334 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 16, 1890.' 
whole garden may be arranged as in the above plan, leaving out 
rows Nos. 3, 4, and 5 for vegetable growing.— W. H. Divers. 
(To be continued. 1 
INSECTS OF THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
C Continued from page 222.') 
There is hardly a flower garden, however small, in which 
daring the summer and autumn bugs are not to be found ; that is, 
bugs proper, insects belonging to the order Heteroptera. Some of 
these are comparatively harmless, others are injurious to an extent, 
as they suck the juices of plants, and some may be accounted 
useful because they prey upon smaller insects. Our American 
friends apply the word “ bug ” to a variety of species, beetles in¬ 
cluded, but it belongs of right to the group allied to the familiar 
plant lice and scale insects, though somewhat different in structure 
and habit, certainly minor pests compared to those, and if larger in 
size fewer in numbers generally. These Heteropterous insects are 
active through all the stages of transformation, and when full-grown 
have four wings, the upper pair being partly horny, the under pair 
membranous and very delicate. The head is furnished with a 
proboscis, which is doubled down when at rest. In the predatory 
species this is short and strong. Behind the head is what is called 
a shield, or horny plate. Many of the species run with agility, some 
of them leap from place to place, and most of the land bugs give 
forth a disagreeable scent, which makes it undesirable that they 
should haunt flowers. 
It is not needful to describe the aquatic bugs, which are rather 
numerous, singular sometimes in form, and a few of them possessed 
of the ability to walk upon the surface of water, snapping up little 
insects that may chance to settle there or fall in. Very few indeed 
of our garden bugs have received English names, so one is obliged 
to speak of them by their scientific designations. One little group, 
however, have oddly been styled “ bishops,” or “ bishop’s mitres,” 
from the shape of the body, and some seasons they are abundant in 
orchards, especially amongst Cherry trees, to the annoyance of 
fruit growers. They are probably attracted to flower gardens by 
the fragrance of certain species. One of these “ bishops,” that 
puts in an appearance now and then, is Asopus luridus, the body of 
which is yellow and black, its head and the edges of the thorax dark 
blue, or bronzy blue. Akin to this is a common autumnal species 
we may see running over herbaceous plants, or airing itself on the 
topmost twigs of shrubs. It is named Verlusia rhombea, from the 
curiously widened and flattened abdomen. It is yellowish brown, 
with a dark brown head, and legs of a paler yellow, having small 
punctures all over the body. During the hours of sunshine it 
frequently flies briskly, making a hum nearly as sonorous as that of 
the humble-bee. A much smaller bug, Stenocephalus agilir, is also 
remarkably active and fond of the sun. This is yellow and brown, 
with a red spot on each shoulder. Though these insects certainly 
feed on the juices of plants, we seldom catch them in the act of 
sucking. Most of the bugs, it also should be noted, emit a secretion 
which is probably connected with the smell they give forth, and 
which makes them, I believe, distasteful to birds. One exception 
is a scarlet species, Pyrrhocoris apterus, rather scarce iu Britain, but 
which sometimes occurs during autumn in little companies amongst 
fallen leaves, this throws off a scent that is mildly aromatic. 
Perhaps the best known of the garden bugs is the Pentatoma, 
called griseus, the colour grey predominating, though it has some 
markings of black, yellow, and red. Many readers have doubtless 
picked these off flowers and leaves, and dropped them speedily on 
finding they exuded a fluid which left a brown stain upon the 
fingers. Another Pentatoma has been styled the Cabbage bug, from 
its haunting that vegetable. In this species, P. rufipes, the red 
colour predominates. It may be seen amongst the Cruciferous 
plants in borders. All the Pentatomas are believed to be partly 
carnivorous ; some of them have been noticed in the act of piercing 
the skins of caterpillars. A funny, very active, but small bug, is 
that named Cymus Reseda;, from its occurrence on beds of 
Mignonette. It is only the fifth of an inch long, yellow, with a 
red head and shield. It lives probably by making tiny punctures in 
the stems of the Mignonette, and sucking its sap. Those also of 
the family Capsidse are sometimes numerous. They are very soft- 
bodied, have long antenme, and are of various colours, a few dark 
brown, almost black, and apt to conceal themselves. 
My attention has been called this autumn to a familiar pest, 
allied to the bugs, but in the hemipterous order, and which spares 
neither fruit, flowers, nor vegetables. No season passes without its 
doing some amount of mischief. This is commonly known as the 
cuckoo spit, a singular name. I can hardly suppose it originated 
in an idea that the cuckoo produced the froth in which the insect 
envelopes itself, but it is more likely the allusion is to the fact that 
this insect is abundant about the time when the cuckoo’s cry 
attracts notice. “ Froghopper ” is another name given to it both 
in England and France, and though some have stated that the 
French fancied this foamy substance was the frog’s secretion, I 
rather think this refers only to the leaping habits of the insect 
when full grown. Entomologists call it Aphrophora spumaria. 
Checked by the coldness and dryness of part of April, the cuckoo 
spit was late before it appeared in 1890, and, speaking generally, 
caused less annoyance than usual, but the cool character of the 
summer seems to have made it more injurious to some flowers by 
robbing them of their vital force. A friend reports that it was 
abundant upon some Roses, upon Dahlias and Chrysanthemums, 
and he inquires anxiously whether anything can be done to 
diminish its numbers in the future ; for besides the harm that 
arises from this insect, it is very disagreeable to see our plants 
dotted over with frothy liquid, and get portions of it on our hands 
and clothes. Of course this envelope not merely screens the larva 
or grub from the sun’s rays, which, owing to its structure, would 
otherwise cause its death on a bright day, but it must certainly 
protect this insect from various enemies, including birds. Of 
course the “spit” or froth is sap which the insect has pumped 
into its body, and then throws off again almost unchanged. The 
curious part of the matter is how the creature manages to fill these 
globules with air, for they are by this means prevented from dry¬ 
ing up speedily. One of them, if examined by a magnifier, may 
be seen busy at the work of making bubbles or globules, 
having first filled itself with sap, and as each one comes out it is 
moved in position by the legs till the insect is sufficiently screened. 
Syringing or washing the plants clears off this froth, but unless it 
is effectual enough to bring off the grubs themselves, it does no 
good, as they can soon coat themselves again. Probably a solution 
of soap would be a useful application. This would prevent those 
moistened with it (and which have fallen) from returning to the 
plants. But the destruction of the females at breeding time is 
more important. There is little difficulty in shaking these from 
plants and shrubs, for when full of eggs they are sluggish, and thus 
easily distinguished from their more agile male companions, which 
can leap a surprising distance. In the perfect state A. spumaria 
is most abundant during August and September, a dull-looking 
insect of brownish hue, but should a moderate power be applied to 
the upper wings the surface is exhibited as a membranous net¬ 
work, covered with a host of circular dots placed in rows. If we 
could ascertain where the eggs are laid it might be easy to get rid 
of some of them in the winter, for they evidently remain un¬ 
hatched from the autumn till April. I suspect they would be 
found near the earth upon the crown or lower part of the stem, 
from which afterwards the little grubs work their way up gradually. 
—Entomologist. 
AN OLD MULBERRY TREE. 
A fine specimen of the Black Mulberry (Morus nigra) exists 
at Brotherton Yicarage, Yorkshire, as a standard on the garden 
lawn behind the house. This aged tree is not only an ornament 
to the garden and venerable in appearance, but it annually pro¬ 
duces abundant crops of delicious juicy fruits. As it appears to 
be a very general opinion that the Mulberry will not produce 
eatable fruit so far north as this, perhaps a short account of the 
tree is question will be interesting to the readers of the Journal of 
Horticulture. That the opinion is entertained that ripe Mulberries 
fit for dessert are only produced on standards in the more favoured 
southern counties of England is evident from the following quota¬ 
tions. Mr. Rivers, in his very instructive book, “ The Orchard 
House,” on page 166 makes a statement to this effect : “ The cul¬ 
tivation of this fruit (the Mulberry) is entirely restricted to the 
southern counties and on page 477 of Thompson’s “ Gardeners’ 
Assistant ” it is said, “ In the north of England this tree requires 
a wall with a warm aspect.” There are exceptions to every rule, 
and, as has been already mentioned, the old Mulberry tree here 
seems to be an exception to the general experience. 
The tree which forms the subject of this note was planted by 
the Rev. Charles Daubuz, a Frenchman, who left his native country 
in the year 1686 to avoid the persecution then directed against the 
adherents of the Reformed religion. He found an asylum in this 
country, and eventually became vicar of this parish in the year 1697. 
He died in 1717, so that the tree planted by him must be j,t present 
upwards of 173 years of age, computing from the year of his death 
to 1890. It is still a flourishing tree, and seems far from producing 
its last fruits. The present season, so adverse to all outdoor fruit 
generally, has suited it admirably. Never within the writer’s 
memory, extending over a period of the past seventeen years, has 
this old tree produced such a crop of large juicy berries, with that 
deep purple-black colour indicative of perfect ripeness. It would 
be interesting to know whether another similar instance exists in 
