ing related to the insect that produces this 
substance. The transformations, as well as 
appearance of any fly is quite different from 
that of any bug, both being too well known 
to leave room for doubt in separating them. 
will be found to be growing ; give another 
week’s grace, then remove the glass, and pot 
them off in small 00-sized pots. Replace them 
in a gentle heat, in order to start them, and 
give them plenty of water. I have frames 
that each hold 300 plants, and it is rare, in¬ 
deed, to find one without good roots. 1 am 
quite satisfied that manure or manure water 
is poison to a tree carnation. The compost 
mentioned and an abundant, supply of water 
during every stage of growth are all that 
carnations want.” 
MAPEL LEAF CUTTER, 
HOW A LADY GROWS PANSIES 
I send a specimen of maple leaves. W hat 
eats them so, and are they liable to kill the 
trees ? Mv sugar grove is covered with them. 
—G. W. Fish, Houghton , Washington Co., 
N. Y. 
This very destructive insect was described 
by Dr. Fitch, State Entomologist of New 
York some yeurs ago, and he named it 
FLORICULTURAL NOTES 
Emission of Light by Flowers .—An En¬ 
glish writer says that June 12, at 
8.40 P. M., he was looking at a bed ^ - 
of Scarlet Geraniums in bloom / ''\ 
in front of a small vinery facing / \ \\ \ 
southwest, when he was startled s' 
by seeing distinct flashes of light '—. 
fluttering to and fro, horizontally 
and in a line with the flowers of 
a short row of a deep scarlet / 
kind of geranium. A friend saw 
it and they observed it five min- » yr- 
utes, during which the light was l 
intermittent, but at intervals of 4, 
only a few seconds. He thinks \ — 
the light exuding through the V sfl 
row was caused by all this flow- Vl2_ 
ers of the row emitting small 
flashes at the same time. 
Remove the Flowers .—The Garden says : 
All lovers of flowers must remember that 
one blossom allowed to mature or “go to 
seed” injures the plant more than a dozen 
buds. Cut your flowers then, all of them, 
before they begin to fade. Adorn your room 
with them ; put them on your tables ; send 
bouquets to your friends who have no flow¬ 
ers, or exchange favors with those who have. 
On bushes not a seed should be allowed to 
mature. 
Plants for Names. —A. B. Armstrong.— 
The plants sent for names are Monotropa 
•uni flora,' (hr no thus Americanos, Linnan 
borealis, Lysiinachia quadrifolia, Pyrola 
rot u ndifolium, A pocyn urn undrosettn ifolt- 
am, Hieracum venosum and Asjndum uero&- 
tichoides. The latter is the small and deli 
cate fern to which you refer. A description of 
all can be found in Gray’s Botanical works, 
opens, in fine condition to commence blos¬ 
soming ; they will also bloom through the 
summer more freely than if sown in the 
spring. 
All lovers of the Pansy well know that the 
heat of summer reduces the size of the flow¬ 
ers and changes the colorings ; but the Au¬ 
tumn rains will, in a great measure, restore 
them. I have succeded so well l'or some 
years in cultivating the Pansy that I will 
give the method that has secured me such 
good results. 
Prepare a bed of good, rich soil by a very 
thorough spading and raking, so that it will 
be entirely f ree from lumps and stones ; sow 
lhe seed evenly, but not too thick ; cover 
with rich, sifted soil, a little deeper than the 
size of the seed. When the ground com¬ 
mences to freeze, cover the bed with well 
rotted manure an inch, or, if In a cold situa¬ 
tion a littLe more. Rake off a part of t he 
covering lightly in the spring, and with good 
seed I hardly think any one oau fail in hav¬ 
ing an abundance of these beautiful flowers. 
For very choice seed, to be more sure of 
their germinating, I am sowing in boxes of 
four inohufc in depth, placed on the east side 
of the house. Fill to within one-half inch of 
the top with good, rich dirt, on which sow 
the seed, cover as directed above, wet thor¬ 
oughly and cover the box with a pane of 
glass so as to retain the moisture ; when the 
third leaf shows, transplant six inches apart 
and protect in the winter. 
Mrs. D. C. McGraw. 
Binghamton, N. Y, ’ 
SUPERSTITION AMONG FARMERS 
the leaves of maple. The worms hatched 
from these eggs are very minute at first, and 
of a white color. At first they feed upon the 
greeu parenchyma or pulp of the leaves, the 
hind portions of the body appearing to re¬ 
main in one spot, and by swinging the head 
about feeding in a circle, usually leaving the 
center of the inng untouched, as you may 
see by exumining leaves similar to those 
sent to us. 
These little worms, however, are not satis¬ 
fied with merely eutiug out the soft parts of 
the leaf, but cut entirely through it, occa¬ 
sionally taking out a piece and placing it over 
themselves as a sort of umbrella or coat, 
probably us a protection against the sun, 
rain or birds. At first the piece out out is 
not much over ^tli of an inch in Jiameter ; 
but as the worm grows this is not large 
enough to cover him. Then lie cuts one a 
little larger and places it over the first; but 
GARRYA ELLIFTICA 
This forms a fine hardy evergreen bush, 
which grows from six to ten feet high, und 
has a rather deuse and spreading head, fur¬ 
nished with numerous slender shoots, which 
are downy* when young, but quite smooth 
when fully matured. It is a native of North¬ 
west America and California, and was first 
introduced into England in 1828. It is easily 
increased either by layers or by means of 
cuttings of the half-ripened shoots, and 
grows freely in any good garden soil. The 
leaves are ojqiosite, somewhat oblong or 
elliptic, with a small acute point, rather 
wavy when young, thick and leathery' in 
texture, set on short footstalks, persistent, 
of a dark shining green above and hoary 
beneath. The flowers, which are unisexual 
and on distinct plants, are arranged in pen¬ 
dulous catkin-like racemes, with connate 
bracts, and are produced from December to 
March. The male flowers form very long, 
slender, pendulous catkins, from six to ten 
inches in length, and are of a greenish-white 
or yellowish color, while the female ones are 
produced in short green catkins not more 
than three or four inches in length, and are 
very deficient in graceful appearance com¬ 
pared with that of the male ones. The fruit, 
which is produced in compact bunches, is a 
berried pericarp containing two hard bony 
seeds, as largo as a moderate-sized black 
currant, and of nearly the same color. 
PROPAGATING TREE CARNATIONS 
A writer in Garden says :—“ I propagate 
tree carnations by means of cuttings to the 
extent of many thousands every season, and 
as I can depend on every cutting making a 
good salable plant, I beg to recommend this 
method, which I find so successful. I have 
a box or pan well drained, and filled with 
compost, taking care that the mold used is 
free from wire-worm. 1 place the box in a 
bottom heat of T5\ 1 trim the cuttings care- 
fully—but do not cut off the ends of the 
leaves as many do—and 1 place them firmly 
in the mold, an inch or more, apart, as suits 
my* requirements. The glass with which they 
are covered must tit so as to be perfectly air¬ 
tight. Before putting it on give the cuttings 
a thorough drenching with rain water with 
the chill off, till the mold is like mud ; then 
put the glass on at once. Leave all undis- 
SPITTLE FROM WHICH HORSE FLIES 
COME. 
Flowers op Male Garrya Elliptica. 
and probably far better than we could give 
you. 
The Soil for Begonias should be a compost 
of sandy peat, fibrous, light loam and leaf 
mold in equal parts. Add silver sand and 
give good drainage. 
The answer to my question (in Rural 
New-Yorker, July 26, p. 62.) as to what de¬ 
posits the spittle from which the horse tly r 
comes, maybe correct as to the “ frog-spittle 
bugs.” I did not aim to say the fly made it, 
but that the fly came out of it, as each little 
