270 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 25,1897. 
OBITUARY. 
Mr. William Grey. 
In this country, Mr. William Grey was best known 
by his reputation as an Orchid grower on the 
Corning Farm, Albany, New York. He died at his 
residence there on the 25th November last. 
He was a Scotchman by birth, being born at 
Greenlaw, Berwickshire, on the i8(h February, 1828. 
He went to the United States in 1851, getting 
employment for a time with Mr. James Wilson, 
Lydias Street, Albany. Subsequently he became 
gardener to Mr. Joel Rathbone, Kenwood; but 
wishing to try his fortune as a nurseryman in the 
west country, he moved to Western Iowa, where he 
found the winters too severe to his liking. Returning 
to the east, he was appointed gardener to John T. 
Norton, Esq , Farmington, Connecticut, and stayed 
there for four years. He afterwards took charge of 
the collections of Gen. J. F. Rathbone, until his 
appointment as superintendent of Corning Farm for 
the late Hon. Erastus Corning. 
Here he soon showed that he was in the midst of 
his real life work. The reputation of the Corning 
collection of Orchids rapidly rose to great distinction 
under his management. He raised a large number 
of very fine hybrids, which have since been finding 
their way into various collections both in the Old 
and New World. Mr. Grey was also a noted 
entomologist, having a collection of something like 
30,000 specimens from various parts of the world. 
His collection was rich in melanitic and dimorphic 
forms of insects. He leaves a widow, three sons in 
the profession, and two daughters to mourn his loss. 
- 
Questions add losoiegs 
*,* Will our friends who send us newspapers be so good 
as to mark the paragraphs or articles they wish us to see. 
We shall be greatly obliged by their so doing. 
[ Correspondents , please note that we cannot undertake to 
name florists' flowers such as Carnations, Pelargoniums, 
Chrysanthemums, Roses, nor such as are mere garden 
varieties, differing only in the colour of the flower. 
Florists' flowers, as a rule, can only be named by those who 
grow collections of them.'] 
Beetles and Plants — James Thomson : The so-called 
beetles you send in tour different stages are not 
beetles at all but cockroaches (Blatta orientalis) al¬ 
though the term black beetles is often applied to 
them. The winged form is the adult male of the 
insect. The smaller specimens are simply larvae, 
which are active all through life and never assume 
either a grub or a pupa stage like true beetles. They 
keep eating and growing from the earliest to the 
adult stage of active life, and are one and all more or 
less destructive. We are surprised, however, that 
this species should prove destructive to Pinks. 
Possibly you will find brown specimens in your 
houses; and if so, they would belong to the American 
cockroach (Blatta or Periplaneta americana), which 
prove destructive to all kinds of plant life that will 
afford them nutritive food, which they are able to 
gnaw. The grub you sent is probably that of a 
beetle, but it was crushed beyond recognition by the 
small box rolling about within the larger, together 
with large loose nails. You do well to destroy both 
kinds by digging up the soil near the hot water pipes. 
To destroy the cockroaches get some “phosphorus 
paste, 1 ’ from your chemist, telling him what the poi¬ 
son is intended for. Put small pieces of this paste 
on pieces of crock or slate, and lay these about the 
house in places frequented by the cockroaches, just 
when leaving off work for the night. Lift the crocks 
in the morning and place them in a cupboard or 
other safe place out of harm’s way, for the paste is 
highly poisonous. You need not clear away any dead 
cockroaches for a day or two, as the live ones eat the 
dead and share the same fate. You will soon be able 
to effect a clearance of the pest by continuing the 
process for a time. 
Lectures in Horticulture —H. H. : There should 
be no difficulty in sitting for the examination in your 
district, provided you can get any one to superin¬ 
tend the examination in your district. You should 
ascertain in your own neighbourhood whether any 
schoolmas'er, clergyman, or other responsible person 
would be willing to superintend for two and a half 
hours or thereabouts in a room while you write out the 
answers to the questions on the examination papers. 
Having found some responsible person to do this you 
should write to the Secretary, Royal Horticultural 
Society, 117, Victoria Street, Westminster, London, 
S.W., informing him of your intention, and asking 
for instructions. You ask whether you would be 
allowed to prepare for any examination through the 
post, but we cannot see how this could be done, if 
that is really what you mean. By pursu’ng the in¬ 
structions above given you will get on the right 
track. You can assist yourself, however, or get any 
one to help you in extending your knowledge 
previous to the examination in May. Your experience 
will go a long way to assist you in answering the 
practical questions ; and for the theoretical or scien¬ 
tific part you should study " Elementary Botany,’’ 
by J W. Oliver, sold by Blackie & Son, Glasgow, for 
2s., or“ Botany,” by H. Edmonds,published by Long¬ 
mans, Green & Co., London, for something like 
2S. 6d. Either of these would enable you to study 
the morphology and physiology of plant life. They 
are illustrated. 
Strange and lively Earthworms — fas. Thomson : 
Tne two specimens you sent us were very much 
damaged in transit through the post by being packed 
in a small quantity of dry, loose earth. They were, 
in fact, dried up and dead. However, judging by 
their size and shape, as well as the description you 
give us of their lively movements, we believe they 
belong to the species Lumbricus rubescens, of 
Friend, first discovered between Idle and Eccleshill, 
near Bradford, Yorks., in 1890, but since found at 
several places between Paisley and Sussex. It is 
usually 3 in. to 4 in. in length, exceedingly active, 
and usually found along with the Red Worm (L. 
rubellus, Hoffm). The Rev. Hilderic Friend, M.A., 
F.L.S , read a paper on the subject at a meeting of 
the Linnean Society, 5th May, 1892, when he 
described it as a new species. 
Iyy Failing. — Thos. PortnelT. We have carefully 
examined the specimensyou sent us,but fail to find any 
fungus that would be likely to cause the death of the 
Ivy. In the old and dried up thick portions we found 
some traces of a kind of mould, which would be 
following rather than causing the decay. In some 
portions of both young and old stems we found 
bacterial organisms in abundance, but they are like¬ 
wise the products of decay we imagine. The wood 
was well formed, and in the younger portions well 
filled with starch, and the bark with chlorophyll. It 
is our opinion that the cause of the young shoots and 
leaves dying is owing to their being dried up through 
the failure of the thick stems, and their preventing 
the rise of sap. The cause may have been originally 
the result of an accident, such as the cutting or in¬ 
jury of the stem in some way. On the other hand 
it may be that the roots are being starved in a very 
dry soil, which would have to be investigated on the 
spot. In any case, the decayed portions may be cut 
clean out and burnt on the rubbish heap, although 
we think there is no danger of infection. If you 
have a young plant or two in pots or otherwise, we 
should advise you to spread them over the bare place 
of the wall till they take fresh hold by new growth. 
Before this, however, you should ascertain the nature 
of the soil to see if that is at fault, and give some 
fresh loam. Be sure the soil is Dot waterlogged, as 
that would cause the death of the roots, and should 
be remedied by drainage. 
Grub in Stem of Apple Tree. —Milsom : The large 
and spotted grub in the stem is the caterpillar of the 
Wood Leopard Moth (Zeuzcra Aesculi) which 
occasionally makes its appearance amongst fruit 
trees both in Surrey and Middlesex. The Goat 
Moth (Cossus ligniperda) is a very much larger 
creature in the caterpillar stage, different in colour, 
and usually selects a much thicker branch of the 
tree, or more often the main stem. Both may be 
destroyed in the same way by getting a stout piece of 
copper wire or some other sort that will readily bend 
in the hole, so as to reach and crush the caterpillars. 
Another way is to pour or squirt a few drops of 
chloroform into the hole and close up the entrance 
by means of clay, so as to keep in the fumes till they 
have done their work. They have now laid up for 
the winter ; but in future you should keep an eye 
upon your fruit trees during summer, when frass or 
gnawed chips of wood are being cast out cf the hole 
in which either of the above moths may be at work. 
By finding them early you will prevent much 
mischief, and be better able to get at them with a 
wire. 
Names of Plants — T. W .: 1, Chloroph\tum da¬ 
tum variegatum ; 2, Agapanthus umbellatus variega- 
tus ; 3, Selaginella Braunii; 4, Selaginella emiliana.— 
Henry Hunt : 1, Anthnrium warocqueanum; 2, 
Bouvardia Vreelandii; 3, Daphne odora, usually 
known as D. indica, in gardens ; 4, Adiantum hispi- 
dulum ; 5, Metrosideros floribunda; 6, Sparmannia 
africana.— C. W. : 1, Oncidium varicosum; 2, 
Odontoglossum constrictum; 3, Laelia anceps, a 
fairly dark variety. 
Communications received — W. D.—C—A. 
D. Webster. —Chas. Tacon.—A. A. C.—J. L.— 
J. H.—O. F. Hudson.—J. Mayne.—W. F. C.—H. 
Canned.—R. M.—H C.—A. W.—D. B. S.-A. L. 
—J .R.—C. P.—S. Wood.—F. R.—M , Reading.— 
O. E—Aloe. 
-of.- 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
James Veitch & Sons, Ltd, Royal Exotic 
Nursery, Chelsea.—Catalogue of Seeds, &c., 1898. 
Fisher, Son & Sibray. Ltd., Royal Nurseries, 
Handsworth, near Sheffield.—Catalogue of Veget¬ 
able and Flower Seeds and Horticultural Requisites. 
Dickson, Brown & Tait, 43 and 45, Corporation 
Street, Manchester.—Catalogue of Vegetable and 
Flower Seeds and Garden Requisites. 
Little & Ballantyne, Carlisle.—Garden Seeds. 
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