562 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 4, 1889. 
be said as to its value for planting in the town garden. 
In early spring, too, the flowers are produced—a 
valuable quality when our gardens and lawns look dull 
and cheerless. Of very free growth, this pretty shrub 
succeeds in any fairly good soil, and soon forms a 
handsome specimen severaL feet in height. 
Lilacs have few equals as town shrubs ; indeed, 
taking everything into due consideration, it would, in 
my opinion, be good advice to plant these first, 
whatever else might follow. They succeed admirably 
in the worst and most smoky parts of London, and 
there put on an appearance during early summer that it 
would be difficult to match even in the sheltered 
country garden. To stick to the commonly cultivated 
species (Syringa vulgaris) is quite unnecessary, for 
recently-carried-out experiments clearly prove that 
many of the finer forms are equally applicable. I 
would particularly recommend the Siberian and Persian. 
All are of free growth, non-fastidious as to soil or site, 
and easily propagated. 
The Kentucky Coefee Tree (Gymnoeladus cana¬ 
densis) can ill be spared from any list of suitable 
subjects for the town garden, it having been proved 
to be an excellent plant for withstanding smoke and 
the generally deleterious effects of an impure atmosphere. 
The racemes of white flowers are particularly showy 
and interesting.— A. D. TV. 
-->IEo-- 
THE LUNGWORTS. 
Many of the old-fashioned border plants might with 
advantage be brought into greater prominence than 
they are at present. "Whether in flower or not, the 
foliage of such as Pulmonaria officinalis and P. 
saccharata are beautifully blotched with white spots, 
and this is seen to best advantage on the leaves that 
are produced in summer after the flower-stems have 
died away. The generic name is taken from pulmo, 
pulmonis, a lung, and has reference to the spotted 
foliage, which was considered by our superstitious 
ancestors to resemble diseased lungs, for which they 
were supposed to be a remedy. For every disease that 
afflicted mankind there was supposed to be a remedy in 
some plant, generally, if not always, to be found in 
the locality in which the particular ailment originated. 
Hence we find the common species, P. officinalis, 
retaining its name as the Lungwort of the shops, or 
the officinal Lungwort. We can still, however, 
admire the plants for the beauty of their changeable 
flowers when there is comparatively little variety in 
the open borders in spring. A considerable number of 
species have been described in old botanical books, but 
after the separation of the smooth glaucous-leaved 
species to form the genus Mertensia, and the reduction 
of many names to mere synonyms, the number of 
distinct species became reduced to four. All have 
rough hairy leaves, and in general are easily recognised. 
P. saccharata.— The amount of spotting on the 
leaves is variable, but on some forms is really beautiful. 
It is the first species to come into flower when winter 
gives place to spring, and has already been in bloom a 
month or more. The radical leaves are the largest of 
any in the genus, and are oval, tapering to both ends, 
while those on the stem are long and linear. The 
flowers expand in varying shades of pink or red. We 
frequently meet with this plant in gardens under the 
name of P. siberica, but the latter is a Mertensia with 
quite a different aspect. Other synonyms are P. 
grandiflora, P. stiriaca and P. oblongata. It is a 
native of Europe, and was introduced to this country 
in 1817. This as well as other species are easily 
cultivated in any good garden soil, and are propagated 
by division of the somewhat fleshy rootstock, before 
growth has made any considerable advance in spring. 
P. officinalis. — This is no doubt the most widely 
distributed species in gardens, and may frequently be 
found in villa as well as cottage gardens, where it 
enjoys a variety of names, such as Sage of Bethlehem, 
Joseph’s Coat, Thunder and Lightning. The second 
of these names has no doubt reference to the spotting 
of the leaves and the changeable character of the 
flowers, which expand of a pink or red hue, and 
ultimately become blue. It would be difficult to 
assign a reason for the last name, unless the flowers 
have been fancifully compared to the livid flare of 
lightning under certain conditions of the atmosphere 
or distance from the spectator. The leaves are 
variously spotted, rarely without spots at all. There 
is a white-flowered variety (P. officinalis alba) fre¬ 
quently met with under cultivation and occasionally 
in a wild state on the Continent. It is a native of 
Europe, including England and Scotland, but in this 
country, however, it is not very common in a wild state. 
P. angustifolia. —The narrow-leaved Lungwort is 
far less common in gardens than the last named, 
although its distribution is somewhat similar in a wild 
state. It is very local, however, in this country, and 
occurs in Hampshire, including the Isle of Wight, where 
it is now flowering handsomely. Some authorities 
consider it a variety of P. officinalis, but it is very 
distinct, and may be recognised by its narrow un¬ 
spotted leaves and lively blue flowers. They are pink 
when they first expand, but soon change to a bright 
blue, and has not inaptly been called the Blue Cowslip 
in popular nomenclature. It grows from 6 ins. to 
12 ins. in height, and the radical leaves are narrow 
and have long stalks. It has been named P. azurea 
by one botanist, and P. tuberosa by another. 
P. mollis.— In general appearance this species is 
intermediate between P. angustifolia and P. saccharata, 
having the narrow unspotted leaves of the former with 
more of the size of those of the latter. The plant grows 
generally about 10 ins. in height, flowering in April 
and May, with bright blue flowers. Another distinc¬ 
tion by which it may be separated from P. angustifolia, 
is that the calyx is longer than the tube of the corolla. 
The species is a native of Europe and Siberia, and was 
first introduced in 1805. It is sometimes named P. 
dahurica, or the Siberian Pulmonaria.— F. 
-- 
GARDEN INSECTS* 
The subject which claims our Attention this evening is 
one of vital importance to every gardener. If he has 
only one plant under his care, that is liable to the 
attack of one or more species of insects, which will 
delight to feed on its nutritious constituents. They 
are ever a source of care and worry to the horticulturist, 
and our chief object is not only to destroy them when 
we observe their presence, but to keep our plants in 
such a condition as not to harbour, or encourage 
insects. Knowing then the evils and dangers of those 
insects we desire to know more about their structure 
and habits, so that we may be better able to deal with 
our enemies. This, then, being our chief object, we 
desire to have a rough syllabus which we can follow in 
a systematic manner, and impress it upon our minds, 
so that we may put it to practical use. 
Definition of an Insect. 
A true insect possesses six legs, has normally four 
wings, and is divided into three sections—viz., head, 
thorax or chest, and abdomen or the lower parts. We 
cannot keep to this strict technical definition, for it 
would exclude a good many of our injurious pests, such 
as Onion-fly, Cabbage-fly, Carrot-fly, and Turnip-leaf 
fly, which possess only two perfect wings instead of 
four ; and we find the red-spider in possession of eight 
legs, whilst a true insect has only six. There are 
many other minor differences, which will, however, 
not deter us from examining those that are the most 
mischievous to gardeners. In this great division alone 
we have something like 180,000 species of insects, each 
having a remarkable history of its own. 
Parts of an Insect. 
An insect is divided into three important parts— 
namely, the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. To 
the head belongs the proboscis, the eyes, and the 
antenme. The proboscis, or mouth of insects, is of two 
kinds — those which exist by biting, as beetles, 
earwigs, thrips, and many others which belong to the 
division called Mandibulata, from the Latin mando, to 
chew. The other kind of mouth or proboscis is for 
sucking purposes, and though in possession of the same 
organs as the Mandibulata division, yet only in a 
modified form. These insects belong to the Hau- 
stellata division, from haustellum, meaning a trunk 
for sucking. Examples in bugs, green and black-fly, 
scale, and many other insects. The eyes are fixed in 
the head, that is, they are immovable. They are also 
of two kinds, simple and compound. The simple ones 
are placed three together, and form a triangle on the 
top of the head, which guide the insect in its flight. 
The compound eyes are two in number, and are made 
up of facets or simple eyes to the number of thousands. 
These compound eyes are on the side of the head. The 
house-fly has 4,000 facets, the cockchafer 9,000, 
the dragon-fly 24,000, and in one species of butterfly 
34,650 facets have been counted. From experiments 
it has been proved that the simple eyes, or ocelli, as 
they are technically called, are designed for looking 
upwards, whilst the compound or facile eyes are for 
horizontal and downward vision. 
Antenna: of Insects. 
Antennce in Latin means a sail-yard. They are com¬ 
monly termed feelers, and are valuable acquisitions to 
"A paper read by Mr. S. Heaton, Claye House Gardens, before 
the Keighley and District Gardeners Association. 
the insect family. When at rest they are placed in 
various positions—sometimes above, at other times 
beneath, whilst again we find them placed alongside 
the body of the insect, and, in other instances, re¬ 
ceptacles are prepared for their reception and protection. 
In some insects they are long and slender, in others 
short and thick, with very few segments compared to 
those of the former. In the larval state they are im¬ 
perfectly formed. They are used not only as feelers, 
but for smelling and hearing, also to balance them in 
their flight, and as organs for communication with 
their brethren. 
Thorax. 
The thorax of a fly is divided into three segments, each 
carrying a pair of legs. The first segment is termed 
the pro-thorax, which is from the Greek, and means 
the first or anterior part ; the second is called meso- 
thorax, the word meso signifying middle ; and the third is 
termed meta-thorax, from the Greek meta, meaning the 
latter or posterior part. The wings are also attached to 
the thorax. 
Ahdomen. 
This part contains the organs of reproduction, which 
are of two kinds. Eggs are produced by oviparous 
insects, as the beetle; and young are produced alive by 
the viviparous insects, such as Cabbage green-fly (Aphis 
Brassicse). 
Stages of Insect Life. 
There are four stages of insect life, the first being the 
egg from which proceeds the larva, a vague form of 
what the perfect will be. In this stage they are often 
vivacious, and will consume in a very few days many 
times their own weight. The pupa is a still higher 
development of the larva, and is of four kinds, one 
being semi-complete, active, resembling the parent, but 
having only rudiments of wings as in locusts, beetles, 
crickets, and dragon-flies. A second kind is incomplete, 
inactive, but with rudimentary wings and legs as in 
bees and beetles. A third kind is termed Obtected, 
with only the thorax and abdomen distinct, inclosed in 
a scaly covering, including butterflies and moths. A 
fourth form of pupa is termed Coarctate, that is, enclosed 
within a plain, globular or oval case, formed of the last 
skin of the larva, such for example as flies. In this 
stage there is the arranging of the parts. The imago 
signifies the image or likeness of the perfect insect. 
After the pupa has fully developed, the outer skin 
gives way, and then the insect issues forth on the last 
stage of life. This work is not performed in an instant, 
but slowly. 
Uses of Insects. 
It is a common opinion amongst gardeners that insects 
are of no good whatever, an opinion which is a great 
mistake, though some of them had better be outside 
than inside our gardens. The great uses of insects are 
as scavengers of dead matter, as food for insectivorous 
plants, and to promote fertilisation. They also feed 
upon one another, and so lessen their numbers when 
too plentiful. "We are all familiar with the Droseras 
or Sundews, the Dionea muscipula or Venus’ Fly-trap, 
and the Pitcher Plants, which are the principal, though 
there are many other insectivorous plants. "Without 
entering fully into a series of experiments, I will briefly 
give you the results of Charles Darwin’s researches, 
which were carried on with great care and accuracy, 
and are now of great value to all horticulturists and 
scientists in general. Insectivorous plants fed on 
insects along with other nutritious subjects are healthier, 
more prolific, and heavier than those deprived of such 
rich food. If an unfed plant possess 100 leaves, one 
fed with insects would average 156'9. If an unfed 
plant has 100 flower-stems, one fed would have 149 T. 
If the total weight of a plant after the flower-stems had 
been taken average 100, one fed on insects would 
average 121‘5. If the total number of seeds average 
100, one fed by insects would average 122 7. More 
than that, if the average weight of a seed is 100, one 
that had been favoured by insects would average 157‘36. 
These and many other experiments all go to prove the 
value of insects to a certain class of plants. 
Their value as assistants to fertilisation is undoubted. 
Each species has its own work to perform—one cannot 
do it for another. This cannot be better proved than 
in the fertilisation of Clover, which requires the presence 
of the humble-bee, the proboscis of the hive-bee not 
being long enough to effect the object. On this alone 
depends, to a great extent, the possibility of a large 
crop of seed. The same is the case with Scarlet Runners 
in Nicaragua, according to a Mr. Bell. This fertili¬ 
sation is not only carried on by insects, but an authority 
says by even spiders and snails. The reason why such 
assistance is required is because of the ripening of the 
anthers and the readiness of the stigma to accept the 
