388 On the Aphis Lanigera. 



sand or bog earth, and plenty of that white sharp sand, which 

 is to be found in the bog soil of Wimbledon Common ; the pro- 

 hibition from taking which must be universally acknowledged 

 as a great injury, not only to that highly respectable class the 

 nurserymen around our metropolis, but to private gentlemen 

 and botanists of every description. 



.u By this mode of cultivation a stock of that beautiful plant 

 can easily be raised ; and as time can be saved in the cultiv- 

 ation without any additional expense or trouble, I trust I shall, 

 in a short time, see it growing generally with that luxuriance 

 which I have often observed with pleasure in my own garden, 

 where I have frequently counted from fifty to eighty fine, 

 strong, expanded blossoms from a bulb two years old, growing 

 in a forty-eight-sized pot. If you consider these observations 

 worthy insertion in your useful publication, they are much at 

 your service. 



I am, dear Sir, &c. 



John Wilmot. 

 Isleworth, April, 1826. 



Art. VII. Some Account of an Attempt to arrest the Ravages 

 of the Aphis lanigera, or American Blight, on Fruit Trees. 

 By T. C. Huddlestone, Esq. F.H.S. 



Sir, 

 If the following account of an unsuccessful attempt to 

 arrest the ravages of the woolly aphis, should be deemed worthy 

 of a place in the pages of your Magazine, I should feel obliged 

 by its insertion ; and it may perhaps be a means of attract- 

 ing the attention of scientific and practical men to the rapid 

 progress of the insect. In the spring of the year 1825, my 

 attention was first attracted to the state of some old apple 

 trees in my garden, by observing, on the decayed parts of 

 the trunks, an appearance of cotton, which, upon a closer 

 examination, I discovered to proceed from a small insect, 

 which I immediately recognised as the woolly aphis, or 

 American blight. Upon referring to the pages of your valuable 

 Encyclopaedia of Gardening, second edition, I found that 

 the best methods there recommended of destroying it, were 

 " thoroughly cleaning with a brush and cold water, together 

 with amputation when it has been some time at work :"-— " but 

 this will not do unless resorted to at an early stage of the 

 progress." I therefore immediately began to clean out the 

 decayed places with a sharp-pointed stick, and for some time 



