CXxii PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE. 



June 4, 1901. 



Dr. M. 'V. Masters, F.R.S., in the Chair, with eighteen members present 

 jind Sir George King, K.C.I.E., F.R.S., V.M.H., visitor. 



Before commencing the usual business, the Chairman said he had a 

 very pleasant duty to perform, which was, on behalf of the Council of the 

 Society, to present the visitor. Sir George King, with the Victoria ]\Iedal 

 of Honour. Sir George King expressed his great pleasure in receiving it, 

 but considered himself as not worthy of that honour, a sentiment unani- 

 mously disavowed by all the members present. 



Loss of Reserve Matter in Priming Vines. — Referring to his note on 

 this subject on page xxii Mr. Sharpe writes : — " ^ly vines are growing 

 in very poor soil. The first six inches is a mixture of coal ashes and 

 sand, and below this some fifty feet of green sand ; they have no artificial 

 heat : and the supply of water is deficient. The age of the canes is 

 from seven to ten years. Under these circumstances the preservation of 

 reserve matter is all important, and I am able to report quite considerable 

 improvement, viz. double the crop. ' Shanking ' also is practically nil, 

 only some dozen berries at most. When the vines started last spring the 

 show of fruit was great, small buds developing all round the spurs, some 

 of them proving fruit bunches only. I have continued through the past 

 summer the treatment reported on page xxii, and purpose trying a (to me) 

 new method of pruning next winter, on which I hope to report later on." 



Schinus Mollc witJi Galls. — Mr. Robert Newstead reported as follows 

 upon the specimens sent by Dr. Bonavia from San Remo : — " The insects 

 upon the shoot are a species of adult ? Ceroplastcs, I think C. rusci. 

 Linn., which is the only known Pahvarctic species of the genus. The 

 insect is one of the most beautiful of the Coccida\" 



Cherry Fruits and Caterpillars. — Specimens sent from the Chiswick 

 Gardens showed some 50 per cent, of the fruits attacked. The insect, 

 being sheltered within the calyx of the blossom, is protected from 

 insecticides. Mr. Saunders reported as follows upon them : — " The young 

 Cherries from the Society's garden at Chiswick were attacked by the 

 caterpillars of a small moth, Argyresthia ephippclla, one of the Tineina. 

 As to the destruction of this insect, where it is possible, cutting off and 

 immediately burning the infested bunches of blossom is a very effective 

 method. I cannot find any account of the life-history of this insect, and 

 am therefore uncertain in what condition, or where, it passes the winter. 

 If it be, either in the egg or chrysalis state, attached to the bark of the 

 stem or branches, a good remedy would be spraying with a caustic alkali 

 wash, some time after the leaves have fallen, and before the buds show 

 any signs of opening in the spring. If the chrysalides be formed in the 

 ground, a good dressing of lime applied to the surface early in the spring 

 would probably prevent the moths from reaching the open air. Spraying 



