Dec. 6th, 1884. 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
221 
more, the colour variable from pale-earthy to deep 
slaty-grey, and I have seen specimens from peaty soils 
which were almost black. 
Towards June and July (or when full grown) the 
grubs cease eating and turn to chrysalids, standing 
upright half out of the ground. 
The eggs are small and black, like grains of gun¬ 
powder, and very numerous—up to as many as three 
hundred in one female ; and it is towards autumn 
that the chief egg-laying takes place. Then, more or 
less, the flies swarm about damp shelters, such as 
rough grass, hedge-sides, marshy meadows, or the 
like; but they spread also over pasture or clover-ley, 
where there is suitable shelter for the eggs and food 
for the young grubs, and where, consequently (after 
seasons favourable to them), the grubs are to be found 
ia the ground in thousands, and are ready in mild 
winters to begin their ravages in January or 
February. 
Where young corn is infested, probably the best 
that can be done is to keep up its strength by the 
application of some fertilizer which will act well, 
at once in pushing on a good growth, and at the same 
time make the ground obnoxious to the grubs, and 
also difficult for them to pass through. 
For these joint purposes a mixture of salt is good, 
for to a certain extent salt “ firms ” the surface ; but 
it is not good alone, for it does not push on growth fast 
enough ; therefore guano or other fertilizers are useful 
with it, and the following mixtures have answered in 
bringing crops well through bad attackGuano and 
salt mixed at about the rate of 4 cwt. per acre; also 
guano 1J cwt., salt 2 cwt., kainit and superphosphate 
each 1 cwt. per acre. 
Nitrate of soda would be likely to do good as being 
a rapid fertilizer, and so obnoxious to the grub. A 
mixture of nitrate of soda and salt has proved useful 
(after rolling with a Cambridge roller and harrowing) 
at the rate of 2 tons of salt and J ton of nitrate of 
soda to about 12 acres—that is, a little more than 
3 cwt. of salt and a little less than 1 cwt. of the nitrate 
per acre. But in whatever form it may be applied, a 
good fertilizer, if the weather will allow it to act, is sure 
to be of some use. 
Chemicals of a simply destructive sort, such as 
dilute carbolic acid, vitriol (sulphate of copper), &c., 
have been found quite to fail in killing the grub in the 
field, as their effect is weakened in passing through 
the earth. 
Hand-picking has answered in very bad attacks, 
especially where field Cabbages are grown, or amongst 
Potatos. The worker stirs the grubs out with one 
hand by means of any convenient implement and 
throws them into some vessel carried in the other, 
and_is paid so much the quart. Where the grubs lie 
in large numbers along drills they may easily be seen, 
and, though the work is tedious, it makes a sure 
clearance. 
But what is really most wanted about Daddy Longlegs 
attack is prevention applied well beforehand. Where 
attack is regularly present, of course the well-known 
measures of draining damp meadows and rough 
mowing, &c., are useful; but as one of the head¬ 
quarters of serious attack is shown year by year to be 
from grubs in broken-up pasture and clover-ley, 
this point especially needs attention. 
The female fly chooses spots where there will be 
shelter for the egg and food for the grub, and therefore 
brush-harrowing or feeding sheep on the land, or any 
treatment to stir up the surface or poison it for egg- 
laying, is useful before breaking up. 
Any of the common chemical agricultural dressings 
to the land before breaking up which have been found 
to be of use against wireworm attack would probably 
serve as well in the present case. Such are—lime 
fresh from the kiln, applied hot; gas-lime at the rate 
of 2 cwt. per acre if fresh, or a larger amount if about 
six months from the works ; salt at the rate of from 
5 cwt. to 12 cwt. per acre; and also lime and salt 
mixed. 
Salt applied to the lea ground before ploughing is 
found highly serviceable. 
It does no harm to kill the surface herbage before 
ploughing in, and therefore a heavy dressing of salt 
which will kill Couch-grass would be of service ; or 
caustic gas-lime which will first act as a clearer of 
p ant and insect-vermin, and will presently turn, after 
exposure and mixture with the soil, to a manure of 
the nature of gypsum. 
An eye should also be given to the condition of 
compost-heaps of rotten turf, or trimmings from ditch- 
sides, or of neglected manure-heaps which have been 
allowed to become weed-grown, as Daddy Longlegs 
grubs are often to be found in numbers in such 
localities, and carried thence on the land. 
Thorough cultivation is very important, as the 
thriving crop will hold its way, where an unkindly 
growth would fail under attack without the help (and 
additional outlay) of fertilizing dressings,— E. A. 
Ormerod, in The Agricultural Gazette. 
A RUSTIC ARCH. 
Some of our readers may be glad of a hint on the 
construction of a rustic archway such as is afforded 
by the illustration below. The sketch represents one 
half of an easily-made, yet very effective, arch in Sir 
John Jones Jenkins’ garden at The Grange, Swansea, 
the other half being identical in form, but about 2 ft. 
away from the first, the whole being clothed with 
climbers, and having a fine bold effect in the pleasure 
ground. The walk on either side is planted with 
Evergreens, Boses, and other plants, forming a neat 
A RUSTIC ARCH. 
setting for the arch, which is made of young Spruce 
Firs with the branches cut off. Mr. Linton, the 
gardener at The Grange, obligingly informs us that 
the width over all is about 10 ft.; and the height of 
the side-posts 12 ft. To the spring of the arch the 
height is 8 ft., and to the highest point 16 ft. 
fe* 1 «— zD ■ ■ 
FLORICULTURE. 
Auriculas in December.—I hope some of the 
readers of The Gardening World are cultivators of 
Auriculas in pots. They are so interesting in all 
stages of their growth, and so charming when in 
flower, that it is not to be wondered at, if those who 
cultivate them successfully are loud in their praises. 
As with many other flowers, so with the Auricula. 
Success with this fascinating subject is much a matter 
of knack, and by knack I mean a line of culture based 
upon experience. When a man takes up a certain 
flower, he may be said to get to so completely under¬ 
stand it and its requirements, that he anticipates its 
wants and necessary conditions; and then it seldom 
goes wrong with him. Hence it is that young culti¬ 
vators of the Auricula (young in point of time) 
go astray in their cultural routine, and the plants 
suffer. 
Experienced cultivators wisely recommend begin¬ 
ners to commence with sorts of little value, and as 
they succeed with these, attach to their collections 
sorts of higher merit and value. Not that it is to be 
assumed the more valuable varieties are more difficult 
to cultivate, as this does not hold good in all cases. 
When there is a demand for a valuable Auricula, it 
has to be propagated as much as possible, and this 
has a certain weakening effect, so that a young plant 
has to be managed with care until it has gained a 
sufficient amount of vigour. Now a beginner with 
Auriculas in pots might content himself at starting 
with a moderately-priced collection as follows 
Green-edged: Anna (Trail), General Neil (Trail), 
Imperator (Litton), Lovely Ann (Oliver), New Green 
(Headly), and Bev. George Jeans (Trail). 
Grey - edged : C. E. Brown (Headly), Colonel 
Champneys (Turner), General Bolivar (Smith), Biehard 
Headly (Lightbody), Bobert Trail (Lightbody), and 
Sophia (Chapman). 
White-edge : Arabella (Headly), Beauty (Trail), 
Earl Grosvenor (Lee), Mrs. Campbell (Campbell), True 
Briton (Hepworth), and Smiling Beauty (Heap). 
Seles : Blackbird (Spalding), C. J. Perry (Turner), 
Lord of Lome (Lightbody), Mrs. Smith (Smith), 
Pizarro (Campbell), Buby (Bead), and Topsy (Kay). 
Then when desirous of adding to his collection, he 
should endeavour to obtain the following :— 
Green-edged : Colonel Taylor (Leigh), Talisman 
(Simonite), Freedom (Booth), and Prince of Greens 
(Trail). 
Grey-edged : Alexander Meiklejohn (Kay), Frank 
Simonite (Simonite), George Lightbody (Headly), 
Lancashire Hero (Lancashire), and Victor (Bead). 
White-edged: Acme (Bead),Conservative (Douglas), 
Sylvia (Douglas), and John Simonite (Simonite). 
Selfs: Bingdove (Homer), Mr. Douglas (Simonite), 
and Cymbeline (Mellor). 
Now is a good time to obtain plants, and they 
would, of course, be delivered in pots. If obtained 
from some well-known grower, they would be nice 
young plants that should flower next spring. The 
season, right up to the present, has been so open and 
so drying that more water has had to be given to the 
plants than usual, and they have kept active until a 
much later period of the year. It is natural that at 
this season of the year the plants should become 
dormant—it is the resting period when the summer 
foliage dies away—leaving only a mere plump filbert¬ 
like centre of leaves. But they must not be neglected. 
They should be gone over occasionally, to remove 
decaying leaves, and to carefully stir the surface soil, 
and to see that none of the plants are suffering for 
want of water. But little water is necessary during 
November, December, and January, except that it be 
called for through the peculiar nature of the season 
above referred to. 
I think it is a mistake to keep the plants too dry, 
and if I find one that is what is termed dust-dry, I 
make a practice of immersing it in a pail of water up 
to the rim of the pot, keeping it there until the ball of 
soil and roots are thoroughly saturated, and then 
returning it to the house or frame after it has drained 
thoroughly. Some growers say, give only sufficient 
water to keep the, leaves from shrivelling, but it is 
obvious, when the result comes about, the points of 
the roots must shrivel in common with the leaves, and 
harmful results must follow. During the time air can 
be given to the plants with advantage, open the lights 
of the frames or the windows of the house, and let it 
pass through unchecked. 
I may say of my own plants that they occupy a 
raised stage in a house having a north exposure, and 
therefore dry faster than they would in a low frame. 
When I give air, which is freely while the weather is 
mild, I open the house on the opposite side to 
that on which the wind is blowing. I allow it to 
blow freely upon the plants. Besides the little 
attention mentioned, all that remains to be done of 
an important character is to prepare a compost for 
top dressing in February, or as soon as the weather 
proves favourable for the purpose. 
A compost for top dressing should be rich, and it is 
a good plan to enrich an ordinary potting compost by 
adding to it some well decomposed sheep or cow 
manure ; mixing it together before it is to be used, so 
that it may be at hand when wanted.— R. D. 
