298 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 6, 1900. 
Cactus Dahlia. The blooms of the type of Aster 
under notice are confined to a fringe of long, 
twisted and curled ray florets, surrounding a large 
central disc. Already there are three colour varie¬ 
ties, namely, Light Blue, Rose, and Delicate Pink. 
They are perfectly distinct from the ordinary single 
China Aster now finding much favour in this country 
for the sake of cut flowers. The single Giant Comet 
Aster is of vigorous growth, so that long-stemmed 
shoots are obtainable, suitable for decorative pur¬ 
poses in glasses and vases. Their being single gives 
them a light and graceful character, not characteris¬ 
tic of the heavy headed double flowers of the same 
species, and for this reason they will be acceptable 
to lovers of single flowers. 
Myosotis alpestris gracilis " White ’’ (see 
accompanying figure p. 297) is notable amongst other 
strains of the alpine Forget-me-Not (M. alpestris) for 
its dwarf, compact, bushy habit and floriferousness, 
traits which recall the garden variety of Lobelia 
Erinus pumila. Of most of the cultivated species of 
Myosotis there is a white variety, more or less popu¬ 
lar, and that is the colour of the charming variety 
under notice. It is suitable alike for carpet bedding, 
spring bedding, and for border culture in lines or 
masses. 
Pansy Masterpiece (see figure p. 297).—This is a 
giant form of the garden Pansy, producing large 
flowers, the petals of which are so broad and exten¬ 
sively overlapped that they have become much un¬ 
dulated or waved and curled for some distance in 
from the margin in order to find accommodation. 
The flowers, therefore, appear semi-double, and are 
both massive and conspicuous. The colours are 
both varied and handsomely distinct, each flower in¬ 
cluding a combination of showy colours. On account 
of the size of the flowers and the freedom with which 
they are produced the strain is well adapted for beds 
and border decoration. The plants themselves are 
of free and vigorous growth, so that the new strain 
should be well received for ordinary garden and park 
decoration,both by professionals and the flower-loving 
public. The illustrations have all been placed at our 
disposal by Mr. F. C.Heinemann, and they show the 
characteristics of the varieties so well that further 
description is unnecessary. 
INSECT PESTS OF OUR GARDENS. 
(Concluded from p. 284.) 
Aphis. —This is a very large genus of insects, every 
plant which is subject to attack appearing to have a 
species of its own, which is named after the plant it 
infests, such as Plum Aphis, Peach Aphis, Rose 
Aphis, &c.; but it is possible that further investiga¬ 
tion may reduce the number of species ; for instance, 
every Chrysanthemum grower is aware that the 
Chrysanthemum is very often infested with black 
Aphis and green Aphis at the same time, showing 
that more than one species can feed on the same 
plant. In a natural way the aphides begin their 
life cycle in April or May, according to the lateness 
or earliness of the season. They are hatched from 
eggs which were laid the previous autumn on trees 
and plants which they infest either wild or cultivated. 
From these autumn laid eggs come the countless 
millions of aphides, all the succeeding generations 
being produced alive without the intervention of the 
male, until the autumD, when the males make their 
appearance, pairing again takes place, and eggs are 
laid to start a new life cycle the following year. The 
females and males are both winged and wingless at 
different periods of their lives. 
By their great powers of reproduction, the great 
quantity of sap drawn from the plants by their 
suckers, the honey-like fluid voided from their 
bodies, and the changing of their skins as they 
develop, they choke up the pores of leaves and 
young stems, and destroy the plant. Under glass 
the life cycle of the aphis is somewhat different. 
Reproduction goes on all the winter; they are 
forced along with the plants, and like them are 
neither so vigorous nor so productive as in their 
natural season. One of the best preventives against 
aphides is good cultivation, so that a strong sturdy 
growth with short internodes and thick leathery 
leaves is produced. It is wonderful how free the 
Pelargonium is from aphis if in this state of health, 
although it is one of our most troublesome plants for 
greenfly. The herbaceous Calceolaria is even more 
subject to aphis than the Pelargonium, yet, if grown 
well, it is rarely attacked by aphis till once it is 
weakened by its abundant flowering, then the 
aphides make their appearance. The best remedy 
against aphis for inside plants is XL All Fumigator ; 
it is nicotine vapourised by a spirit lamp in certain 
quantities to suit the size of the house. It is effectual 
and safe, but rather dear yet. A solution of soft soap 
in water is a good remedy for plants outside, such 
as Roses, Plums, &c., but for the Chrysanthemum 
tobacco powder shaken into the growing point is 
the best remedy. 
Coccus Adonidum (or Mealy Bug) is one of our 
most difficult insects to destroy; its powers of re¬ 
production are so great that if only one or two get 
into a house or are left after a cleaning, they soon 
spread all over it. This species of coccus being in¬ 
troduced to this country from the warmer parts of 
America and Africa, is confined to our hothouses. 
When the female is full of eggs she fixes herself to 
one spot, spins and envelops herself in a white, 
downy substance, and dies. The eggs are hatched 
in this downy mass, and disperse in quest of food. 
It is in this stage of their life that they are most 
difficult to get rid of; they are so small that the least 
fissure or rent can shelter them, the rough bark of 
the Grape Vine being an ideal cover. Like a good 
many insects which are active from the egg state, it 
can be torpid at any period of its life if the tempera¬ 
ture is too low for it; in this way it passes the 
winter in our vineries. At the winter cleaning of 
the Vines, after the loose bark has been removed, a 
good remedy, because it penetrates the bark, is 
washing with a solution composed of one gallon of 
water, one ounce of soft soap, and one gill of para¬ 
ffin. The soap prevents the paraffin from floating 
on the surface of the solution. This is very neces¬ 
sary, as the pure paraffin coming in contact with the 
buds would destroy them. A strict watch kept in 
the spring after the winter cleaning for any females 
approaching the egg-bearing state after the Vines are 
started to grow often enables one to kill the solitary 
bug that would have been the parent of thousands. 
The male is a small, slender, two-winged insect, 
which XL All Fumigator destroys, and prevents the 
fertilisation of the female. It does not destroy the 
female, however, which may be owing to the fine 
white powder covering her body, and acting as a 
filter and purifying the air before it reaches the 
spiracles or breathing pores of the insect. 
There are two more members of the scale family 
which trouble us very often; they are Coccus hes- 
peridum and C. testudo. The former infests the 
Orange, Camellia, &c.; it is very conspicuous by the 
white, woolly, oblong-shaped case in which the 
female envelops her eggs, not covering them with her 
body as most of the scale family do. A good pres¬ 
sure of water applied with a hose or water engine 
throughout a summer now and again ultimately 
clears them off even large bushes. The latter, 
Coccus testudo, is the oval-shaped brown scale, 
which infest Crotons, Ixoras, &c. It likes a high 
temperature. If hard-wooded plants infested with 
this scale are laid on their side and syringed with 
warm water they loose their hold and are driven off. 
The water should be about 150° Fahr. to be 
effectual without injuring the plant. 
Aspidiotus is a genus of insects closely allied to 
the Coccus, and is the small, whitish-looking scale 
which infests Acacias, Palms, Aloes, &c. Being 
smaller than the Coccus family fhey are not so 
easily removed from the plant. Brushing with a 
soft, close-haired brush, using at the same time a 
solution of Gishurst’s Compound, is a good 
remedy. 
There is a genus of insects called Anthomyia which 
causes a good deal of trouble in the kitchen garden. 
They belong to the dipterous or two-winged order of 
insects. Their specific name is obtained from the 
family of plants they infest, as Anthomyia Ceparum 
(Onion fly), Anthomyia Brassicae (Cabbage fly), &c. 
We will take a short glance at the two species 
named, beginning with the Onion fly. I will not de¬ 
scribe this fly to you, but only ask you to examine the 
fly papers you may have in your houses in the 
autumn months and you will very likely see speci¬ 
mens of this and the Cabbage fly, along with other 
members of the genus. They are more or less alike 
to the ordinary observer. Anyone wishing to get 
better acquainted with this genus of insects and 
others that infest our root crops may lift an infested 
root, put it in a flower pot, and place a piece of 
glass over it. After the maggot is full fed it goes into 
the pupal state. In this state it is a brown, lifeless 
looking body about the size of a grain of rice. 
It lies in this condition about a fortnight, then 
comes out the perfect fly. The specimens should be 
kept under the glass for a few days till they die ; 
when they can be taken out and examined without 
fear of losing them. The best way to avoid an 
attack of this insect is transplanting from a seed bed 
sown under glass in the spring or outside in the 
autumn. Transplanting prevents the flies from lay¬ 
ing their eggs at the base or side of the bulb, the 
only place they will lay their eggs (they do not lay 
their eggs on the leaves or green part of the plant), 
as the bulbs are a little below the surface after 
transplanting. By the time the bulbs press them¬ 
selves to the surface by growth they will have 
attained a size more fit to resist attack. If the 
autumn-sown Onions are in the ground too early, or 
the weather abnormally warm after they come up,, 
they may show signs of maggot, but if the weather 
gets colder again the attack is stopped. The eggs 
and larvae do not survive the winter. It is as 
pupae they pass the winter. 
The pupae of the Cabbage Fly lie in the ground 
all winter, or they may be lying in a rot heap or 
manure heap, carried there by the old roots of the 
Cabbage, Cauliflower, &c., when they were cleared 
out of the garden. Rot heaps are a common source 
of pollution. The roots of the Cabbage family 
should all be burned if the roots have been infested 
during the summer. That would destroy a great 
many of the pupae which would have attained the 
perfect state in the spring, and would then lay eggs 
which would soon become ravenous larvae. The 
eggs are laid at the roots of the young Cabbage, 
Cauliflower, &c., mostly in the seed bed; this brood 
does the most damage, as they attack the young 
plants when they have not sufficient size to resist 
attack, and when they are weakened by transplant¬ 
ing, as the larvae are seldom hatched out till the 
plants are in their permanent positions ; because 
transplanted in the usual way the eggs are sure to 
be transplanted with the young plants. If an attack 
is feared, before planting the roots should be held 
under a strong rush of water, washing them clean 
of soil and eggs. The eggs have a tendency to adhere 
where they are laid, and it is safer to use a little 
force of water to dislodge them. 
Although red spider (Tetranychus telarius) does 
not strictly come within the scope of my paper, 
it is one of our commonest garden pests; but it 
is not an insect, it has a pair of legs too many ; it 
has no antennae, and its body is in one solid piece. 
The harm it does, and its life history resemble insect 
pests; and this is a more important resemblance to 
the horticulturist than a bodily resemblance. 
This little animal (called a mite instead of an insect) 
more than any of our pests is the product of a dry 
atmosphere and dry rooting medium. It is easier 
kept away than the most of our pests by the opposite 
of this, viz., plenty of moisture in the soil and in the 
atmosphere. Many I know consider these impossi¬ 
ble conditions when fruits are ripening, but Vine 
borders, Melon beds, &c., are often kept too dry at 
this stage of their growth, more particularly if the 
weather is bright and sunny. This argument is 
borne out by the behaviour of outside fruits in good 
summers when there is plenty of rain alternating 
with plenty of sunshine. Then we have healthy 
trees, handsome fruits, and no red spider. If we 
tried to imitate Nature when she is at her best with 
our fruits under glass, red spider would not trouble 
us much. Only in dull wet weather should the dry¬ 
ing method of ripening fruits be resorted to ; but a 
more generous supply of moisture should be given 
when the weather is bright and sunny. A common 
cause of red spider in fruit houses is allowing the 
hot water to circulate through the pipes when there 
is sufficient sunshine to keep up the temperature 
without the hot water; more air is allowed to enter 
the house than is necessary for the welfare of the 
plants ; but the air is admitted to keep down the 
temperature, and the result is a dry withering atmo 
sphere, bad for the plants and favourable to the 
growth of red spider. - If an attack occurs on out 
side fruit trees the latter should be syringed several 
times with a good rush of water from engine or 
gravitation supply ; no insecticide should be used if 
the fruit is of any size for fear of damaging it, but at 
any rate the best remedy is clean water. When the 
attack is in fruit houses, wetting the hot water pipes, 
and dusting them over with sulphur while wet, and 
