THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Decembee 29, 1857. 
finement w ith us, and, therefore, should be favoured with 
an abundance of ah* at all favourable opportunities; and, being 
under pot and artificial treatment, will require protection 
during severe weather, being more susceptible of injury from 
frosts than when planted in the open ground. Seed may 
now be sown in well-drained pots or pans, using any light, 
rich soil; to be covered very lightly, placed in a cold frame, 
and protected from severe frosts. Polyanthuses , in pots, 
will require similar treatment. Carnations and Piccotees to 
be exposed to all the air possible. The beds of Pinks and 
Pansies to be looked over occasionally, as the lately-planted 
are apt to be disturbed by frosts or worms; they should be 
firmly pressed into their proper places again. It sharp 
cutting winds occur, some Spruce Fir, Fern, or such small 
branches stuck between the rows, will assist very much to 
protect them. If the mild weather continue much longer, 
the Tulips will be emerging from the ground; when it will 
be advisable to place a cone of sand, or any light soil, over 
each, to afford protection, should severe weather set in. The 
bed, or beds, for Ranunculuses to be got ready without loss ol 
time. If the soil be poor, it should be enriched by the ad¬ 
dition of a portion of turfy loam that had been reduced to a 
mellow state by frequent turnings, and exposure to atmo¬ 
spheric influences, and well-decomposed dung incorporated 
with it two feet in depth in the bed, or beds. To be left in 
a rough or ridged state until next month, when it will be 
levelled dowm, and planted. 
At this season, particular attention is necessary to be given 
to the greenhouse plants , that they may neither suffer from 
an excess of artificial heat, nor from a degree of temperature 
below the freezing point from the external atmosphere. An 
external covering, where practicable, should be applied to 
retain sufficient heat in the house from a gentle fire. When 
without such protection, a strong fire is necessary to resist 
sharp frosts, and this excites the plants into a premature and 
spindly growth. A temperature of 40° is all-sufficient to keep 
the plants in a comparatively dormant and healthy state Avith 
green foliage; and the application of water will not be so 
frequently required as Avhen exposed to a higher and drier 
temperature. If the weather be mild, air to be given freely; 
and as such weather is favourable for the increase of green fly, 
frequent fumigations will be necessary. The Tulips, Hyacinths, 
and other bulbs, that had been potted in good time, as recom¬ 
mended, will have then* pots filled with roots; and where 
there is no forcing pit, or frame, at work, they should now 
be introduced here, and placed in the warmest part, with an 
inverted pot over each, to produce elongation until the flower 
begins to expand, when it should be removed altogether. 
The hardy annuals recommended to be sown in August, and 
kept in a cold frame, may now be removed to a shelf near the 
glass to grow stocky ; and when in flower, to be removed to 
more conspicuous situations. Cinerarias will now be throw¬ 
ing up their trusses of flowers, and will require careful atten¬ 
tion in watering, and protection from green fly. Small wire 
or other fancy baskets, filled with Chinese Primroses, Cine¬ 
rarias, &c., and surrounded by Ivy-leaved Geraniums, or other 
plants of a drooping habit, when suspended from the roof, 
serve to give variety and a picturesque appearance to the 
| house. Acacia, Epacris, Polygala, Erica, and other such 
hard-wooded plants in flower, will require attention that they 
do not suffer for want of water. A few of the Pelargoniums, 
Calceolarias, and other soft-wooded plants that have been 
kept in small pots during the whiter, may be shifted into 
their blooming - pots. The soil intended for greenhouse 
plants should now be prepared, and sweetened by frequent 
turnings, and a sufficient supply for immediate use stored in 
an open, dry shed. Fuchsias should now be potted, cutting 
back their roots pretty freely, using a small pot to begin with, 
and shifting them into larger pots as the roots extend to the 
outside of the ball; to be supplied with a temperature of about 
50° by day, and 40° by night. Cuttings of the young wood 
will strike freely in the same temperature in shallow pots, or 
! pans, of pure sand. 
Air to be admitted, in favourable Aveather, amongst the 
, plants in pits and frames. If they are kept close at this time, 
when there is comparatively but little sunlight, the tissues 
become relaxed, a weak growth is induced, instead of a sturdy, 
! compact habit of growth, so essential for an early and a con- 
j inu ous bloom. 
A one-fight frame should be got ready for increasing the 
stock of bedding-out plants. About a one-horse load, or 
twelve barrowfuls, of stable-manure, to be frequently turned 
over to sweeten it, and the long fitter removed. In a fortnight 
or three weeks it will be fit for making the bed. When 
made, the frame and fight to be put on, and air admitted 
until the first strong heat, or rank steam, has passed off; 
when it will be fit for a batch of cuttings of Yerbenas, 
Fuchsias, Heliotropes, Ageratums, Salvias, Petunias, &c., in , 
cutting-pots. Sandy soil, good drainage, and free admission 
of air, in favourable weather, are indispensable for their sue- 
cess.— William Keane. 
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY’S MEETING. 
In the absence of the President of the Entomological 
Society, the chair was taken at the Meeting of the 7th of 
December, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., Keeper of the Col¬ 
lection of Zoology in the British Museum, and one of the 
Yice-Presidents of the Society. 
Mr. Stevens exhibited the fine large Beetle, Dynastes Actoeon, 
from Peru, and a specimen of an apparently distinct species, 
also from South America. 
Mr. Edward Newman exhibited a dark variety of the 
British Butterfly, Argynnis Euphrosyne , and a specimen of 
the Brazilian Weevil, Heilipus brachypterus , having several 
spechnens of a black thread-like fungus, apparently a Sphoeria, 
growing out of various parts of the body. Another similar 
instance, occurring also in a Brazilian Weevil, had been j 
figured by Mr. Westwood in the Society’s Transactions from 
the specimen in the Hopeian Collection. 
Mr. Holdsworth exhibited a piece of the wood of a Scotch | 
Fir infested by the larvae of the Sir ex duplex , of Shuekard. 
The insect had done considerable injury to a plantation of 
these trees; and he inquired of the members present, whether 
any means could be adopted to destroy them ? It was ob¬ 
served, however, that the structure of the ovipositor of the j 
female of this species proved beyond a doubt that the eggs 
were deposited beneath the bark; and as the larvae ate into the 
solid wood of the trees, there appeared to the members present 
no mode of checking their ravages, but by cutting down the 
infested trees, or destroying the perfect females before they 
deposit their eggs. 
Captain Cox exhibited a number of beautiful drawings, re¬ 
presenting the transformations of different British Lepi- 
doptera, including eight species of Bug Moth (Eupishecia ), ■ 
likely to prove an important addition to our knowledge of 
this very difficult genus of Moths. The drawings were > 
executed from nature by Mrs. Cox. 
Mr. G. R. Waterhouse exhibited a series of British species 
of Rhizophagus and Monotonia, genera of minute Xylopha- 
gous Beetles, and read a fist of then* names determined from 
the monographs of Erichson and Aube. 
The Secretary read some notes on Australian insects, com¬ 
municated by Mr. Diggles; and a paper by Mr. A. R. 
Wallace, on the habits and transformations of a species of 
Ornithoptera (one of the grandest genera of Butterflies), 
allied to O Priamus , found by him in the Aru Islands, near 
New Guinea. 
Mr. Stambo read a paper on the aberrant species of minute 
Moths belonging to the genus Elachista. 
Mr. F. Smith read an essay on the British species of Ants 
(Eormicidce), being a supplement to his paper recently pub- : 
fished in the Society’s Transactions. He also exhibited some j 
specimens of a species of Bee belonging to the genus Trigona , 
from Moulmein, in India: and a portion of a nest of this 
species, the cells of which are formed of a mixture of re¬ 
sinous gums, which, when dissolved in wood oil, is said to be 
used in that part of India for the purpose of rendering cloth 
and other substances waterproof. 
GATHERING PEARS. 
Although winter is not the proper time for gathering 
Pears, it is the season when many young gardeners have most 
leisure time for reading; and a few hints on the subject may 
be useful to them. We have paid some attention to tho i 
