June 10, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
463 
that not the least impression could be made on the surface with the 
thumb. As regards kitchen gardening, I think many gardeners would 
meet with much better results if the soil was made firmer when the crop 
was sown or planted, especially in light sandy soil. Onions, for instance, 
nerer do so well in a light loose soil as they do in a moderately heavy and 
well firmed soil; but at the same time the soil should not be too rich, for I 
think much better bulbs are grown in a moderate soil ; although if not 
quite so large, they are much firmer and therefore better tor keeping. 
I also agree with your correspondent in having the soil moderately 
firm for Carrots, Parsnips, See., although it is not, as a rule, practised, but 
I have found that in “ exceptions to the rule ” such vegetables have 
turned out with much better and cleaner roots.— An Outside Foreman. 
MEALY BUG. 
Of all the insect pests that infest plants this is the most troublesome. 
It is so uninviting, that the only member of the feathered tribes that I 
have observed will have anything to do with it is the blue titmouse, 
which, along with the long-tailed titmouse, is so useful in clearing Apple 
and Pear trees of mussel scale, but this has invariably succumbed to its 
partaking of the mealy bug. Several times have I had the blue titmouse 
entering stoves by the ventilators to find the mealy bug, and in every 
instance the birds have died. Whether poisoned by the mealy bug or 
through the confinement I am not prepared to state with certainty, but 
Robins survived for weeks in the same structures, and they never, that 1 
could see, would have anything to do with this insect. 
Mealy bug is known to everyone cultivating plants requiring a stove 
or an intermediate temperature, and though not increasing so rapidly in a 
greenhouse, is by no means uncommon in those and conservatories, in fact 
it is often seen on plants at exhibitions. A correspondent, “ Observer,” 
many years ago, could see nothing for it but starving the insects out, and 
he wrote as one having had much to do with mealy bug in plant and 
fruit houses. I have never tried this, which seems a “ perfect cure,” 
through want of opportunity, but it appears reasonable, only it is difficult 
to persuade employers that the only certain method of eradicating mealy 
bug from stoves and vineries, where the pest has had its home for years, is by 
starving out. I know the roofs of vineries are more fixed of late than they 
were some years ago, most old gardeners considering that rain from the 
clouds was particularly invigorating and cleansing, and we know equally 
well that Yines were syringed much more frequently than now. Bug in 
vineries and on Pines was considered a great humiliation. To clear it 
from the Vines no trouble was considered too great. Compositions of 
soot, lime, sulphur, tar, tobacco water, nux vomica, urine, clay, &c., were 
requisitioned; insecticides; no end of patented “cure alls;” and yet 
mealy bug is as lively as ever. 
Mealy bug does not much infest plants in greenhouses or conservatories. 
They are kept too cold and too moist, and there is not much cause for 
anxiety in cool vineries, though it is more to be dreaded in the Yines 
than in the climbers of the conservatory, as the season of the Grapes 
ripening necessitates a dryness and warmth highly favourable to the 
insect. We no sooner pass from houses of Cape, Chinese, or New Holland 
plants, than we have to face this loathsome pest. Mealy bug swarms on 
Gardenias and Stephanotis; it likes no place so well as the choicest 
cluster of Grapes, and delights in showing itself beneath the recurved 
leaf-crowns of Pine Apples. It glories in feasting on Melons ; indeed the 
difficulty is not so much as to what it does like, as to what it does not. 
The mealy bug’s natural enemy, as I take it, is water. For plants 
infested with mealy bug I advocate thorough cleansing with water, forced 
upon them so as to dislodge the insects, and at a not less temperature 
than 120°, nor exceeding 140°, and keeping it from the roots by tarpaulin 
or other waterproof material in the case of plants in borders or pots or 
tubs that cannot well belaid on their sides. The sudden heating kills 
the insects it comes into direct contact with; at any rate, it dislodges 
them. Plants in pots of moveable size maybe leaned over a wide shallow 
vessel, and the plants turned round can be syringed with the hot water 
both on the under and upper side of the leaves, there being no excuse for 
not clearing the mealy bug from every part of the plants. This only 
needs repeating to entirely banish mealy bug ; but the bug having pos¬ 
session of the house it will not be long before it finds its way to the 
plants, and more work will be made, for as the house is so are the inmates, 
and vice versd. Limewashing walls and clearing out spent fermenting 
materials—in tact, thorough cleanliness all round, is the way to excel in 
the cultivation of plants. Syiingings, to be of use, must be thorough, or 
they are ineffectual for the destruction of insec's. Some plants cannot 
well be syringed, such as bulbous and other plants ; but they can be 
sponged with water, and if this is done with care and frequently mealy 
bug cannot make headway. Plants with hairy leaves, such as Gloxinias, 
Achimenes, Tydsets, &o., will not bear hot water, and eponging is out of 
the question, but the “ catch and kill ” system never fails of its object. 
Take any plant infested with mealy bug and stand it outdoors when there 
is a prospect of a thorough drenching from thunder rain, and it will 
derive more cleansing benefit than from a week’s sponging and brushing 
with insecticides. I do not know what water contains besides am¬ 
monia as it comes fresh from the clouds, but I do know that a thorough 
day’s rain cleanses foliage of insects better than any insecticide, and is 
far more beneficial to the roots than artificial waterings. Mush more 
might be written about plants and fruit trees under glass having the 
benefit of exposure to rain and as much cold as is safe. 
I have no wish to decry insecticides ; they are useful, and as a rule 
not costly. To single out any would obviously be invidious ; but there are 
remedies within the reach of all that I may allude to without fear of 
jealousy. Next to water the best mealy bug destroyer is no doubt ammonia, 
allied with the potash and soda as piesent in soapsuds. The soapsuds 
are so variable in strength as to be only available for the most hardy 
plants, and ammonia is so volatile as to be difficult of application in safe 
quantities. We may, therefore, dismiss it for the present, though I hope 
at some future time to refer to it ; only I would like to remark that the 
ammonia vapour we find so useful against red spider is also valuable as 
an agent in ridding houses of mealy bug. Oils next claim attention. 
Petroleum has a high reputation as an insecticide which it justly deserves, 
and as a destroyer of bug it is most useful. The difficulty is mixing it. 
Soapsuds when clear are good, but these aro not always obtainable, so 
that we can easily make a solution of softsoap 2 ozs. to the gallon and 
quarter of an ounce soda per gallon. To every four gallons of this use a 
quarter of a pint of petroleum. This will float, but by stirring briskly with a 
broom-handle, or by filling a syringe and expelling the liquid into the vessel 
sharply, so as to force the petroleum into the soapy solution, it can readily 
be applied by a second person to the infested plants. If it must be done 
by one person, then alternate ejections must be made into the vessel and 
on to the plants. These should be laid on their sides over a tub or tin 
large enough to receive the mixture as it drip3 from the plants, turning 
them over or round so as to thoroughly wet every part of the foliage on 
both surfaces and every part of the wood. The mixture should be used 
as hot as the hand can bear, and kept from the roots as much as possible. 
Shake the plants over the vessel so as to free it of superabundant moisture 
and prevent much running down to the roots when stood erect, and stand 
aside until the whole of the plants are gone through, and if possible in 
another structure until dry. The house must then undergo a thorough 
cleansing, syringing the whole of the roof, stages, everything with the 
stuff except the glass parts, which should have the softsoap omitted, 
driving it into every hole and crevice. Allow to dry; then if there be 
any bug paint the whole of the woodwork with petroleum, rubbing it well 
into every c eviea. leaving no part untouched, and limewash the walls. 
The petroleum will soo i pass off, when the plants may be examined, and 
if there is any bug left rep;at as before, before returning to the house. It 
would be a good thing t > have the house painted if it need it, not being 
afraid of turpentine. Examine the plants once a week. If the bugs 
are few the “killing” system will answer, but if they are increasing 
repeat the petroleum application, which, however, will not be required 
within six weeks, and more distantly in winter. It must, however, be 
followed up if a riddance is to be effected. Plants out of pots are worse 
to deal with, but they may be loosened from the trellises. 
We cannot make any use of the petroleum in destroying mealy bug on 
Vines during their growth, and up to the clearing off of the Grapes. 
Where bug, however, has possession, no satisfactory Grapes will ever be 
grown until it is destroyed, hence the Grapes should be cut so that the 
Vines and house can be thoroughly cleansed, and in the manner advised 
for plants. The Vines should be lowered from the trellis so as to wet 
the leaves on the upper as well as lower surfaces, and repeated three or 
four times in bad cases, allowing to become dry between each, and this 
seen to again before the leaves fall will be the means of preventing any 
from seeking winter quarters. Thorough cleansing of the Vines and 
house must be attended to at once after the foliage is down, removing 
the top few inches of the border and replacing with fresh material. 
Before the Vines are started, syringe them with the petroleum, omitting 
the softsoap, as that is bi-st kept off the glass, and repeat before the buds 
have burst their wool-like envelopes. Syringe well in spring, or after 
starting, with water, one good cleansing being of more value than a dozen 
bedewings, and repeat after setting and thinning. We need not fear 
sediment if only clear rain water is used. In addition, make a close 
examination of the Vines and foliage once a week. A small phial with a 
piece of string round the neck and a wire hook will make all handy of 
operating with methylated spirit. A small camel-hair brush or pencil 
dipped in it and applied to the bug will destroy it. This is the best plan 
of dealing with bug in bunches of Grapes. 
About a tablespoonful of turpentine to a quart of water, in which half 
an ounce of softsoap has been dissolved, makes an excellent mealy bug 
deitroyer, but it is difficult to keep it mixed, requiring almost constant 
agitation. It should be applied with a brush carefully to the infested 
parts only. Petroleum in the proportions given, with softsoap and soda, 
may also be used for cleansing plants of mealy bug, scale, &c. 
More or less injury is inflicted on the foliage by the use of petroleum, 
turpentine, and other fixed oils, and when made soluble they lose their 
efficacy as insecticides, therefore we must submit to the injury. This, 
happily, when care is taken in its application, is slight. The petroleum 
seems to act injuriously by closing the pores, hence old leaves are brought 
down, their ripening being hastened ; but the young foliage is not much 
affected, provided care is taken to keep it mixed with the water or soapy 
solution. When carelessly applied some parts will be covered with the 
petroleum whilst others are comparatively free; the foliage will be injured 
in the one case, and the insects will get off scathless in the other. The 
petroleum requires to be kept from the roots, as the fixed oils do not 
decompose, but retain their natural properties, consequently are injurious. 
With care and judgment in application petroleum is a cheap and efficacious 
insecticide, without equal, so far as I know, for the eradication of mealy 
bug. Brief allusion >o the value of potash and soda in soapsuds has been 
made, the value of softsoap as an insecticide resting on those properties, 
and to which we must attribute the value of softsoap solutions in the 
destruction of mildew. Mention has also been made of ammonia, than 
which I thiuk no more powerful insecticide exists, if we kuew in what 
form and strength to use it. Alums have, I think, been used for some 
time on the Continent, and with success in the destruction of caterpillars, 
