AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
223 
The Monkey-Flower— Mimulus. 
A species of Mimulus (M. luteus) grows all 
along our Pacific coast, and is also found iu 
Chili ; in its wild state it is pleasing enough but 
not particularly showy. So much does it vary, 
even in its wild state, that botanists have made 
several species of its different forms. It may 
well be supposed that a plant with such a natural 
tendency to vary, would, in the hands of 
careful florists, give rise to some marked 
varieties. Of late years it has received 
much attention, and the result has been 
the production of some most beautiful 
forms, all widely differing from the native 
ones. The engraving will give a good 
idea of the general appearance of these. 
They differ in the spread of the corolla, 
and in its texture, color, and markings. 
The ground color is usually some shade 
of yellow, which is dotted, and blotched 
with a rich purple or deep scarlet. The 
flowers even come double, with one corol- 
la within another, as may be seen from 
our engraving in our Horticultural An- 
nual for the present year; this variety, 
which is known in the catalogues as 
a Bull's Mimulus,tigrinuBjl.pL, is said by 
Mr. Vick to come always true from the 
seed. There seems to be no end to the 
names, and the catalogues have M.punc- 
tatus, speciosus, variegatus, Harlequin, ti- 
grinus, and the like, but all garden varie- 
ties of one species. The Mimulus is a ' 
perennial, which, however, seldom stands 
our winters, and can only with certainty 
be kept from year to year in the green- 
house. As it is one of those perennials 
that bloom the first year from the seed, 
it is usually classed as an annual. The 
seeds are very small and should be sown 
with care ; it often comes from self-sown 
seed. The plants need a light, moist, and 
rich soil, and should be placed where 
they will be partially shaded from our in- 
tense midsummer sun. For pot culture 
the varieties of Mimulus are very useful, 
and choice varieties may be propagated 
by cuttings, or by division. The old 
Musk Plant is a species of Mimulus, (M. 
mo8chatti8,) and is prized by many for the 
peculiar musky odor of its foliage. It is 
a low-growing, rather trailing plant, and needs 
plenty of water and shade. Its flowers are not 
showy. We have two native species with small 
purple flowers, and which are rather weedy- 
looking plants. They grow in moist places, 
and are called Mimulus ringena and M. alatus. 
An Oak Scale Louse. 
A gentleman residing at Orange, N. J., recent- 
ly brought us a specimen of English Oak, which 
presented the worst case of scale that ever came 
under our notice. The small scale insects are 
not so numerous upon a given space as we have 
seen the oyster-shell bark-louse, noticed in April 
last, i their effects are much more marked. 
Around each scale the bark has swollen in 
OAK SCALE LOUSE. 
such a manner as to give the whole surface a 
repulsive appearance, not unlike that presented 
by some pustular skin diseases. The scale it- 
self is less than a line in diameter, and very 
nearly circular. Most of the individuals appear 
shiny black to the naked eye, but dark brown 
under a magnifier; these contain numerous 
eggs, while the yellowish scales mixed with 
them were empty or contained only dead re- 
mains. The tree — one of several oaks purchased 
and planted at the same time — is completely 
covered in the manner we have described. The 
engraving gives something the appearance of 
the twig, but fails to convey the repulsive look. 
MONKEY FLOWER — MIMULUS. 
We find that Dr. Fitch has noticed some scale 
insects upon some of our native oaks, but we 
cannot make his brief description apply to the 
present insect. Loudon quotes the case of an 
oak which was cut down in the Bois de Boulogne 
(Paris), which from the description must have 
been similarly affected, but the name of the in- 
sect is not given. Our advice as to this tree was 
to cut it down before others became infested. 
We are glad to see a growing attention paid to 
the condition of our various ornamental and for- 
est trees, as they are quite as liable to the attacks 
of diseases and insects as are our fruit trees. 
« « ■ !■ .— 
Preparing for the Exhibitions. 
That our horticultural shows, on the whole, 
do a great deal of good, we do not doubt ; that 
the system of offering prizes for the best — mean- 
ing usually the largest — specimen of this or 
that, without regard to the way in which it was 
produced, tends much to the advancement of 
general horticulture, we very strongly doubt. 
A glance at the list of prize takers will show 
that year after year certain persons are sure to 
take the prize for certain things. Those who 
devote themselves to growing special fruits and 
flowers will, of course, attain greater perfection 
than the novice, but the novice does not know 
that the fruits, etc., which have carried off the 
prize that he hoped to gain were prepared long 
beforehand for the exhibition. Prizes are offer- 
ed, and people who know how, set themselves 
at work to win them. It is mainly a trial between 
experts, and as a general thing the amateur or 
commercial cultivator has no chance. An 
illustration of preparing for the exhibi- 
tion occurred within our knowledge: 
two boys, 10 and 13 years old, saw the 
schedule of a fair, and decided to try, one 
for the premium on beets, and the other 
for that on carrots. A few plants of each 
were assigned to the boys; they gave 
them plenty of room, fed them with liq- 
uid manure, and tended them daily. 
The consequence was that the premiums 
for the "three best beets" and "three 
best carrots" were awarded to these boys, 
to the exclusion of those who had prob- 
ably grown an acre or more of either, and 
selected the best of their produce. Now, 
what these boys did is what must be 
done by any one who competes for 
prizes — he must prepare for the exhibi- 
tion. If it is for the " best quart of straw- 
berries," take a row that should yield a 
bushel, and after the fruit has set and is 
large enough to show whether it is per- 
fect, pick off all but two or three berries 
to a stem. Mulch the plants, water them, 
coax them with liquid manure, and if 
the berries are ripening up too soon, put 
up a cloth to shade them. Doubtless a 
quart of enormous berries will result, that 
will take the prize. The committee will 
ask no questions, perhaps not taste of tho 
watery, flavorless monsters, but the grow- 
er will go out as the prize strawberry cul- 
tivator. If contending for the prize on 
squashes, grow but one squash to the 
vine, feed it and water it, and a prize 
squash will result. The prizes for Dah- 
lias and roses, and other flowers, are ob- 
tained in a similar manner. Pot plants 
are often "garnished," that is, the plant, 
■whether fruit or flower, is made to ap- 
pear more prolific, by skillfully attaching 
branches of fruit or flowers. We mention 
this practise, not to commend it, but to warn com- 
mittees that it is done. So far as these decisions 
show what manuring, watering, thinning, and 
high culture generally, will do, they are in that 
respect well, but so far as indicating what may 
be done in general culture, they are useless. 
• • ■«» ' m 
The Grape Curculio. 
For some years there have been occasional 
accounts from some parts of the West, of injury 
to the grape by a curculio. No full account of 
this insect had been given until the appearance 
of the excellent Report of Mr. B. D. Walsh on 
the Noxious Insects of Illinois. Mr. W. has 
studied up the insect, and we 
give an abstract of his account 
and make use of one of his fig- 
ures. The perfect insect is about 
one-tenth of an inch long, and of 
the shape shown in the enlarged 
engraving. It is black, with 
short, scale-like, white hairs, which give the black 
a grayish tint. The wing-covers are grooved 
and dotted as shown in the engraving. One of 
the distinguishing marks of this species is the 
coarse tooth upon the four front shanks. For 
