142 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  12,  1897. 
ai  its  rays  become  powerful,  these  having  a  tendency  to  scorch  the 
leaves,  especially  if  the  plants  are  dry  at  the  roots.  With  proper 
care  they  will  flower  well  for  three  or  four  years,  each  year 
becoming  stronger  under  good  culture,  throwing  up  flower  stems 
continuously.  ,  .  ^  i  •  j 
“  As  before  stated,  any  desired  number  of  plants  may  be  raised 
from  seed,  from  which  new  varieties  will  be  forthcoming.  Strepto- 
carpus  seed  is  very  fine  and  requires  special  attention  in  sowing. 
Drain  the  pots  well,  and  three  parts  fill  with  a  mixture  of  turfy 
loam,  leaf  mould,  and  sand,  which  make  moderately  firm.  Then 
add  half  as  much  of  the  mixture  finely  sifted  and  make  it  perfectly 
smooth.  If  in  the  least  dry,  give  a  good  watering  through  a  fine- 
rosed  can,  and  three  or  four  hours  afterwards  scatter  the  seeds 
evenly  over  the  surface  and  press  them  gently  down,  not  covering 
with  soil.  Lay  a  square  of  glass  over  the  pot,  tilt  it  up  a  little,  and 
shade  during  the  day  with  thick  paper  to  keep  the  light  and  sun 
from  the  seed.  Place  the  pot  in  a  temperature  about  65“,  away 
from  draughts,  and  examine  it  carefully  every  morning  and  evening 
to  see  that  the  soil  does  not  get  dry,  because  there  the  secret  rests 
in  insuring  growth  5  if  the  soil  and  seeds  are  allowed  to  become 
dry  once  the  endeavour  to  raise  plants  will  prove  a  failure. 
“  The  seedlings  grow  very  slowly  at  first.  When  large  enough 
prick  them  off  singly  and  give  them  a  little  warmth.  Plants  raised 
from  seeds  sown  in  December,  January,  or  February  will  give 
several  flowers  the  same  year,  commencing  from  July  to  September. 
The  following  spring  the  plants  become  stronger  and  flower  freely. 
Repot  in  February  or  March  in  a  mixture  of  about  two-thirds 
turfy  loam,  one-third  leaf  mould  or  peat,  with  silver  sand  added. 
The  Streptocarpus  can  be  increased  by  division,  also  by  cutting  the 
leaves  like  the  Gloxinia. 
“  Few,  if  any,  flowers  during  recent  years  have  made  the  same 
nrogress  in  public  favour  in  so  short  a  time  as  have  those  under 
notice,  and  it  may  be  expected  that  they  have  a  great  future  before 
them.” 
HARMFUL  AND  HARMLESS  GARDEN  MOTHS— 6. 
Many  of  the  moths  that  appear  about  gardens  have  been  bred 
upon  the  hedges  that  enclose  them,  or  that  are  in  the  vicinity,  and 
especially  upon  those  of  Hawthorn  or  White  Thorn,  which  of  all 
deciduous  shrubs  is  still  most  popular  for  this  purpose.  Privet, 
however,  is  a  successful  rival,  and  it  has  the  advantage  of  being 
less  infested  with  caterpillars  than  is  the  Hawthorn  ;  also,  it  remains 
green  through  the  average  British  winter.  We  have  to  thank  the 
Flemings  for  the  re-introduction  to  our  island  of  quick  or  living 
hedges,  since  those  formed  by  Saxons  and  Normans  to  protect 
gardens  or  fields  were  made  of  dry  boughs  stuck  in  the  earth. 
The  Romans,  it  is  true,  knew  how  to  plant  green  hedges,  but 
this  art,  like  others,  was  forgotten  after  they  ceased  to  govern 
Britain . 
Probably  one  reason  why  Hawthorn  became  a  favourite  for 
hedges  was  its  readiness  in  producing  side  shoots  ;  certainly  as  a 
guard  it  cannot  rival  the  denser  Yew  and  the  spiny  Holly.  We 
have  heard  a  remark  made  to  the  disadvantage  of  Hawthorn,  that 
this  shrub  is  the  customary  food  of  many  caterpillars,  therefore 
they  might  travel  from  it  to  fruit  trees,  Roses,  or  other  garden 
plants  near.  But,  on  the  other  side,  it  may  be  said  that  Hawthorn 
hedges,  being  attractive,  draw  insects  to  them  which  would,  if  they 
were  absent,  interfere  with  the  produce  of  our  gardens  and  orchards. 
And  this  prologue  brings  us  to  a  couple  of  moths,  akin  to  the  tiger 
race,  that  have  an  interesting  history,  unfortunately  rather  tangled 
by  some  confusion  of  both  the  English  and  Latin  names,  which  has 
made  it  difficult  at  times  to  know  which  of  the  species  was  meant 
by  describers.  Then  the  question  of  correctly  determining  a  shade 
of  colour  has  to  do  with  it,  for  at  a  hasty  glance  gold  and  a  golden 
brown  may  be  mistaken  in  a  moth’s  tail. 
Now,  about  July  we  are  likely  to  see,  resting  on  a  tree  or  wall, 
perhaps  crawling  along  a  twig,  a  middle-sized  moth,  garbed  in  white 
with  a  body  somewhat  stout,  and  darker  at  the  tail,  the  antennae 
feathered.  This  might  be  the  brown-tail,  but  most  probably  it  will 
be  the  gold-tail,  or  Liparis  auriflua,  an  insect  not  harmful  except  as 
a  feeder  upon  Hawthorn  while  a  caterpillar.  This  I  have  had 
brought  me  by  gardeners  as  a  curiosity  ;  it  is  usually  full-grown  in 
June,  and  is  certainly  handsome.  It  is  both  hairy  and  tubercled, 
having  also  two  cup-shaped  marks  upon  the  back,  from  which  some 
supposed  the  creature  could  eject  an  acrid  fluid  ;  this  appears  to  be 
a  mistake.  Observations  tend  to  prove  that  the  irritant  to  the  skins 
of  some  persons  is  the  hair  of  the  caterpillar,  thrown  ofE  at  moult¬ 
ing,  also  in  small  portions  at  other  times  ;  the  same  effect  is  noticed 
in  the  kindred  species.  The  colours  are  a  conspicuous  scarlet  and 
white  upon  a  ground  colour  of  black.  Hatched  during  autumn,  the 
young  gold-tail  feeds  a  little  then,  but  soon  spins  a  small  cocoon, 
in  which  it  sleeps  solitary  until  the  buds  open  in  spring.  The 
species  is  distributed  all  over  Britain,  more  abundant  some  years 
than  others  ;  the  caterpillar  is,  for  obvious  reasons,  unattractive 
to  birds. 
The  brown-tail  (Liparis  chrysorrhaea),  which  has  often  had, 
by  mistake,  the  name  of  the  preceding  given  to  it,  is,  now  at  least, 
a  local  species  with  us,  though  in  a  small  range  of  ground  it 
may  be  very  plentiful.  Its  distinction  is  chiefly,  as  above  stated, 
in  the  colour  of  the  tail ;  also,  this  moth  is  inclined  to  be,  I  think, 
a  trifle  larger  than  its  relative.  Nor  is  the  caterpillar  notably 
different,  even  to  the  eye  of  an  entomologist.  In  habit,  however, 
they  do  not  resemble  each  other,  for  all  through  their  life  the 
brown-tail  caterpillars  are  sociable,  as  parties  of  various  numbers 
construct  each  a  common  chamber  of  silk,  into  which  they  retire 
at  night  or  during  bad  weather.  When  winter  comes  this  abode  is 
strengthened  against  the  cold,  and  the  entrance  closed  up  till 
spring  by  the  caterpillars.  The  early  summer  is  their  season  for 
eating  most  voraciously.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  insect  is  still 
injurious  to  fruit  trees  in  France,  Germany,  and  other-  parts  of  the 
Continent,  and  was  formerly  so  in  Britain,  occasionally,  at  least  ; 
one  of  its  special  years  is  recorded— viz ,  1782,  a  pamphlet 
describing  the  mischief  done  then  being  published  by  Mr.  Curtis. 
Great  alarm  was  caused  throughout  the  country  that  summer 
owing  to  the  sudden  profusion  of  brown-tail  caterpillars,  and  the 
attacks  they  made  upon  many  shrubs  and  trees,  fruit  trees  suffering 
greatly,  as  in  Middlesex  and  Surrey. 
Some  attempts  at  their  destruction  were  partially  successful  ; 
anyhow,  the  species  was  not  particularly  noticeable  the  next  or 
following  years.  Fortunately,  it  is  the  victim  of  an  ichneumon 
fly,  which  places  its  eggs  upon  the  caterpillars  in  spite  of  their 
hairs.  It  may  be  added  here  that  this  moth,  and  the  gold-tail  too, 
cover  their  eggs  with  a  layer  of  down,  though  they  are  laid  in  July, 
a  circumstance  certainly  curious,  about  which  there  has  been  a  lively 
discussion,  on  which  I  need  not  enter.  At  present,  these  caterpillars 
are  seldom  found  in  Britain  except  on  hedges  of  Hawthorn  and 
Sloe  ;  but  it  is  advisable  for  fruit  growers  to  watch  them  where 
they  appear. 
I  may  be  pardoned  in  introducing  a  little  bit  of  local  history 
which  is  apropos  to  my  subject.  On  a  winter’s  day,  some  fifteen 
years  ago,  walking  on  the  old  Dover  Road  near  Gravesend,  my 
attention  was  called  to  the  unusual  aspect  of  a  hedge.  Upon 
examination  I  discovered  it  was  thickly  dotted  over  with  the  nests 
of  the  brown- tail  moth.  Further  researches  showed  many  more  on 
other  hedges  between  that  town  and  the  village  of  Chalk.  The 
following  spring  and  summer,  as  the  caterpillars  were  plentiful,  and 
much  fruit  is  grown  in  the  district,  I  called  the  attention  of 
farmers  and  gardeners  to  a  possible  danger  ;  but  no  steps  were 
taken.  Probably  the  caterpillars  were  not  very  likely  to  migrate  ; 
the  moths,  however,  might  easily  have  flown  over  to  the  adjacent 
orchards  and  laid  their  batches  of  eggs. 
A  large  number  of  caterpillars  fed  up  the  next  summer,  pro¬ 
ducing  a  host  of  moths  and  a  big  brood  of  autumn  caterpillars,  so 
that  in  the  following  winter  the  nests  were  still  more  plentiful. 
Upon  one  smallish  shrub  I  reckoned  thirty  nests,  which,  at  the 
moderate  average  of  fifty  caterpillars  to  a  nest,  would  make  1500 
there  waiting  for  action  next  year.  And  later  the  hedges  did  suffer 
severely.  The  omnivorous  character  of  the  species,  if  need  be,  was 
shown  upon  a  mixed  hedge  where  every  shrub  was  stripped,  even 
the  Elder,  not  a  favourite  with  caterpillars,  being  defoliated.  Yet 
still  the  caterpillars  kept  to  the  hedges  and  some  scattered  Elm 
trees  ;  but  it  seemed  only  a  question  of  time  as  to  their  reaching 
the  fruit  trees,  unless  there  was  some  check.  Happily  Nature  did 
what  man  left  unattempted — a  rainy  winter,  with  stormy  winds, 
killed  a  large  proportion,  assisted  perhaps  by  parasitic  foes,  and 
another  summer  but  few  caterpillars  were  abroad.  Afterwards 
the  insects,  so  far  as  I  know,  have  vanished  from  the  locality 
altogether. 
The  satin  moth  (Liparis  Salicis)  might  be  mistaken  for  one  of 
the  preceding  ;  it  is  all  white  too,  but  has  a  silvery  gloss  upon  the 
wings.  Its  presence  in  gardens  is  accounted  for  by  the  occurrence 
of  the  caterpillars  upon  different  species  of  Poplar  ;  they  are  con¬ 
spicuous  by  tbeir  spots  of  white  and  red,  slightly  hairy  too,  but  are 
seldom  numerous  enough  to  disfigure  trees  or  shrubs.  Also  I  have 
seen,  even  in  a  London  garden,  the  pretty  caterpillar  called  the 
“hop-dog”  by  some  authors,  though  I  never  heard  that  name  applied 
to  it  in  the  Kentish  Hop  districts,  and  from  observation  can  testify 
it  does  not  often  feed  upon  that  valuable  plant,  its  diet  being  some¬ 
what  miscellaneous.  Certainly  a  handsome  caterpillar,  the  green 
ground  colour  marked  with  slashes  of  deep  black,  and  adorned  by 
pencils  or  “tussocks”  of  yellow  hairs.  In  habit  the  grey  moth 
(Orgyia  pudibunda)  is  somewhat  retired,  and  flies  little  even  at 
night. 
Quits  a  contrast  is  its  lively  small  relative,  O.  antiqua,  also 
called  the  vapourer  moth  from  its  peculiar  undulating  flight.  One 
that  may  be  seen  even  in  the  busy  streets  of  a  big  city  ;  the  caterpillar 
