coo 



[ 233 ] 



COG 



{lowers of sulphur, 2 Ibs. ; tobacco, 1 Ib. ; 

 and a wine-glass of spirit of turpentine. 

 Miz the sulphur, turpentine, and soap 

 into a paste with warm water ; boil the 

 tobacco for an hour in a covered sauce- 

 pan in some more water, strain it, mix it 

 with the soapy mixture, end then add 

 enough water to make five gallons. 

 More tender plants can or;ly have their 

 stems and leaves sponged with water at 

 a temperature of 115, frequently , and 

 so long as a single insect can be detected. 

 The Mealy Bug on pine-p.pples may be 

 destroyed by shutting these up in a frame, 

 over a bed of hot, fermenting horse-dung. 

 Our drawing represents a female magni- 

 fied, and of its natural size. It is some- 

 what like a woodlouse in form, but red- 

 dish, and covered with a white, mealy 

 powder. The male is slender, gnat-like, 

 with two broad wings, and two brush-like 

 filaments behind. The Cottage Gardener, 

 v. ] 57. 



C. vitis. Vine Scale. It preys upon 

 the stems and branches of the grape-vine 

 both in the open air and under glass. It 

 seems to be the same species which also 

 attacks, occasionally, the peach, nectarine, 

 and plum. It is, says Mr. Curtis, alongish- 

 brown insect, which, in old age, assumes , 

 a blackish-brown colour, and becomes j 

 hemispherical and wrinkled. The females j 

 are shield-like, being convex above, and i 

 flat, or concave, below. They are i"ar- 

 nished with six small legs, which, whjn 

 the insect is old, become part of the 

 substance of the body. On the under 

 side of the insect is a sucker, with which 

 it pierces the cuticle of the plants, and 

 extracts their juices. Soon after impreg- 

 nation the female dies, and her body 

 becomes a protection for the eggs, 

 which are covered with long, white wool, 

 and sometimes completely envelope the 

 shoots of the vines, or of plants grow- 

 ing underneath them. Their powers of 

 propagation are immense; and, where 

 the} <Mice become very numerous, they 

 are exceedingly difficult to eradicate. 

 This species belongs to the true genus 

 Coccus, characterized by the female having 

 a scale inseparable from her body. While 

 young, both sexes are alike; but the 

 male larvse produce two-winged insects, 

 with two tail threads. The females have 

 no wings ; and their dead bodies, beneath 

 which the young are sheltered, appear as 

 iu the annexed woodcut. 



Whilst the leaves are on the vine, if 



any species of scale appears on its stem 

 and branches, the least offensive remedy 

 is to paint over the whole with a strong 

 solution of gum arabic or starch ; allow 

 it to remain on for a week, and thon 

 wash it off. But the most effectual 

 remedy is to brush them over thoroughly 

 twice, after an interval of a day, with 

 spirit of turpentine. To prevent the 

 recurrence of the plague, a very effective 

 mode, in autumn, -is to scrape away and 

 burn all the rough bark, and then, with 

 a rough brush, to paint over the stem 

 and branches with a creamy mixture, 

 composed of ^lb. of soft soap, 1 Ib. of 

 sulphur, and J oz. of black pepper, to 

 four gallons of water ; boil together for 

 twenty minutes, and make it thick enough 

 to adhere to the wood like paint. If it 

 does not, thicken it with lime, adding 

 sufficient soot to take oft the glaring 

 white colour of the lime. Gard. Chron., 

 1842, 840 



C. hesperidum is found in greenhouses, 

 especially on orange-trees. It infests 

 leaves as well as stems. 



C. Iromelia, Pine -Apple Scale, infests 

 that fruit, the hibi'scus, justi'tia, &c. 



C. lestudo. Turtle Scale. This i* 

 found chiefly on stove plants requiring 

 a high temperature. The scale is oval, 

 very convex, and dark brown. They may 

 be all destroyed by the applications _re- 

 commended against the preceding species. 



A genus of insects closely allied to the 

 Coccus, and usually confounded with it, 

 is Aspidiotm ; and, as all remedial ob- 

 servations applicable to the one ure 

 equally applicable to the other, the pre 

 vailing kinds of it are hero eiiwneratetl. 



