150 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
November 6, 1886. 
its constitutional vigour. It will, however, he easily 
understood that young trees are more liable to be 
seriously hurt than old well-established trees with 
large wide-reaching roots. Very frequently it happens 
that young Apple trees languish, and do so badly, that 
it is said that the locality is not suited for Apple 
growing; whereas, in fact, it is the action of the woolly 
aphides, both upon their roots or branches, which is 
occasioning the evil. 
The woolly aphis belongs to the genus Schizoneura 
of the family Aphididae, called Schizoneura from the 
peculiar neuration of their wings. It has the prefix 
Lanigera because the larvae are covered with wool. It 
is not unfrequently confounded with the Aphis mali 
which infests the leaves and blossoms of Apple 
trees, though it is quite distinct in its formation, 
in its habits, and its actions. The latter insect is 
furnished with tubercles at the end of its body for 
the secretion of honey-dew. The Aphis lanigera 
is entirely without these appendages. The perfect 
winged viviparous insect makes its appearance in the 
late summer and has been seen as late as September. 
It is by no means common, as Mr. Buckton remarks, 
or being very minute it possibly escapes all but the 
closest observation. It was held by some American 
entomologists that it never acquired wings, but this is 
a mistake, as winged specimens have been found in 
Kentish orchards, and abundantly in France. From 
this female some oviparous females are produced which 
are without beaks or rostra, and therefore unable to 
feed. Mr. Buckton and' v Professor Riley agree as to 
this curious formation or malformation which is shared 
by the winged males. The life of both of the sexes is 
necessarily very brief. Only one egg is laid by each 
female and is placed under the bark or in crevices ; 
this serves as a means of preserving the species when 
food fails, and to spread the plague of insects from tree 
to tree, though this is also continually brought about 
by the wind when the trees are pretty close together, 
which bears the down covered larvte with its breezes. 
Apple trees should be kept from lichens and mosses, 
which serve as a shelter for the woolly aphides as well 
as for many other kinds of injurious insects. Lichens 
and mosses can be killed by throwing quicklime up 
into the trees over the branches by means of scoops, 
like flour scoops, fixed to long poles. This should be 
done in damp weather, in a dripping November fog, 
and of course after the leaves have fallen. In a few 
days, if the operation has been thoroughly performed, 
the lichens and mosses turn rusty-coloured, and are 
washed away from the branches by the first heavy 
shower. These lichenous and mossy growths not only 
harbour insects of various kinds in various stages, but 
they also injure the trees by stopping up the pores of 
the rind and checking respiration. These parasites 
derive their sustenance from the air and do not feed 
upon their host as is very commonly supposed. 
"When young trees are attacked by woolly aphides 
they should be washed over with a mixture of soft soap 
and quassia, in the proportion of 15 lbs. to 20 lbs. of 
soft soap and 8 lbs. of quassia to 100 gallons of water. 
This may be put on with a whitewash brush or a large- 
sized paint brush, and a “ spoke ” brush may be used 
for the forks of the stem and branches. Syringing, 
with soft soap and quassia solutions by means of large 
garden engines like those used for washing Hop plants, 
is of some avail in the case of young trees, and especially 
those of an upright habit of growth. In the adoption 
of this process it is difficult to get at the insects on the 
upper parts of the branches. Still, if the pumps are 
worked well, and the hose directed so that a good deal of 
liquid falls upon them from above, their quarters will be 
made unpleasant to them. 'Where trees are large, and 
of wide-spreading habit of growth, syringing will not 
be of much benefit, and the operation requires to be 
very carefully carried out. 
Paraffin oil, mixed in the proportion of two to three 
wine-glasses to a pail of water, has been found efficacious 
wnrked into the bark and branches with brushes, and, 
in some cases, put on with garden engines. The oil 
must be well incorporated with the water, and the 
mixture should be kept stirred. Yegetable and animal 
oils, as linseed, whale, and neat’s-foot oil, have been 
applied with good results, chiefly to the stems and 
lower branches. A mixture of linseed oil and powdered 
sulphur is successfully used in America upon the 
trunks and lower limbs of the trees after they have 
been well scraped. 
Infested trunks should be scraped and washed over 
with lime wash, made with very quick lime. This will 
kill all the larvfe, and prevent migration from stems to 
roots. Hot lime thrown up by scoops in damp 
weather both removes lichens and mosses where these 
parasites are, and immediately destroys the larva of the 
woolly aphis. It need hardly be stated that where 
Apple trees have been long unprnned and neglected, 
and the small boughs are thickly intertwisted, it is 
most imperative that pruning should be done gradually 
but thoroughly, for many obvious reasons, and mainly 
that it will be more easy to stamp out the woolly aphis. 
—Charles Whitehead , in “ Insects Injurious to Fruit 
Crops." 
--►«£<-- 
HOWIOK HOUSE. 
Hoavick House is situated about two miles 
from Preston, and when it was the home of Mr. 
T. M. Shuttleworth was famous for its specimen 
stove and greenhouse plants. Recently it has become 
the property of E. G. Wrigley, Esq., and early 
in the present year Mr. Swan, late of Fallowfield, 
was engaged as gardener. With two names so closely 
identified with Orchids, it is not to be wondered at 
that this class of plants should find a home and shelter 
in the empty houses at Howick, where their actual 
wants are supplied, and every care and attention 
bestowed upon them. As will be gathered from the 
above remarks, the houses were not put up specially for 
Orchids ; but after making some internal alterations in 
the way of staging and heating, they have been made 
to answer the purpose. 
A roomy span-roofed house, that must have been the 
home of the “giants,” if we may judge by the dimen¬ 
sions of the doors, contains the following, with some 
scores of other good things. Suspended from the roof 
in a basket is Dendrobium formosum giganteum, with 
six trusses of five flowers each, and about as many 
inches across. Large masses there are I am aware of 
that may give corresponding results, but for the space 
this plant occupies nothing can surpass it, in my 
opinion. A small plant of D. Dearei had eleven 
flowers, that will remain fresh from eight to ten weeks ; 
Cattleya Skinnerii in front of the entrance has twenty- 
seven sheaths packed together in a very small compass. 
I recollect reading of a plant of this, 3 ft. in diameter, 
being exhibited by Mr. Turner, of Leicester, some years 
ago ; I wonder if it is alive now, and what are its 
dimensions ? Cattleya bicolor had fifty scapes, seven 
flowers on each, but all were rapidly fading. Hear by 
is C. Sanderianum that had borne twenty-seven flowers, 
and Lselia anceps with eight spikes. Plants of Yanda 
teres are in good health, and flower freely. Several 
Australian species of Dendrobes are also in this house. 
In another structure similar to the above I noticed 
on the centre stage two or three dozen Cattleya Trianse 
in 8-in. and 10-in. pots, with ten spathes on a plant, 
two with extra dark purple foliage characteristic of the 
variety. On the side tables are numerous specimens of 
Coelogyne cristata, the largest 3 ft. in diameter ; and 
the better variety, C. c. Lemoniana, is represented by 
four nice plants ; other conspicuous plants are Lfelia 
autumnalis, well-flowered ; and L. majalis and albida, 
full of promise. In another compartment are numbers 
of L. Perrinii, in good form, w’ith numerous scapes of 
five flowers each ; also specimens of C. Trianse similar 
to those already referred to, which combined, contribute 
300 sheaths; and amongst those that have flowered, Mr. 
Swan declares, are some of the choicest varieties he 
has ever seen. These will be succeeded by 500 scapes 
of C. Mossise and scores of Mendelii, with other inter¬ 
mediate-flowering members of the family, providing 
flowers for inspection and cutting every week in the 
year ; Leelia elegans is always in flower if others fail to 
provide a supply. In this house, in pans hung from 
the roof, are Cattleya Sanderiana, C. aurea and C. 
Regnelli, on a raft in a flat position ; C. LavTenceanum 
is represented by three healthy plants, one with four 
sheaths. Most of the Cattleyas have been potted 
during the present year, and the surface of the potting 
material is already covered with healthy roots, and in 
some instances have extended half-way down the outer 
side of the pots. They and their companions have 
been grown without shade, and the result has been 
satisfactory ; but, as Mr. Swan remarked, it is doubtful 
if some things would not have been better with it, 
notably the Dendrobes, and others that are suspended 
from the roof, but grow on trees at home, the leaves of 
which provide a shade to screen them from the rays of 
the sun. 
The cool house is on the north side of the garden wall, 
and is too much shaded by a lofty building in front, 
so much so, that light is intercepted ; it is 36 ft. in 
length and 12 ft. in width, and the plants are arranged 
on a rising open wood-stage at the back and on a broad 
shelf in front. Specimen Odontoglossum Alexandras in 
8-in. pots occupy the upper part of the back stage, also 
Oneidium macranthum, which promises a fine display 
in its season ; and as the house is pretty well filled, your 
readers will conclude that there are hundreds of other 
good things besides,_but as they were not in flower I 
pass them over. In the East India house I noticed 
most of the varieties of Plialsenopsis growing in teak 
baskets suspended from the roof, as also is Cattleya 
superba ; in a shady corner is a collection of Thunias, 
and at the end, near the entrance, Cypripedium Spicer- 
ianum with twelve flowers, which Mr. Swan thinks 
much of. 
A small span-roofed house has the centre stage filled 
with various sorts of Pelargoniums, single and double, 
in full flower, and the sides with extra good plants of 
Cyclamens, which, though of no particular strain, 
promise any amount of flowers to cut from. The Rose 
house contains a selection of Teas on the south side, 
with fine plants of Cheshunt Hybrid and Marechal Kiel 
trained under the roof over the centre bed, which 
accommodates plants that do not object to shade. The 
conservatory, which is a simple structure attached to the 
mansion, has a stage or table a few feet wide along the 
front and ends, and is at the present time filled with 
Chrysanthemums just at their best. The plants are from 
4 ft. to 5 ft. high, for if higher the blooms could not be 
inspected ; each plant has about six large flowers that 
would pass muster at many an exhibition, and the 
foliage is clean and healthy. Some would consider 
them too early to be appreciated, but to Mr. Swan they 
are as serviceable now as at any time of the year, and 
as soon as their season is over he can, if he thinks fit, 
fill a structure twice as large with much choicer plants 
in flower. — W. P. P. 
-->X<-- 
PLANTING TREES AND SHRUBS. 
We noticed last summer, during the prevalence of 
drought, that, in several cases shrubs had been planted 
upon raised mounds of earth, some of them heaps of 
gravel with soil thrown over them, -with the result that 
the soil about the roots was very dry, and they pre¬ 
sented to view a very doleful appearance. This is a 
mistake that is too often made, and people wonder why 
the plants die. Let planters avoid this error, and 
refrain from planting on raised banks or mounds, un¬ 
less in very exceptional cases, such as low, damp, 
swampy spots. Really, unless it is in very wet seasons, 
very little of the fertilizing rain reaches the roots of 
trees planted on mounds, as the sloping sides of the 
mound throw off the water as it falls away' from the roots 
of the trees to be wasted,in the surrounding ground. 
Plants thus deprived of their fair share of moisture never 
thrive well, and in dry summers often die. If anyone 
will take the trouble to lift a tree in such a plight, the 
soil about the roots will be found to be quite dry and 
parched. And it is a good plan to scoop out a kind of 
shallow basin round young newly planted trees, by 
slightly elevating the soil at a little distance round the 
stem, thus enclosing it inwards towards the plant. In 
this way, the rain as it falls is directed towards instead 
of being conducted away from the roots. In planting 
raised banks for edges and screens, let what has been 
stated above be borne in mind, and let the top of the 
ridge in which the plants are set be hollowed a little, 
so as to incline the falling rain towards the roots. 
When a tree is planted on a lawn, or any other 
grassy site, do not allow the herbage to come close up 
to its stem, but cut away a circle of the turf of larger or 
smaller diameter, according to the size of the tree. As 
a rule—of course, there are exceptions—the roots of a 
tree may be said to extend as far as the horizontal 
branches, and that should be—until a tree has grown 
large—the measure of the circle that is to be bared 
of turf, and left open to the beneficial influences of the 
air, rain, and sun. Then, in the case of trees planted 
in un turfed soil, similar care is necessary not to allow 
rank and tall weeds to grow within a certain radius of 
the stem. Many a young plantation has been ruined 
by the encroachment of luxuriant weeds, which mono¬ 
polise the nutriment of the soil, prevent the access of 
rain and sunlight, and choke the foliage of the lower 
branches of the trees. 
