GREENHOUSE PESTS 111 



had to learn in the hard school of experience that it is 

 absolutely a sine qua non. 



In this chapter I propose to take the principal green- 

 house subjects (except flowers) and describe the pests 

 they are Hable to suffer from. Needless to say our first 

 example is the Vine. 



From the days of remotest antiquity the Vine has been 

 inseparably associated with man, and it has been cele- 

 brated in song and story, simile, metaphor and allegory 

 among all nations in all ages. As a source of inspiration 

 to poetry and reHgion the Vine has exercised the highest 

 attributes of our kind, whilst in the discovery of the 

 fermentation of its juices and the abuse of such has lain 

 the cause of much human vice and misery. 



With such a wide range and long history it was inevit- 

 able that the Vine should become the home of innumer- 

 able insect and other parasites, more particularly in 

 countries Hke England where we have tried to obtain by 

 artificial means a permanent supply, home-grown, of the 

 finer varieties of the grape that are indigenous to southern 

 chmates. 



If it can be said that heavy wines such as port are an 

 unnatural drink for an Englishman, and when partaken 

 of, as they were formerly, in large quantities, produce 

 gout and other diseases, it is equally true that the black 

 grape and all exotic kinds need the greatest care in order 

 to ward off the enemies and ailments that will undoubtedly 

 assail them. At the same time no man of ambition is 

 likely to go short of a good vine because of the trouble 

 required in looking after it, for at least the claims of the 

 sick-room should be borne in mind, even if the dinner 

 table goes short. 



The pests of the Vine may be enumerated as follows : — 



1. Beetles. A Scarabid {Anomala vitis) devours the 

 soft tissue of the leaves. Another tiny species 

 {Emolpus vitis) will destroy the roots. Some half- 

 dozen kinds of weevils, of which the Black or 



