408 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  30,  1902, 
banded,  its  thorax  having  the  markings  compared  to  a  skull 
and  cross-bones. 
Its  caterpillar  is  handsome,  too,  but  in  a  different  style. 
Like  the  moth  it  is  averse  to  daylight  display,  and  mostly 
feeds  at  night.  The  general  colour  is  yellow  or  light  brown, 
sprinkled  with  black  points,  and  on  the  sides  are  seven 
bluish  stripes,  having  a  white  edge,  and  the  back  bears  a 
rough  horn,  which  is  recurved.  Potato  fields  yield  the 
greater  number  of  these  caterpillars,  which  are  scarce  in 
some  years,  and  seldom  occur  plentifully  enough  to  do 
serious  damage,  but  when  large  they  devour  many  leaves. 
The  tubers  of  the  plant  are  not  interfered  with.  Specimens 
have  been  found  feeding  on  the  garden  J essamine,  and  more 
than  once  on  the  Tea-tree  (Lycium  barbarum).  A  few  said 
to  have  come  from  a  Privet  hedge,  were  probably  feeding 
upon  the  climbing  Bittersweet  or  Woody  Nightshade  which 
grows  along  some  hedges,  even  in  London  suburbs. 
Evidently,  before  the  Potato  arrived,  the  species  fed  on 
some  of  our  native  Solanums.  Occasionally  these  cater¬ 
pillars  are  about  4in  long,  and  they  have,  like  the  moth,  a 
power  of  producing  a  sound,  but  sometimes  there  are  silent 
specimens.  This  sound  is  rather,  Newman  says,  like  the 
snap  of  an  electric  spark. 
Approaching  the  Death’s-head  moth  in  size  is  the 
Convolvulus  or  unicorn  hawk,  less  showy,  for  its  wings  are 
grey,  but  the  body  has  brighter  bands  of  colour.  This  is  an 
erratic  species,  causing  much  speculation  to  entomologists ; 
one  year  the  moths  appear  all  over  the  country,  then  for 
several  years  it  is  exceedingly  scarce.  This  is  a  late  species, 
being  on  the  wing  at  the  end  of  August  and  in  September. 
It  is  furnished  with  a  long  spiral  tongue,  so  poises  itself 
high  over  a  flower.  It  has  often  been  taking  sipping  nectar 
from  the  Petunia,  or  the  sweet  scented  Tobacco.  Occasionally 
a. moth  has  entered  a  house,  attracted  perhaps  by  a  light,  its 
presence  sometimes  alarming  people.  The  food  of  the  cater¬ 
pillar  is  either  a  wild  Convolvulus  or  a  garden  species.  It  is 
seldom  discovered,  since  it  carefully  conceals  itself  during  the 
day.  Herein  it  differs  from  its  relative  the  Privethawk (Sphinx 
Ligustri)  that  caterpillar  is  conspicuous  upon  the  hedges  in 
the  morning  and  towards  evening,  but  it  usually  retires  to 
the  middle  of  the  bushes  while  the  sun  is  hot.  It  is  well 
known  by  its  violet  and  white  stripes  upon  a  ground  colour 
of  pale  green,  feeding  on  Privet  or  Lilac  in  August  and 
September.  Generally,  the  moth  emerges  at  midsummer,  or 
shortly  after. 
Most  gardeners  make  acquaintance  with  one  or  other  of 
the  species  of  Smerinthus.  I  have  had  the  Poplar  hawk, 
S.  populi,  shown  me  most  frequently,  taken  reposing  upon 
a  wall  or  in  a  conservatory.  With  twilight  it  is  on  the  wing, 
like  its  brethren,  but  is  not  particulai’ly  rapid.  Various 
Poplars  furnish  food  to  the  caterpillar,  which  is  rough, 
yellowish  gi’een,  and  striped.  It  is  reported  to  have  been 
taken  upon  the  Laurustinus.  A  fine,  though  not  a  showy 
moth,  it  is  surpassed  by  the  eyed  hawk  (S.  ocellatus),  which 
has  the  brown  upper  wings  tinged  with  red,  and  beautiful 
eye-like  spots  on  the  lower  wings.  This  is  a  moth  of  May 
and  June  ;  the  caterpillar  feeds  later  on,  its  usual  home 
being  a  Willow  or  Poplar,  but  I  have  taken  it  off  Apple 
trees  in  Gravesend  and  East  Ham.  It  is  rather  like  the 
preceding,  but  paler,  and  distinguished  by  its  horn,  which  is 
blue,  not  yellow.  The  lime  hawk  (S.  Tilia)  is  remarkable 
for  pretty  shades  of  grey,  brown,  and  olive  green  on  its 
wings.  My  first  introduction  to  the  caterpillar  was  at 
Norwood,  Surrey,  many  years  ago,  where  a  gardener, 
noticing  that  a  row  of  Limes  were  somewhat  thinned  of 
leaves,  went  up  a  ladder  and  brought  down  several  of  these 
caterpillars.  They  have  a  curious  shield  or  plate  behind 
the  horn.  Frequently  these  caterpillars  occur  on  the  Elm, 
and  get  blown  down  by  the  autumn  winds. 
A  lady  sent  me  one  day,  with  a  note  expressive  of 
surprise,  caterpillars  of  the  elephant  hawk,  which  she  had 
taken  in  her  vinery.  It  is  not  a  usual  foe  of  the  Grape,  for 
this  species,  Chserocampus  Elpenor,  is  generally  taken,  as 
caterpillar,  on  the  Great  Willow  Herb,  or  some  Bedstraw, 
but  it  has  a  varying  appetite,  and  will  also  eat  garden 
Fuchsias.  Here  the  caterpillar  has  given  name  to  the  moth, 
for  it  is  tapering,  and  so  has  been  compared  to  an  elephant’s 
trunk.  Its  colour  is  brown  or  yellowish,  having  two  black 
spots  on  each  side.  The  moth  is  of  good  size,  rather 
slimmer  than  the  preceding  species,  of  dark  green  with  pink 
lirtes  and  spots,  and  it  flies  early  in  the  summer.  Then  there 
is  a  small  elephant  moth  (C.  porcellus)  which  sometimes 
comes  to  June  flowers  of  an  evening.  Its  caterpillar  has  no 
horn,  and  feeds  on  Bedstraws. 
We  must  not  forget  the  humming  bird  hawk  (Macroglossa 
stellatarum)  a  remarkable  species,  if  not  brilliantly  tinted. 
It  has  black  and  white  tufts  of  hair  along  the  body,  which 
open  out  when  it  flies.  “What  is  this,’’  writes  a  poetic 
naturalist,  “at  our  Jessamine  with  bird-like  head  with 
brilliant  eye,  with  outspread  and  parti-coloured  tail,  hum¬ 
ming  loudly,  and  though  driven  away,  returning  again,  day 
after  day?  It  is  the  humming  bird  moth. '  From  January  to 
December  we  have  some  flower  welcome  to  her,  and  she  is 
most  welcome  to  us.”  Certainly,  it  is  a  bold  insect,  but  it 
would  not  bear  too  much  driving  away ;  nor  can  we  expect 
to  see  it  all  the  year  round,  though  specimens  have  turned 
up  in  wintry  months  on  a  sunny  day,  for  it  is  not  a  night 
species.  I  have  seen  one  careering  high  about  a  drawing¬ 
room,  having  entered  through  a  window  in  which  were 
flowers.  The  caterpillar  is  brown  or  green  and  eats  Bed- 
straws  during  the  summer. — Entomologist. 
- 4+m+> - 
Seeds. 
Mr.  James  Percival,  M.A.,  Lecturer  on  Botany  at  the 
South-Eastern  Agricultural  College,  gave  an  interesting  and 
most  instructive  lecture  at  the  Gravesend  Municipal  Techni¬ 
cal  School  recently  on  “  Seeds  ;  their  Structure,  Germination, 
and  Quality.” 
Taking  the  Broad  Bean  seed  as  a  type  of  all  seeds,  he 
explained  the  structure  of  the  Bean,  drawing  attention  first 
to  the  mark  on  the  edge  of  the  seed  which  indicates  the 
point  where  it  was  attached  to  the  pod  which  the  parent 
plant  bore.  This  attachment  was  the  means  by  which  the 
seed  received  the  necessary  nourishment  for  its  growth  and 
support.  When  the  seed  became  developed  and  finally 
ripened,  the  attachment  dried  up,  and  the  seed  remained 
loose  in  the  pod.  The  mark,  however,  remained,  and  a 
similar  mark  was  found  on  all  seeds.  Close  to  this  point 
there  was  also  a  small  hole,  easily  visible  in  the  Bean,  but 
not  so  readily  seen  in  all  seeds,  though  it  is  present  even  in 
such  small  seeds  as  Begonias.  The  object  of  this  small  hole 
was  to  admit  the  absorption  of  moisture  into  the  seed,  so  as 
to  enable  the  nutritive  matter  stored  up  therein  to  swell  and 
become  dissolved,  causing  growth  to  push.  There  are  three 
great  essentials  in  germination,  all  of  which  must  be  present, 
or  seeds  cannot  grow.  These  are  a  suitable  temperature, 
adequate  moisture,  and  fresh  air.  Germination  cannot  be 
carried  on  without  these.  When  a  Bean  seed  germinates  it 
may  be  seen  to  split  in  halves,  and  a  small  structure  pushes 
out.  This  immediately  commences  to  grow  in  two  different 
ways.  The  radicle  or  root  end  pushes  towards  the  soil. 
Should  the  seed  be  turned  round  away  from  the  Soil  this 
little  root  end  will  try  to  find  the  soil  again  and  turn  down¬ 
wards.  Nothing  can  make  it  grow  any  other  way.  The 
opposite  end,  of  course,  seeks  the  light,  and  grows  upwards. 
It  cannot  be  made  to  grow  in  any  other  direction. 
The  two  divisions  of  a  Bean  seed  consist  of  a  food  supply 
for  the  young,  plant  until  it  can  gather  for  itself.  They  are 
covered  with  a  coat  or  testa,  which  is  easily  removable,  and 
simply  acts  as  a  protective  covering.  All  seeds,  though  of 
different  shape  and  size,  are  similarly  constructed.  Different 
seeds  require  different  temperatures  to  germinate.  None 
will  germinate  where  the  temperature  is  too  high  or  too  low. 
The  best  temperature  for  the  germination  of  all  seeds  has  to 
be  ascertained.  The  majority  germinate  between  50deg  and 
80deg. 
Seeds  germinate  the  most  quickly  when  sown  immediately 
after  becoming  ripe.  They  then  contain  more  moisture,  and 
usually  make  a  more  vigorous  growth  than  seeds  that  are 
kept  longer.  The  longer  seeds  are  kept,  the  weaker  they 
become  in  germinating  power.  It  is  a  fallacy  to  suppose 
that  seeds  obtained  from  mummy  cases  thousands  of  years 
old  can  grow.  Few,  if  any,  seeds  can  be  depended  upon  after 
ten  or  twelve  years.  Stock  seeds  will,  if  sown  soon  after 
being  ripe,  produce  a  large  percentage  of  single-flowered 
plants,  while  if  the  seed  is  kept  a  few  years  a  weaker  plant 
is  produced  and  double  flowers.  The  tendency  is  for  seeds 
to  become  weaker  in  vegetative  powers.  Hence  Melon  seeds 
are  preferred  by  gardeners  to  be  two  or  three  years  old 
before  sowing.  Melons  are  required  to  be  fruitful  rather 
than  of  vigorous  growth.  The  deterioration  of  the  seed  by 
age  produces  a  weaker  and  a  stockier  growth  and  promotes 
a  fruitful  condition. — E.  D.  S. 
