1879.] 
APHIDES, OB PLANT-LICE. 
85 
opotl rod-ground Polyanthus is taken dowi by a 
black-ground, so inucli importance being attached 
to the striking contrast between black and gold. 
1st prize to Mr. J. Boswick, Sale, for Exile, Chesliiro 
Favourite, and Lord Lincoln ; 2nd, to Mr. Brocks- 
bank, for Hilton’s President, in better form than we 
have ever seen it before, Cheshire Favourite, and 
Exile; 3rd, to Mr. Brownhill, Sale, for Exile, Che¬ 
shire Favourite, and President; 4th, to ]\Ir. S. Bar- 
low, for the same varieties. 
C'ln.ss N. 1 Polyanthus. —The premier flower 
was Exile, from Mr. Brownhill ; 1st, Lord Lincoln, 
from Mr. Beswick ; 2nd, Cheshire Favourite, from 
Mr. Brownhill; 3rd, Exile, from Mr. John Beswick; 
4th, President, from Mr. Bi’ownhill; 5th, William IV., 
from Mr. 8. Barlow. 
Class P. 12 Fancy Polyanthus, dissimilar.— 
1st prize to Mr. S. Barlow. 2nd, Mr. Brocksbank. 
Class Q. 12 Primroses, double and single.—1st 
prize to Mr. S. Barlow, whose group contained 
some striking single varieties. 2nd, Mr. Brocksbank, 
who had a good single white. 
Extra Class. Best Seedling Polyanthus. —1st 
prizes to Mr. W. Bolton, Warrington, for a variety 
raised from Mr. D. Jackson’s seedling from Lord 
Lincoln, and having the same clear, bright colour. 
2nd, Mr. S. Barlow, for a well-laced flower some¬ 
what clouded in the centre. 3rd, Mr. J. Goodier, 
Stakehill. No names are reported for these seedlings, 
as there should be for future identifleation.—In addi¬ 
tion to these, a First-class Certificate was awarded to 
gold-laced seedling Polyanthus, John of Gaunt, from 
Mr. Brocksbank ; and a similar award was made to 
Primula vuhjaris platypetala plena (the variety 
known on the Continent as Alfred de Moulins), from 
Messrs. Paul and Sou, of Cheshuut. 
One of the most striking features of the show 
was a group of Hardy Plants from Mr. S. Barlow, 
to which a gold medal was assigned, the first 
time, we believe, that the Botanical Society’s 
gold medal has gone to a collection of this char¬ 
acter ; and that it should have done so is a very 
hopeful sign, since Stakehill, near Middleton, 
is one of the last places in the world where, at 
first sight, it would be thought that a gold 
medal could be earned; though in bygone 
times many as great an honour was no doubt 
well deserved, Middleton having been one of the 
principal seats of the early local floriculture. 
Mr. Barlow’s plants consisted of sweet-scented 
early-blooming Ehododendrom, chiefly white 
ones, which predominated in the centre, with 
at the southern wing a most beautiful array of 
Hyacinths and other bulbous flowers ; and at the 
other extremity a bank of the Primula cortu- 
soides, the effect of a large mass of which, in 
its lively purple, is inexpressible. The wealth 
of this wonderful collection lay, however, in its 
innumerable unpretentious but surpassingly 
pretty outdoor or open-garden herbaceous mis¬ 
cellanea— Primulas., of which there were no 
fewer than twenty-two distinct species or well- 
marked varieties, taking the lead ; and well 
supplemented with hardy orchids and similar 
plants, which seemed like the lace and golden 
border of a queen’s robe, none excelling, 
in its pure white petals and bright green 
bosom of leaves, the Trillium grandijlorum. 
The primulaceous plants brought from Stakehill 
alone amountedto over 200. Amongst the groups 
from Amateurs, Mr. William Brocksbank, of 
Didsbury, had a beautiful little lot, in which was 
the new Primula rosea from Cashmere. It must 
be thought of, by those wdio did not see it, as a 
lovely little auricula sort of thing, with flowers 
of a delicate rose-colour ; perfectly hardy, and 
able to bloom profusely. In the same basket 
were blooms of the Narcissus llorsjieldii, now 
very rare and valuable, and peculiarly interesting, 
from having been raised, as a hybrid, fifty or 
sixty years ago by the celebrated old Lanca¬ 
shire botanist in humble life, John Horsfield, 
of Besses-o’-th’-Barn.—D. M. 
APHIDES, OR PLANT-LICE. 
N the Bulletin of the United States Geo¬ 
logical Survey, Dr. Riley, the eminent 
State Entomologist, has published a series 
of interesting observations on the life-history 
of some of the Aphides, which have a special 
value to horticulturists, inasmuch as they are 
almost daily called upon to do battle with one 
form or another of these minute, but destructive 
creatures. The insects themselves are so fragile, 
and are so much affected by confinement, that 
it is a task requiring both diligence and perse¬ 
verance to watch their daily life over a period 
of ten months ; but with the help of an enthu¬ 
siastic lady friend, this was done, and we have 
gained thereby the following particulars con¬ 
cerning the Aphis of the American elm:— 
The name of this insect is Schizoneura 
americana. It infests the American elm, and 
sometimes in such numbers as to cause all the 
leaves to fall. If, during the winter, the 
cracks in the bark of an American elm that 
had been badly infested with this leaf-curling 
species during the previous summer, be exam¬ 
ined, there will generally be found here and 
there a small, dull, yellow-coloured egg, about 
•5mm. long, probably still covered with the 
remains of the female’s body, quite dried up. 
From this egg in the early spring will be 
hatched the little crawling creature which con¬ 
stitutes the first generation in a very remark¬ 
able series. This “ stem-mother,” settling upon 
the tender opening leaf, will begin to feed, 
causing the leaf to swell up and pucker until 
at last it curls over the tiny form. After 
three moults, the temperature being warm, it 
commences to people the leaf with young at 
the rate of about one every six or seven hours. 
The second generation, though they never grow 
