THE GRAPE VINE. 



G39 



are covered with long white wool, and this wool 

 sometimes completely envelopes the shoots of 

 the vine. They propagate rapidly, and where 

 they become numerous they are difficult to sub- 

 due. The remedies are to paint over the whole 

 wood and the under sides of such leaves as they 

 have settled upon with a weak solution of gum- 

 arabic; allow it to remain on for a week, and 

 then wash it off. Another method is to brush 

 them off as they appear, and also to wet the 

 leaves and branches with spirits of turpentine 

 twice or three times during the early stage of 

 growth. As a preventive, the old wood during 

 the early part of winter should have all its loose 

 bark removed, and afterwards be painted over 

 with the following composition — viz., 'half a 

 pound of soft soap, quarter an ounce of black 

 pepper, and one pound of sulphur, to four gal- 

 lons of water, boiling the whole for twenty 

 minutes, and when cold laying it on about the 

 consistency of thick cream. A little lime and 

 soot may be added to give it a body. The exact 

 proportions are of little consequence, the object 

 being to cause it to adhere to the bark, to pre- 

 vent the eggs of the larvse from coming into 

 life. Painting the old wood with spirits of tar 

 is a complete remedy. 



The mealy bug (Coccus adonidum Linn.) at- 

 tacks both the vine and the pine. The males of 

 all this family have wings, and are capable of 

 locomotion; the females are stationary, being 

 fixed to the old wood of the plants they infest, 

 or on the leaves of the pines. The males are so 

 small as to require a microscope to distinguish 

 them clearly. The females are much larger, 

 and not unlike a common house-bug in shape, 

 but with a scaly skin, and while hatching they 

 envelop themselves in a white cottony - like 

 covering. Spirits of turpentine applied to every 

 part infected will, upon the first or second 

 application, rid the plants of them. As they 

 are not all hatched at the same time, and as 

 even this spirit has little or no effect upon them 

 in the egg state, their escape from the egg should 

 be carefully watched, and the spirits applied at 

 that time. During the application the house 

 should be kept pretty warm for a few hours, to 

 cause the spirit to vaporise. This is also a good 

 remedy for the vine scale {Coccus mtis). The 

 following preparation is efficacious in the case 

 of the mealy bug (Coccus adonidum) — viz., two 

 pounds of flour of sulphur, one pound of 

 tobacco, two pounds of soft soap, and a wine- 

 glassful of spirits of turpentine. The sulphur, 

 turpentine, and soap should be wrought up to 

 a pretty thick lather with warm water, and the 

 tobacco boiled for an hour, and the pure liquor 

 added. The above quantities will make five 

 gallons. Sponging or syringing the leaves and 

 branches with water at a temperature of 115°, 

 if frequently applied, will also prove destructive 

 to this insect. The vapour or steam from rank 

 stable-yard manure in a high state of fermenta- 

 tion is also of advantage, and hence the use of 

 this in vineries during the first process of forcing. 



The genus Aspidiotus is so near akin to Coccus 

 that they are often confounded together ; their 

 effects are the same, and means of suppression 

 as noticed above. 



' The caterpillar, Tortrix mtisana of Linn., Cochy- 

 lis mtisana Jacquin, Cochylis reliquana Treitsch, 

 the vine tortrix, is found on the vine in April 

 and May, at which time the female lays her 

 eggs. The caterpillars appear as the buds begin 

 to expand, which they cover with a web of 

 white threads. It is less destructive in vineries 

 than on the open walls. Their mode of attack 

 is to eat the inner parts of the blossom, and 

 having finished one embryo flower they repair 

 to another, and so on until they have covered 

 the whole branch with their web, and destroyed 

 the complete flower. 



When fully grown, the caterpillar measures 

 from 3 to 4 lines, of a dirty-green colour, beset 

 with small whitish warts, from which stiff hairs 

 arise. " The head and first segment of the body 

 are yellowish brown, the six fore-feet blackish, 

 and the others of the same colour as the body. 

 They enter the pupa state towards the end of 

 June, and appear as moths twelve days after- 

 wards. Pupation takes place either in the co- 

 coon or in a curled-up leaf. The pupa is brown, 

 with rough points. The moth is 3 or 4 lines 

 long, and with the wings extended 6 lines 

 broad. The head is yellowish brown; the an- 

 tenna?, which are half as long as the whole 

 insect, are black and annulated. The upper 

 wings appear marbled with rust colour and blu- 

 ish grey, having two incomplete cross bands of 

 the latter colour, or whitish, in the middle of 

 the first of which is a dark rusty dot. The 

 under wings are white, with brownish veins and 

 snow-white fringes." — Kollar. 



A second generation of caterpillars appears 

 towards the end of August from the eggs of the 

 first. These caterpillars penetrate into the berry, 

 and feed on the unripe pulp. The full-grown 

 caterpillar leaves the bunch of grapes to undergo 

 pupation in some suitable place, often at the 

 root of the vine. They remain in this state till 

 April, when the moths appear. There are other 

 species of Tortricidae which attack the vine on 

 the Continent, but as these probably never ap- 

 pear in this country, we need not further notice 

 them. The remedies given for the destruction 

 of the coccus are applicable to the tortrix also. 



The common wasp (Vespa vulgaris) is ex- 

 ceedingly destructive to the ripe fruit. There 

 are two most efficient ways to guard the crop 

 against their attacks— namely, destroying every 

 nest to be found within a mile of the garden 

 (for they will travel thus far). If boys are em- 

 ployed during the day in discovering the nests 

 and marking them, they may be blown up at 

 night after dark, when they are congregated 

 together, by firing a squib of gunpowder with- 

 in the hole, afterwards digging up the nest, 

 and saturating it with water; or half a pint of 

 spirits of tar poured into the hole, and the 

 opening closed up by placing a piece of turf 

 over it, or pouring a quart of common tar intd 

 it, smearing the surface round the entrance, will 

 be found effective. The ventilators may be cov : 

 ered with fine gauze netting for the admission of 

 air and exclusion of the enemy ; and if the glazing 

 be in a proper state of repair, no wasp can enter. 

 Capturing the females early in the season, before 

 they have begun to breed, is also an excellent 



