August 22, 1889. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
151 
entering it at once. These operations are best performed directly 
after flowering. 
Dryness at the root during the period of bud development is a 
■certain cause of failure. Whether grown in pots or borders the 
«oil should in no stage of growth become destitute of moisture. 
On the other hand, they must not be overwatered. One evil is as 
'bad as the other. Even if the borders are well drained it is 
■possible to overwater them. Sour saturated soil will result in the 
'buds falling as quickly as dryness. Plants that are thickly infested 
with scale generally cast their buds or flowers. These, however, 
•can be destroyed by the aid of petroleum and water, but it must 
mot_ be used too strong. Strong insecticides must be strictly 
avoided from the time the buds commence swelling. Three ounces 
■of the oil to four gallons of water will destroy scale and do no 
’harm to the buds. It is much wiser to give the plants three or 
tcour applications rather weak than one very strong. 
The Camellia during the swelling of its buds resents dry fire 
Iheat and undue forcing, which are certain to result fatally. When 
’it is found necessary to employ fire heat either to ripen the wood 
■or to induce the flowers to open it should be applied very gently 
at first and gradually increased. The syringe should also be freely 
■used.—C u LTIVATOR. 
FRUIT TREES AND APHIDES IN 1S89. 
My own observations made this summer in many gardens and 
■orchards, coupled with the statements of friends resident in a 
variety of localities, lead me to think that the injuries caused by 
aphides to our more important fruit trees equal, if they do not 
■exceed, the mischief done by caterpillars. Caterpillars, as a rule, 
■confine themselves to the consumption of leaves or leaf buds ; now 
and then they may eat immature fruit or gnaw young wood, but this 
rarely happens. Aphides, spreading themselves over trees in mul¬ 
titudes, do a greater amount of damage from the persistency of 
the drainage they make upon the sap—the life blood of the tree, 
also they clog up and obstruct the breathing apparatus by the 
secretion popularly called honeydew. Nobody, I think, doubts 
saow that caterpillars, and some other insects feeding similarly, 
do visit trees and plants that are quite healthy, but there are still 
those who consider that certain species of smaller size, such as 
4< scale,” thrips, and aphis, attack chiefly, if not solely, those that 
are in a weakly or unhealthy condition. As I have previously 
remarked, two things were in favour of an extensive aphis visita¬ 
tion this year—a lack of vitality or vigour in our fruit trees, 
.attributable to the ungenial season of 1888, and the dryness of the 
early spring of 1889, which proved very favourable to the rapid 
increase of the aphis tribe. 
Another circumstance, perhaps, which may have led the aphides 
do seek an abiding place in our fruit trees sooner than is their wont 
was the backwardness of the season, which retarded the growth of 
a number of the wild plants, upon which several of our garden 
species reside during the spring. In consequence of this, I presume, 
colonies cf aphides arrived on fruit trees, Beans, Cabbages, and 
other garden plants before the period of the first general migration 
—viz., May. An extensive migration did occur then this year, on 
■some days presenting those peculiar atmospheric conditions which 
make people say “ there is a blight in the air.” True enough, for 
aphides travel from plant to plant within a limited range—not only 
«o, they at such times go several miles, feeble on the wing as they 
-seem to be. Since last May I have noticed other and partial 
migrations, indicating much activity amongst them, hence 1889 
must stand out prominently as an aphis year. There will, of 
course, be a second general migration about September. I believe 
•some of the special insect foes of aphides have this year been less 
numerous than usual, as for instance the seven-spotted ladybird 
>(Coccinella septem-punctata). This large ladybird is one that 
follows in its migrations, and, both as grub and as beetle, feeds 
upon the insects in orchards, clearing off quantities, since it can if 
>3 0 inclined kill thirty or forty of them without a pause. Then 
there are a host of minute flies in the genus Aphidius ; the females 
■of these deposit their eggs on the bodies of aphides, and the grubs 
gradually devour them. But the aphides have unfortunately a 
riiny parasite, which destroys many of them, and which is therefore 
a friend of the aphides. It is very possible this parasite has been 
■plentiful this season, lessening in consequence the useful operations 
of the aphis destroyer. Some difficulty in distinguishing the 
■species of aphides is due to the fact that they are so unlike at 
times in their winged and wingless forms, and besides that the 
wingless females of the early months are occasionally very different 
from those of the autumn broods. There could be no doubt, how¬ 
ever, as to the abundance of the Cherry aphis (Myzus Cerasi), 
found also on the Plum, and to which the popular epithet 
dolphin ” seems to apply, from the resemblance this species bears 
to the black “ collier ” or “ dolphin ” which visits our Beans. 
The Cherry aphis is one of the first species to make itself con¬ 
spicuous, attacking the buds and young shoots. Whether it does 
invariably quit the Cherry at some migration period I cannot say ; 
very likely it is the case—if so, it doubtless infests subsequently 
another tree or plant ; for migration, as I have stated, generally 
implies not only change of place but change of diet. This too 
familiar aphis i3 black and smooth, only the last brood of the 
season being brown or yellowish brown. Then the profusion in 
which Aphis Pruni appeared—not merely on Plum, but on Pear 
and Apple as well—is beyond all question, and it is still too 
common. This species is always sheltered by a mealy powder, 
which they exude from their bodies ; these are oval and attenuated. 
Though in colour this aphis varies from yellowish green to pale 
brown, the green is so far predominant that it is commonly styled 
the “ green fly.” In their winged state the females have the body 
spotted with black ; the head, antennae, and thorax are also black, 
and the wings rounded, and of such a breadth that they can fly 
fairly well. I find positive evidence that this species infests some 
years both the Chrysanthemum and the China Aster. The latter 
plant, should the attack be neglected, is killed by the enemy, which, 
forming a dense crust round the base of the flower stalk, disfigures, 
and then turns it black. 
Myzus Persicoe, an aphis which prefers the Peach and Nectarine, 
in some few districts showed itself upon the Apple. It is while 
young of a rosy hue ; this is due to minute globules of oil under 
the skin. The legs and head are green ; in the winged form the colour 
vines from greenish brown to black. But the chief enemy of our 
Apples was Aphis Mali, appearing also to a small extent on the 
Pear. One curious circumstance in the history of this aphis is the 
first brood (which have been called “queen3 ” of the family) are 
larger than all the later one3, grey and mottled with green. Sub¬ 
sequently the broods are yellow, bright green, reddish, or brown, 
changes often depending on their moults ; but they are usually 
powdered with white mealy particles, like Aphis Prunj. When 
winged they most appear in black and green. As many times been 
detected in the crevices of the bark, there is not a doubt the species 
winters on the trees, hence the advantage of washes that may 
either remove these, or so impregnate the bark that the young 
aphides are killed before they can crawd to the spring buds. This 
was the species which, in some orchards, did so much damage to 
trees whicb had been previously exhausted by a visitation of cater¬ 
pillars. The Hop aphis, or a variety nearly resembling it, called 
Phorodon Malaheb, occurred in Plum and Apple in May, but not, 
so far as I am aware, in unusual numbers. This is a small aphis of 
green hue, body rather transparent and frequently glossy ; when 
winged it is spotted with black. When summer his fully arrived 
this species will generally be found to have quitted the fruit trees. 
The well-known woolly aphis, questionably called American blight, 
or Schizoneura lanigera, has not been particularly complained of 
this season, an I owing to the better management of our orchards it 
is a pest which will probably decrease. 
Many readers will have noticed on some of the sunny days we 
have had lately that there are largish grey flies hovering at about 
the level of 4 or 5 feet from the ground, now and then rising 
higher, all the while making a sonorous hum. They are flies of 
the Syrphus group, and busy now in depositing eggs, larvae hatched 
from which will prove by-and-by to be most assiduous devourers of 
aphides. These larvae or grubs are footless, leech-like in form, and 
advance along the leaves by the aid of tiny hooklets. Though 
blind, though show no difficulty in seizing their prey, of which they 
only suck the juices, and toss away the carcases. Some of the 
aphides are carried off by certain species of wild bees, which 
construct their nests in banks or hollowed stems, and then store 
them with these insects to supply the young with food. It may be 
regarded as one reason amongst others why ants should be dis¬ 
couraged in gardens, that they act a friendly part towards aphides 
rather than a hostile one, but it is doubtful whether, as some 
naturalists consider, they do at all times codect eggs of the root- 
infesting aphides in autumn, and distribute these the next season 
in spots suitable for their growth.— Entomologist. 
CARNATION EXHIBITIONS—OLD AND NEW. 
One of the most interesting incidents of the recent meeting 
cf the Carnation and Picotee Union at Oxford was the statement 
made by Mr. E. S. Dodwell at the luncheon, that it was sixty-one 
years ago when he saw for the first time an exhibition of Carna¬ 
tions and Picotees. He said that he witnessed the sight of some 
fourteen or fifteen old gentlemen sitting round a table on which 
was placed from thirty to forty blooms. This was going back to 
1828. It would appear that in those days there were classes for 
