May 22, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
401 
spreading, and an instance was given of every Vine being ruined in a 
bouse near Bristol, although under the charge of a first-rate gardener. 
We have also had bad accounts of the same pest from Liverpool and Frome. 
In one of the worst cases reported to us the Vines were received from France. 
The gardeners were, and of course still are, naturally very anxious 
about this new state of things, and we can say from our own examina¬ 
tion of the material forwarded to this office that it has been almost 
impossible to imagine Vines in a more deplorable condition than some 
of the specimens sent. 
The general appearance of an affected Vine leaf is shown in the 
illustration at A, fig. 92. This leaf is by no means one of the worst, 
for in some examples the leaves are so distorted and ruined that 
at first sight it is difficult to see that they are Vine leaves at all. Our 
engraving shows the under side of a leaf. The dark patches are in nature 
pale brown, and when examined under a lens they appear as fine felted 
masses of cream-coloured or brownish hairs. When the leaf is turned 
over no such hairy patches are seen, but in their corresponding place 
on the top of the leaf there are numerous large green swellings, which 
project boldly from the upper surface, In mild cases there are but a 
E 
Fig. 92.—Disease of Vines caused 
few small disease patches, but in bad cases the leaf is more or less 
covered with them. 
If we take a single disease pustule of the smallest size, cut it across, 
look at the exposed sectional surface, and magnify twenty diameters, 
we see it as at b; the upper surface of the leaf is represented by 
c c, and the lower at d d. We now notice that the swollen disease 
spot is really a small trough or basin filled with transparent cream- 
coloured or brownish hairs. A portion of the section further enlarged 
to fifty diameters at E better shows the nature of these swollen hairs. 
They are all furnished with numerous joints or stops, as is common in 
plant hairs. 
At first this disease was supposed to be of fungus origin, and was, 
with many others of the same clas«, described in past times under the 
name of Erineum, the species belonging to the Vine being termed 
E. vitis. The name Erineum, given by Persoon, is derived from erinos, 
a hedgehog, in reference to the bristly appearance of the spots. Different 
forms have been found on the Alder, Maple, Birch, Beech, Walnut, 
Poplar, Eose, Lime, Apple, Pear, Bird Cherry, and other plants. 
The mischief is now known to be caused by an acarus or mite of very 
small dimensions named Phytoptus vitis. The arachnoid or mite exists 
under four forms, first as a very small larva or maggot with two pairs 
of legs. This larva lies hidden in the little felted nests of hairs as 
illustrated in the accompanying engraving, and in these secure nets it 
deposits eggs or, to write more correctly, buds. In the next stage the 
creature becomes furnished with six legs, without, however, changing 
its skin. In this six-legged condition the animal passes through the 
winter amongst the hairs of its felted nest in dead leaves. In the spring 
the little animal wakes up, and instead of six legs it now exhibits eight, 
and with its eight legs it begins to pass an active life. In this eight¬ 
legged condition the acari are found in the bark of Vines in the spring, 
and the bark is ascended by the arachnoids in quest of the young leaves. 
When the leaves are reached the mites select the lower surface, which 
they pierce, and there deposit their eggs. The irritation caused by the 
puncture appears to cause an abnormal hair-growth on the affected 
spot, and this dense growth of swollen leaf hairs forms a place of 
protection for the true eggs and the little maggots which soon emerge 
from them. It will be obvious from this description and the illustrations 
that the eggs and infant mites are in a place of great security in their 
position underneath, and never on the top of the Vine leaves. 
The only known method of getting rid of this pest is to carefully 
gather together all the affected leaves and burn them. The stems of the 
Y the Vine Mite, Phytoptus vitis. 
Vines should be also carefully dressed and cleaned, and in bad cases 
the surface of the border should be removed. 
The similar affection of the Birch, commonly referred to as Erineum 
betulinum, was unusually common last year, so much so that several 
correspondents sent Birch leaves covered with the little crimson woolly 
spots to this office for an explanation of the singular appearance. 
For the illustration and description of the Vine mite we are indebted 
to Mr. W. G. Smith. 
GREENHOUSES. 
Many of your readers must have been often impressed with the great 
similarity in the construction of greenhouses, so far as it respects the 
internal appearance and arrangements. Those who have seen the one which 
I erected a few years ago, generally agree that it is a great improvement 
on the usual plan, although possibly not adapted to all positions ; hut I 
will give your readers a few particulars. I have a hack wall 20 feet long, 
and 18 feet wide, and round this length of wall space I have carried an 
earth border 18 inches wide with ordinary garden edging, in which I have 
planted Camellias and Tacsonias, and instead of the ordinary wooden 
stand in the centre I have constructed a framework in blue brick earned 
up in tiers, starting from the level of the encaustic tile path which runs 
