March 23. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
477 
tion of which, by Dr. Wallich, was commenced by Mr. 
Spence), on a luminous larva , found at Lagoa Santa, in 
South America, where it has been found creeping from 
beneath the timber ilooring of houses. Each segment 
of the body emits two patches of greenish light on the 
upper surface, whilst the head shines with a ruddy ligbt> 
like a burning coal. It was supposed to be nearly allied 
to the Glowworms, and to the Luminous Paraguay Worm 
of D’Azura. A notice was also read of the introduction 
to Malta, from Assam, of the Indian Eria Silk Moth 
(Bombyx Cynthia). This insect is of very large size, 
and feeds upon the Castor Oil plant. Its silk is very 
strong. The notice had been published, with details, in 
the Journal of the Society of Arts of the 3rd of March. 
A long paper by Mr. Newport was read, affirming the 
priority of the discovery by himself of the larvae of 
Monodontomerus nitidus, a parasite on Anthophora 
retusa, one of the Mason Bees. 
Collections of dried British Ferns and their allied 
plants may now be had complete of Mr. F. Y. Brocas, 
who pursues the occupation of a British Naturalist, at 
his residence, 10, Tavistock Street, Covent Garden. He 
will readily assist in the purchase or exchange of any 
specimens connected with the zoology or botany of the 
British Islands. 
It is a general remark that Oranges were never before 
so stained in the rind as they are this year. The brown, 
rough stain complained of seems to be the result of the 
attack of some minute Fungus like that which attacked 
the Grape. 
Some months ago the formation of a Pomological 
Society was advocated in these pages, aud steps are now 
taking to carry out the suggestion. We shall shortly 
give more particulars. 
TRAINING PEARS. 
I must now offer a few further remarks on Pears, and 
in so doing will take a glance at the various modes of 
training. At Oulton, we have chiefly table trellisses, 
umbrella training, horizontal-radiate, and a kind of 
hollow form, and on the walls, curved-parallel training, 
and a few on tire old fan form. There are many other 
modes practised, according to the varying fancies of 
persons, for, after all, there is less importance in the 
mode of training than some people imagiue. Any 
mode of training which will best allow the sun’s rays to 
act on the foliage in general, tend best to equalise the 
sap, and provide for the most warmth, is, in my opinion, 
the best; and in this respect two or three forms may 
claim almost equal merit. 
For my part, I have found the table trellisses the best, 
although it must be admitted that some kinds do not 
succeed so well on them as on others; indeed, the same 
may be said of any form. The table trellisses are four 
feet six inches wide, and are about a foot to fifteen 
inches above the ground level. The main branches, on 
which are tied down the young spray, are about one 
foot apart in parallel lines, running north and south. 
The trees were planted about eighteen years since, aud 
my intention was to have a metallic table of strong, 
well-stretched rods, over which I would have placed a 
metallic rail along the two sides longitudinally, running i 
east and west; this rail about a foot above the table; j 
and on this I would have worked a roller covered with 1 
canvass, something after the manner of carriages on a 
railway; the canvass rolled along every afternoon 
through September, and until the fruit was gathered, 
and again through the spring, to retard frost, and then 
to protect. This plan was, however, thought too ex¬ 
pensive, and fell through, and I was obliged to have 
recourse to hobs driven in—rough stakes in the form of 
the letter Y &c.,—and thus things proceeded, the sticks, j 
of course, requiring almost annual renewal. 
This mode, or something close to it, I fairly 
broached in “ Loudon’s Magazine,” and strongly ad¬ 
vised some of our market gardeners to lay down an acre 
or more at once, on a similar principle; had they done 
so in those days, they would, I am persuaded, have 
found it a profitable investment, and we should scarcely 
have heard of Orchard-houses. I wish I could even 
now cause my voice to be heard on this subject, for 
assuredly our Pear culture, in the main, is quite un¬ 
worthy the age we live in. 
I had, about twenty-two years ago, planted a border 
240 feet in length, somewhat in accordance with those 
principles connected with root-and-branch culture, 
which had long been lurking in my mind, and which I 
'nave continually (my opponents may say, pertinaciously) 
adhered to up to the present moment. 
These were a sort of “wood note wild,” a sort of off¬ 
hand guess, but quite excusable in the position of affairs 
at that period, at which the complaints about barren 
wall-fruit-trees, espaliers, and, indeed, all but those of 
our good old orchards (which had escaped a coddling 
system), were to be heard on all sides. This line of 
Pears, however, though a first attempt, has turned out 
very well, on the whole; quite sufficient, I am told, to 
j justify the adoption of a dwarfing system—albeit, a 
coarse beginning. 
I must here observe, that I have coined a term or two 
expressive of the modes of training adopted; a course 
which no man is more unwilling to pursue than myself, 
but, nevertheless, a necessity, inasmuch as we have no 
existing mode of expressing the practice. 
The umbrella mode will be readily conceived by those 
who have not seen it in practice ; in form, and even size, 
the trees may be aptly enough compared to the skeleton 
of a huge gig umbrella, but even a little larger still. 
The stems (or umbrella-handles,shall we call them ?) being 
about four feet high, and the leading branches touching 
the ground within nine inches. These, for lack of 
proper frame-work of rods, are supported by the Y 
stakes before described. It may here, however, be ob¬ 
served, that these trees, having been about a score j 
years under training, are so sturdy, that the boughs, in | 
the main, carry their own weight readily. I have 
umbrella-trees here, no bigger than a gig umbrella, 
which measure inches around the trunk; they are 
singular-looking things, and look as if it would require 
no small amount of power to topple them over. 
The mode for which I have coined the term 
horizontal-radiate, was the first experiment in the hori¬ 
zontal way with me. A border, five feet wide, being set 
out, the trees were planted down the centre at about 
fourteen feet apart, and the main branches were then 
trained in a radiate way from the centre, and horizon¬ 
tally at about a foot above the ground-level; it will be 
here seen that there is an identity of principle between 
this plan and the table trellis before described; indeed, 
this may be better termed radiating table-training , the 
other, parallel table-training, and so forth. Our ingenuous 
readers will, doubtless, pardon me for being a little 
“fussy" over the affair, for I must needs be explicit; 
this being the last time, in all probability, in which it 
will be requisite to be so special in detail, although I dare 
