420 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



[ Kovamber 27, 1873 



one year and have been piu-eyed the next, and have still 

 kept their colours."] 



THE MUSSEL SCALE OF THE APPLE. 



Some persons are only just beginning to be awake to the 

 serious damage wrought in certain seasons by the scale insects — 

 insects which, unfortunately, it is rather difficult to operate 

 upon, owing to their very cautious habits and their small 

 size. Also, so far as it is known at present, they enjoy, in the 

 ease of several species, a comparative immunity from the 

 attacks of parasitic foes. The above-named scale, known in 

 science as Aspidiotis conchiformis, should be looked after in 

 autumn and winter. This attacks the trunks and branches of 

 both Pear and Apple trees, and where these are neglected, the 

 insects increase so rapidly that they will produce almost as 

 unpleasant an appearance as the American blight or Woolly 

 Aphis, despite their small size. Upon the Pear another scale 

 (A. ostreieformis) occurs, which is not so common ; it has 

 been thought by some to be identical with the Apple Mussel 

 Scale, yet the form suggests a specific difference. 



The scale rmder consideration was so named from the seem- 

 ing resemblance in form to the mollusc, the exterior of the 

 scale being hard and shining, with margins woolly beneath, 

 and adhering firmly to the substance on which it may happen 

 to be. From their occurring at times crowded together in 

 large numbers, these insects appear to have a turn for sociality. 

 The shell or shield of the female, as in others of the Coccidse, 

 forms a nidus for the young, each being the parent, as it is 

 stated, of forty or fifty ; these are short and whitish in colour, 

 and soon after they have hatched run about with agility. The 

 living mature female is more of a livid green hue, this changing 

 to a brown as she dies-ofl. 



Some have strongly recommended washing the trunks of the 

 trees and syringing the branches, when the leaves have fallen, 

 either with boihng water or a weak solution of carbonate of 

 ammonia ; or lime water may be well applied with a brush, care 

 being taken to get this fully into all crevices. Scraping the 

 bark needs to be done very judiciously. Mcintosh advocates 

 the use of spirits of tar, and others have even advised the be- 

 daubing the branches with a mixture of train and linseed oils. 

 The remedy Mr. Waterton found so efficacious in the case of 

 the American blight, might be as valuable if tried for the scale 

 insect. He says, " I mixed clay with water till it was of such 

 a consistency that it could be put on to the injured parts of 

 the tree either with a mason's trowel or with a painter's 

 brush. I then applied it to the diseased places of the tree, 

 and it soon smothered every bug. A second coat upon the 

 first filled up every crack which showed itself when the clay 

 had become dry, and this resisted for a sufficient length of 

 time the effects both of sun and rain." Where the Apple 

 scale occasions most annoyance is when it suddenly shows 

 itself upon the fruit-bearing branches in May, as it occasion- 

 ally does through having been overlooked in the preceding 

 year. The sacrifice of the fruit is then almost unavoidable. — 

 J. B. S. C. 



NEEDLESS FASTING AT THE CRYSTAL 

 PALACE. 

 I SEE that one or two of your correspondents complain of 

 not being able to obtain breakfast early enough at the Crystal 

 Palace on Rose-show days. Allow me to say that several years 

 ago, when I used to go with my Roses, I experienced the same 

 disappointment. The next year, however, I a few days before 

 the show wrote to the contractors for refreshments, asking 

 them whether it would not be possible for me to have some 

 breakfast about ten o'clock on the Rose-show day. I had a 

 very polite reply, stating that I could have coffee or tea at 

 that or any other hour that best suited me, with hot or cold 

 meat, or bacon and eggs. Accordingly I and a friend who ac- 

 companied me had about ten o'clock as good a breakfast as 

 man could desire in one of the private rooms. The charges, 

 too, were reasonable. — P. 



Shepherdia argente.i. — My specimen is swarming with small 

 drupes or berries for the first time. Whether they are spoilt 

 by frosts, which have been very severe for many weeks 

 past, I cannot say; but from the first they resembled an Ivy 

 berry, clammy and acrid, more suitable for birdlime' than 

 eatable fruit. The blackbirds, &c., never touch them, though 

 they are pegging-away at Mountain Ash, Spindle tree, and 



many very bitter sorts on the adjoining bushes. — J. Gill- 

 banks, Cnmhcrland. 



PRIZES FOR VIOLETS. 



I PURPOSE giving £7 10s. in prizes (see schedule of the 

 Royal Horticultm-al Society, Feb. 18th) for Violets, in four 

 prizes each — viz., £2, £1, 10s., and 5s., for The Czar, and the 

 same amount for Lee's Victoria Eegina, two plants each, to be 

 shown in 32's, about 7-inch pots. My particular wish being 

 that Victoria Regina should stand upon its own merits, I have 

 thought this would be the fairest way of procedure. So three 

 extra strong plants will be supplied to each exhibitor gratis, 

 except package, which will be charged Is. each lot, on con- 

 dition that two plants be exhibited, otherwise they will be 

 charged 15s. for the three plants, and each person applying 

 will be required to sign a printed form to that effect. I do 

 not supply The Czar. — George Lee, Market Gardener, Cleve- 

 duii, Somerset. 



BLUE BELL AND RUFFORD ABBEY BLUE 

 PANSY. 



This extremely useful class of bedding plants is becoming very 

 popular. I am always on the outlook for something cheap 

 and useful, especially if it can be raised from seed. I therefore 

 ordered a packet each of the above, with others of proved 

 merit. I find Blue Bell is a showy interesting variety, but it 

 must be weeded-out with an unsparing hand, as so many of 

 the seedlings are worthless and spoil the good effect of those 

 which come true. It is a pity that an otherwise good variety 

 should be submitted for pubhc approval before the strain is 

 properly fixed. I presume that I have the right variety ; the 

 plant is very dwarf and compact, and there are many shades 

 of colour, but I prefer that which is about three shades darker 

 than Perfection. It is much dwarfer in growth, and the flower 

 of a truer Viola shape than in this well-known variety. It has, 

 moreover, a yellow disc, which gives it a striking appearance. 

 Altogether I think when this variety is " fixed " it will take a 

 place for edging smaU beds equal to any of the best kinds, 

 and to do this, propagating it by cuttings seems to be the only 

 sure way. After awhile, when nothing but the true colofir is 

 grown, I see no reason whj* it could not be obtained true from 

 seed as well as Perfection. This I have as true as need be 

 from seed, with only just two really distinct shades produced. 



Now as to the Rufford Abbey Blue Pansy. I was led to 

 beUeve by the catalogue that this would be found a valuable 

 acquisition, but it has turned out badly. Never did I come 

 across such a deception. It is really the draughts of the whole 

 family of Violas, and is best designated the Rufford Abbey 

 mixture, wherein anything can be found from the old Viola 

 tricolor to — what shall I say ? Well, really there was not a 

 flower that a person would admit into a back border. As I 

 have said, there was our wild V. tricolor, some V. lutea, and 

 the rest were Pansies, mostly disagreeably-marked yellows, 

 with just two plants of a small dark blue about the size of a 

 shilling. Plant growing rather strongly, with very few flowers ; 

 these have a small yellow disc, surrounded with a very dark 

 velvety circle of round blotches. This on the ground of a few 

 shades lighter blue is pretty enough, but the flower being so 

 small and so sparingly produced, it is very far inferior to other 

 varieties which we have. Can anyone say if the flower I have 

 described is the right Rufford Abbey Blue? Never has it 

 fallen to my lot to be more annoyed throughout the summer 

 than I have been in the past season with plants raised from a 

 2s. CJ. packet of the above. I had, unfortunately, put them in a 

 most conspicuous place at the end of a large ribbon border to 

 form, as I thought, a blue fringe, but the result was a lesson- 

 which I shall not soon forget — that is, never to plant a Viola 

 or a, Pansy until after trial in the reserve garden. — J. Taylor^ 

 Maesgwtjnne, South Wales. 



COMBE ABBEY, 



THE SEAT OF THE EARL OF CKAVEN.— No. 1. 



Inquiring one day where good gardening could bo seen, 

 the answer was, "Go into the Midland Counties." Meekly 

 asking " Where ? " the answer was, " Go to Coventry." There 

 was a look half of anger half of surprise on the one part, on 

 the other a smile which showed no offence was meant — for 

 "Go to Coventry" is often so intended. We remember in 

 our schoolboy days — and the memory of those days strikes one 

 more vividlv as one grows older — what a lonely despondent) 



