Febniary 8, 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



167 



Past and Present Experience with 

 Mealy Bug in Vineries 



When we read in the horticultural books and papers 

 of all the things necessary to be done in the vinery be- 

 fore starting the vines, such as clearing all the loose 

 bark from the vines, scraping and rubbing them to 

 make sure there is not a mealy bug's egg left, cleaning- 

 out the end of the spurs, which is a favorite place for 

 them to crawl into, washing them with various insecti- 

 cides and painting them with lime, sulphur, whale oil 

 soap, and -various other insecticides, and painting all 

 the wood, brick and stone work with kerosene oil, rak- 

 ing and cleaning all the loose soil so as to make sure 

 there is not ai mealy bug or one of their eggs left any- 

 where in the house, and then after having followed 

 directions scrajjulously, what is more discouraging, 

 after all one's vigilance and labor, than to see on the 

 berries just set, a mealy bug? Your heart fails, for 

 how well you remember what a splendid house of 

 grapes there was last year — large bunches well colored 

 and with beautiful bloom on them — perfect so far as 

 growing went — but every bunch spoiled with the mealy 

 bugs. 



Nearly every grape grower has had this experience 

 and a great many are still having it. I had it for years 

 until three years ago I made up my mind to try cyanic- 

 acid gas. Knowing it to be death to all animal and 

 insect life I found out all I could about the best way 

 and the right quantity to use in my house which is a 

 three-quarter span,, 50 feet long by 12 feet wide, 12 

 feet high. About the 10th of November, 1904, I used 

 five pounds of water, five pounds of sulphuric and . 3 

 pounds of cyanide. It burned the leaves that were 

 left on the vines but did not hurt the vines. During 

 1905 I found only three mealy bugs. I did not do a 

 thing to the vines in any way, only washed the glass and 

 woodwork to clean it. 



In November, 1905, I used 2 1-2 pounds of cyanide. 

 During 1906 I found mealy bugs over where I had 

 placed some plants. In November, 1906, I used three 

 pounds as at first. Last year, 1907, we did not find a 

 bug; the bunches and berries were larger and better 

 than I have had in that house for years. Last Novem- 

 ber they had three pounds more. Since 1903 we have 

 not cleaned the vines in any way whatever. I believe it 

 is very injurious to vines to strip the bark from them; 

 many buds are knocked off and some killed by too ttrong 

 a wash. 



By using the cyanic acid gas you kill every insect and 

 egg, save lots of unnecessary labor and when the grapes 

 are ripe it is such a pleasure to cut them and have 

 them put on the table in perfect condition. 



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The Fertilizing and Selecting of 

 the Cyclamen 



\Vc read with interest in last week's IIokticulturu 

 -Mr.. Brown's article on the cyclamens at Sandringham. 

 We are certain the illustration does not do chem half 

 justice. Did anyone ever see a photograph of cycla- 

 mens that did them anything like justice? We would 

 have wished, however, that Mr. Brown had gone a little 

 more into detail regarding the method of fertilizing at 

 Sandringham, which he says was most interesting and 

 worthy of' emulation by growers here. 



The illustration shows a house of mixed colors. Wo 

 would like to learn if the fertilizing was done in a 

 house of mixed colors, or are there several houses de- 

 voted to cyclamens at Sandringham, and the colors 

 kept separate for fertilizing? 



It has been our experience in fertilizing cyclamens in 

 a house of all colors, open to the influence of insects, 

 that in a few years the colors seemed to all get mixed 

 — more especially so with the pinks and reds. The 

 same result as to color came from selection of seed from 

 good flowers; the size of the flower, foliage and stem 

 might be retained and a little improved but not so the 

 color. 



We have always been able to procure a good strain 

 from a reliable source although there are many poor 

 .strains on the market, and we are still of the opinion 

 that good culture helps greatly in bringing out the rich 

 qualities of a strain of cyclamens. So finally we gave 

 up the fertilizing and selecting, believing there were no 

 permanent results gained, working as we had to do on 

 a limited scale. 



21(1 iiiiirniicrk. N. Y. 



Hippophae Rhamnoides^ Linn 



Now that attractive winter fruit is so generally rec- 

 ognized to be a valuable asset of an ornamental shrub 

 it may be well to ciall attention to the Sea Buckthorn, a 

 plant native to Europe and Asia. Normally it is a 

 large shrub eiglit to ten feet in height, although occa- 

 sionally it becomes a low tree with a height of twenty 

 feet. Not infrequently it is somewhat straggling in 

 habit and seldom is it really symmetrical. Its 

 branches- are numerous and irregular. The foliage is 

 willow-like and 'of a silvery gray color. The flowers 

 which appear in May are small, yellowish and of little 

 wortli. However, this is not true of the fruit which 

 follows. This is berry-like and borne in the greatest 

 profusion by the female plant. It ripens in late Sep- 

 tember or early October and retains its showy orange 

 color until mid winter or even until early spring. As 

 the plants are dioecious it is essential to have male 

 plants near. Although rather naturally a seaside plant 

 thriving in sandy soil and exposed situations, it does 

 admirably inland unless the soil be very clayey. It in- 

 creases by suckers and occasionally may become some- 

 what troublesome. Otherwise it is easily grown and 

 managed. 



Hippophae rhamnoides is figured and described in 

 "The Garden" for Feb. 27, 1904. 



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