684 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
June 27, 1891. 
The Auricula—Woolly Aphis. 
My friend Mr. Badcoek asks if anyone can give him a 
remedy for getting rid of the woolly aphis. Well, the 
hest cure I know of is to “ catch ’em and kill ’em,” as 
the old lady said of the fleas ; for, like the flea, this 
aphis turns up here, there and everywhere, and when 
a better remedy than the above has been found for 
exterminating the flea, then we may hope for one for 
the annihilation of the woolly aphis. 
All growers are troubled with it—some more, some 
less, according to the means taken to keep it down. 
We are in the former category ; some of our plants 
when taken out of the pot present the appearance of 
having been dipped in a bag of flour. But it does not 
frighten us a bit now, although it used to. Four or 
five years ago we found our plants in a terrible state 
with it, and became greatly alarmed for the health of 
the plants. Knowing that black soft-soap dissolved in 
water would kill the green-fly, we thought surely it 
would also end the career of the silvery one, so, when 
re-potting, every plant was thoroughly overhauled. 
The neck and roots were well lathered with a small 
paint-brush, and the plant afterwards well rinsed in 
clean, soft water. By this operation the plant for a 
time was free of the pest, but not for long. First 
came the green rogue among the foliage, the white one 
soon following upon the roots, and as the brush is the 
only remedy we use against the former, so also has it 
become the only weapon we use against the latter. 
For three seasons did we battle with the aphis, with 
the soft-soap remedy, and were satisfied we killed all 
that were overtaken, but exterminate it we could not. 
Depend upon it the beast has come among the Auriculas 
with the intention of remaining, and we may as well 
expect never to see the green-fly again when once a 
plant has been freed from it as to expect the woolly 
aphis not to appear again after having dislodged it 
from a plant. We must accept the inevitable, and 
minimise its effects as much as possible by constantly 
hunting for the insect, and pulverising it when found, 
If it is allowed to cluster round the neck of the 
plants, it will suck all the life out of the young roots, a 
loss to the plants that is irreparable. A small stiff 
brush will soon dislodge it from this position, and but 
few will escape being pierced through and through by 
the sharp-pointed bristles if pressed against the stem of 
the plant. We have taken plants out of pots at all 
times of the year, brushed the aphis off the roots 
round the outside of the soil, and then put the plant 
into a clean pot of a similar size, and marked the bene¬ 
ficial effect it has had upon the plant. 
I hope, however, no grower will become dis¬ 
heartened because of the presence of the aphis, for 
some of the finest plants we have ever seen have been 
infested with it. I am one with our Editor when he 
says, “The insect cannot be present upon the plant for 
any good purpose, and yet it does not appear to affect 
the general health of the plants to any appreciable 
degree.” Our plants have it badly, and all who see 
them sing their praises. We have finished re-potting 
the best varieties of our show Auriculas, and found some 
plants badly infested, others not so bad, and here and 
there a plant quite free. In shaking the soil from the 
plant, the majority of the aphis falls with it ; this we 
carry to the farther end of the garden, and then well 
water it to wash the pest into the soil and thus prevent 
it from travelling. 
The foliage, the neck, and the roots of the plant are 
very carefully examined, and where the insect is found, 
the brush is brought into requisition. Washing the 
roots in the solution took up a lot of time, but with 
the dry brush the work is soon done. We brush the 
aphis into a bucket of water, and then send them on a 
journey down the drain. 
I had almost forgotten to say we tried Fir Tree Oil 
one season, and found it answered very well; but it is 
very dear. At the time of using the Fir Tree Oil, one 
little incident happened that is worth recording as 
proving the extreme hardiness of the Auricula. 
Having a plant badly infested with the green-fly on 
the foliage, and the woolly aphis on the roots, the 
plant was laid on its side in a bucket, and covered over 
with the solution. We intended to let it remain there 
for half-an-hour or so, but went away and forgot all 
about it until the third day, when, happening to want 
to use the mixture again, we came across our poor 
“ Acme.” We took it out and examined it, washed it 
in clean water, a few of the bottom leaves coming off 
during the operation, and then placed it among the 
other plants. Beyond losing more foliage than the 
rest it was apparently none the worse for its long 
immersion. 
Should any kind correspondent be able to furnish a 
more simple and effective remedy than the brush for 
keeping the pest down—I despair of ever getting rid of 
it altogether—like my friend Mr. Badcock I shall 
indeed rejoice and be thankful, for the woolly aphis is 
an eye-sore, a nuisance, and a great trouble.— Thos. 
E. Kenwood , Reading, June 17 th. 
Dahlias. 
The plants now require plenty of attention if good 
blooms are to be had for exhibition purposes. The 
weather is very drying—sun and wind seem doing their 
best to extract moisture from the soil, and it must be 
supplied by watering. Hot only should there be 
copious waterings at the roots, but a good sprinkling 
overhead will be found of great advantage, as it not 
only refreshes the plants, but assists in keeping them 
clean. Then the shoots should be carefully secured 
while the wind is a little boisterous ; a shoot that 
might produce some valuable flowers is soon snapped 
off by the wind. A good mulching of manure can be 
applied with advantage, placing it about the stem, and 
so getting benefit from it by pouring water over it. 
Some thinning out will be necessary about the middle 
of July, but this is a matter that is regulated by the 
requirements of the variety. 
The warm weather is bringing forth the insect pests 
which trouble the florist during the summer, and they 
must be kept down. One of the most troublesome is 
the earwig, and they will eat away the upper surface of 
a promising bud, and so disfigure the flower as to make 
it quite useless for exhibition purposes. The old custom 
of inverting a flower pot with a little moss in it is still 
a good one, and a lump of moss placed in any con¬ 
venient spot affords shelter. No quarter to earwigs 
must be the war cry of the exhibitor of the Dahlia for 
the next three months.— R. B. 
Carnations. 
I heap, from several growers that the effects of the 
winter is still showing itself in the plants, and some 
are dying off just at the surface of the soil. 1 noticed 
that of the layers and potted plants that died in such 
numbers in the early spring the stem was rotted 
through just on the surface, and the plants that are 
now dying are affected in the same manner, and while 
growing for a time, they suddenly die. I should 
imagine there is scarcely a collection that is not suffer¬ 
ing in this way, to the great regret of their owners. 
The plants require constant care just now. They 
should be kept clean of all insect pests. I think that 
on the whole the collections—certainly those I have 
seen—were cleaner at the middle of the present month 
than is usually the case, but now that warm drying 
summer weather has set in, green and brown-fly are 
putting in their appearance, and cuckoo spittle also. 
-By means of a brush the marauders can be kept down, 
or if necessary, insecticide can be judiciously applied. 
The grower should go over his plants occasionally and 
clear away the dead foliage and any weeds, adding 
some surface soil as a top-dressing—a mixture of 
decayed cow-dung, lime and loam makes a good one— 
and then placing oyster shells over the surface, as they 
are highly valuable in preventing evaporation. 
During the advent of hot weather the plants are 
making rapid headway ; but it is curious to notice 
how reluctant the wind appears to be to leave the 
north, and if it does become southerly it isjonly for a 
time, and flies back again to the north as speedily as 
possible. While it is there the temperature becomes 
low at nights, and there is an immense difference 
between it at noon and midnight. Alterations of tem¬ 
perature no doubt affect plants as much as animals, 
and the cold nights will no doubt tell somewhat 
against the size and quality of the blooms. On the 
whole I am inclined to think, judging from the few 
collections of plants I have seen, that the bloom for 
1891 will not be of the highest character, owing to the 
vicissitudes of weather and temperature the plants have 
had to experience. Plants in the open greatly need 
a good warm rain.— R. B. 
Pansies. 
I am afraid Mr. Banger Johnson was in a somewhat ill- 
natured humour when he wrote that “a far more 
important event ” than our Midland Pansy Show on 
the 24th will detain him in London. I have just been 
hunting over a pile of the gardening papers to find an 
early communication to your pages as to the superiority 
of the western and southern raised Pansies, and in a 
subsequent communication to you 1 challenged the 
assertion. The Bath flowers were not unknown in the 
midlands many years ago, but I have no hesitation in 
saying now that 99 per cent, of flowers exhibited at 
every show in the midlands and the north are raised in 
the north. Then why are the southern growers not 
more seen in those districts ? It would be an insult to 
our amateur growers to say they would not grow them 
because they were raised in the south and not in the 
north. They are only too glad to recognise and grow 
any first class new sort, no matter where grown. Mr. 
Johnson accuses me of “wild words” in stating that 
unless the southern flowers were seen here, orders would 
still go to Scotland ; and then heroically observes, “ I 
do not care twopence where the orders go to, but I like 
to see the best flowers win.” Does he suppose he is 
alone in such a wish ? 
Unfortunately owing to the very late season, and 
representations from all parts, Scotland included, we 
were compelled to postpone the show from the 10th to 
the 24th inst. We should have fixed a date aboutthe 17th 
or 18th, but York—a great Pansy show now—fell then, 
and we knew that some of the Scotch growers were to 
be there, and I had to be there as a judge, so could not 
attend to secretarial duties also. Our earlier date would 
have suited the southerners better certainly, but as 
secretary of the Midland Counties Pansy Society I have 
not found any interest taken in our doings by the 
South and West of England growers. 
I have not the slighest wish to rob Mr. Johnson of 
his enjoyment of his satire, and I am sorry to have 
trodden on his sensitive corns as to cultural hints, 
although intended generally by me ; but next year, if 
spared, I think I shall see more than one northern 
exhibitor ready to challenge the southern raisers to a 
trial not at the end of June. 
I may just add that we shall have an extraordinary 
exhibition of Pansies on the 24th, and I think I may 
venture to say the 'greatest display ever seen out of 
Scotland. The entries are very heavy, and judging 
from what I saw at York, we shall have a quantity 
of grand new varieties.— TV. Bean. 
- ->x-<- - 
RHYNCHOSTYLIS CCELESTIS. 
The two species of Bhynchostylis are best known in 
gardens under the name of Saccolabium. The genus 
was originally founded by Blume on Bhynchostylis 
retusa, best known in gardens under Lindley’s name of 
Saccolabium Blumei. Reichenbach adopted Blume’s 
name, and was followed by Mr. Bentham in the Genera 
Plantarum. The distinctions of the genus Bhyn¬ 
chostylis are that the column is produced into a foot 
at the base, to the end of which the lip is attached, 
and the large compressed spur has its mouth opening 
opposite the middle lobe of the lip, as shown in the 
accompanying illustration, for which we are indebted 
to Messrs. J. Yeitch & Sons, Chelsea. In Saccolabium, 
on the contrary, the column is not produced into a 
foot, and the spur is bent down at right angles to the 
middle lobe of the lip. Bhynchostylis ccelestis, the 
subject under notice, is well represented in the 
illustration, both as to the habit of the plant and 
the erect character of the inflorescence. All that is 
known of its native habitat is that the specimens sent 
to this country by M. Boebelin were found upon the 
isolated stumps of old trees in the rice fields of Siam. 
The rigid, fleshy, channelled leaves are arranged in 
two ranks, but are only about 4 ins. to 6 ins. long, so 
that the plant is easily accommodated in a relatively 
small basket, which should be suspended near the 
glass. The spreading sepals and petals are similar in 
shape and size, and are white, with an indigo-blue 
blotch at the apex. The lip has a similar arrangement 
of colours as in the other parts of the flower, but the 
blotch is brighter. The beaked anther is dark blue, 
and the pedicels of the individual flowers are white or 
tinted with blue. It will be seen from the above 
description that the blue colour is something novel 
amongst this class of plants, and the species is therefore 
both attractive, ornamental and highly desirable from 
a horticultural standpoint. 
- — - 
MELONS. 
Ripe Melons when sent to table, and especially if 
good, are generally welcome adjuncts to the dessert. 
Davenham Early has"been our freest setter this season, 
and was ready for table early in June. It is not a 
large fruit, but prolific, and of fine yellow colour with 
good flavour. Having an extra quantity of Pine Apples, 
Melons were not wanted so early this year, but we have 
found the above kind come in before the most useful 
Blenheim Orange, Eastnor Castle, and Little Heath, 
