590 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



COMMONPLACE NOTES. 

 By the Secretaey and Superintendent. 



Mealy Bug in a Vinery. 



How common and how vexing is such a cry as this : — " My vines are 

 suffering from mealy bug . . . the damage is increasing . . . the crop is 

 good ... I am afraid to fumigate for fear of spoiling the Muscats 

 . . . my man goes over the vines and dabs methylated spirit with a paint- 

 brush on the bugs wherever he can see them ... it is all very unsatis- 

 factory." And so no doubt it is ; but very little beyond what is being 

 done can be advised until the fruit has all been cut and the foliage has 

 fallen. The fallen leaves, by the way, should be picked up daily and 

 promptly burnt. Beyond this there is only — patience. As soon, however, 

 as the vines are thoroughly at rest, the time of patience ends, and the 

 season of action should commence. The \'ines should at once be pruned 

 and all the loose bark removed and burnt, of course destroying all the 

 msects met with. Then the vine rods should have a thorough scrubbing 

 with a mixture of Calvert's carbolic soft soap or with Gishurt's compound 

 — four ounces of either to a gallon of water — and if it be used warm it 

 will be all the more effective. After this the woodwork of the house 

 should all be well washed and painted over with paraffin, taking great 

 care that no little hidden corner is omitted. No paraffin should on any 

 account be put on the vine rods themselves. The walls should at the 

 same time be washed with soap and water. All these details finished, the 

 surface soil of the inside border should be carefully removed and replaced 

 with fresh and uncontaminated compost. Then just before the vines are 

 started into growth next year repeat the scrubbing of the rods with one of 

 the insecticides named. If these directions be followed and the work 

 done thoroughly, very little, if any, mealy bug will be found next year, and 

 if a little should appear it must be promptly killed with paint-brush and 

 methylated spirit until the very last bug has paid the penalty. It is very 

 important that no plants with mealy bug be put into the vinery, or the 

 previous love's labour vnll be lost. 



The Sw^ng of the Pendulum. 



It was a sad day for gardening when the beauty and merit of a flower 

 or fruit or vegetable was computed by its size and mathematical regularity 

 of form. We think that the revulsion which has certainly begun against 

 the tyranny of these two dicta must have rejoiced the hearts of the twin 

 goddesses, Flora and Pomona. People no longer pin their faith to the 

 biggest Eose or Apple, or to the Dahlia or the Primula, which approaches 

 nearest to an absolutely circular outline. Even in Chrysanthemums the 

 biggest and most globular, though still exciting wonder, receive far less 

 real admiration than the smaller and more graceful varieties which can be 

 grown in bushes and can be cut in sprays. But in the whole realm of 

 Floradom we doubt if a more sudden and complete revulsion was ever 



