98 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, May 19, 1857. 
very many small, yellowish, shining spikelets. Florets 
usually three, but sometimes lour, longer than the calyx ; 
stalks bristly. Calyx-valves membranous, pointed, very 
unequal; the larger has three ribs. Corolla with outer 
valve three or five-ribbed; inner valve notched, turning 
in at the edges. Awn issuing trom above the middle ol 
the outer valve, and nearly twice as long as the corolla. 
Gerrrien reversed egg-shaped. Nectary two small scales, 
jagged at top, as long as the germ. Styles short, distinct, 
erect. Stigmas densely feathery, compound. 
It belongs to Triandria Digynia of the Linnsean 
System. It flowers early in July, and ripens its seed 
about the third week of August. 
It is one of the Grasses which do not thrive when 
cultivated alone, never succeeding or enduring so well 
as when grown associated with other Grasses. 
A dry, calcareous soil is its favourite locality, but it is 
found in all kinds of soil, and is always a part of the 
herbage of the richest pastures. Mr. Sinclair says its 
seeds vegetate freely if sow r n in the autumn, or not too 
early in the spring. He sowed them in almost every 
one of the months, and concluded that the third week 
of May and any time in August are the best periods 
for sowing it. 
It is a native of England, but the first botanist to 
notice it was Ray. He calls it Gramen avenaceum 
pratense elatius, panicula Jlavescente, locustis parvis 
(Taller Meadow Oat Grass, with yellow panicle and 
small spikelets). 
INSECTS ON OUR ERUIT TREES. 
All know full well that the first beams of a returning 
spring are the signal for the return to an active state of 
being in myriads of insects which had lain in a state 
of comparative torpidity since the previous November. 
As might be fairly anticipated, most of them awaken or 
receive their change with very hungry stomachs; and 
so severe are the latter in some cases, that fruit trees are 
occasionally stripped of their foliage in a few days. 
The destruction of insect foes is a point in gardening 
which may never be set aside. No infallible preventive 
has hitherto appeared to supersede the necessity of 
annual dressing, picking, and other means commonly 
resorted to by the gardener. As for passing them by 
unheeded, and thinking it not very material to disturb 
or to destroy them, we may rest assured that as cause 
must produce effect, so a corresponding result must be 
looked for in the loss of fruit, deterioration in its 
character, or a lasting injury to the system of the tree. 
Although I have nothing particularly new to offer, I 
may, I think, with a returning spring, run through the 
list of our common enemies, offering a few remarks in 
passing: some of our small gardeners may, perhaps, 
bear to be reminded of their insidious ways, and how 
to get at them. 
The American Blight may be first pointed to as 
requiring attention when the trees are in the rest 
condition. It is now very generally known that, not¬ 
withstanding the numerous recipes heretofore given to 
the world, not one, as far as I am aware, has proved 
thoroughly efficacious. I am using the usual soft-soap 
mixture, with clay, and adding nearly a pound of glue 
dissolved in hot water to the mixture, and this with the 
idea of attempting to block them up in their dens; but 
I am assured by some persons that stable urine alone 
will destroy them: for this I cannot myself vouch. One 
thing is certain—that plenty of scrubbing with these 
applications is of eminent service, and that when 
trees of any age become much infested, and their stems 
full of warty excrescences, it is best to cut them down 
at once and burn their remains. 
Dressings should be applied, in my opinion, at twice— 
in November, and again at the end of Eebruary. 
The next in order I may name is the Red Bar Moth, 
the caterpillars of which commit such ravages amongst 
our Apricots. This insect deposits its eggs on the 
branches, and they can scarcely be seen through the 
winter. Towards February or March, however, they 
begin to assume larger proportions, and may be found, 
by a close examination, adhering to the bark like 
patches of paste, oval, about a quarter of an inch in 
diameter the long way. These are covered with little 
dots, perhaps nearly thirty on each, and I take it for 
granted that each of these produces a caterpillar. There 
is no better way than to hunt these out and to crush them. 
The scaly insect may be found on Pears, Apples, 
Peaches, and, indeed, other fruits. This adheres to the 
principal stems in myriads, sometimes covering the 
bark entirely. Soft-soap water applied at two or three 
dressings by the syringe, at the rate of about four 
ounces to the gallon, is a good remedy. This must be 
battered into all crevices—made to search every portion 
of the tree. I, however, think that the glue mixture I 
have before recommended will prove superior. Brush¬ 
ing is to be recommended in all these cases. 
We come next to the various Aphides, or Plant Lice, 
whose name is indeed Legion. There is scarcely one of 
our fruits but is liable to the attacks of these locust-like 
foes, which sometimes invest the whole surface of every 
leaf on the tree. The whole gardening world flies to 
tobacco in the present state of things, and it is certainly 
equal to the complete destruction of all aphides that 
have come under my notice. But tobacco is expensive, 
and it becomes us all so to scheme as to prevent the 
necessity for any excess in the use of it. This consists 
in attacking the enemy the moment he sets foot on the 
tree. Thus with Peaches and Nectarines I have for 
years advised the readers of The Cottage Gardener 
to apply it the moment the first fly appears. So with 
the Cherries: the fly generally attacks the points first. 
These may be dipped in a bowl of tobacco water—six 
ounces of shag tobacco to a gallon of water. If, how¬ 
ever, the whole tree is infested, the application must be 
general likewise, either fumigating or syringing. The 
remarks here offered apply to every kind of fruit tree 
infested with this insect. Of course the mode of ap¬ 
plication must be modified by circumstances. 
We come next to the Red Spider, the dread of the 
Vine and Melon grower, to say nothing for the present 
about our plant cultivators, and, indeed, all who have to 
do with general gardening. This pest in former days 
committed enormous havoc in our hothouses, when it 
was the fashion to fire away by day and night, until the 
atmosphere of hothouses resembled a harmattan. This 
was the very element for these little scarlet-coated va¬ 
gabonds; indeed, one thoroughly acquainted with their 
natural habits and inclinations, and equally so with the 
character, culture, and habits of our plants and fruits 
under culture, might have supposed that the culture of 
plants, fruits, &c., was a secondary object in those days ; 
that of having a good “ cover for game,” with good 
breeding conditions, as paramount objects. Sulphur 
here is the continual resort of all who get into a mess 
with these pests, and, as almost everybody is familiar 
now with this affair, I need say little more than that it 
consists in dredging flowers of sulphur over every portion 
infested, causing a fine and well-divided powder to cover 
every part.* But I would here allude more particu- 
* We have now tried the Boite a houppe mentioned at page 36, and 
we testify that it is a most efficacious implement for diffusing the 
sulphur in a fine cloud over plants.— Ed. C. G. 
