August 19, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
1G5 
hardening effect. Thick sowing, neglect of thinning, and after 
inattention are the principal causes of annuals being considered 
weedy. 
Another use to which annuals may be put is growing them in 
pots or window boxes along with bulbs. In the case of window 
boxes some of the dwarf growers, as Silene pendula compacta 
and its var. albfr Limnanthes Douglasi, Nemophila insignis and 
its var. alba, and the Venus’s Looking-glasses on the margin, 
with the taller, as Collinsia bicolor, C. verna, and 0. candidissima, 
Viscaria oculata cardinalis, Bartonia aurea, and the Candytufts 
for the centre are quite charming, and make a window box 
scarcely less brilliant with annuals in May than they are in July 
and August with Lobelias, Tropseolums, Calceolarias, and Zonal 
Pelargoniums. In pots they are very useful for balconies, window 
sills, &c. 
The seed should be sown in the pots 5 or 0 inches in diameter, 
•diwwing a ring about an inch from the rim, and the seed sown 
therein thinly. Drain the pots well, say a quarter their depth, 
filled to within about half an inch of the rim with loam, to which 
has been added a third of leaf soil, or a fifth of well decayed 
manure, and about a sixth of sand. Stood in an open situation, 
kept moist, and duly attended to in weeding and thinning, they 
will be good plants if sown early in September before severe 
weather, before which or in November they should be stood on 
and plunged to the rim in ashes in a sheltered sunny situation. 
In severe weather they can have the protection of mats, but they 
must not be “ coddled.” Keep them hardy and sturdy, giving 
them more room as they grow. After the middle of March they 
may be stood in their flowering quarters or remain until further 
advanced for flowering if the site they are to occupy is not so 
warm and sunny. Instead of sowing in pots they may be pricked 
into them at a later period, which is a most excellent plan. 
Wintered in a frame or in a cool house, where they can have a 
position near the glass and plenty of air, they will flower earlier 
and be most acceptable for decoration. 
A matter much overlooked by those that are fond of cut 
flowers in early summer is the value of something bright and sweet 
to give variety and elegance to those of a formal character, and 
none c ntributes more in this way than annuals of the neglected 
wild yet very distinctive type. What is finer than Cornflowers, 
and Sweet Peas P Of course there are Centaureas and Ever¬ 
lasting Peas, but they are not like the former, they lack scent. 
Indeed, with Cornflower, Sweet Sultan, Calhopsis tinctoria, Sweet 
Peas, and Mignonette quite a charm is given to border flowers on 
account of their agreeable fragrance. Sweet Peas and Mignonette 
are tender, but sown early in September, and kept through the 
winter in cold frames or a house in poor soil and so dry as to only 
keep them fresh it is astonishing how hardy they are, and plants 
placed out in warm situations at the usual time of sowing outdoors 
in spring will flower weeks before, and be all the more valuable 
on that account. The Cornflower and Sweet Sultan will winter 
safely in a dry soil and a sheltered situation, but are well worthy 
of wintering in pots to give an early supply of flowers for cutting 
either indoors or out. They require plenty of air, and not too 
much water. The best forms of Mignonette are the Dwarf 
Erect Compact, fine, five in a 5-inch or seven in a 6-inch pot; 
Giant Red Pyramidal, and Queen Victoria. Sown before early 
September they are fine for decoration in spring. Add some 
lime rubbish and charcoal to the soil for them, about a sixth 
being sufficient. The secret of growing them is to avoid over¬ 
watering. 
A few pence expended in a few packets of seed will raise a 
great number of plants, and their beauty will be found to depend 
greatly upon their treatment.—G. 
THE INSECT ENEMIES OF OUR GARDEN CROPS. 
THE APPLE. 
(Continued from paqe 418, last vol .) 
So much has been printed in books and journals about the 
American blight that one might hesitate to touch upon what seems a 
threadbare topic were it not the truth, to whichl can vouch personally, 
that the insect is even yet a great deal commoner than it need be. 
This suggests the reflection that amongst the growers of fruit there 
must still be some amount of ignorance, or at least indifference, with 
regard to a species certainly one of the worst foes of the Apple. 
And it may also be stated that the published histories of this insect 
are not without their per-centage of mistakes, especially those of 
older date, which renders it advisable for us to review its life-story, 
putting the facts tersely while taking full advantage of past experi¬ 
ments in the direction of stamping out the species. 
Now, there cannot be a doubt that in connection with new plants 
or sometimes by mere accident, a variety of insects have become 
naturalised here which are not truly of British descent. But some of 
those that have been set down as foreigners are certainly natives, and 
our uninvited visitors have not always arrived from the country to 
which we attribute them. Why should the Schizoneura lanigera be 
the American blight ? There is no evidence beyond a mere tradition 
that it was imported from the United States in 1787, just upon a 
century ago ; we may assume that it has been under observation in 
Britain about that time. The woolly aphis is another old name for 
the insect, but it is rather akin to the species of coccus or scale, 
having no honey tubes such as the aphis tribes possess, and there 
does not seem to be the rapid succession of ( roods that is so notable 
amongst them during the spring and summer, yet I am inclined to 
think there may be more broods than one some years of this woolly 
blight. I have been asked, What is the use of the peculiar exuda¬ 
tion ? I suppose it serves as a partial shelter, and also enables a 
group of these insects to make a journey from one tree to another by 
the aid of a breeze. Most likely they travel thus in all their stages, 
but do not migrate the distances aphides do occasionally. It is where 
fruit trees are densely congregated that this blight has predominance, 
and large orchards in any case are apt to be infested, because 
individual attention is less caiefully given to the trees or less 
frequently. Though commonly associated with the Apple it is found 
upon other trees, the Pear next, but seldom appears as prolific then, 
therefore less hurtful. It must be neglect indeed that suffers young 
trees to be killed by the insect, yet this does happen, and the death 
of the Apple seems to be caused by a cancerous disease resulting 
from exhaustion or irritation left unchecked. Necessarily the worst 
cases are those in which the blight infests, not only the bark and 
wood, but also the root of the tree, and although some have surmised 
that the root species is not the same enemy there is no difference dis¬ 
cernible. Its presence at the roots is a natural result of its habits, for 
some of the insects are found near the base of the tree, or even in the 
soil, during the colder months of the year, and it is easy for these to 
work in amongst the roots. 
In the orchards of Kent near my residence the Apples are often 
much exposed to the wind, and both stems and branches, unless care¬ 
fully tended, show abundance of loose pieces which afford covert to 
the woolly blight, and give it access to the wood. Instinct leads 
them to shelter, however, in clefts where the young bark has sprung 
up beneath old masses, and these at the winter season will, if the foe 
has been left alone, yield hosts of wingless females and their imma¬ 
ture progeny ; the elder one are generally reddish brown or yellow, 
the juveniles pale red. To appearance they are not as mischievous as 
we find them to be, but the harm is done by their incessant attacks. 
It is also the case frequently that swarms are hidden under diseased 
wood, besides those which make a display exteriorly with their 
woolly secretion ; hence, there is great difficulty in reaching many 
of them by either syringing or brushing at the season of their 
activity—a strong reason for carrying on the campaign during the 
autumn and winter by judicious scraping or clipping, following the 
operation with a thorough washing of the places of lodgment that are 
laid bare. February and March are the months for the work of 
eradicating the pests that have gained a great advantage should the 
gardener leave them alone till he discerns the first tassels of wool. It 
is possible to carry on proceedings against them with rather too much 
vigour. Some recommend (and practise) diligent scrubbing of the 
trunks by means of a hard brush when a'l loose bark has been re¬ 
moved, but this may prove hurtful to the tree, though sure to destroy 
what blight there may be. Few applications are more familiar to the 
eye about gardens, and orchards too, than whitewash, which, even if 
it is sized, does not much hurt the insects, and, as Mr. Wood remarks, 
helps to conceal them from observation. 
The catalogue of remedies that have been eulogised is a long one, 
and may indicate that gardeners love variety in insect-killers. It 
cannot be said that the major part of them are useless, but some are 
costly and not easy to administer. Were we to class them, these 
specifics might be briefly styled the sloppy, the slippy, and the 
sticky ; nay, there’s the fourth, the pasty, such as the following com¬ 
pound :—Clay mixed with water and a small proportion of sulphur, 
to be daubed upon the spots where the blight congregates. It may be 
relied upon to kill them, but it is not sightly, nor convenient of 
application to the lesser branches. Also, this insect might be de¬ 
stroyed by smoking it, especially when it appears in houses ; this 
plan has not been much tried. All soits of oily substances, which 
form one group of the slippy specifics, answer by choking the pores 
of the creatures, so that they die of suffocation. Neat’s foot and 
whale oil have been advised ; these, nay, however, prove injurious to 
young bark. November is the time for oils, putting little on buds or 
new growth. At the same season turpentine or methylated spirit or 
diluted petroleum (one part to three or four of water) may be applied 
with brushes, but as in the oils there is a possibility of mischief re¬ 
sulting. The soapy applications may be either simple or compound ; 
one of these formerly popular was a mingling of tobacco powder, 
