May 27, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
611 
WAKEFIELD PAXTON 
SOCIETY. 
This flourishing society held its usual weekly meet¬ 
ing on the 20th inst., at the Saw Hotel. A good 
number of members were present and Mr. Whitely 
was voted to the chair, and Mr. Brown, of Hatfield 
Hall Gardens, Wakefield, to the vice-chair. The 
proceedings commenced at 8.15 p.m., and after the 
adoption of the minutes of the last meeting the 
Chairman, in words appropriate to the occasion, called 
upon Mr. G. Hudson, of Wooley Park Gardens, who 
had promised an essay on the “ Rhododendron.” 
The paper treated on Rhododendrons, greenhouse 
and hardy, andjembraced methods of propagation by 
seed and grafting, their treatment as to pot culture 
and in the open air, the preparation of soil and that 
most suitable to the hardy species ; the method of 
planting and their arrangements in groups and beds 
and also the selection of varieties. 
An apt and beautiful illustration to a very practi¬ 
cal and interesting paper, was a fine display of cut 
Rhododendrons from the Woolley collection, also 
some splendid types of the Ghent Azaleas, most 
varied in colour and generally sweet-scented. Other 
members of the society also contributed cut blooms, 
and the whole formed quite a Rhododendron show. 
Great attention was paid by an appreciative audience, 
and an unanimous vote of thanks was accorded to 
Mr. Hudson, who was by no means new to the mem¬ 
bers in the capacity of essayist. 
A discussion followed chiefly in relation to the 
time of sowing the seed and the good results proved 
to be attained by the removal of the seed pods. Cut 
blooms of a good strain of Calceolarias were also 
exhibited from Woolley Park Gardens, and were the 
subject of much favourable comment, Mr. Hudson 
being well-known in the district as a very successful 
grower. The society is fortunate in-so-much that it 
includes amongst its members some of the leading 
business men of a busy city, and no doubt its 
flourishing condition is in a great measure due to 
their support. At the close of the meeting the 
blooms exhibited were sold, the proceeds going 
towards a subscription to the Gardeners' Orphan 
Fund. 
insect" life. 
An inevitable consequence of such a season as this 
—a season drier, warmer, and in brief more 
altogether satisfactory to a man who has no grass or 
roots to think of, than most of us can clearly 
remember—is the abundance of all kinds of insect 
life. More favourable conditions for insects of all 
kinds (says a writer in the Daily News) could not be 
imagined, and if the drought continues the result 
can hardly fail to be most disastrous to crops of all 
descriptions. Swarms of destructive caterpillars 
have ruined already the prospects of the fruit growers 
of Normandy. There is hardly a point in our 
economy which is not the object of attack from some 
member or other of the insect world. Our grain 
and roots, our fruit and timber trees, our cattle, our 
houses, our books, and our clothing are all destroyed. 
Our very selves are not secure. There are even 
insects which can cut their way through plates of 
metal. At this moment our gardens are haunted by 
crowds of butterflies, whose grace and beauty are 
forgotten when we reflect what brings the insects 
there; when we remember that these exquisite 
creatures will probably be parents of hosts of 
voracious grubs, which, were it not for the ceaseless 
labours of tit and blackbird, and the much calumniated 
sparrow, would sweep our gardens clear of all green 
things. The present year is remarkable already for the 
great abundance of some kinds of butterflies. Some 
that we see are worn, frayed and faded, survivors 
from last year, that have slept through the winter. 
But there are others, born in this beautiful weather, 
whose untarnished wings lend still more beauty to 
the summer day. We have no quarrel with the 
brimstone that like a gleam of sunshine flits along 
the woodland path. The orange tip, whose wings 
might have been tinged with sunset-gold, is not an 
enemy of the farmer; nor the tiny sylphs in soft and 
radiant blue, nor the exquisite fritillaries, whose rich 
golden-brown is the joy of the young butterfly-hunter. 
But there are other insects unfortunately, pests many 
of them, that have appeared unusually early, and in 
unusual numbers. Fruit trees are already suffering 
severely from destructive insects whose name is 
legion. 
The Apple is a tree that seems especially singled 
out for attack. It is the prey of whole armies of 
pests, moths and flies, weevils and aphides, which, 
if left to themselves, would leave neither bark nor 
wood, fruit nor foliage. The Apple moth, after pass¬ 
ing through the chrysalis condition in the ground, 
sets itself to craw up the stem of the tree to lay the 
eggs which shall produce the next generation, the 
grubs that live at free quarters in the fruit. Since 
they reach their destination by crawling, not flying, 
they are easily stopped by a smear of some poison¬ 
ous substance on the bark, or even by tying round the 
tree a quantity of cotton wool, in which they become 
entangled. It is otherwise with the weevils—the tiny 
beetles that are so destructive to stone fruit, 
especially Plums and Cherries in the fruit districts 
of America. They fly to their work, and no coal tar 
or evil smelling smear of any kind upon the trunk 
avails to stop them. Some fruit growers whitewash 
the whole tree, others syringe it with an arsenical 
compound, such as Paris green, which appears to 
leave no ill-result on the fruit, and has been known 
to improve the crop to the extent of 75 per cent. 
These weevils simulate death when they are 
frightened, and when the tree is shaken they fall 
readily to the ground. Trees planted where poultry 
have access are found to prosper, as the fowls devour 
the beetles that have fallen before they have time to 
fly back to their work of destruction. There is 
indeed nothing like shaking the tree. 
One fruit-grower, “ having a fine Plum tree grow¬ 
ing near his pump, tied a rope from the tree to his 
pump-handle, so that the tree was gently shaken 
every time there was occasion to pump water. The 
consequence was,” continues the Report of the 
American Department of Agriculture, ” that the fruit 
of this tree was preserved in the greatest perfection.” 
The amount of trouble expended by American 
growers on their fruit would perhaps astonish some 
of their English friends. It is quite a common 
practice in the States to fumigate the whole tree— 
indeed the whole orchard—containing perhaps 
thousands of trees, at the rate of 200 or more in one 
night. Each tree is enclosed in a tent, under which 
is generated either hydrocyanic acid or arseniuretted 
hydrogen gas. A few minutes’ fumigation suffices 
to destroy the greater number of insects on the tree, 
without serious injury to the leaves or the crop. The 
United States Government have even taken the 
trouble to import from Australia a species of lady 
bird, which is the particular enemy of the ” red 
scale,” so harmful to Orange and Lemon trees. 
Lady birds play a useful part in our own gardens. 
The Rose has perhaps as many enemies as the Apple. 
There are leaf-cutter bees that take neat, round 
pieces of the foliage to line their nests. Several 
kinds of moths lay eggs on the tree, and the result¬ 
ing grubs make havoc of both leaf and flower. Saw- 
flies, again ruin the foliage altogether. In some 
places, where Roses are cultivated on a large scale, 
chafer grubs—those pests of the farmer—destroy 
the roots. One French Rose-grower is said to have 
lost 100,000 trees from this cause alone. 
One of the commonest Rose pests is the aphis, 
the‘'blight” of the gardener. Clinging motionless 
in thousands to the bark, they suck up the juice of 
the tree, and slowly destroy its vitality. That these 
little plagues should swarm in our rosaries is not 
surprising when we consider the rate at which they 
multiply. Bonnet found that the descendants of a 
single aphis amounted in one year to eleven genera¬ 
tions, the last of which might, if there had been no check 
on their increase, outnumber all the inhabitants of 
the globe by hundreds of millions. Happily for us, 
like all creatures that tend to multiply at enormous 
rates, they are kept in check in many ways. Wind 
and rain dislodge them. They are devoured whole¬ 
sale by birds. Flies eat them. Lady birds, both in 
the larval and perfect states, live upon them. Were 
it not for Nature's police we should be devoured 
alive, like those short-sighted farmers who shot down 
the birds of Killingworth, falsely supposing them 
to be not friends but enemies. Did all the cater¬ 
pillars that soon will be swarming among our 
Cabbages come to perfection we should be in sore 
straits indeed. Perhaps our most important allies 
in keeping down insects of all kinds are the ichneu¬ 
mon flies. These useful operators pierce the skin of 
the caterpillar and insert an egg, or perhaps more. 
The caterpillar continues feeding, apparently none 
the worse, and often has sufficient vitality left to 
change into a chrysalis in spite of the fact that even 
half-a-dozen grubs are steadily devouring its inside. 
Reaumur found twenty-five out of thirty Cabbage 
caterpillars had been thus affected. Out of 100 
caterpillars of the emperor moth taken last summer 
on the Yorkshire moors, only twelve have this year 
produced perfect insects. All the rest, or nearly 90 
per cent., had fallen a prey to ichneumons. Insects 
which devour other insects in the egg, larva, pupa, 
or perfect condition, are innumerable. 
We owe not a little, again, to the toad, who is an 
indefatigable collector, especially of beetles. The 
cuckoo feeds largely on woolly caterpillars. The 
woodpecker’s life is mainly spent in destroying 
insects that bore into and injure trees. Small birds, 
especially tits, are at work all day killing flies and 
beetles and chrysalids. The blackbird, who now 
and then takes toll of the fruit, has destroyed thou¬ 
sands of the insects that but for him would have 
made utter havoc of it. Let him be. He is not 
levying blackmail. He is but drawing well-earned 
wages. He has borne the burden and heat of the 
day—a day lasting from the first gleam of daylight 
until after sundown. A pair of house sparrows 
have been observed to carry 3,000 grubs to their 
young ones in a single week. And yet there are 
those who hold the sparrow to be nothing but a 
thief and a vagabond, and will hear no word on his 
behalf. 
Even the blackest of them all, the crow. 
Renders good service as your man-at-arms : 
Crushing the beetle in his coat of mail, 
And levying havoc on the slug and snail. 
Vegetable Marrows. 
By this time a good stock of Vegetable Marrow 
plants should be ready for planting out. For the 
earliest I generally plant in the forced Turnip frames 
by drawing out a few in the middle of each light, 
and putting a couple of Marrows in. They are then 
getting established as the Turnips are being used, 
and when the Turnips are all used, the frames may 
be shut up again to give them more help if necesary. 
Any old manure rubbish or leaf soil heaps are good 
places to grow them, or they will grow well, but not 
so early, on the ordinary garden soil following early 
crops of Cauliflower or Lettuce. 
Scarlet Runners. 
This extremely useful vegetable should be sown a 
two or three different times, make the first sowing in 
the middle of May, and again once or twice up to 
the middle of June. The ground should be well 
manured, and if a place can be selected where the 
soil is moist below so much the better. The plan of 
sowing which I prefer is in single rows and trained 
to a single row of poles about 7 ft. high. I saw last 
year one of the finest rows of Runners I have ever 
seen, growing close to the edge of a stream of 
running water, and last year mine were growing where 
they had all the spare sewage, and they gave 
excellent crops. For an extra early supply sow four 
seeds in 32-pots, and plant out when ready. They 
may be used to hide untidy corners or to cover ugly 
walls and fences. In small town gardens a good many 
Runners may be grown where hardly any other 
vegetable would thrive.— G. H. S. 
General Remarks. 
At last, after eleven weeks of dry weather, we have 
had some rain, not much it is true, but still enough 
to do a lot of good. Last Wednesday, May 17th, 
we had one hour’s heavy rain, and since then several 
showers. According to the daily papers, a great 
quantity has fallen in some places, but the above has 
been our share. We are daily gathering good dishes 
of Strawberries, “Noble” in the open, the first on 
May 20th ; this is, I believe, a record in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Richmond, last year it was June 1st.— 
G.H.S. 
-- 
The Chicago Exhibition.— It is reported that the 
handsome horticultural building at Jackson Park is 
to remain a permanent attraction in Chicago. For 
several weeks past, park officials and a number of 
influential and wealthy citizens have been discussing 
the advisability of purchasing all of the Palms, 
wonders of tropical vegetation and flowering plants, 
shrubs and cacti now exhibited at the horticultural 
building for permanent display in that structure, and 
to form the nucleus of a botanical garden for 
city. 
