140 
THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET 
the petals towards the interior of the flowers are often 
noticed—in mallows for instances—and the minds of 
botanists were long exercised in.conjecturing what was 
the use and object of these lines. For we may lay it 
down as an axiom that there is nothing in nature with¬ 
out its definite use and object. Sir J. Lubbock has 
conjectured that those brilliant lines of color standing 
out in marked contrast to their faiuter backgrounds 
were designed to guide insects in their search for honey. 
By following these attractive streaks they would cer¬ 
tainly find their way to the honey in such a manner as 
to disturb and carry off pollen, or else bring their 
already pollen-dusted body in contact with a pistil. 
Among the insects whose visits are unwelcome to 
plants, ants hold a foremost part. They are very fond 
of honey, and will go a long way to get it, but having 
smooth bodies they, cannot carry off pollen, and their 
visits are by no means encouraged. As a defence 
against them many plants, as the Nottingham Catchfly, 
have glands which secrete a fluid which flows over the 
whole or part of the stem, and makes it too slippery or 
too unpleasantly sticky to be climbed. The way in 
which defences are arranged for plants is very remark¬ 
able. The bristly defensive spikes of the Carlisle 
Thistle are well known, and prevent the nectaries of its 
flowers becoming an easy prey. It is noteworthy that 
the usual direction in which plant bristles or spikes 
point is downwards, so as to present their acute tips to 
the adventurous but unwelcome insects climbing up 
from the ground. When the stems of plants are smooth 
or merely softly hairy, the calyces or outer floral en¬ 
velopes are often armed with reflexed teeth or spines, 
as in the Knapweeds, which must present a very dis¬ 
agreeable. if not a quite impassible, barrier to the ants 
which may toil up so far. Some plants seem to be 
paired off with certain insects. The necessity of a 
special insect for the fertilization of flowers is well 
illustrated by the fate in this country of one of the 
Liliacese, an American plant, known by its Indian name 
of the Yucca. It grows well and it flowers freely, but 
it never produces any seed. It is unable to seed owing 
to the absence of a little moth, which alone performs 
for it the service of carrying about its pollen from 
plant to plant. In Madagascar an orchid was found 
with a nectary, or honey tube, a foot in length, and 
Dr. Darwin conjectured from this that a moth would be 
found with a proboscis long enough to reach down it. 
At that time no such moth was known to exist. Since 
then, however,a mothjlias been found with a proboscis of 
about that length.— Month. 
FEEDING THE ROSES. 
Havin'? to cultivate my Roses in a part of the garden 
where the soil is neither very rich nor very deep, and it 
being inconvenient to prepare a proper soil for them, I 
am compelled to resort to various methods to keep them 
in health. I have been asked by my friends, who come 
and admire my Roses when in flower, to explain my 
course of management; but really I have but veiy little 
to say on the subject. As a matter of fact, I have no 
regular course of management, and it is right to say that 
my time and means do not admit of an expensive course 
of procedure in this matter. I have therefore been com¬ 
pelled to adopt the best means at my disposal. I need 
not occupy your space by describing the failures I have 
met with in trying to deal kindly by my Roses; but I will 
in a few words describe how I manage to keep my Rose 
trees in vigorous health. To proceed: I obtain early in 
November some farmyard manure from a near neighbor. 
It is in a half-rotten state when I have it, and one good 
cartload answers my purpose. This I have carefully 
turned about, and then placed in a heap in one comer of 
the garden, where I let it remain for'six weeks or two 
months, according to the weather and the time I have 
to spare. However, by that time the manure is in good 
condition for use, and when I can so arrange it, like to 
apply it to the Roses early in January. I set my m a n 
with wheelbarrow and fork to carefully remove the soil 
from over the roots of the Rose trees, usually for a dis¬ 
tance of about one foot from the stem, or say a circle of 
two feet. Half of the soil which is taken off is wheeled 
away, and the other half is laid on one side. Sometimes 
it is necessary to use a spade or trowel to so remove 
the earth as to expose the roots without injuring 
them. When the soil has been removed from a 
considerable number of the trees, we place a layer 
of the manure on the roots, and cover it with the soil 
that was put on one side. By doing this once in two 
years, I find I can keep my Rose trees in a fairly 
healthy condition; not quite in such a vigorous 
condition perhaps, as those who have a really suitable 
soil to deal with, but quite satisfactory. My friends 
assure me that I grow Roses as well as those who 
have a more suitable soil, but who do not give their 
trees the same attention. One part of my trees I deal 
with in a different way, and although fairly satisfactory, 
I do not consider the results equal to those obtained from 
the use of farmyard manure. In the month of March, 
directly I have pruned the bushes, I remove the surface 
soil down to the roots in the same way as described 
above, and then to each established tree I have scat¬ 
tered evenly over the roots about a quarter of a 
pint of Amies’ Chemical Manure, and then put 
the soil back in its place. I can only recommend 
this practice when farm-yard manure cannot be 
had.— Ex. 
We are pleased to call the attention of our readers to 
the article on Geraniums by John Thorpe, Esq., in the 
present number of the Cabinet. Mr. Thorpe is one 
of the most enthusiastic growers of Geraniums in this 
or any other country, and by cross fertilization, careful 
selection, and patient industry, has succeeded in develop¬ 
ing this deservedly popular bedding and house-plant, to 
a most wonderful degree. The history of the Gera¬ 
nium, as given in this number, will be followed by a 
concise article on its cultivation, for which our 
readers will join the editors in their hearty thanks 
to Mr. Thorpe. 
