1B8 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. t August 12 , mo. 
this shrub to a severe test. The largest specimen I have is 
5 feet high and 6 feet through, and is now covered with its beau¬ 
tiful orange and yellow blossoms. I have several others from 
layers planted out in the borders of the shrubberies, all in perfect 
health. Their dark green foliage has been quite uninjured by the 
severity of the last two winters, though they have not had any 
protection during times of frost. A much larger specimen, from 
which I have reared all the others, was killed the winter before 
last. The situation is well sheltered, and the soil a rather heavy 
clay. I am greatly surprised that this very desirable evergreen, 
which is easily propagated by layers, is not in more general culti¬ 
vation.— John R. Boyd. 
MEALY BUG IN VINERIES. 
It is now some years since I was troubled with the pest referred 
to by Messrs. Bardney and Cakebread in your issue of the 22nd 
ult. In plant houses where mealy bug becomes abundant it is 
always difficult to dispose of it. The case of vineries is some¬ 
what different, but in them, doubtlessly, it is introduced upon 
other plants, and until a vinery is cleared of all infected plants 
it is nearly a hopelesss task to attempt cleaning the Vines. Had 
I a vinery so infested I would have it first cleared of plants, then 
deal with the bug severely after the leaves had fallen. If the 
first brood of the insects were carefully w T atched for in spring, 
and the Vines properly dressed previously, I should not have 
much fear of clearing bug from a vinery in one season, provided 
plants were kept out of the house.—R. M. 
We do not hesitate to assert that there are but few subjects in 
the whole round of gardening practice that are of more import¬ 
ance than mealy bug on Vines. There is perhaps no question 
that we have had so often to answer as, “ What is the best way of 
eradicating mealy bug from Vines?” We do not say that it is 
impossible to successfully accomplish the task, but it is as near 
as can be impossible without destroying the Vines too. We 
regard mealy bug as the most obnoxious enemy of the Vine 
that we know of, excepting the phylloxera ; and, unfortunately, 
we have had more experience of both insects than we would care 
to encounter again. 
Cold water forcibly applied to every part of the Vines affected 
with the insect has been recommended. But we do not hesitate 
to say that the contest has a resemblance to that of the old 
lady with the Atlantic. A friend and correspondent, at the time 
paraffin was being recommended for insect pests in general, 
and mealy bug in particular, went strongly in for the remedy. 
He first scraped off, as closely as possible, all bark that could 
safely be removed from the Vines, and then dressed them with 
paraffin and water. The result was, that the Vines were so injured 
that they had to be rooted out ; but the bug was left intact. 
The fact is, no remedy, however powerful, that can be applied in 
winter, when Vines are dormant, can effect the complete exter¬ 
mination of the bug, simply because the insect retires into crevices 
about the Vine where no application can reach it. Besides, after 
the bark of the Vine is scraped off almost to the quick, paraffin is 
a dangerous, indeed more or less fatal, application. The Vine is 
so porous a subject, and the oil so penetrating, that it is sure to 
be hurtful, and at the same time sure not to reach all the safe 
retreats to which the insects betake themselves for the winter. 
Ten years ago, when rebuilding a plant stove, we put the plants 
into two vineries, for want of a more suitable place. From the 
plants the Vines got bug. In order to eradicate it we had recourse 
to the orthodox means of close-scraping and winter dressing, with 
everything we could think of that would not injure the Vines. 
At the same time every crevice that could be seen was filled with 
styptic, in order to seal up and kill the bug. But every spring, 
as the Vines began to grow, a fresh army, more or less numerous, 
of the enemy appeared. One winter paraffin oil was applied to 
one Vine, with the result that the Vine was seriously injured, but 
the insect not destroyed. The conclusion was at last come to, that 
if it was to be completely conquered it must be done chiefly in 
spring and summer, when the insect was active and to be seen. 
Bug by some means got carried into a Muscat house, and by 
catching and killing it has for several years been perfectly free 
from the pest. It also found its way into a large Black Hamburgh 
house—we always have thought, by introducing a bought-in Vine 
for inarching. For four years the summer catching-and-killing 
system has so reduced it in this house that a whole day’s most 
minute search results in capturing one or two, and sometimes 
none at all, and in having localised its haunts to a few Vines ; 
and it is hoped that this season will see its complete extinction. 
Although it has rarely been allowed to get into a bunch of Grapes, 
it has been prevented from doing so at a great outlay of hunting 
and picking. But no amount of labour should be considered 
too much to keep such a filthy insect from the fruit. 
Our conviction is that all the scraping and dressing with 
insecticide that can possibly be done in winter can never clear 
Vines from bug, and that enough will escape any winter effort 
to prove a most filthy pest in summer if left to breed unheeded ; 
and that success in this way has not, to' our knowledge, been 
recorded. What we recommend, from our own experience and 
success, is to scrape thoroughly in winter, so as to remove as 
much of the insect as possible ; to scrub the Vines with a hard 
brush and soapy water; then to fill up every crevice effectually 
with styptic, and dress with Gishurst compound at the rate of 
12 ozs. to the gallon of water, and well thickened with white 
hellebore powder. This process does not damage the Vines, and 
it gets rid of all the insects that can be reached by any means. 
The woodwork of the vinery also, and everything about it, should 
be thoroughly cleansed, and, if possible, painted. Then, as soon 
as fire heat is applied to the Vines in spring, let the rods be care¬ 
fully examined.three times a week, and bugs will be found emerging 
from the most unlikely and minute hiding places. Of course the 
object is to kill them before they get time to reach the young 
wood and leaves of the Vine. This hunting must be persevered 
in all through the season if success is to crown the effort. This 
process will get rid of the pest ; and we do not know of any other 
that ever has or will. Certainly, if an easier plan is known to 
anyone, we do not think a greater boon could be conferred on 
scores of gardeners who are battling in despair against bug, than 
that of making known the secret. 
Bug on Vines is a nuisance of no trivial nature, and plants 
infested with it, or even subject to it—and we should like to 
know what plant is not—should never be allowed inside a vinery. 
There is nothing more easy than to get a breed of the insect into 
a vinery ; and there are few tasks in the whole of gardening so 
difficult as to get rid of it. But it is quite a possible task ; and 
that, we believe, is more than can be said in the case of phylloxera 
in vineyards, without stamping it out by destroying the Vines—a 
fact which seems to be dawning on the French, now that one-sixth 
of their vineyards have already been destroyed, in spite of every 
conceivable appliance .—{The Gardener.') 
STOCKS FOR SPRING FLOWERING. 
I do not know any flowers more fragrant than Stocks in early 
spring, either when grown in pots and flowered in greenhouses, or 
when planted out in open borders. The true biennial Stocks, the 
Brompton and the Queen varieties, are most commonly known, 
though I have not grown either since I became acquainted with 
the Intermediate East Lothian. This, though rather tender, well 
repays any extra care that may be bestowed on it. Young plants 
to flower next spring are now sturdy little specimens in 4-inch 
pots, but it may not be too late even now to sow the seeds in the 
south of England. Sow them on a south or east border, covering 
the ground with a mat until the seedlings appear, and as soon as 
they are large enough prick them out near the base of a wall. 
They may either be allowed to flower in that position, or may be 
transplanted in March. To flower in pots they may be pricked- 
ofE into a rich piece of ground, and potted in 5-inch pots in the 
end of September, placing them in dry frames or pits about the 
middle of October. The pits must be well ventilated, and before 
severe weather commences the plants will have filled the pots 
with roots and be in a condition to pass through an ordinary 
winter without injury. 
One point is very essential in their management— i.e., to keep 
them free from damp. In the middle of winter they may be 
safely left without receiving any water at the roots for a few 
weeks. In February they will commence growing; if a pit can be 
partly devoted to them where they can be assured a minimum 
temperature of 45°, they should be shifted into 7 or 8-inch pots, 
employing a rich open soil. A really fine display will be the 
result. After being removed from the greenhouse they may be 
planted out in borders, where they will continue to flower until 
winter. I have had very good results from plants lifted in autumn 
from borders and potted into 8-inch pots, but these plants are not 
so fine as those specially prepared for the purpose. 
It is important to select the plants at least a fortnight before 
lifting them, cutting the roots round with a spade, and lifting 
them very carefully and potting immediately. I keep the plants 
very cool for a few weeks after lifting, and then winter them in a 
Peach house, in which they begin to flower in February, and 
continue for a long time to produce spikes of their sweet-scented 
flowers. These Stocks are very useful, as they come into flower 
a second time about the middle of July and continue in bloom 
until the growth is stopped by cold weather. 
