July 25, 1S72. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



75 



Coccus Yitis. 



brooding hen." It is not certain whether the covering really 

 accelerates the hatching of the eggs ; at least, it serves as a 

 shield to protect them from divers dangers. But the oddest 

 circumstance in the history of the female Cocci is that what 

 was a body becomes a mere film. There is a traditional 

 story afloat -about some monkeys, which, having resolved to 

 eat themselves up, commenced at then' tails, and after a certain 

 number of vertebra? had been consumed, gave in ; but though 

 a Coccus does not devour itself, the body disappears, or wastes, 

 lead and legs vanish, and the upper and lower surfaces form a 

 shield. It is not long after the parent has actually died that 

 the young brood 

 bursts the egg-shell, 

 making its first 

 meal off the cottony 

 secretion which en- 

 veloped the eggs. 

 The little creatures 

 are exceedingly ac- 

 tive, and Mr. New- 

 man compares them 

 in this stage to 

 spiders, only they 

 possess but six legs, 

 while juvenile spi- 

 ders own to eight. 

 They are also some- 

 what of the tint of 

 the notorious " red 



spider," which is really a mite or Acarus. To limit their range 

 at this period, and cut off such of the wanderers as are within 

 Teach, it has been recommended to brush the old wood with 

 spirit of tar, and touch the branches with oil (or spirit) of tur- 

 pentine. Ere long, having increased slightly in size, the im- 

 mature Cocci settle down, and assume the appearance of minute 

 scales or shells. Though not immovable, they are seldom to be 

 discerned in the act of locomotion, being generally steadily en- 

 gaged in sucking the sap by means of a rostrum or beak, 

 which is quite hidden from view, owing to the head of the 

 •creature being bent under. A party of these look all alike ; 

 they are so at present, yet how different is to be the destiny of 

 -the two sexes. The males, becoming adult as larvas, pass into 

 the chrysalis stage, and after a brief interval come forth in 

 winged form, with heads of a comical aspect, two large wings, 

 and tails furnished with two thread-like appendages, which 

 ■can hardly be weapons. The females seem to proceed from 

 the larval condition to the imago state without change of 

 ■outer form, and as it is not in their power to indulge in aerial 

 excursions, they still continue to feed and grow, and each, 

 leing impregnated, introduces more Cocci into the world. 



About nine years ago a new species of Coccus (or rather a 

 species of insect to be placed between the Aphis and the 

 Coccus) was discovered upon a Vine at Hammersmith, and 

 subsequently that eminent entomologist, Professor Westwood, 

 received specimens of it from various parts of England and 

 Ireland. In 1869 a full account of the species was given by 

 the same gentleman, who has shown that this insect is much 

 more troublesome in France than with us. Not only does it 

 ■prey upon the leaves, but also attaches itself to the rootlets, 

 and the secondary result of this is a fungoid growth or a form 

 of canker, by which material injury is done to the wood. Pro- 

 fessor Westwood has denominated the species Peritymbia 



one-thirtieth of an inch in length, wingless, armed with a power- 

 ful rostrum, considering their size. The males are winged, 

 but little is known about them. From the females being thus 

 sheltered in maturity, it is more difficult to check the ravages 

 of the insect, and especially so when it is at work upon the 

 roots of the Vine. The young larvfe resemble mites, as in the 

 better-known Coccus Vitis. On the Continent an opinion pre- 

 vails amongst some naturalists that the insect attacking the 

 roots is distinct from that found in the leaf-galls ; and it is 

 quite probable that more than one species of these singular 

 Hemiptera resorts to the Vine. — J. E. S. C. 



IPeritymbia Yitisana — Phylloxera -rastatris: (J. E. Planchon).— Female speci- 

 mens nnd their eggs, a, antenna ; b, horns or suckers; c, egg plainly visible 

 in the body of the insect ; /, winged form of the insect. All magnified. 



Vitisana, the name being suggested by the habits of the females ; 

 lor they produce upon the leaves gall-like excrescences, within 

 which they are to be found enclosed when full grown, and in 

 this also the eggs are deposited. They are small, being scarcely 



MARQUIS OF LOENE CTJCUMBEE. 



I cm endorse all that " Nokth Wilts " has said of this ex 

 cellent Cucumber (see page 39), except that it is longer in 

 coming into bearing than any other variety. With me it set 

 its fruit, grew freely, and came into bearing as soon as any 

 other sort I have. Mr. Jenner, fruiterer, of Tonbridge Wells, 

 told me it gave general satisfaction to his customers, and he 

 is no mean authority. 



Another Cucumber (not yet in the trade, I believe), I must 

 not omit to mention ; it is Mr. Douglas's Tender and True, 

 which is the finest variety for exhibition purposes that I have 

 ever seen. It easily took the first prize at the Tonbridge 

 Wells Show on the 5th inst., and if the plant is as prolific as 

 the Marquis of Lome, it must become a general favourite. — 

 W. Gbayes, Market Gardener, Colebrook Park, Tollbridge. 



I have found it a very plentiful eropper in the frame, but 

 not quite so good in the Cucumber house. I grew one in the 

 frame to the length of about 27 inckes, and nearly 4 lbs. in 

 weight, another about 28 inches, and one about 30 inches. I have 

 been cutting since the middle of April. — Burton Joyce. 



Would that its only fault were lateness, and that I could 

 join in its praises with " Nokth Wilts." It is of no use in 

 an ordinary frame unless favoured with extraordinary sun- 

 shine. With plenty of heat at command it grows like a 

 Willow, but when grown (and I have tasted several fruit from 

 different places) it is not, in my opinion, fit to eat, being so 

 sweet, tough, and devoid of flavour, that I hope never to taste 

 it again. It will do well, with the requisite amount of heat, 

 for market and shows, until consumers and judges recognise 

 its qualities. — C. C. E. 



HEATING BY HOT AIE. 



Believing that the time has now arrived for a reconsidera- 

 tion of the question whether hot-air heating may not, in many 

 instances, successfully compete with hot-water heating; and 

 having during some years past practically succeeded with a 

 method of air-heating, I was induced to exhibit a model of my 

 system at the late Eoyal Horticultural Show at Birmingham. 

 I have reason to think that it received some notice from per- 

 sons well qualified to give an opinion on its merits, and I 

 write this with a desire that the expression of such opinion 

 should be elicited. I am far from claiming superiority in every 

 case ; in fact, where a town of glass has to be warmed from 

 one source of heat, I see no likelihood of the agency of water 

 being superseded. But for buildings placed in a range, or heated 

 separately, I think from the hot-air system many advantages 

 may be secured which are not obtainable, at least not readily 

 obtainable, from the hot water. 



Conceding that some equivalent must be found for the large 

 heated surface of moderate temperature, which is an admitted 

 necessity for successful culture, I submit that such an equiva- 

 lent may be found in the cooling effects of rapid currents of 

 moist air passing over a gill stove highly heated. It is when 

 circumstances are favourable to the inducing of such rapid 

 currents that I claim the balance of advantage for the hot-air 

 system. If after constructing a firebox in such a manner that 

 the fire shall not impinge upon metal, we dome it over with a 

 box of wrought iron 3 feet square, we shall have, in addition 

 to the brickwork, a heating surface of 45 square feet. By add- 

 ing gills, twelve on each side and 3 inches deep, we increase 

 the surface to 135 square feet ; and if we can subject this ex- 

 tended surface to the refrigerating effects of a moist current of 

 air rushing over it with many times the velocity of the currents 

 from the ordinary hot-water pipes, we have the means of effect- 

 ing our object — viz., the delivery of large quantities of not too 



