74 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 25, 1S72. 



bedding-out time, as we intended to plant two circular beds in 

 one of our flower gardens with Silver-edged Geraniums, we, 

 lite sensible sisters, agreed to have one bed of Miss Kings- 

 bury and the other of Pearl. They were therefore planted 

 according to agreement with fine, strong, healthy, robust 

 plants, that have never " looked back " for a moment since 

 they were planted, nor even lost a leaf — such plants as the Rev. 

 C. P. Peach judiciously recommended at the Birmingham Hor- 

 ticultural Congress, and not half-starved plants as we too fre- 

 quently see even in many noblemen's gardens. Since the time 

 of planting, Pearl has been by far the handsomer bed ; and 

 though we have not a single bloom on any other plant of Miss 

 Kingsbury in any part of our gardens, our bed of Pearl is 

 smothered with a profusion of rich blooms that we can scarcely 

 describe — something between pink and magenta. We there- 

 fore yield the palm to Pearl, and pronounce it the best of all 

 the Silver-edged Geraniums yet in commerce. In habit it is 

 dwarf and spreading, with a broad leaf margin of pure white, 

 and looking at it in the distance it is like a sheet of burnished 

 silver. — Saeah Ann, Claka, and Any Alice, Geranium Cot- 

 tage, BeulaJi. 



EATS IN VINE BOBDEBS. 

 My vinery has suffered from rats ; they have made their 

 way into the border, and at night they carry off and eat the 

 Grapes; they have also been doing damage to plants. Will 

 you tell me what I should try for them ? We have tried iron 

 traps, but to little purpose, as the damage is often done before 

 they are trapped. I hear gas tar is a good thing to put down 

 their holes, but we are afraid to try this for fear of injuring 

 the roots of the Vines. As no doubt others have suffered in 

 the same way from these pests, perhaps you, or some of your 

 correspondents, can help me out of my difficulty. — J. C. J. B. 



SOME PBEDATOBY INSECTS OF OUE 

 GAEDENS.— No. S3. 



Examining lately the stems and branches of some Currant 

 bushes for the purpose of ascertaining some further particulars 

 about the habits of the Currant Clearwing (Sesia tipulif ormis) , 

 I came across the remains of sundry defunct Cocci, which, 

 from their dusty and dingy appearance, must have been long 

 lifeless. Their larva? had departed, for no trace of eggs or 

 larva? were visible, yet the withered parents still remained 

 attached to the plant which had yielded them nutriment. I 

 failed to find any living specimens ; but from my recollections 

 of former cursory observations, at a time when I had no par- 

 ticular interest in the enemies of the Currant, I incline to the 

 supposition that the Coccus described by Kirby as yielding 

 pink eggs entangled in a considerable mass of web is not the 

 species most frequent on our bushes near London. This comes 

 nearer to what he denominates Coccus Persiea?, if it is not 

 identical with it. 



Surely the benefits we derive from certain species of Coccus, 

 as yielding to us such valuable products as cochineal and lac, 

 ought to be duly estimated as a set-off against the injuries we 

 receive from various other species both in the hothouse and in 

 the open ground ; and it is at least possible that we may here- 

 after be able to turn to good account the " shields " of some 

 of our indigenous species, which evidently contain a proportion 

 of colouring matter of several shades of brown and red. Also, 

 to allay our indignation against these and other species of 

 insects, which, by rather insidious yet persevering attacks, 

 drain shrubs and trees of their sap, we may consider that 

 within certain limits the process is not very harmful — perhaps 

 even slightly beneficial. Some insects parasitic upon the 

 human subject, the flea for instance, have been deemed by 

 physiologists as healthful in their operations, communicating 

 a needful stimulus to the circulation. May not this be true 

 with regard to some of the pests which draw the sap from 

 plants or devour their buds ? It is unquestionably true with 

 regard to many trees, that their blossoms are far in excess of 

 the number which could possibly be matured ; and if it be well 

 that these should be thinned out for the advantage of the sur- 

 vivors, why need we quarrel with the means employed ? Even 

 the poet has been impressed with the truth as he pondered 

 over Nature's " secret meaning in her deeds," that it frequently 

 occurred that from " fifty seeds she often brings but one to 

 bear." 



Sometimes, it is true, insects carry the process of reduction 

 rather too far, and not only diminish flowers, fruit, and seeds, 



but also impair greatly the strength of the object of their 

 attack. This frequently occurs with the Cocci, commonly called 

 Scale, with some descriptive adjective added. It is asserted, 

 however, by some that the term Scale should be restricted to 

 the genus Aspidiotes, and not applied to the Coccus proper. 

 It is quite obvious that the habits of different species vary 

 much ; for if we accept Mr. Newman's statement that the hosts 

 of scale insects which appeared in the summer of 1871, not 

 only in gardens, but in the open country on such shrubs as the 

 Whitethorn, owed their existence to the dry and cold weather, 

 their constitutions must be unlike those of the species which 

 are frequent in conservatories and forcing houses, for these 

 delight in wamith. Probably, however, this has to do with 

 the fact that most of the latter Cocci were originally foreigners, 

 imported with exotic plants, and so retain much of their native 

 peculiarities. One point at least all seem to have in common 

 — namely, an abhorrence of much moisture. Taking advantage 

 of this, when Pines have been attacked by the brown Coccus 

 (C. hesperidum) , it has been extirpated by keeping the house 

 at a temperature of 100° or 110° and filled with steam. This 

 process, though kept up for many hours successively, is stated 

 on reliable authority to be quite innocuous to the Pine Apple, 

 while it is destructive to the Coccus, and, indeed, to most other 

 insect annoyers. With other plants or shrubs infested by 

 Cocci, the copious application of water has been found an 

 effectual cure, especially if thrown with some force, as by a 

 syringe or engine. 



Though some species of this troublesome tribe have already 

 been described, the larger species which feeds upon the Vine 

 has not been noticed in this series of papers. Coccus Vitis 

 appears with some degree of uniformity in our vineries, and 

 very possibly a few years of neglect would lead to its being 

 very troublesome ; but it is one of those insects which, being 

 tolerably conspicuous, is kept well under by gardeners. It is 

 decidedly less frequent upon Vines growing in the open air. 

 An instance in proof of this occurred in Chelsea, where an old 

 Vine, which had several visitations of the scale while it was 

 enclosed in a greenhouse, was finally freed from it when the 

 house was pulled down. "That Vine's infested with the 

 Coccus," remarked one entomologist to another, looking criti- 

 cally upon the branches. The words were overheard by an 

 old gardener standing by. " Beg pardon, sir, I thought 't was 

 the bug it had got upon it. Howsomever, if it 's a cookus it 's 

 cooked the Vine, I'm afraid." But his prognostic was not 

 fulfilled. A good washing with a solution of soft soap impreg- 

 nated with tobacco cleared off the enemies in quick time, and 

 no better method can be devised of dealing with it at those 

 times of the year when the stem and branches may be washed 

 with impunity. When Cocci cluster upon the leaves of any 

 plant they may be brushed off without much difficulty, while 

 the eggs are covered by the female insects ; but very often the 

 young adhere so closely when sucking, that the only thing to 

 be done is the removal of all the twigs or leaves which can be 

 spared. 



The letters of "Rusticcs," edited by Mr. Newman, gave us 

 the earliest information about the Vine scale or mealy bug. 

 Farther details have been added to complete its history by 

 other naturalists, especially by the above-named editor. The 

 observer usually makes his acquaintance with the gravid 

 female of Coccus Vitis in the first instance. This is decidedly 

 " bug-like " in form, yet exceedingly sluggish in its movements. 

 It is, indeed, destitute of wings, but, with that exception, en- 

 dowed with all the organs usual in Hemiptera. As seen upon 

 a branch, little is noticeable except the shield-like thorax and 

 abdomen, which, at first brown, gradually become darker — 

 indeed nearly black, and wrinkled. Being matured, she 

 scarcely moves, and seems inanimate, though sufficient life 

 remains, even after she has ceased to feed, to enable her to 

 complete the process of egg-laying. " The female," says Mr. 

 Newman, " is so closely attached to the shoot, that it is im- 

 possible to remove without killing her ; she gradually swells 

 until she attains an immense size, when her whole body be- 

 comes a bag of eggs ; she begins laying with her body glued 

 down all round, but between her body and the rind, except 

 just at the edges, is a quantity of gummy cotton spread over 

 the whole space which she covers. The first egg is laid in 

 this cottony substance without any disturbance to the margin 

 of the body glued to the rind. It does not adhere like the 

 eggs of other insects, but lies loose ; then another egg is laid, 

 which pushes the first a little forwards, and then another and 

 another, none of them being visible from without, so that all 

 the eggs which a female Coccus lays she incubates like a 



