February 2, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
857 
beyond meeting once a year and drinking to the 
brotherhood of mankind it seems to do very little good, 
if we except perhaps its recent action in calling the 
attention of the trade to the “ non-warranty clause.” 
“At the general meeting last year, I called attention 
to the infringement of the Merchandise Act in the case 
of Italian Rye-grass—where the French-saved Italian 
seed, which is such a favourite with hay growers, was 
often mixed with Irish-saved seed. It is difficult to 
bring home a case of this kind, but this year there 
should be no difficulty, and I am confident the evidence 
will not be difficult to secure. ” 
-- 
ON SOME REMARKABLE SCALE 
INSECTS FROM BRITISH GUIANA. 
By S. J. McIntire, F.R.M.S. 
A little information upon certain foreign coccidre which 
probably will, sooner or later, find their way into our 
greenhouses and stoves where tropical plants are grown, 
to bother our gardeners, may prove interesting to the 
readers of The Gardening World. With the 
remedies to be applied in case they appear it is not my 
province to deal, as there is abundance of literature on 
that subject easily accessible. How they came under 
my notice was as follows :—G. S. Jenman, Esq., F. L.S., 
the head of the Botanic Gardens, George Town, British 
Guiana, desired information as to the name of one that 
was particularly destructive to Mangoes, Oranges, and 
Orchid plants, so he caused some leaves to be sent to 
me through the agency of my friend, Mr. Robert Ward ; 
but the subject was one I could not deal with by myself, 
though I felt it to be very interesting. After a time, 
however, I got into communication with J. W. Douglas, 
Esq., F.E.S., who knows more, perhaps, about this 
family of insects than anyone in the kingdom ; and he 
very courteously gave me all the information in his 
power, and referred me to authorities on the subject ; 
therefore, what I now communicate I wish to be con¬ 
ISCHNASPIS FILIFORM IS. 
sidered as the result of correspondence with him. The 
subject is by no means exhausted, as the examination 
of the leaves is not completed even now. 
One fact has been gathered—namely, that one of 
these insect pests has obtained a good footing at the 
gardens of the Royal Botanic Societ} 7 , Regent’s Park 
(Ischnaspis filiformis) ; and I learn from Mr. Watson, 
Eew, that another (Vinsonia stellifera) has, to the 
best of his belief, been in former times seen by him in 
Kew Gardens. The others are, at present, quite exotic, 
but they may come across the herring pond upon 
imported plants from British Guiana at any time, and 
being, in their larval stages, active little insects of 
microscopic size, they can defy detection until they 
arrive at the mature condition. 
The first I shall allude to is Diaspis cymlidii (so far 
as can be determined at present). The male scales are 
very different from the female scales. Both, however, 
retain attached to them the larval scales. The males 
form carinate waxen cases, in extensive clusters, upon 
the leaves attacked—generally Mango or Orange—and 
the fruit of the Orange seems to be particularly liable 
to the irobnoxious presence. When mature, a minute 
two-winged fly emerges from each scale, unless the tiny 
ichneumons (which these leaves give plenty of evidence 
of the presence of) have done their useful work. The 
female scale is boat-shaped, and stationary in one place 
till her death, and then from under her dead body 
start a host of larvse, very active and very minute, 
running all over the plant attacked, just as we see our 
English scale insects do upon our Apples, Ivies, &c., 
until they find a suitable place to attach themselves. 
This species, judging by the leaves sent, must be a 
perfect pest, and it is to be hoped it will not find its 
way into this country. The next species is Ischnaspis 
filiformis. It is a black coccid, very narrow, and not 
easily distinguished by the naked eye. It has for 
some time past given trouble at the gardens in the 
Regent’s Park, but'its native country was not known 
until this consignment of leaves arrived. This coccid, 
like Diaspis, generally has the larval scale attached to 
one end of it. I have not seen the male. 
Our next specimen is Vinsonia stellifera, and were it 
not that gardeners must be stern, and root out all 
vestiges of it, we might recommend them to pause, and 
admire its beauty and extraordinary transformations. 
Signoret, who was the first to see it, in 1870, on 
Mango leaves from Reunion, was so impressed with its 
ZONAL PELARGONIUMS. 
When offering a few remarks on the show Pelargonium, 
at p. 324, I mentioned the fact of the great improve¬ 
ment that had been effected in the zonals, and it applies 
both to varieties suitable for pot culture and bedding 
purposes. They are indispensable to the flower garden 
during the summer months, and they may be had in 
bloom the whole year round under glass, provided they 
receive proper treatment, and suitable structures exist 
for their cultivation. Plants that have been kept 
somewhat dry for some time will now require to have 
their long shoots cut back, and any short young ones 
breaking up from the base should be left. They should 
then be accorded a light position in a temperature of 
50°, and enough moisture be allowed to help them to 
break. 
When they have made a fair start, turn them out of 
their pots, and considerably reduce the old ball, giving 
them a soaking if dry previous to re-potting. Clean 
pots, of a suitable size, should be used, allowing 
sufficient drainage, for even a free-growing plant like 
the zonal Pelargonium soon becomes sickly if water¬ 
logged. Pot firm in sandy loam. I do not care about 
adding leaf-soil in the case of those plants intended to 
flower in pots, as they make too much foliage in it, at 
the expense of hard, solid, short-jointed growth to 
produce plenty of bloom. Moreover, during the 
summer time, they require more water, and sooner feel 
the effects of drought at the root than plants that are 
potted solely in a good holding loam. As to manure 
in the soil, that has a similar effect, and it is very easy 
X 350. 
Leeanum acuminatum. 
to give liquid stimulants at the time they are producing 
their flower trusses. 
After potting, keep the plants rather close, and 
slightly shade if requisite until root formation is actively 
performed, when they should be gradually inured to 
more air and a cooler temperature to promote strong 
healthy growth. Plenty of light and air on all favour¬ 
able occasions are necessary to produce short-jointed 
shoots, also to produce bloom that will stand ; if grown 
in a high moist temperature, such flowers soon fall to 
pieces, especially the single varieties. I prefer to have 
three sets of plants to bridge over the season, another 
batch to start during March for autumn flowering, and 
another lot for winter blooming, which latter should 
be shifted into their flowering pots during July, be 
grown in a sunny position outdoors, be well attended 
to as regards watering, and sprinkling them overhead 
in the evening during hot weather. In September they 
should be removed to pits or frames, affording them 
plenty of ventilation. 
During the latter part of October remove them to 
their winter-flowering quarters ; a light span-roofed 
structure is preferable, where the plants are near the 
glass, and a temperature of 50° to 55° can be accorded 
them. If not possessing such a structure, a brick pit 
having flow and return pipes will suffice, raising the 
plants on pots or staging to throw them near the glass 
and to keep them drier. I should add, that during 
the summer, plants for winter flowering should have 
all flower trusses pinched off as they appear, and strong 
shoots should be stopped to make them bushy. When in 
their winter quarters a little air should be given on all 
favourable occasions, and the pots being full of roots 
liquid manure should be applied. 
As to varieties, their names are legion. But I will 
name some of the best from my own colleition, and as 
doubles are most useful for cutting, I will place them 
Vinsonia stellifera. A, female scales ; B, male 
scales. 
Orchid leaves and on Mango. The male is not known 
to science in its imago form. 
Lastly, I have to mention Lecanium acuminatum, a 
flat scale adherent to the leaves of Mango chiefly. The 
examination by Mr. Douglas of this coccid is not com¬ 
pleted, and there may be more to say in the future. 
The Entomologists' Monthly Magazine, December, 
1888, and subsequent numbers, and the Journal of the 
Quelcett Microscopical Club, may be consulted by those 
who wish to get all the information which has been 
obtained on the subject of these coccidse up to the 
present time. 
beauty that he wrote his opinion of it as “cettc mag- 
nifique espece.” The immature insect is covered with 
a star-shaped waxen shield, which gradually alters in 
form until, in the adult, it becomes a testudinate trans¬ 
parent pellicle, like a tiny tent pegged down at six or 
seven points. This coccid seems to revel upon certain 
Diaspis cymbidii on Mango leaf. 
