756 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 28, 1888. 
The Bradford and District Chrysanthemum Society 
'will hold their second annual exhibition in the 
Technical College, Bradford, on November 14th and 
15th. 
Royal Visit to Holloway.—On the occasion of the 
visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Holloway 
to open the Great Northern Hospital, the whole of the 
floral decorations and three bouquets were supplied 
gratuitously by Mr. B. 'S. Williams, Victoria and 
Paradise Nurseries, Upper Holloway, N. 
Orchid Collecting.—The extraordinary way in which 
a good story once put in print travels round the world 
was perhaps never better illustrated than in the case of 
the anecdote of the Orchids bought with beer bottles, 
which is told in the Gardeners' Chronicle of Saturday 
last. Early in May, 1886, we received a long letter 
from a Calcutta correspondent, which we published in 
our issue for the 8th of that month, under the title of 
“The Qualifications of a Plant Collector.” Since the 
date of publication, the experiences related by the 
writer have been copied into the Indian Agriculturist; 
from that source it got into Cook’s Universal Tourist 
Budget, and finally some two years and two months 
after it left our office, it reaches the Gardeners' 
Chronicle in the next street, having lost nothing by 
the telling on the road. Good old story ! 
Clieal’s Patent Flower Support.—For the last two or 
three years it has been the custom amongst growers of 
lingle Dahlias to tie them up in one-sided bunches, so as 
to exhibit those popular flowers to the best advantage. 
This necessitates a considerable amount of trouble, 
especially when every individual flower-head is wired, 
often resulting in harm to the blooms themselves, except 
in the hands of skilful operators. Messrs. J. Cheal & 
Sons, Crawley, Sussex, have patented a simple yet 
effective framework of wire, with a loop at the end of 
the branches through which the flower-stalks may be 
drawn, and the whole tied loosely to the main stem, 
which is stood in water. By this simple arrangement 
the flower-heads are shown off to the best advantage, 
and last twice as long as by the ordinary method. 
Royal Horticultural Society.—We understand that 
at the meeting of the Council held on Tuesday, a report 
was read from the Chiswick committee concerning the 
National Apple and Pear Conference to be held at 
Chiswick from the 11th to the 18th of October, and a 
schedule was drawn up and agreed to, which can be 
obtained from Mr. Barron. The council also resolved 
that the secretary have a proof of the new bye-laws 
printed and circulated amongst the members of the 
council, and of the Fellows committee ; and that a 
meeting of the committee be called by its honorary 
secretary, Mr. Deal, for Tuesday, August 14th, to 
consider the corrections and alterations. But why 
submit the proofs to the Fellows committee only ; why 
not submit them to the Fellows direct—the whole 
constituency ? We ask the question for two reasons, 
the first of which is that as the constituency of the 
society has materially changed since February last, 
when the Fellows committee was re-appointed, that 
body no longer represents the Fellows. The second 
reason is that the so-called Fellows committee is to all 
Intents and purposes a self-elected body, and the 
Fellows know nothing whatever as to what it has 
done or is doing. The Fellows committee seems to 
be much like the council itself, dreadfully afraid of 
taking the Fellows into its confidence. 
From London to Sydney.—A young gardener not 
unknown to many of our readers, who left London for 
Sydney at the end of March last, writes :—“ You will, 
I am sure, be pleased to hear that I had a splendid 
passage out in the-; the weather was grand, 
for we had rain only on three occasions during the 
voyage, and not a single dirty day. I enjoyed the run 
very much, having the opportunity of spending a few 
hours at Gibraltar, a day at Naples (the greater part of 
which I devoted to its magnificent museum), a few 
hours on shore at Port Said, a daylight passage through 
the Canal, a peep at the quaint old town of Suez, and a 
day at Aden in the Bed Sea—a warm corner I can assure 
you, the thermometer standing at 102° in the shade. 
I had also a good look at Albany, Western Australia, 
an afternoon in the beautiful town of Adelaide in South 
Australia, and two days in Melbourne, Victoria. Here 
I had a good look at its splendid buildings, and more 
than sufficient of its nasty surface drainage stinks. 
The botanical gardens here look grand ; the dense 
carpet of greensward—Buffalo Grass —is first rate, being 
of a rich colour, and more springy to the tread than 
the heaviest velvet pile on the drawing-room floors at 
home. This grass appears to serve admirably for lawn 
purposes in hot and dry regions. We sailed from 
Melbourne at daybreak on a Sunday morning in May, 
and arrived at the entrance to the magnificent natural 
harbour of Sydney two days afterwards in excellent 
health and spirits, though rather sorry to leave the 
decks of the beautiful vessel which had brought us so 
safely over many waters. I find business here is very 
dull, and the City of Melbourne, for this year at least, 
perhaps owing to the coming exhibition, is undoubtedly 
taking the lead, and is feeling but slightly the effects 
of the universal depression. There appears to be no 
openings here for gardeners proper, as places where 
more than one man are kept are very few and far 
between. On the other hand, for handy-men, who can 
do a little gardening, groom a horse, &e., there appears 
to be a good demand, and for single men the wages are 
good. Everything appears to be done in a rough-and- 
ready style, the only plots of garden ground to be seen 
are those of the “Chinkies,” and these, considering 
the very primitive methods adopted by them, are 
models of what care and forethought, coupled with 
patient industry, can accomplish. ” 
--- 
BUDDING ROSES. 
Boses can be budded from the middle of June to the 
end of August, but the end of July and the beginning 
of August are the best times for the purpose. The 
sooner it can be accomplished safely the better, but it 
is useless to attempt it unless the stocks are growing 
vigorously, and the sap rising freely—a condition 
indicated by one of our leading writers on Bose culture, 
who states it is shown by “the bark parting readily 
from the wood.” After rain this happens with more 
certainty, and if the weather is cloudy there will be 
less evaporation, and fewer chances of failure. During 
hot weather the amateur cultivator who contents 
himself with budding a few choice varieties will find 
it useful to cover any bud as soon as it is inserted with 
a Cabbage or Bhubarb leaf, which can be tied over it 
with a strip of matting, but as the buds do not take 
well in such weather it will be best to defer the operation 
until cloudy weather returns. The bark never parts 
from the wood so easily during dry weather as after 
rain, and unless the bark of the bud and that of the 
stock be brought into conjuncture quickly, and at the 
time when there is plenty of sap in the latter, the 
atmospheric action which causes rapid evaporation being 
somewhat reduced, there is the smallest possible 
chance of success. Choose cloudy weather, therefore, 
for the process, if immediately after a soaking rain all 
the better, and let the operation be performed either 
very early in the morning, or in the evening. If all 
the circumstances are favourable a well-entered bud will 
begin to grow a fortnight or three weeks after the 
operation is performed. I may state, it is generally 
preferred that the bud should not make growth the 
season it is inserted, but lie dormant all the winter, 
and start into growth early in spring. The growths 
that are put forth in autumn, being young and 
succulent, are in much danger of being injured by early 
autumn frosts. 
Then there is the matter of the selection of buds, 
and these should be taken from the ripened shoots of 
the current year ; and that the operator may be aware 
of the proper stage of ripening, the fact that the plant 
is in bloom may be taken as indicating that the wood 
is thoroughly matured. 
If a plump shoot be taken, on which the leaves are 
large and perfect, and the buds are still dormant, this 
will be found to furnish half-a-dozen buds probably. 
Take the shoot in the left hand, remove the leaf, but 
leave the leaf-stalk entire ; insert a sharp knife above 
the bud, cut downwards and past it, and out again 
below. The next process is to remove the wood from 
the bud, all that is wanted being the bark with the 
dormant eye. This can be done by using the point of 
the budding knife. 
How to bud—that is, the modus operandi of the 
process—is a matter of considerable importance. Let 
me try to make it plain. I think I cannot do better 
than give the following directions by a Bose grower :— 
“The shoot of the stock in which the bud is to be 
inserted must have an incision made close to where it 
joins the stem. To make this incision, enter the point 
of the knife about an inch above the base of the shoot, 
press until you feel it go through the bark of the wood, 
but do not cut into the wood ; pass it downwards to 
the point where shoot and stem meet, and then make 
a similar or shorter cut across, so as to form a letter T- 
Now take the thin end of the handle of the budding- 
knife and open the incision, so as to lift up the bark 
slightly, and then slide in the bud ; cut away the top 
of it, so that its edge exactly meets and fits into the 
line of the cross-cut at the top. It must fit as neatly 
as if it belonged to the place it occupies, and the 
opened bark at the sides must fit over, so as to press 
the bud close to the wood of the stem that is budded. 
The next and last operation is to tie it up tightly. 
"Worsted matting, or strips of raffia grass can be used 
for the purpose. If the last be used—and it is now 
most commonly employed—place the middle of the 
strip behind the shoot at the bottom of the incision, 
bring the ends across, and then proceed back and fore 
to bind it, taking care to leave the bud peeping out, 
and finish off half an inch or so above the insertion, 
making it rather tighter there ; but it must not cut 
into the stem, or squeeze the bud too hard. ” 
It may not be easy to perform the operation at first, 
but if the operator can witness the process being done 
by a skilful hand, he will experience little difficulty 
in doing it himself. It is a case in which a little 
practice soon makes perfect.— JR. JD. 
-*>3=<-- 
WOOD-BORING INSECTS. 
Amongst the various classes of insects that indirectly 
affect man must be placed the wood-borers. In 
England, the injury caused by them is not so great as 
that which happens in some parts of Southern Europe. 
The largest, and perhaps the most destructive of the 
English wood-boring insects is the larva of the Goat 
Moth (Cossus ligniperda). The full-grown caterpillar 
is nearly as large as a man’s finger : it is of mahogany 
colour, and emits a very strong odour, whence the 
English name of the moth. The caterpillar also dis¬ 
charges a peculiar fluid, which serves to moisten the 
wood. The larval stage lasts three years, and each 
winter the caterpillar builds a cocoon inside its burrow. 
It chiefly attacks the Willow, perforating it in every 
direction, thus causing decay to set in. The larvae 
may also be found on the Elm, Ash, and the Poplar. 
There is a large family of moths, by name Sesiidce, 
all wood-borers, chiefly inhabiting Southern Europe. 
One English species is well known. The Hornet Moth, 
Trochilium apisformis, bears a strong resemblance to a 
wasp or hornet. The larva spends its life in the 
interior of the Poplar, inhabits the lower part of the 
trunk, and perforates the roots. When the insect is 
about to undergo its transformation, the caterpillar 
crawling to the entrance of the hole, partly projects 
itself, so that the perfect insect may at once emerge 
into the air. 
Closely allied to the hornet moth is the Breeze Fly 
Moth, ZEgaria asiliformis. The larva inhabits the 
Poplar. The Currant Clear-wing Moth, Sesia tipuli- 
formis, spends its larval stage inside the shoots of the 
Currant bushes, feeding op the pith. The moth is 
common, and resembles a large gnat. 
The larvae of the Wood Leopard Moth, Zeuzera aesculi, 
feeds on the wood of various trees, chiefly the Apple, 
Pear, Lime, Chestnut, and Walnut. The caterpillar 
is yellow with black spots ; the moth is not one of our 
largest, possessing white wings, with bluish black 
spots. These insects would be very destructive if they 
were only more common. 
The next wood-borer is the larva of a tiny moth, but 
a great pest to gardeners. It is known by the name of 
Waeberian Tortrix (Semasia Waeberana). The larva 
feeds on the inner bark of the Plum, Apricot, and 
Peach. Another small moth, Incurvaria capitella, one 
of the numerous Tineidae, passes its larval stage in the 
young shoots of the Currant. The moth is common, 
appears in July, and has pretty purple wings with three 
golden spots on each. 
The order Hymenoptera possesses a genus which 
causes great destruction in some districts. This is the 
genus Siricidae, allied to the Turnip fly (Athalia centi- 
foliae) and the Goosebery Fly (Nematus grossularia). 
The Siricidae are not very numerous in this country, 
inhabiting chiefly the Pine forests of the mountain¬ 
ous districts. Sirex gigas and S. juvencus are the best 
known English species. The perfect female possesses 
a long ovipositor, with its end formed of hard chitine. 
With this formidable instrument the female pierces the 
bark of living trees and deposits her eggs. The eggs 
hatch out in course of time, young caterpillars appear, 
and with their strong and peculiarly-shaped jaws at 
once set to work to burrow into the middle of the tree. 
Here they reside the whole time, burrowing about in 
all directions. When full grown the larvae spin a 
silken cocoon at the end of the tunnel, and then under¬ 
go their final transformation. The last process occupies 
about a month in summer, but if late in the season the 
perfect insect does not appear until the following 
spring. In some districts the Siricidae have wrought 
