534 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 16, 1886. 
gested, should bo called The Rose, and it is intended by 
those who are pressing the matter forward that the recipients 
should be distinguished in literature or art. Who more 
worthy to be invested with this Order than gentlemen whose 
literary attainments are proverbial, and whose possession of 
the art of growing and of popularising Roses is universally 
recognised ? It would not seem inappropriate for the Royal 
Horticultural Society and National Roso Society to join in 
the petition on this subject, if the proposition be carried out. 
MEALY BUG ON VINES. 
All who have had any experience of this pest on their Vines 
assert it is the most objectionable of all, as, although it does not 
injure the foliage like thrips or red spider, it congregates in the 
bunches and makes them totally unfit for use. This is the most 
serious drawback in having mealy bug on Vines, and nothing could 
be worse, as, no matter how fine the berries and bunches may be, 
they will invariably disgrace the grower if sent to the table with 
any of these repulsive insects clinging to the stems and berries. 
When once they get into the bunch it is a most difficult matter to 
get them out again ; in fact it cannot be done without disfiguring 
the bunch so much that the cure will almost be worse than the 
disease. We have known attempts to be made to wash them out, 
and this may have been accomplished to a certain extent ; but just 
think of how a washed bunch of Grapes would look on the table, 
and it will be understood how undesirable this plan is. To sprinkle 
them with any insecticide spoils the bloom, and some of the wash 
is generally left on the berries. This is far from agreeable, and 
none of those cures should be trusted to make the fruit acceptable. 
The only satisfactory way is to destroy the vermin before they 
have any chance of coming in contact with the bunches, and the 
time to do this is when the Vines are pruned and cleaned. 
As these operations now demand attention the present is a suit¬ 
able time to call attention to the matter, and I may say no surface 
cleaning will ever eradicate them. I have seen surfaces of the 
Vines, woodwork, floor, and every visible part made perfectly clean, 
and the hope was expressed that the bug had at last been exter¬ 
minated ; but this was all a mistake, as many of them or their eggs 
were safely secreted under the protection of the bark, and as soon 
as this began to crack and open, as it always does when the Vines 
advance in growth, the insects were liberated and were quickly in 
possession. Many give their Vines a rough cleaning at pruning 
tune, and then paint them with some kind of mixture, thinking 
that insects which were not killed in cleaning will meet their death 
when they come in contact with the dressing ; but this does not 
soon follow, and very often it never happens, as they remain dor¬ 
mant until the Vines are well into growth, and by that time the 
dressing has lost its virtue and they can come in contact with it 
with impunity. If they are to be eradicated at all it must be done 
wholly at cleaning time, and no after chances must be trusted to, 
and they will never be killed unless the place they now occupy is 
reached. The only way of doing this is to clean the loose bark 
most carefully and completely from the rods. Not a fraction of 
it should remain, and when all is thoroughly cleared their destruc¬ 
tion is easily attained. 
My one cure is inexpensive but sure. It is petroleum. There 
is no insecticide to equal this for destroying mealy bug. Whenever 
it touches them, even in a diluted form, they shrivel as if submitted 
to fire, and those who would rid their Vines of mealy bug must 
depend entirely on it. As soon as the innermost harbours of the 
bugs have been exposed the oil should be applied, but not in its 
full strength. One wineglassful to one gallon of hot water makes 
a strong and deadly mixture, and if a piece of washing soda about 
the size of a pigeon’s egg is added it may be applied more easily. 
It should be stirred well up, and then give the rods a complete 
washing with it. A sponge may be used, and the same part should 
be washed again and again before passing further down the rod ; 
and as soon as the bottom of the rod has been reached the rod may 
be sponged again with clean water heated to 90°. This will remove 
any danger of the oil injuring the Vine, and a few minutes are 
quite long enough for the oil to be on the rod to destroy the insects, 
as they cannot withstand it for an instant. In cases where the 
bugs are very numerous I should have no hesitation in using double 
the quantity of oil already named to one gallon of water. We 
should squeeze the sponge hard against the rod each time it was 
drawn from the bucket, and another should follow with clean 
hot water to wash the oil off immediately afterwards. No insects 
should escape then unless they were under the bark. Besides 
washing the rods with the oil at the strength indicated, a quantity 
of it must be at hand in a jelly mug, and this should be worked 
into every hole and crevice about the woodwork, wirework, or 
walls to destroy any which may be lurking there. The oil may be 
used at its full strength in this case, and the whole of the wood¬ 
work and glass be washed with water and oil mixed in the same 
proportion as was used for the rods The most severe cases of 
attack by mealy bug may be rectified at one dressing by following 
these directions closely, and this is more than I can say of any 
other practice I have any knowledge of.—J. Muir, Margnvi. 
GROUPING CHRYSANTHEMUMS IN COLOURS. 
Judging from the interesting report at page 503 of the New 
York Horticultural Society’s Exhibition of Chrysanthemums the 
Americans are ahead of us in making their shows eliec * ve * 
Managers of exhibitions on this side of the water ought to ee 
indebted to you for the means of getting access to the hin 3 em¬ 
bodied in that report, and might well consider if it be not possib e 
to americanise to some extent these popular November institu ions. 
There would be little difficulty, for instance, in grouping plants 
after the work of judging has been completed, or the plants mig i 
be allowed to remain in position during the first day of t e s ow 
in order to give growers and others interested an oppoitum y . oi 
critical examination of the exhibits. Before the time of opening 
on the second day there would be plenty of time to re-ai range e 
whole of the plants into groups. The Chrysanthemum holds a 
place so far in advance of most plants for effecting telling arrange¬ 
ments that it does seem a pity that something in the way indicated 
is not carried out. An important feature of the Exhibition referred 
to seems to have been the massing of the various colours in sepa¬ 
rate groups, and it is somewhat curious that a correspon en m e 
same number at page 494 in a short note recommended the gioup 
ing of colours in masses ; so that we have at least the beginning o 
what is at once a novel and successful method of uti ising e 
brilliant blooms of the main-season varieties. 
The Journal has been so often first in lending its pages o 
further the introduction of anything new and good in connec ion 
with gardening, that I may safely rely on a little indulgence while 
I press on gardeners before the Chrysanthemum fever has aba e 
the consideration of the above method of arranging their ome 
plants. Though I have had a houseful of plants grouped in diffe¬ 
rent shades and colours, I have nothing whatever to say agains 
dotting and mixing colours, for I have also a house arranged in tuat 
way, and when well done the effect is telling and pretty , but i 
most certainly is not so effective, and fails altogether in massive¬ 
ness when compared with the system I wish to induce growers to 
think over, and at the proper time to try for themselves. But or 
course it must be conceded that the kind of structure one has to 
work with must determine to a great extent the method of arrange¬ 
ment, some houses being quite unsuitable for any other method 
than that of dotting, and in such circumstances it would be unwise 
to attempt to mass the colours. Even in more suitable houses we 
have to work at a disadvantage on account of various drawbacks 
which it is impossible to remove and which must be put up with. 
The structure in which I have this season grouped a selection 
of plants is an early vinery over 50 feet in length, and with a 
width on which to stand the plants of 9 feet. We began our 
arrangement by blocking up the further end of the house with 
large bushy plants of Mrs. G. Bundle, their tops reaching very 
near to the glass roof. The back row was then formed, yellow 
sorts being used for thi 3 purpose, the taller ones going next the 
Rundles, and grading lower and lower until at the door end they 
would be about 5 feet in height. The line was composed of soft 
shades like Mr. G. Glenny, alternated with darker shades such as 
Gluck, Mrs. Dixon, and Jardin des Plantes. Then beginning again 
at the end bank of Mrs. Rundle a large group of various shades of 
bronzy reds and yellows was put in. These consisted of sorts like 
Lord Wolseley, Sir S. Carey, Mr. John Laing, Reverie, Source d Or, 
William Robinson, L’lle des Plaisirs, Barbara, &c. Next these we 
place whites, as Lady Selborne, Jeanne d’Arc, and Fair Maid of 
Guernsey; then a dark mass of Rex Rubrorum, and others. 
James Salter, Alfred Salter, M. Brun, Her Majesty, &c., formed 
another group. Le Chinois formed a small group of itself. Mrs. 
G. Rundle, Empress of India, and Timbal d’Argent represent 
another mass. Prince of Wales, President, Balmoreau, &c., another ; 
then Lady Hardinge, Prince of Anemones, and A. Salter form 
another. Hiver Fleuri, Triomphe du Nord, and Chevalier Dornage 
respectively made small groups. The dwarfer kinds for the front 
consisted of such kinds as Cedo Nulli, La Nymphe, Aurore Boreale, 
and various Pompons, the whole being so arranged as to rise with 
a gentle slope from the door end to the back, and also to the other 
end, so that the eye took in the whole arrangement at a glance. 
One good feature of employing different sorts of one colour 
