574 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
^lay 9, 1891. 
The Amateurs’ Garden. 
SEASONABLE WORK in the GARDEN. 
Plants that like full Sunshine.—Many varie¬ 
gated and also flowering plants delight in an abundance 
of direct sunshine and full exposure to light at all 
times. Some of these that may be enumerated are 
Dracrena fragrans Lindeni, and other kinds, also 
Pandanus Veitchii variegata, Crotons, Yuccas both 
green and variegated, Pavettas, Ixoras, Bougainvilleas, 
Allamandas, Gardenias, Jasmines, and numerous others 
which the gardener may recognise for himself by the 
firm and leathery character of the leaves. 
Plants that like Sliad.8_These may often he 
determined by the thin and watery nature of their 
foliage, more especially if they come from warm or 
tropical countries. This applies to Alocasias, Cala- 
diums, Sonerilas, Gloxinias, Tococa latifolia, Miconia 
magnifica, Bertolonias, Anreetoehilus and others. 
When any of the above are to be transferred to 
dwelling-rooms or other places having a dry atmosphere, 
they must to a certain extent be hardened off by 
exposure to more light with additional ventilation 
before removal. 
Winter - flowering Plants. — The different 
batches of subjects that have been propagated with the 
view of growing them on for winter flowering should 
be carefully tended even in their earliest stages, as no 
amount of after care will compensate for neglect in 
spring and summer. Shift them on before they become 
pot bound, and keep them growing in a genial atmos¬ 
phere. This applies to Centropogon Lucyanus, 
Jacobinia Ghiesbreghtii, Libonias, Justieias, Bouvar- 
dias, Euphorbia fulgens, and other subjects. Old 
plants of the last named should be cut down and 
re-potted after the old stems commence to break. 
Deutzias.—See to the requirements of the old 
plants after they have done flowering. Young plants 
that are intended for growing on to large size should 
receive a larger-sized pot if the roots are getting 
cramped for room. Old plants may, however, be 
kept for many years in the same pot, provided the 
drainage is good, that an annual top-dressing is 
given, and liquid manure is applied when making 
growth. 
Selagunellas.—Species and varieties that are re¬ 
quired in large quantities for decorative purposes 
should be inserted in pots or pans at different times of 
the year, so as to have them in good condition at any 
given time. 
Vines. — The early Vines now carrying ripe fruit 
should enjoy a moderately dry atmosphere, with plenty 
of ventilation ; but the fact must not be overlooked 
that they require relatively more moisture at this 
period than those ripened late in the season. Keep 
the thinning well in hand in succession houses, because 
if neglected till the berries get of some size, it then 
takes more time to perform the operation, which, 
besides, is less satisfactory when accomplished. Re¬ 
move superfluous bunches from Muscats and Alicantes 
as soon as it can be perceived which are the best. This 
will assist those that remain to set better. 
Peaches.—The fruits in the early house will now 
be swelling fast and assuming colour. Assist them in 
this direction by tying down the shoots to the trellis, 
stopping them beyond the fruit, and exposing the 
latter as much as possible to the influence of light. 
Continue the syringing of the foliage until the fruit 
commences to ripen. The cleanest water obtainable 
should always be used, in order to avoid spotting the 
fruit. Close the house early so that the sun heat may 
he utilised. 
Strawberries in Pots.—Plants in fruit should 
be kept cool, airy, and the foliage dry. After the 
fruit has been gathered, the plants should be hardened 
off, then stood in the open air in a sheltered place and 
finally planted in the open ground. If the autumn 
prove favourable, a second crop may he obtained from 
a plantation so formed, and that, too, long after the 
permanent plantations have ceased to bear. 
Calceolarias. — Should there be any trace of green¬ 
fly upon the plants, fumigate them before they come 
into bloom, as tobacco smoke has an injurious effect 
upon the flowers. Allow plenty of space between the 
plants, and on no account suffer the foliage of one 
plant to interfere with or shade that of another. 
Show and Fancy Pelargoniums. — Some little 
tying will still he necessary, and close attention must 
now be given to watering, owing to the much greater 
amount of evaporation, and the activity of growth. 
Cuttings taken off now and rooted, will make useful 
plants for next year’s work. All they require is to be 
stood on a shelf or a greenhouse till they emit roots, 
after which they may be re-potted from time to time, 
as they attain size. 
Vegetable Seeds.—Sow the main crops of Scarlet 
Runners and French Beans. Make successional sowings 
of Peas and Broad Beans. The tall-growing varieties 
of Peas may be used now, as they serve to prolong the 
season considerably. Radishes, Lettuce, and similar 
subjects should he sown for successional crops where a 
constant supply is wanted. 
-- 
INSECT PLANT PESTS. 
At a meeting of the Ealing Microscopical and Natural 
History Society held early last month, Mr. J. Simpson 
read a paper on this never-failing subject of interest, 
and in view of its importance as affecting horticulture, 
a special invitation was given to the members of the 
local Gardeners’ Improvement Society, which was well 
responded to. 
Mr. Simpson said he styled his paper an introduc¬ 
tion to “ insect pests” because the subject was such an 
immense one it could be sub-divided and form the 
subject of discussion for several evenings. He pro¬ 
posed to take Professor "Westwood’s classification of 
insects. He would first treat of the crustaceans as 
represented by the woodlice. The latter were of 
considerable use as scavengers—they did not confine 
themselves to dead or decaying matter, but attacked 
living plants, such as Peaches, Mushrooms, and any¬ 
thing juicj r . They were also very partial to Orchids, 
and when numerous would destroy them. To them 
was due also the loss of many Primroses and Straw¬ 
berries. The eggs of the woodlouse were carried in a 
pouch, and hundreds of young ones might often be 
found together. No wholesale method of destroying 
them was known. They must be cut off in detail. 
Scooped-out Apples or Potatos, into which they could 
creep, made excellent traps, and constant attention to 
these would reduce their numbers. The Junius worm 
was of this order, and was known as the false wireworm. 
It was particularly fond of Peas and Beans, just as the 
seed was germinating. Dipping the seed in a weak 
solution of carbolic acid had been suggested as a 
remedy. 
Another troublesome pest was the red-spider, which 
was hardly distinguishable from the tree, having head, 
body and abdomen in one solid mass. This was in¬ 
jurious to plant life, both out-of-doors and under glass, 
in hot, dry weather sucking juice from the young life, 
French Beans forming a special object of attack. As a 
preventive, he advised constant syringing and the 
addition of insecticides to clear water. Of the thirteen 
orders of insecta mentioned by Professor "Westwood, he 
had taken eight, of which he intended to treat. To 
the first order, Coleoptera, belonged the beetles. The 
click beetle, in his opinion, did the greatest amount 
of injury to the garden. The larva of this was the 
true wireworm, which destroyed all garden and farm 
produce, gnawing the roots, and living for years in a 
grub state. Four varieties of this were indigenous to 
England. No potting material should be used without 
being first thoroughly examined to see that it was free 
from this pest, and when forming a heap potting material 
should be mixed with gas-lime. A growth of grass 
should never be allowed on the top of the compost 
heap, or the grub would establish itself there. Gas- 
lime was most useful, not only for destroying this, hut 
also for the destruction of all kinds of garden pests, as 
by the action of the air it was converted into sulphate 
of lime. 
Weevils affected Apples and Raspberries injuriously. 
Of the Hymenoptera there were many divisions, the 
number of British species being stated at 3,000. Saw- 
flies were the great pest of this order. The larva; were 
usually found in colonies underground, the caterpillars 
being f in. long, and in colour often assimilated to the 
plant on which they fed. Soft-billed birds were great 
friends in ridding gardens of this pest, the house- 
sparrow taking them for its young. He thought, 
however, that the house-sparrows, though useful, 
were getting far too numerous in the locality. 
They ate as much corn as his fowls, were very pugna¬ 
cious, and indulged in a habit of driving away insect¬ 
eating birds. The decrease of summer migrants in the 
neighbourhood was due very largely to the house 
sparrow. The tit family were very useful in the 
destruction of the sawfly, and should be fed in the 
winter to induce them to remain here. He had 
■watched three varieties picking a bone within a few 
feet of him on the previous afternoon. 
The humble-bee was injurious to Beans. Coming to 
the Lepidoptera, or scaly-winged insects, the first to be 
noticed were the common small and large white 
butterflies. Of these, the latter laid eggs in a cluster 
on the under side of a leaf, while the first laid single 
eggs in the same position. When full grown the 
caterpillar left the Cabbage, and sought some sheltered 
spot. Here the lecturer remarked that all authors 
agreed that the idea that a severe winter did good in 
killing insects was a popular error. One authority 
named some 700 British moths as being more or less 
enemies to the farm and garden. Of the species he 
(Mr. Simpson) had found troublesome, the winter moth 
was particularly injurious to the Apple. It matured 
into the perfect insect at the fall of the leaf, crept up 
the stem, and laid eggs that hatched with the expand¬ 
ing buds, which it commenced eating. The caterpillar 
matured in May, the female being unable to fly. 
The codlin-moth was another trouble, causing worm- 
eaten patches. Destroying the fruit as soon as it fell 
would prevent some of the caterpillars escaping, but it 
must be done at once, otherwise the caterpillar would 
leave the fruit, crawl up the stem, and spin a cocoon 
in a snug part of the bark. As to the attacks to which 
Apples were subject, a German entomologist gave 183 
species of insects as preying on that fruit, of which 
115 were Lepidoptera. The tiger moth, feeding upon 
almost all garden trees andshrubs, laid eggs in clusters, 
which matured gradually all through the season. The 
Cabbage moth and Turnip moth were also very destruc¬ 
tive in the neighbourhood of Ealing, and were with 
him more numerous than any other Lepidoptera. The 
wood leopard and the goat moth were also to be noticed. 
They fed on live wood , completely riddling affected 
trees. The caterpillars of the former took several 
years to mature. It had been suggested that trees 
infested with this bore better crops, but it was, to say 
the least, doubtful. To inject insecticide up the boring 
was about the best remedy. Bats were also great 
friends in ridding gardens of Lepidoptera. 
Of the Homoptera there were 350 British varieties. 
One example of this was the green-fly (aphis). He had 
a specimen, the eggs of which were deposited on a leaf 
on December 8th, 1872, and the young hatched March 
12th, 1873, when snow was on the ground, and the 
thermometer stood at 25° Fahrenheit. This insect 
was remarkable for its powers of reproduction. One 
aphis, it had been calculated, might be the mother of 
5,900,000,000 during a month or six weeks of its 
existence. Fortunately the aphidse had many enemies, 
among them being some fifty-four species of Homoptera. 
Another pest was what was known as American blight, 
although Dr. Asa Fysh protested against the idea of its 
being an importation from America. It was first 
known in England in 1787, find Sir Joseph Banks 
traced it to a nursery near London, w'hose owner had 
then recently received a consignment from the New 
World. It was first confined to the Home Counties, 
but spread throughout Europe. It possessed a most 
powerful organ to puncture the bark of the trees it 
attacked. The Phylloxera was also most destructive, 
especially in Yine-growing countries. The most 
effective remedy was to convert fields attacked by it 
into corn-fields for a season. 
The larvae of the daddy-longlegs were most destructive 
in the garden. Maggots also destroyed whole crops, 
and the best remedy for their ravages was lime-water. 
The Celery-fly inserted its eggs between the cuticles of 
the leaf, causing blister-like patches. Burning the 
affected leaves, or dashing with lime, would help to 
destroy them. He would strongly advise the burning 
of all garden refuse, believing that rubbish heaps were 
the cause of much trouble, giving the garden pests snug 
quarters. From molluscs he had been almost free, 
owing to the destruction of snails by blackbirds and 
thrushes. It was interesting to watch the birds at 
their work, and he would willingly give them the 
fruit they took as a set-off. Some means, he also 
thought, should be taken to prevent the craze for 
killing everything that flies, and calling it sport. As 
to slugs, the only birds he had seen attacking them 
were ducks. He was not certain as to frogs attacking 
them. A proof that the severe winter did not greatly 
affect the latter was found in the fact that those in his 
pond spawned last year on March 16th, and this year 
they spawned only five days later. 
Hedgehogs were amongst the friends of the gardener, 
destroying molluscs. He had thus attempted to show 
how to help nature to maintain a balance, to work out 
her own action. In many instances we interfered in a 
manner detrimental to our own interests—amongst 
other things, in killing birds of prey. Every owl 
killed was equivalent to the loss of a sack of corn, and 
he hoped the Selborne Society would take the matter 
up, and by assisting the maintenance of a more even 
balance, relieve us of garden pests. 
