April 21, 18G3. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



299 



another clearing at the trees in the orobavd-houee, having had 

 an extra supply of the brown or black beetle, the larvee of the 

 Aphis Persicrc, last Sunday. 



Aphis Persicce. — We are sorry that "X. T. Z." has this pest 

 in his orchard-house — at least wo judge it to be eo from his 

 description, and still more sorry that smoking with tobacco, 

 dusting with snuff, hellebore, Ate., seem to have no effect upon 

 it. That is contrary to our experience. The pest is easily killed 

 if you catch it, and do not mind the appearance it gives to your 

 fingers. AVo have never found it to stand a good smoking, nor 

 dusting, or other modes ; but then, though you kill all you see, 

 and you think you have conquered him, lo and behold, the story 

 of the Phoenix is a trifle to this beetle, as, if you leave a single 

 one in hole or cranny, in the soil of the pot, or running round on 

 the outside of it, you will not have to wait long until you have 

 your thousands, or it may be millions, to again slaughter and 

 destroy. We are also a little more unfortunate than " X. T. Z.," 

 as we have had the experience of last season us well as the present, 

 and we believe it must have corne to the place by some Peach 

 plant or other, and heartily will we wish it good-bye when it 

 takes its departure. In close houses where smoking can be 

 resorted to, that we believe is the best mode for settling the plague. 

 In a very close place, and where only a few plants are infested, 

 bruised laurel leaves put in the place will not leave a single one 

 alive. In an open orchard-house neither of these modes can 

 be resorted to with anything like economy, unless either the 

 whole house is covered, or individual trees are covered-in with 

 a cloth which will keep in the smoke. In such a case, washings, 

 and syringings, and dustings with powder are chiefly to be 

 depended on ; but nothing will do but constant watchfulness 

 and perseverance, and with these the pest, if not thoroughly era- 

 dicated, will be kept down so as to be harmless ; but the great 

 thing is to be at him whenever he shows himself. 



Besides this letter of " X. T. Z.," we have several other letters 

 complaining still more bitterly, and we fear if the pest becomes 

 common it will give work enough. Most of these tell us the 

 separate washes that have been used, such as old-fashioned clay, 

 tobacco juice, sulphur, lime, and soft soap, Parmentier, Gishurst, 

 3 ozs., some more and some less to the gallon ; and yet with 

 all that trouble there is the enemy in black phalanxes ready to 

 dispute the ground witli them. We are sure a short article 

 on the natural history of the insect, and some hints as to its 

 destruction, would be useful. Although we have already given 

 an outline of the treatment of these pests, we think we may 

 shortly repeat it in order that it may be supplemented. 



About this time last year the insects made their appearance ; 

 but they were kept down, and towards the autumn we could 

 scarcely find a trace of them. To make assurance doubly sure, 

 as soon as the leaves were falling weburnt 6ulphur in the house, 

 thinking the fumes would kill everything alive and search into 

 every hole and cranny. This killed some green points of shoots, 

 which we expected, as we have long known that sulphur-burning 

 will kill everything soft and green, but that it will have no effect 

 on the buds of well-ripened wood if used in moderation. After 

 this, when all the leaves, &c, were removed, several times during 

 the winter the trees were well syringed with soap water as hot 

 as the man could bear to use it with a cloth round the syringe. 

 Then the trees were all washed with a brush and soap and water. 

 The surface soil to the depth of li inch was carefully taken off, 

 and afterwards the floor was watered with water not far from 

 boiling, and in a few days stirred up and covered with fresh soil ; 

 then the trees were painted some time about Christmas, Gis- 

 hurst, clay, and sulphur forming the paint, and working it well 

 into every hole and joint and sluicing it among the buds, which 

 were thus sealed up so far from the air for several months in the 

 winter. One would imagine that 6uch a doctoring would have 

 found out every live insect, and most likely it did ; but then we 

 doubt if even very hot water will kill the vitality of eggs, and 

 there is no doubt that, though these pests are produced in vivi- 

 parous fashion, like ropes of onions in summer, shoals of eggs 

 are laid in autumn, so that they may escape the casualties 

 which would destroy the larvas in winter. The whole of our 

 washes, when trees are in a dormant state, have proceeded on the 

 principle of sealing-up the eggs from air, and have, no doubt, 

 thus done good ; but until there is enough of heat to bring the 

 principle of vitality into action, it is doubtful if the eggs are not 

 as safe without air as with it, and the expanding of the buds 

 will so cause the coating matter to crack that air will thus find 

 its way to an egg if any such should be left. On this account, 

 in some eases we have found a thin solution of glue one of the 



most complete settlers for insects. Be this as it may, we saw no 

 trace of our enemy until the buds and shoots were expanding, 

 and, of course, a good portion of the paint in which they were 

 enveloped had dropped off. Of course, the pest was attacked as 

 duly reported. 



On the trees we noticed two or three shoots rather bad on last 

 Friday week ; these were either removed or cleaned. On Mon- 

 day these trees had a dingy black appearance, so thick were 

 the insects scattered on the leaves and shoots. A decoction of 

 tobacco-water and Gishurst and soft brushes were used, making 

 sure that the wash was strong enough to settle the insects if it 

 touched them, and not so Btrong ad to injure the foliage. In 

 washing, the hand was held as much as possible below the 

 affected part to prevent the peBts from dropping. Some, how- 

 ever, would do so, and as the work proceeded the ground was 

 syringed with hot water. On Tuesday evening the trees were 

 syringed heavily all over with laurel tea water in a clear state, 

 being passed through a cloth, and the water heated to about 

 130°, the fruit being as much set as we believed rendered them 

 free from danger. With water at this temperature, we have 

 cleared away myriads of green fly ; but, of course, it must not 

 be so hot as to injure the plants. On close examination on 

 Wednesday, among myriads of slain there were a few solitary 

 specimens to be found in a sickly state, so at night another 

 heavy syringing was given with clear sulphur-lime water at about 

 the above temperature. This strong acid water is thus made : — 

 One pound of flowers of sulphur and li lb. of quicklime are 

 boiled half an hour in a gallon of water, say nearer five quarts. 

 This when settled iB as clear as sherry, and a quart of it was 

 used for a barrel of thirty-six gallons of water, and that is pretty 

 strong. 



To-day (Thursday) we have not seen one alive, and to-night 

 we will give another good syringing with clear water, and con- 

 tinue sprinkling as wanted. In such cases we would rather 

 vary the means used than otherwise. We have more faith in 

 perseverance, the use of the fingers, and constant watchfulness 

 than in any one nostrum as a cure-all or till-all in tbeBe matters. 

 It is not seldom that we have seen men's names appended as 

 testamentary evidence to the efEcacy of certain mixtures in 

 eradicating all sorts of insect euemies, and yet you could not 

 walk through their houses without having your clothes encrusted 

 with filthy insects that, of course, you never expected to find 

 there. In close houses tobacco-smoking, with or without a few 

 laurel leaves or capsicums mixed with it to make it more pun- 

 gent, with the assistance of the syringe, we have no doubt will 

 at last conquer tbis pest'; but then the expense in large houses 

 will be a consideration, and frequent applications will be 

 necessary in order that too strong a dose may not injure the 

 plants or bring the fruit rattling on the floor. 



ORNAMENTAL DEPARTMENT. 



Conservatory. — Re-arranged this, taking out lots of Chinese 

 Primroses and Cinerarias ; moving Azaleas in bloom more to the 

 back to be slightly shaded, taking Pelargoniums to the front 

 where they will have plenty of light, and placing lots of Cine- 

 rarias in bloom nearer the back, where they will be slightly 

 shaded. When convenient, Cinerarias and Calceolarias will do 

 better if set on damp moss, or if in saucers if the saucers are 

 filled with moss. Next to freedom from frost, moisture and cool- 

 ness are the great essentials of success and freedom from insects. 



Potting. — Camellia-buds Dropping. — Many complaints have 

 appeared during the season of Camellias dropping their buds, and 

 in almost every instance we should be inclined to say that it 

 arose from dryness at the roots, even though watering was given 

 in the most systematic manner. In moving some Camellias from 

 the conservatory to a vinery there were several that had not the 

 right appearance, and the flowers were smaller than they ought 

 to have been : we attributed it to dryness in the ball, and yet 

 when the pot was well thumped with the knuckles it emitted a 

 dull sound, as much as to say there is plenty of moisture there. 

 Still the weight of the pot convinced us that the ball could not 

 be wet enough. On turning the balls out of the pot we found 

 this to be the case. No water had penetrated the centre for 

 many a long day, never much from the time they had been last 

 shifted. There are two little matters that young gardeners are 

 difficult to be convinced upon — the first is, that young tender 

 plants can be injured by taking them to a cold shed, shifting 

 them in cold soil, and leaving them there an hour or two in the 

 cold before taking them back to their warm place. The second 

 is, the importance and necessity that every plant should be well 



