February 5, 1898. 



GA RDENERS* MA GAZINE. 



good and quick results with pines, and water should be withheld for several 

 days after potting takes place. Large pots are not needed for growing good 

 pines, and I prefer using those under, rather than over twelve inches diameter, 

 and drain them well. It is too early as yet to begin propagating, and nothing 

 is gained by commencing till March. 



The cherry is a very excitable tree, and needs great care in forwarding the 

 crop. The lowest possible temperatures which will keep the trees advancing is 

 the best, and it is well not to exceed 45 degrees at night and a rise to 55 degrees 

 by day, unless the weather is very mild indeed. Afford free ventilation whenever 

 possible, and syringe the trees on bright mornings only ; sufficient moisture will 

 be easily supplied by an occasional damping of wall and floor surfaces. Where 

 mixed orchard-house trees are grown in pots it will be necessary now to bring 

 these under cover ; each pot should be examined to make sure that the drainage 

 holes are not blocked ; and if there is any suspicion of worms in the soil, a good 

 soaking of clear lime water will generally effect a clearance. Where plunging the 

 pots is practised, it is well to thoroughly dust round and under the pots a good 

 application of soot, with a view of preventing the ingress of worms from the soil or 

 other material in which the pots are plunged. Those trees which were not potted 

 in the autumn should have a good top-dressing of some rich material, which should 

 be so placed as to allow of ample supplies of water. As a manurial agent for this 

 work of top-dressing fruit trees in pots, I find nothing so serviceable or so easily 

 applied as malt dust, which may be procured very cheaply in almost any district, 

 and it will be found a very efficacious manure.— J. C. Tallack, Liver mere Park 



Gardens, 



H 



FOR AMATEU 



An amateur friend of mine recently took an old house with a neglected 

 garden, and when he came to closely inspect the latter found it full of 

 overgrown gooseberry and currant bushes, bush apple and pear trees, 

 which had run riot, and flower borders which showed they had not 

 been favoured with any attention from the gardener of late. This is by 

 no means an isolated case ; the tendency nowadays is for tenants to 

 leave old houses for new ones, because the sanitary arrangements are 

 more perfect and the convenience greater ; an old house, generally with 

 a good garden, will remain unoccupied : it becomes a wilderness, then a 

 tenant comes along, rents it, and having a little taste for gardening, is at 

 an utter loss what to do with such a place and state of things. 



The firstimpulse is to dig up everything, destroy what is old and replant. 

 Inis was what passed through the mind of my friend untd he was able to 

 compute something of the cost, and he found it would entail a heavy 

 expense My advice was to have in a gardener, clear away all weeds 

 and rubbish, the removal of which was necessary ; to have the currant 

 and gooseberry trees pruned properly, and thinned out, to cut away some 

 of the branches of the few standard trees ; and judiciously thin the bush 

 ones, leaving it to the summer's experience to show what was likely to 

 be of service in the future and what useless. Old-fashioned gardens 

 often contain floral treasures, and it is always wisest to see what is 

 produced before the border is disturbed. There is always time to put in 



ront 6 , iSWJS "5 a 6 , a SU T ie u ? Splay should h be discovered the border 

 he r ' l " Va U ^ Such / ruit trees as are of inferior merit can then 



nlamS r UP \ ,5 e u tr0) : ed next winter ' and others of ™>-e value 

 planted. Care should be taken to ascertain what sorts of apples pears 



affect^bv'ln' 0 , " thC dis V ict Varieti€S of fruit are P tSe^mes 

 k 1 on di ktr 2 cal . 1 c 1 lrcu f mstance f of climate ; apples and pears that do well 



he case wuh Z T SUCCCed S ? Y? U . m another > and especially so is this 



n^uit trees dl^ ^ emeS S ai \ d th ' S ? how lt occasionally happens that 

 mm trees do.ng well in one locality and ordered from a distance disappoint 



purchase TZSO* f^l M ° ld ^ ardent:r onc e gave-not to beg or 

 common f a ,S ant . f " nIess there was ™om for it in the garden. It is a 

 PlaTthev lit TV 01 ? 6 amateurs ' and g^deners als£ who, seeing [a 



Kn of a de!l?r th PUrChaSC * And Unless lt sh ^> uld De in satis- 

 especiallv sn in T P ? SSCSS ?° me rare SDecies > a11 purchases-and 



^SmL^A * g!ird t n °J Hmit f d *? ent - should ^ directed 

 much t ruth in the rfma I ? nCe ?i W r hat 15 u ready P° sses sed. There was 

 worthy of be?n rn? t ^ 0f & V ° Id Lan ^ ashire florist : That a plant well 

 one yeverovercrowH ^ "5- n ° "^f r °° m than an ^different 

 cultivated bv amateurs ; Z*™™^ "a & t ^ ° f man y gardens 

 fascinated bvWnr"^ Ho ^ man y a » end a bulb or a plant sale, and 

 A garden shonlHnS ' P urchases they do not actually require. 



really wants than t„ n t lon ^ run u fo r an amateur to buy only what he 

 purchases J consider P th l ChaSe that he d ^ not require, and in all his 

 Position in which itZ iffcfi r ^ u J re , ments of P 1 ^, and especially the 



so develop ks 0 that it S L d ° bCSt ; a " d th / n Strive to the utmos t to 



so tnat u sh all become a source of gratification. 



T 



A 



B 



or Woolly Aph 



Professor F. V. Theobald, of the South-Eastern Agricultural College, Wye 

 has prepared the following interesting and useful report on the American Blight 

 (bcfiizoneura lanigera), and a related subterranean species (S. fodiens), and having 



regard to the destructive character of these pests, the report deserves the most 

 careful attention. 



In most of the old orchards in England this well-known pest may be seen 

 annually, sometimes in great plenty. In the recent plantations, where the trees 

 have been planted under more rational conditions, and kept in a clean and healthy 

 state, very little harm is caused by the woolly aphis, as compared with older 

 orchards, and as seen in many western counties. There are still, however, many 

 apple orchards which, like those off the west country, are extremely picturesque 

 but which, nevertheless, are a standing danger to apple cultivation, for they are 

 simply nurseries for this and numerous other insect pests which yearly make thei r 

 appearance in our fruit plantations. The damage caused by Schizoneura lanigera 

 is chiefly to the young wood ; the growth is checked by the loss of sap taken by 

 the insects and allowed to escape from the wounds they produce in the tenderer 

 parts of the tree. The results of this attack are large, swollen, 

 cankered patches upon the trunks and branches of the trees, rugosities that 

 are often put down to true " Canker," but which a casual examination would show 

 to be the work of one of the aphides. When first attacked the young bark 

 gradually splits, and open wounds are produced, which in time heal up but leave 

 large depressions, the sides of which form a harbour and safe retreat for the insects 

 during cold and inclement weather. These rugose knots, which often arise as 

 spongy swellings, are caused by the flow of sap to the wounds made by the insects, 

 resulting in an abnormal division and increase of the surrounding cells. 



There is little excuse for not coping with this apple enemy, for it is one that 

 is readily seen and speedily destroyed. Wherever the so-called American blight 

 is upon the trees there is nearly always to be seen a quantity of white flocculent 

 wool. This wool is a product of lanigera, a waxy excretion that is passed out of 

 the back of the insect, especially in certain phases of its existence. In the cider- 

 making counties this wool may often be seen hanging down from the boughs in 

 great festoons, and being blown about from tree to tree and orchard to orchard, 

 as we shall see later, carrying with it a cargo of young aphides. So great has 

 been the havoc wrought by this enemy at times that the entire cider crop in cer- 

 tain districts has been lost. This occurred amongst other places in Gloucestershire, 

 where not a gailon of cider was brewed in 1810, owing to the crop failing from 

 woolly aphis attack. Its evil effects can.best be seen when it attacks young 



wood, for then only stunted leaves and blossom, which often shrivel up, are 

 produced. 



In Kent the pest seems to be decreasing to some considerable extent, owing, 

 doubtless, to the better state in which the orchards are kept and the repeated 

 " washings " that are employed. It, however, still occasions some considerable 

 annoyance in various parts of the county, notices and inquiries regarding it 

 having been received from most districts. Several fruit growers in the Maidstone 

 area tell me they often are bothered even in young trees by this blight. The 

 eastern part of the county seems to be most free from its attack, yet I have seen 

 it twice there in superabundance, once at Kamsgate and again at Staple. From 

 Mid-Kent and many other parts notices have been sent me, especially in 1894, 

 regarding the supposed attack of lanigera on the roots of apple. Repeated ex- 

 aminations of the root-lice sent as subterranean lanigera have invariably shown 

 that although they were woolly aphides] they were quite distinct Irom the 

 American Blight, S. lanigera, and in all cases the insects could be easily identi- 

 fied as S. fodiens, and a few as Pemphigus lactucse, as I have pointed out in a 



m ^£ZZSS&r^J¥-J* 'MS* in saying Urn 



R. Dean. 



tnat trie same exhibitor sent 

 Still, the improbability of an 



the first nri^j- i, nB E 1Ded W those who knov 

 «Pple or P a Dear h -°- M&1 ® 1 to the same meeting. 



il ; and myS n when P in e H- h ° U l d b £ n ° '^Tl™ to a " exhibitor to keep 

 il PP'es then in sea on ^ 9 indude aS man y socal,ed d **ert 



Prormsed forthcoming report Th e?* ft * ^ ?T Pr ? PCr StatUS ' * in the 

 o narrow the number Texhi J* conditions set down for exhibitors have tended 

 doubt as to the true value 5 ' "? th u 18 unfor t u nate, as it will leave us in 

 *«!*h have been Sen^^fSS? ^ &5 shown at all > but those 



^'ng equal to others th en7n, ^ 6gUre in the record ** not 



Umon P ippin j fffi** n A * regards the variety sent being the true 



apple in question, in this d S r 1 ■ I T dern one ' 88 a PP lied to the 

 **n from a very old ? , / f ° r ^ 5010115 whlch P^duced these fruits were 



y*«s old Phfc "Z? d - and ». 



pven 



--certainly 



nhabitants under the name 



, £ ^ — * 1 ^ » v- ^viiitvu uui xxx CL 



previous report. 1 A large consignment was sent me from Paddock Wood in 

 1894 ; many of the lice were in little woolly chambers in the soil, whilst others 

 had formed rough lumps on the smaller apple roots, very similar to those figured 

 by Saunders in his admirable work on " Fruit Pests. Numbers of these came 

 above ground and became winged females, clearly distinct from lanigera, and 

 undoubtedly the S. fodiens figured by Buckton in his " Monograph of British 

 Aphides." So far I have been unable to detect any subterranean 

 form of the true American Blight in any part of England. It is not unusual for 

 trees to die under the repeated attacks of this insect. I have seen several such 

 cases ; such are usually the result of gross neglect. All apples are attacked by 

 woolly aphis in this country, but perhaps the Ribston Pippin suffers most of 

 all ; the Blenheim Pippin, Cox's Orange Pippin, and Lord Suffield also suffer 

 severely. It is especially those apples with a soft rind that are most affected by 

 the attack. I have seen woolly aphis on the Russets, but they are generally 

 exempt from this pest. Certain experiments in Victoria and at the Cape tend 

 to show that apples grafted on the Majetin and Northern Spy stocks are immune 

 from American blight. This apple disease is generally distributed over Europe, 

 America, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. It is undoubtedly an 

 European insect, and has been spread from nurseries to the American continent 

 and Australasia, where they have found congenial homes, and there spread from 

 orchard to orchard and state to state with alarming rapidity. 



Life History. 



The woolly aphis belongs to the section Schizoneurina^ of the Aphididae, a 

 group which can at once be distinguished by the veination of the wings ; the third 

 vein being once forked, whereas in the Aphidinae it is twice forked, and in the 

 Chermesinae it is absent. It takes its name lanigera from its covering of wool. 

 Again, lanigera may be told from most other aphides by the entire absence of 

 those curious appendages which are generally present in this group, namely, the 

 "cornicles, "or honey-tubes, they being represented by two spots. The apterous 

 female is oval, dark brown, and is covered with a small quantity of wool ; eyes 

 very small, antennae and legs very short and dark reddish-brown to black. These 

 apterous females, which are often surrounded with a number of little pellucid 

 globules, live during the winter in the crevices of the bark, and are not affected by 

 frost. In the spring they produce small pale reddish lice, which excrete a quan- 

 tity of wool from their backs, the threads forming long spiral filaments. Occa- 

 sionally winged females are produced, but they are unusual ; they are chocolate- 

 brown in colour, and have the veination peculiar to the Schizoneurae, and yet dis- 

 tinct from other species of the group. Their antenn are short, the wings are 

 ample and rounded at their apices. ^ The broad cubitus ends in a large brown 

 stigma ; costal vein once forked, veins black. The winged viviparous female 

 appears from July to September, and is not uncommon, Mr. Smith, of Loddington, 

 informs me, in Kent orchards. I have not been fortunate enough to observe it as 

 yet. The winged female is preceded by the pupal stage, which is dull brown with 

 yellow legs, antennae and wing cases, and rounded in form. 



These winged females produce oviparous females, which are destitute of a 

 mouth or rostrum, and thus are unable to take any nutriment. The oviparous 



1 Insect Pests in 1894, page |.*-F. V. T\ 

 * Insects Injurious to Fruits, page 14;— Saunders. 



