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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



afford sufficient accommodation, and it may be destroyed by the 

 application of quicklime a little beneath the surface. The Apple 

 Blossom Weevil [Anthonomus pomorum) is a beetle, the female 

 of which lays her eggs in the bloom buds of both apple and pear 

 trees, and the grub, when hatched, eats the stamens and pistil, 

 rendering them completely useless. Egg-laying lasts for two or 

 three weeks, during which time great numbers of the weevil may 

 be caught by shaking the tree, beneath which a white cloth has 

 been spread, as they drop down on being alarmed. The weevil 

 attains perfect development in a month's time from the laying of 

 the egg, and feeds on the foliage during the rest of summer. 

 It hibernates in the same way as the American Blight, and 

 similar methods for its destruction may be employed. Bands of 

 tarred cloth may also be put round the trunk of the trees affected 

 to intercept and catch the females on their way from the ground 

 to the tree, as they seldom fly. Good husbandry also applies 

 here ; rubbish of all kinds should be rigidly cleared away, and 

 crowding of the trees prevented. 



The Apple Mussel Scale (Aspidiotus conchiformis) is allied to 

 the true scale, and attacks the bark of apple and pear trees alike, 



AFFLE MUSSEL SCALE. 



affecting them in a similar way to that of the American Blight. 

 The eggs are never laid, but hatched in the body of the mother 

 when she dies. The latter is wingless, while the male is minute 

 and winged. If the scale is numerous the tree becomes un- 

 healthy and unfruitful. The scale is brown, and in shape like 

 the half of a mussel shell. Scrub the branches with a hard 

 brush just kept moist with petroleum, and persevere for two, 

 three, or more seasons, as the scale is most difficult to eradicate 

 when once it obtains a footing. 



Gall Mites (Phytoptus pyri) are small acari about the one- 

 hundredth of an inch long by one five-hundredth broad, that 

 produce blisters on the pear leaves. The tissues of the leaves 

 are torn asunder, forming large cavities, the cells often forming 

 strings holding on by their ends. There is a small opening on 



