January 5 , 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
295 
like coddling should be tolerated if sturdy, well- 
grown specimens are required. Occasional doses of 
weak liquid manure will be of great service as the 
pots become filled with roots, and in the event of 
green fly putting in an appearance, two or three 
light fumigations may be administered. 
Bedding Stuff. —A word of caution with regard 
to the use of the watering-can among plants of this 
description may be necessary. Keep all well upon 
the dry side or damp will soon play havoc with a 
large part of the stock. Air must be given liberally 
whenever the weather is mild enough, and always as 
early in the morning as practicable. 
Cold frames which contain Violets, border Carna¬ 
tions, etc., may have the lights pulled off them 
during mild and dry days ; in wet weather, however, 
the lights should be tilted up from behind to admit 
the requisite fresh air.— A. S. G. 
-•*-- 
Cropping. 
With the advent of the New Year there is always 
many things that require attention, and not the 
least amongst them is the arrangement of the 
kitchen garden crops for the ensuing season. This, 
in itself, is no light task where the requirements are 
heavy, and the space limited, for where such is the 
case, special attention must be paid to each and 
every crop in order that the ground may at no time 
be unoccupied. This, in my opinion, is one of the 
most important branches of kitchen gardening. It 
is easy enough to plant a piece of ground eight or 
ten acres where only one crop has to be taken from 
it, but if a kitchen garden is only half that size and 
is made to produce more than the greater acreage, 
this shows that a large amount of skill and fore¬ 
thought must have been brought to bear on the sub¬ 
ject. 
We will, as an instance, take a catch crop, say 
early Cauliflower. Most gardeners know what an 
important vegetable this is, particularly after a hard 
winter, when most of the Broccoli have been killed. 
There are, however, but few who study it in its true 
worth. It should not be one to occupy the ground 
for any length of time, but what can follow it may 
be asked, as the season will be far advanced for many 
crops before this would be cleared away. Let us for 
a moment see. The plants that were protected in 
cold frames during the winter will be ready to plant 
out the first week in April, likewise those raised 
from seed sown on a hot bed or in pans early in 
January. Now as these in all ordinary seasons will 
turn in from the end of May till the first week in July, 
the crop that is to succeed them should be arranged 
for. Suppose it is Peas. Then every second row 
should be planted 4 ft. apart; this would leave a 
space between so that the seed could be sown ten 
days or a fortnight before the Cauliflowers were 
ready to cut, as by so doing the seed crop would be 
advanced by that length of time. The ground 
would also be settled down so that the dry weather 
in summer would not take such effect of it. 
The same would be the case if Runner Beans were 
sown. With early Peas it is usual to have some 
crops between them that can be cleared off at the 
same time, and, if a little more space be allowed 
between the rows, there would be but little difficulty 
in securing some dwarf crops such as Lettuce, early 
Spinach, Radishes, or Turnips. These early crops 
in themselves are very important, inasmuch as they 
could be arranged so as to make room for succes- 
sional ones, warm borders in most places being sadly 
needed in winter for such crops as Lettuce, Endive, 
Early Broccoli, and late Cauliflower, as well as 
Parsley, Carrots, and many others that require a 
little protection. Let us also see how such as Celery 
can be planted with advantage. 
In some gardens space can be found for such 
crops as Brussels Sprouts and Broccoli without 
them having to succeed others, or be planted 
amongst them ; this is not so in all gardens, for they 
have to be planted between the rows of Potatos or 
follow crops that have been early lifted, therefore, 
such ground is not available for Celery. Where 
Broccoli, however, is cleared off such ground would 
be available for taking out the trenches, and, if 
sufficient space be allowed between them, late Peas 
might be sown on the ridges. Dwarf Beans are a 
crop that do not occupy the ground for any length 
of time, therefore, these might also be sown with 
advantage in such positions. The difficulty in most 
places is to find room for the summer crops, such as 
Turnips, Spinach, and summer Cauliflowers, there¬ 
fore it would be well if every gardener would 
arrange his cropping early in the season .—Kitchen 
Gardener. 
- 
Stoking. —After an exceptionally mild Christmas 
we are at last face to face with "Jack Frost,’’ and as 
success in the culture of Orchids depends in a great 
measure on the judicious use of fire heat during the 
winter months, a few hints on stoking may be of 
service. I always maintain that the fires should be 
well in hand in the afternoon, the bars clean, the 
ash-pit empty, and the fire bright, so that the man 
on night duty will find it all plain sailing, for nothiog 
tries a man’s temper more on taking over the fires 
than to find them dead and the temperature low, 
and requiring constant attention up to a late hour 
perhaps before the banking up for the night can be 
done with safety. I am not an advocate for keeping 
the thermometer at one fixed point in all weathers. 
A range of 5 0 either way, if in harmony with the 
outside temperature, is, I think, much better for the 
plants. An objectionable arid atmosphere, caused 
by the over-heating of the pipes, takes a lot of 
vitality out of the plants, and Laelia anceps blooms 
will curl up as if fertilised through the dry harsh 
heat. I grant that the flowers are delicate, but if it 
injures them so it does the plants, but in a lesser 
degree perhaps. Damping the walls and paths the 
last thing at night will do much to counteract the 
injurious influences of hard firing. It is also a good 
plan to have some dry logs at hand, so as to get up a 
quick fire in the morning, should the temperatures 
be lower than usual. 
The Fuel Bill might be kept down by covering 
the houses where possible with mats. Some use the 
blinds, but there is some difficulty in rolling them up 
at day-break on account of their having become 
frozen. 
Coelogyne cristata. —Next to Dendrobium 
nobile there is no more useful Orchid than this. 
No matter what garden one visits there are sure to 
be a few plants of this beautiful winter flowering 
plant, which proves its popularity amongst amateurs. 
It is now pushing up its spikes, and should, where 
possible, be afforded a position near the glass, where 
it can get plenty of light. Small plants may be sus¬ 
pended with advantage; this will prevent the spikes 
from going off as they sometimes do under less 
favourable conditions. 
Phaj us grandifolius is another favourite amongst 
amateurs, and to their credit be it said that it is 
generally found in much better condition with them 
than in establishments that boast of a large collec¬ 
tion. The reason is perhaps that they are given a 
more general compost to grow in, and are not 
coddled, but grown as they are most times with a 
mixed collection of stove plants, they get more 
nourishment in the way of liquid manure than they 
otherwise would, and are in no ways treated as an 
aristocrat. 
Temperature. —East India house, 6o° at night ; 
Cattleya house, 55 0 at night; cool house, 48° at 
night, with a rise by day according to the weather. 
A few degrees lower on very severe nights than 
those quoted above will do no harm.— C. 
-* 1 — — 
©leanings front tin; Porli* 
of Science 
Earwigs and their Habits. —There are two very 
common species of earwig in this country, but so 
closely similar are they to one another that to the 
ordinary observer they are simply earwigs. Of the 
two there is little doubt that Forficula auricularia is 
the most common. The other is F. borealis, a 
name given to it from the fact of its being first 
detected in the north of England and in Scotland. 
They come out of their hiding places chiefly at 
night to feed and also to migrate when that way 
inclined. Few gardeners have ever seen an earwig 
upon the wing, but that is easily accounted for, as 
they do not appear to use their wings very often. 
The wings are, however, well developed and neatly 
folded away under the wing cases, just behind the 
shoulder. The strong forceps or forks at the tail- 
end are used for folding and unfolding the ample 
wings, and it is believed they fly by moonlight. This 
would account for their appearance, sometimes, in 
vast numbers in gardens where they are usually not 
very numerous. When the female lays her oval 
cluster of small, yellow eggs, she broods upon then 
like a hen, and Continues her motherly care even 
after the young are hatched. The latter resemb'e 
the parents except in size and the absence of wings. 
The pupae develop short wing cases, but are active 
like the young and the adults. All stages may be 
found in company during August and September. 
On the advance of cold weather they retreat under 
stones, into crevices of walls, and beneath the loose 
bark of old trees, where they remain in a half 
dormant condition till the weather again becomes 
warm. Dry places are at all times more suited to 
their likings than wet ones, as gardeners well know, 
but a wet season does not seem to hinder their de¬ 
predations in any appreciable degree. Gardeners 
almost universally regard earwigs as unmitigated 
enemies, but they are carnivorous as well as 
vegetable feeders. 
Beneficial Aspects of Earwigs. —As vegetable 
feeders, the destructive tendencies of earwigs are 
well known to gardeners, and herein lies the indict¬ 
ment against them. Some naturalists, however, 
speak of the indirect services which earwigs render 
man in destroying other of his enemies, and in this 
lies the extenuating circumstance, the only plea 
which can be brought forward on their behalf. To 
be able to place this in the balance against their de¬ 
predations the naturalist should also be the owner of 
a garden, so as to fully comprehend the nature and 
amount of the injury caused by them The pro¬ 
babilities are that he would soon get biased against 
them, whatever the good services they might other¬ 
wise render. They feed upon and destroy aphides 
and thrips, which they find in or about the flowers 
they frequent. They also attack bees, particularly 
some of the wild ones, several species of which they 
almost exterminate, devouring the bees, their young, 
and also the food of the latter indifferently, this 
advantage is a doubtful one. Being cannibals, 
earwigs devour one another when pressed for want 
of food ; with their powerful jaws they clip the body 
in pieces, rejecting the horny portions of the head 
and the forks at the tail. Yet when food is 
plentiful they seem to live peacefully in communities 
or parties, old and young together. 
Earwigs as Vegetable Feeders. —The flowers 
of Dahlias are special favourites with them, and in 
dry seasons and dry situations the plants get dis¬ 
figured by their immense numbers. Chrysanthe¬ 
mums are injured to a smaller extent by them as a 
rule, but the flowers of Carnations in some seasons 
get decimated by them. As the buds expand, and 
the calyx splits, it may be along one side, the depre¬ 
dators gnaw through some of the petals till they get 
into the centre, where they reside and quickly cut 
through every petal, which falls out, so that the 
flowers never fully expand. They also eat the 
pollen of various flowers and do harm in various 
ways, but they most frequently Cjme under the 
notice and ban of the gardener when they exhibit 
their destructive tendencies amongst his favourite 
flowers. Considering that aphides and thrips live 
and multiply even where earwigs are plentiful, the 
arguments in favour of this pest are comparatively 
valueless. Soft fruits, such as Apricots and Peaches, 
often suffer great injury from the same enemy. 
Enemies of Earwigs.— The smaller birds and 
reptiles prey upon earwigs, but the Devil’s Coach 
Horse (Ocypus olens), a black beetle, similar in 
shape to earwigs, but larger, devours the latter at 
the rate of four an hour when feeding. This 
ferocious creature clips up the earwigs with the 
utmost ease and facility, eating the soft and rejecting 
the hard portions, precisely as the latter serve one 
another in times of scarcity. Man must also be 
reckoned amongst the enemies of this common pest. 
Insecticides are of no avail in this case, so that the 
usual methods of trapping have to be depended upon 
to keep down the numbers of the insects amongst 
flowers. Hollow stems make useful traps, and so do 
small inverted pots filled with dry moss and placed 
on the top of the flower stakes. 
