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JOURNAL  OR  SORTIGULTURU  AND  GOTTAGR  GARDENER. 
iJovember  4,  1897. 
the  Continent  it  is  complained  of  as  an  Apple  foe,  and,  with  us,  several 
fruit  trees  are  occasionally  visited.  The  Rev.  J.  G.  Wood  remarks 
that  a  journey  of  a  few  inches  is  fatiguing  to  the  female.  I  doubt  if 
that  is  so,  since  the  caterpillars  frequently  drop  in  a  spring  gale  from 
the  higher  branches.  Certainly,  it  is  possible  they  may  travel  upwards 
while  young.  Even  rudimentary  wings  are  wanting  in  this  female 
moth,  but  her  dark  brown  body  is  marked  with  black  dots,  and  she 
deposits  nearly  200  eggs.  This  caterpillar  has  been  said  to  be  hand¬ 
some;  the  head  is  brown,  and  the  upper  surface  of  the  body  divided 
by  a  black  stripe  from  the  yellow  beneath  ;  there  are  also  dots  of  grey 
and  white,  the  legs  being  pale  green. 
In  walking  through  a  copse,  or  perhaps  an  orchard,  on  a  May  day 
we  may  see  hundreds,  even  thousands,  of  these  caterpillars  dangling 
by  their  silken  threads.  Newman  seems  to  have  thought  they  do 
this  sometimes  as  a  recreative  performance,  but  a  strong  wind  brings 
them  to  the  earth,  from  which,  after  a  pause,  they  return  to  the 
branches,  gathering  as  they  go  their  threads  into  loo])s  for  future  use. 
The  Germans  strike  the  trees  with  long  poles  in  the  spring  to  bring 
them  down,  and  endeavour  to  stop  the  ascent  of  the  moths  by  placing 
a  wooden  sheath  smeared  with  tar  round  the  trunks  or  stems,  on 
the  plan  followed  for  the  destruction  of  the  female  winter  moths 
(Cheimatobia).  It  may  be  well  to  note  here  that  none  of  the 
caterpillars  of  this  group  descend  far  into  the  earth  to  undergo  the 
chrysalis  change  ;  frequently  they  lie  upon  the  surface,  protected  only 
by  a  slight  web;  in  any  case  they  are  covered  with  but  a  thin  layer. 
No  doubt  some  are  eaten  by  birds,  and  some  that  do  not  emerge  till 
the  new  year  perish  through  the  rains  of  autumn  and  winter.  They 
do  not  appear  to  be  much  reduced  in  numbers  by  the  agency  of 
parasitic  ichneumon  flies. 
On  a  January  day  it  may  surprise  a  gardener  to  see  a  moth,  the 
dull  colour  of  which  harnonises  with  the  season,  flying  briskly  along, 
or  having  a  rest  on  a  fence.  Rightly  is  the  Hybernia  rupicapraria 
named  the  early  moth,  for  the  cold  of  the  first  month  of  the  year 
affects  it  not.  Its  pale  under  wings,  however,  contrast  with  the  dark 
brown  of  the  upper  pair.  The  female  has  very  short  wings,  useless 
for  flying,  but  exhibiting  a  bar  across  the  centre.  Sloe,  Plum,  and 
Whitethorn  chiefly  furnish  food  to  the  caterpillar,  which  hatches  early 
in  April,  and  is  full  grown  in  about  six  weeks.  It  sits  upon  the  twigs 
in  a  loo[ied  position  when  not  eating,  and  is  velvety,  of  various  shades 
of  green,  but  always  displays  white  marks  on  the  body,  arranged  in 
lines.  A  harmless  species  of  early  habit  is  the  dotted  border  (H.  mar- 
giuaria)  ;  it  flies  generally  in  February,  conspicuous  by  its  marginal 
spots.  The  female  has  larger  wings  than  the  rest  of  the  groups,  yet  of 
no  service  for  flight,  nor  probably  any  help  in  walking.  During  the 
summer  the  brown  caterpillars  feed  on  Oak,  Birch,  or  Hornbeam ; 
occasionally  they  appear  in  large  colonies  amongst  the  woods,  but 
about  gardens  we  seldom  see  more  than  a  few  specimens. 
Cheery  is  the  English  name  of  Hybernia  leucophearia.  It  is  called 
the  spring  usher,  and  comes  forth  as  a  moth  regardless  of  the  rough 
winds  of  February  or  IMarch.  It  is  of  very  variable  colour  ;  some  are 
dark  brown  with  a  white  bar,  and  others  pale,  having  wavy  lines  across 
the  wings.  The  females  have  not  even  the  rudiments  of  them.  The 
caterpillars  are  also  of  divers  colours,  and  feed  upon  many  trees  and 
shrubs.  When  they  first  emerge  in  IMay  they  spin  a  few  leaves  together 
for  their  protection  from  birds,  then  scatter  about,  being  adult  in  June, 
so  that  they  pass  a  good  while  in  the  chrysalis  state,  generally  on  the 
surface  of  the  earth.  In  and  near  gardens  occurs  the  March  moth 
(Anisopteryx  aescularia),  a  smaller  species  of  the  family.  The  green  and 
white  caterpillar  eats  the  leaves  of  Chestnut,  Lime,  Elm,  and  White¬ 
thorn. 
Of  all  the  species  the  most  mischievous  and  abundant  is  the  winter 
moth,  too  well  known  to  every  gardener  and  fruit  grower.  It  is 
unnecessary  that  I  should  enter  upon  its  history  now,  since  its  economy 
has  been  fully  described  in  the  pages  of  this  Journal,  and  I  shall 
simply  mention  a  few  facts  concerning  it.  One  of  these  is  the  import¬ 
ance  of  keeping  an  outlook  for  it  in  October  and  November,  when 
measures  should  he  taken  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the  females  from 
ascending  to  deposit  eggs ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
period  of  emergence  may  extend  over  several  weeks  after  the  first 
moths  have  been  seen.  Also,  there  is  proof  that  some  years  a  portion 
of  the  brood  does  not  come  out  till  after  Christmas;  hence  Newman 
advises  us  to  examine  the  twigs  with  a  lantern  early  in  the  year,  'est 
there  should  be  females  busy  after  dusk,  and  he  suggests  that  pruniug 
should  be  deferred  as  late  as  possible,  so  that  some  eggs  of  the  motli 
may  be  possibly  removed  in  the  operation.  Hardly  sufficient  attention 
has  been  paid  to  measures  tending  to  destroy  both  sexes  in  the 
chrysalis  state  or  at  emergence  by  application  of  gas  lime  and  other 
su  bstances  of  a  caustic  nature  to  the  soil  around  trees  or  shrubs.  Since 
wilting  the  above  I  have  discovered  that  Girard,  a  French  entomo- 
ogist,  noticed  years  ago  that  females  of  several  species  of  Hybernia 
occurred  on  the  lamps  of  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  and  he  wondered  how¬ 
ever  they  got  there.  This  does  rather  look  as  if  the  winged  males 
conveyed  their  wingless  partners  to  localities  they  would  scarcely 
reach  by  crawling. — Entomologist. 
Oncidium  CRISrUM. 
This  useful  and  free-flowering  old  species  has  always  been  a 
popular  plant,  and  when  it  is  well  grown  it  is  one  of  the  most  showy 
Orchids  now  in  flower.  Its  habit  is  distinctive  of  the  section  to  which 
it  belongs,  a  section  comprising  such  beautiful  representatives  as 
0.  Marshallianum,  0.  Forbesi,  0.  curtum,  and  0.  Gardner!.  As  far  as 
the  roots  are  concerned  these  may  be  treated  somewhat  similarly,  but 
the  temperature  and  other  slight  details  are  rather  different,  as  will  be 
noted  in  due  course.  None  of  them  likes  much  compost  about  the 
roots,  and  for  this  reason  they  are  not  usually  so  satisfactory  in  wide 
and  deep  pots  as  they  are  in  shallow  wood  baskets  or  on  rafts. 
The  latter  are,  perhaps,  the  most  suitable  receptacles  of  all  for 
0.  crispura,  and  in  order  to  prevent  any  possibility  of  rocking  about, 
the  plants  must  be  very  firmly  wired  on  with  about  an  inch  of  peat  fibre 
and  sphagnum  moss  underneath  the  rhizome.  If  baskets  or  pots  are 
used,  these  should  be  nearly  filled  with  drainage,  the  upper  inch  or  so, 
for  medium-sized  plants,  being  ample  room  for  compost.  With  the 
peat  and  moss  allow  a  plentiful  supply  of  roughly  broken  crocks  and 
charcoal,  this  serving  to  aerate  the  compost  thoroughly,  a  condition  of 
thiu2S  absolutely  essential  to  the  well-being  of  the  roots  of  epip)hytal 
Orchids. 
Where  roots  are  plentiful  it  is  easy  enough  to  fix  the  plants  in  posi¬ 
tion  by  firmly  bedding  the  compost  around  them,  but  if  roots  are 
absent  it  is  more  trouble.  In  this  case  use  smaller  receptacles  and 
very  little  peat  in  the  compost,  placing  a  few  thin  strips  of  cork  over 
the  rhizome,  and  wiring  the  prlants  down  to  the  rods  of  the  basket. 
Trim  off  the  ragged  ends  of  moss  or  peat  when  finished,  as  if  these  are 
left  loose  it  becomes  difficult  to  see  for  certain  whether  the  plants  are 
dry  or  not.  I’hese  Orchids  are  rather  sensitive  to  root  disturbance, 
consequently  the  plants  must  not  be  re-basketed  oftener  than  is  abso¬ 
lutely  necessary. 
Should  the  roots  be  much  entwined  about  the  rods  of  the  basket  it 
will  usually  be  necessary  to  cut  this  to  pieces  before  the  plant  can  be 
removed.  A  fine-toothed  saw  may  be  run  through  the  corners,  and 
the  wires  drawn  out,  the  small  pieces  of  wood  with  roots  attached  may 
then  be  introduced  into  the  new  basket.  But  until  the  plant  grows 
out  of  these,  or  they  decay,  it  will  usually  be  more  satisfactory  to 
remove  a  little  of  the  surface  material,  and  replace  it  with  clean  fresh 
compost.  A  frequent  mistake  made  by  beginners  in  this  operation  is 
removing  crocks  and  charcoal  with  the  old  material,  and  placing  back 
only  peat  and  moss.  This  gradually  thickens  the  compost,  and  makes 
it  close  and  inert,  so  that  the  roots  cannot  enter  it,  the  result  being 
soon  apparent  in  the  diminished  health  of  the  plant. 
With  regard  to  temperature  and  position,  a  place  near  the  roof 
glass  in  the  Cattleya  bouse  does  admirably.  The  atmosphere  must  be 
kept  moist,  and  no  more  shading  allowed  than  is  really  necessary  to 
prevent  scalding  the  foliage.  While  growing  freely  the  roots  must  be 
well  moistened,  and  never,  in  fact,  allowed  to  be  dry  for  any  length  of 
time :  but  after  the  flowers  are  past  and  root  action  ceases,  or  prac¬ 
tically  so,  they  must  be  kept  very  much  drier.  The  atmospheric 
moisture,  of  course,  has  to  a  certain  extent  to  depend  upon  what  plants 
are  grown  with  them  in  the  same  house.  I  am  of  opinion  that  during 
the  winter  many  of  these  South  Americair  plants  are  kept  too  moist. 
The  growths  are  finished  and  there  is  little  demand  for  moisture, 
and  to  supply  it  is,  to  say  the  least,  unnecessary. 
The  beautiful  0.  Forbesi  and  its  varieties  are  among  the  finest 
Orchids  in  existence,  but  unfortunately  they  are  difficult  to  keep  in 
health  many  years  in  succession.  I  had  an  idea  some  years  ago  that  a 
rather  severe  drying  was  good  for  them,  and  I  kept  some  very  fine 
specimens — of  which  the  owner  was  very  proud — in  health  by  this 
means  for  several  years.  But  this,  too,  proved  ineffective,  and  by 
degrees  these  plants  went  back,  the  growths  getting  weaker  every 
year  until  they  ceased  to  be  of  any  practical  value. 
0.  IMarshallianum  does  with  less  heat  than  those  I  have  grouped 
with  it ;  in  fact,  it  is  a  cool  house  plant  pure  and  simple.  It  should 
not  he  so  closely  or  heavily  shaded  as  some  of  the  Odontoglossums,  but 
otherwise  they  get  along  together  veiy  well.  Plenty  of  moisture 
should  be  allowed  all  the  year  round.  0.  curtum  is  another  very 
useful  and  ornamental  kind,  the  lai'ge  sjdkes  of  showy  blossoms  pro¬ 
duced  lasting  well,  and  having  a  very  fine  appearance  meanwhile.  It 
may  be  treated  precisely  as  noted  above  for  0.  crispum,  while  the 
treatment  for  0.  Gardner!  is  also  similar.  The  latter  likes  rather  less 
heat  and  a  very  moist  atmosphere  while  growing.  Taken  as  a  whole, 
the  crispum  set,  as  it  is  called,  is  well  worthy  of  the  best  care  of 
orchidists,  and  will  be  grown  long  after  some  of  the  present-day 
botanical  curiosities  are  forgotten. — H.  E.  R. 
