1092 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



prolific insects. Dressing with gas-lime, where it can be followed, 

 is excellent ; while in the case of lawns, constant rolling will 

 destroy vast numbers of the pests. Starlings and Rooks are 

 exceedingly useful in clearing lawns and garden patches of the 

 grubs, and should be encouraged. 



Mealy-bug {^Coccus adoiiidiini). — Though these pests infest 

 numbers of plants, from the uninviting-looking Cactuses to the 

 Grape-vine, yet it is on the latter that they inflict the greatest 

 injury. The insect is a very near relation of the Scales, and is 

 readily identified by the white meal-like covering over a red 

 body. From Cactuses they are best removed by means of water 

 of a temperature of i4odeg. to i5odeg. Fahr. Grape-vines, if 

 badly infested, give an immense amount of trouble, as the insects 

 hide away in cracks and crevices of walls until the vines are 

 started. AVinter dressings and washings help to keep the pest at 

 bay, especially if the vinery itself is thoroughly cleansed. The 

 best application at such a season is kerosene emulsion. When 

 pruning, the loose old bark should be removed, as this serves as a 

 hiding-place for many pests ; and the rods should be treated to 

 30Z. of caustic soda and 30Z. of commercial potash dissolved in 

 2gals. of boiling water. Methylated spirit will kill at once all 

 bugs that come in contact with it, and in very slight attacks on 

 greenhouse and stove plants it may be useful to dip a camel-hair 

 brush in a bottle of the spirit, and lightly touch the insects. 



Many Grape-growers, when the pest is very troublesome, find 

 it policy to remove the top soil in the borders, and bury it 

 deeply, replacing it with fresh turfy loam. The XL All Vaporising 

 Insecticide is worthy of a trial, repeating it at an interval of 

 about a fortnight. Muscat of Alexandria and Lady Downes 

 Seedling are injured by the usual strength of XL, and should 

 be used cautiously with these two varieties. 



Millipedes. — These are very abundant animals belonging to the 

 Myriapoda^ and are represented in practically every garden. By 

 some they are called Wireworms, but this is an erroneous name 

 for them. The true Wireworms are, as stated elsewhere, the 

 larvce of Click Beetles. Millipedes are all vegetable feeders, 

 and of very cosmopolitan tastes — vegetable - roots, flower -roots, 

 and fruit on the ground are all partaken of readily. In form 



they are usually C3"lindrical (Fig. 

 704), though some few are flattened. 

 They make an ingenious nest of 

 Fig. 704.— Millipede. earth below the surface of the 



ground, and in it deposit a number 

 of eggs, sealing over the hole at the top. Though not as 

 destructive as the pests with which they are often confused — 

 Wireworms — yet they are very undesirable, and should be killed. 

 Where the attack is severe, slices of Apple, or of Turnip, or 



