March  24,  1904. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTaGE  GARDENER. 
250 
Newport Gardeners’  Friends. 
The  usual  meeting  of  the  Newport  (Mon.)  Gardeners’  Mutual 
Improvement  Association  was  held  on  Wednesday.  March  9,  when 
a  good  attendance  of  the  members,  presided  over  by  Mr.  J.  Duff, 
thoroughly  enjoyed  a  most  interesting,  instructive,  and  humorous 
lectui'e  by  Mr.  K.  G.  Reeves,  of  Crindan  Schools,  the  subject 
being  “'Gardeners’  Friends.”  Mr.  Reeves  is  an  enthusiastic 
student  of  birds  and  insects,  and  is  well  qualified  to  deal  with  his 
•subject  in  a  masterly  manner.  Ho  gave  a  very  lucid 
description  of  the  various  bird.^,  insects,  Ac.,  which  prey 
upon  and  destroy 
those  insects  which 
are  hurtful  to 
the  vegetable 
kingdom.  The 
birds  mentioned  as 
being  especially  use¬ 
ful  were  the  spotted 
flycatcher,  the  grey 
water  wagtail,  swal¬ 
low,  swift,  martin, 
cuckoo,  and  blue 
tit,  these  living 
Avholly  Tipon  in¬ 
sects  ;  the.  starling, 
rook,  thrush,  and 
blackbird  destroy¬ 
ing  great  numbers 
of  wire  w  o  r  m  s, 
snails,  Ac.,  al¬ 
though  doing  some 
damage  to  the  fruit 
crops. 
Amongst  the  in¬ 
sect  tribe  that  are 
useful  in  destroying 
other  insects  that 
are  harmful  are  the 
tiger  beetle,  which 
is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful,  as  well  as 
one  of  the  fiercest, 
being  a  veritable 
tiger  in  the  insect 
world,  although 
only  about  half  an 
inch  in  length  ;  the 
ladybirds,  which 
feed  upon  green 
fly ;  and  the  larvse 
of  the  glow-worm, 
which  feeds  upon 
tiny  snails.  The 
rove  or  devil’s  coach 
horse  is  another 
beetle  most  useful. 
The  ichneumon  fly 
Avas  specially  men¬ 
tioned,  lajdng  its 
eggs  in  the  bodies 
of  other  insects. 
Bats,  moles,  hedge¬ 
hogs,  frogs,  and 
toads  were  also  in- 
.sect  destroyers.  A 
very  animated  dis¬ 
cussion  followed,  in 
Avhich  the  chair¬ 
man,  Messrs.  Har¬ 
ris,  Jarvis,  Basham, 
Powell,  Jones, 
Woodward,  and 
otheiAs  took  part.  A 
Very  hearty  vote  of 
thanks  Avas  ac¬ 
corded  Mr.  Reeves  for  his  able  lecture.  Mr.  W.  Jones,  gardener 
to  R.  Williams.  Fsq.,  Avas  aAvarded  the  society’s  certificate  of 
merit  for  six  well  groAvn  Primulas,  some  of  them  being  2ft  3in  in 
diameter. 
Liverpool Troublesome  Pests. 
On  Saturday  eA'ening,  the  12th  inst.,  a  lecture  was  delivered 
before  a  large  attendance  of  members  of  the  Liv'erpool  Horticul¬ 
tural  Association,  entitled  “Troublesome  Pe.sts,”  by  Mr.  Sherry, 
Botanio  Gardens,  Liverpool,  Avho  confined  his  remarks  to  the 
pests  gardeners  have  to  deal  Avith  under  glass.  He  gave  the  life- 
history  of  some  of  the  principal  “insects,”  such  as  the  beetles, 
thrips,  red  spiders,  mealy  bugs,  and  scales,  giving  the  audience 
a  full  description  of  their  structure,  habitat,  mode  of  living,  and 
.sexual  reproduction,  and  suggested  those  remedifs  for  trapping 
and  killing  the  “insects,”  Avhich  he  had  personally  found  to  be 
most  successful.  The  universal  phosphorus  paste  he  recom¬ 
mended  for  destroying  beetles,  its  luminosity  attracting  the 
insects,  avIio  .succumb  to  the  temptation  to  eat.  They  eat,  and 
they  die.  Mr.  Sherry  remarked  that  traps  of  any  de.scription, 
unless  kept  scrupulously  clean,  Avere  u.seless.  For  thrips,  the 
sponge  and  “  paraffin  softsoap  ”  solution  (uoav  used  exten¬ 
sively)  he  advocated  for  their  extermination,  in  conjunctioir  with 
tAVO  or  more  .successive  fumigaticns,  and  plenty  of  moisture  about 
the  house.  Red 
spider  i-  also 
destroyed  by  simi¬ 
lar  methods.  Dip¬ 
ping  he  had  found 
to  be  useless,  but 
sponging  Avith  the 
softsoap  solution 
was  considered  to  be 
a  preventive,  avoid¬ 
ing  at  all  times  a  dry 
atmosphere.  Mealy 
bug.  that  most 
troublesome  of  all 
pests,  Mr.  Sherry 
successfully  eradi¬ 
cates  by  fumigation 
with  ‘  XL  All 
vapourising  com¬ 
pound.  .Scales  must 
be  prevented  from 
laying  their  eggs  by 
repeated  sponging, 
syringing,  Ac.  In 
conclusion,  the 
lecturer  entreated 
all  present,  Avho 
had  not  already 
done  .so,  to  make  a 
study  of  insect  life, 
and  to  grasp  the 
fact  that  the  more 
Ave  knoAv  of  them 
and  their  habits, 
the  better  shall  Ave 
be  able  to  destroy 
them,  and  be 
solving  the  problem 
of  hoAv  to  get  rid  of 
them.  A  hearty 
vote  of  thanks  Avas 
accorded  to  Mr. 
Sherry  for  his 
amusing,  instruc¬ 
tive,  and  most  in¬ 
teresting  lecture. — 
J.  S. 
Ware  Horticaltural, 
^1726— John  Abercrombie — 1806. 
The  fortniglitly 
meeting  of  this 
society  AAas  held  in 
the  ^’icar■s  Room, 
Avhen  there  Avas  a 
good  attendance, 
presided  over  by 
Mr.  J.  .Spencer. 
Three  neAv  members 
Avere  elected.  Mr. 
W.  Durrant,  second 
gardener  at  Ware 
Priory,  read  a  very 
interesting  and 
practical  paper  on 
“  The  Culture  of  Gloxinias.”  He  dealt  Avith  the  intro¬ 
duction  of  the  Gloxinia,  seed-soAving  and  cultivation  in 
the  various  stages,  propagation  by  cuttings  and  leaves, 
the  ripening  of  the  tubers  and  restarting,  and  ^he 
various  insects  that  attack  the  plants  and  the  best  A\ay  of 
destroying  them.  A  good  di.scussion  folloAVcd.  taken  part  in  by 
several  of  the  members.  Mr.  Durrant  Avas  accorded  a  hearty 
Amte  of  thanks,  the  chairman  hoping  he  would  be  .able  to 
giA-e  them  some,  more  interesting  papers.  The  judges  for  the 
ordinary  competition  Avero  Mr.  G.  Gilbert  and  Mr.  M.  P-.fer. 
The  exhibits  from  the  folloAving  members  Avere  excellent 
Mr.  Noyce,  Primulas  and  Cinerarias.  Narcissus  Emperor  and 
Poeticus  drnatus;  Mr.  Fulford,  Dendrobium  nobde  and 
Hyacinths;  Mr.  Godfrey,  Freesias  and  Seakale;  Mr.  Clibboii, 
