167 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
the beginning, preferring the members of 
the Amaryllis family, particularly Hip- 
peastrums, as food plants. They mar the 
foliage, eat holes into the flower-stem 
and greedily devour the flower-buds. A 
constant vigilance is necessary. They 
take their meals twice a day—the first 
right after sunrise, and the second a little 
after noontime. After having fed, they 
crawl upon a bush or a small tree where 
they can easily be seen and killed. The 
young ones are gregarious. In dense 
masses they alight on slender stems where 
all can be killed with one stroke. After 
two and a half months have elapsed, they 
again change color. This mature color 
is a yellowish gray. Their wings are 
short and red. Being very clumsy in 
their movements, they are easily caught 
and killed. It is surprising how much 
damage a full-grown lubber grasshopper 
can do. Ismenes and Eucharis Amazon- 
ica, as well as the beautiful and deli¬ 
ciously fragrant Hymenocallis macroste- 
phana, H. fragrans and H. speciosa are 
perfectly at home in our garden; but on 
account of the lubber grasshoppers it is 
scarcely possible to enjoy their flowers 
or the beauty of their luxuriant foliage. 
Hand picking is, as far as I know, the 
only way of getting rid of these two 
pests. 
The late afternoon hours of spring, 
summer and autumn in Florida have an 
indescribable charm, a charm peculiarly 
their own, and the early morning hours 
are scarcely less enchanting. This is the 
time to enjoy nature, to enjoy our gardens 
and flowers. In the evening glow or very 
early in the morning, I am fond of 
wandering through my Amaryllis and 
Caladium garden to meditate on the in¬ 
effable glory of nature, to think of my 
ideals and of all that makes life beautiful. 
How charming is this Florida evening 
glow as it falls on the brilliant blossoms 
of the Amaryllis or on the gorgeous 
leaves of the Caladiums! In the cedars 
near by, the cardinal sings in jubilant 
notes its evening hymn, the mockingbird 
pours forth its unrivaled melodies from 
the top of an orange-tree, and the loud 
whistling calls of the chuck-will’s widow 
resound from the thickets of near 
woodlands. It is twilight. The air is 
wonderfully soft and salubrious, and the 
bright stars appear and shine as they only 
can shine in Florida—the land of flowers, 
the land of my ideals in horticulture. 
