August 25 lyOO, 
THE GARDENING WOR1 D 
819 
DUTCH FLOWER ROOTS. 
JAMES VEITCH & SONS, LTD., 
Beg to announce they have received their Annual Supply of 
Hyacinths, Narcissus, Tulips, and other Bulbs, 
And are pleased to say that they are in fine condition. 
BULB CATALOGUE FOR 1900 
Has been posted to all their Customers; an} one. not having received the same, a 
Duplicate Copy will be fjrwardtd post free on application. 
ROYAL EXOTIC NURSERY, KING’S ROAD; CHELSEA, LONDON, S.W. 
Cacti, Hardy Herbaceous Plants, Greenhouse Plants, &c. 
CACTI, our selection . ... 6/-to io/-per doz. 
HARDY HERBACEOUS PLANTS 6/ to 12/ per doz 
Our Firm has been awarded over 160 Medals, Prizes, &c. 
A. W. YOUNG F.R.H.S. & CO., 
The Nurseries, STEVENAGE, HERTS. 
Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man "— Bacon. 
Edited by J. FRASER, F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , AUGUST 25th, 1900. 
NEXT WEEK'S ENGAGEMENTS. 
Tuesday, August 28th.—R.H.S. meeting in Drill Hall, 
Buckingham Gate, Westminster, at 12 o’clock. 
Wednesday, August 29th.—Lanark Horticultural Society. 
Thursday, August 30th.—Stirling Horticultural Society (2 
days); Dundee Horticultural Society (3 days). 
JFhe Black Currant Mite.— It is on 
record that the presence of the Black 
Currant Mite was known in this country as 
long ago as 1849; and it is just possible 
that the now familiar, swollen buds upon 
Black Currants may have been noticed pre¬ 
vious to that without causing any suspicion 
as to their true nature, or alarm at the 
damage caused or likely to be. These 
remarks have been suggested by the 
appearance of a short paper on the subject 
in the Journal of the Royal Horticultural 
Society, by John H. Wilson, Esq., D.Sc., of 
St. Andrew’s University, Fife. The mite 
in question, evidently first caused alarm as 
to the fate of the Black Currant crop in the 
Blantyre district, Lanarkshire. Mr. 
Wilson supposes that for centuries it may 
have found a home on the wild or strayed 
Black Currant. Botanists seem doubtful 
as to this shrub being' a true native, 
or merely an escape from gardens. 
Whether that be. so or not, the Blgck 
Currant Mite has evidently as much right 
to being considered as well naturalised as 
the shrub on which it lives, if, indeed, it be 
not a true native. That it should have 
lived for many years, perhaps centuries, in 
this country without arresting observation 
is no surprise to us ; for the swollen buds, 
arising from the effects of the mite feeding 
in them, do not, as a rule, attract any- 
observation amongst cultivators, unless it 
be pointed out to them, or the pest gets so 
abundant that most of the buds die, leaving 
the bushes both fruitless and compara¬ 
tively leafless. Some, indeed, have been 
pleased at the presence of these fat buds 
at the pruning season, suspecting them to 
be flower buds., which is generally true 
enough, but not destined to produce fruit ; 
because the precocious growth is merely 
due to the irritation caused by the feeding 
of the mite, and is, therefore, only a patho¬ 
logical phenomenon. 
Furthermore, we believe that hundreds 
of fruit farmers and growers look on 
apathetically at the presence of the mite so 
long as only a few swollen buds may be 
seen here and there, and regard it as of no 
consequence or no concern of theirs until 
the mite is entirely beyond control, and 
whole plantations are ruined. It is very 
often difficult to determine what causes the 
rapid spread of insects and allied creatures 
in Nature; but the Black Currant Mite 
has had over half a century (according to 
the records) at least, during which to 
multiply unheeded or unchecked, and the 
great increase of the Black Currant planta¬ 
tions for market purposes within recent 
times, has increased the scope of the mite 
manifold. 
The value of the Black Currant as a 
marketable product is sufficiently great to 
warrant considerable expense in combat¬ 
ting the mite; but unfortunately no 
wholesale remedy has yet been found of 
any great effectiveness. For the greater 
part of the year, we may take it for 
granted, the mite lives securely ensconced 
beneath the shelter of the bud scales. It 
must make the journey at some time or 
other from the old to the young buds, and 
this may well be as soon as the young buds 1 
are beginning to develop in the axils of the 
leaves of each current year’s shoots. If 
there were a general exodus from the old to 
the young buds, the particular time could 
be determined by close and constant 
observation for a time, and a remedy in 
the form of a spray could be made to do its 
deadly work, unless, indeed, it happened 
when the bushes were in fruit. Nature is 
hardly likely to work on this plan, how¬ 
ever, and probably stragglers continue to 
make the journey over a considerable 
period of time ; so that a very few might 
set up a fresh infestation almost or quite as 
bad as the old. It would clearly, therefore, 
be bad policy to wait until this stage of the 
evil before trying a remedy. The latter 
should be undertaken in all earnestness 
about mid-winter, a little earlier or a little 
later, according to circumstances, when 
the mites are to a certainty in the 
swollen, but still fresh and growing buds. 
If only a few of the latter are present they 
should be carefully pulled or cut off, 
collected in a close basket or box, and 
taken to a furnace at work to be burnt 
immediately. A few branches might have 
to be removed entirely, as well as isolated 
buds. Should the grower or owner resolve 
to grub up the plantation on account of the 
extreme damage done, then mid-winter is 
equally the proper season to do it ; not 
when the young buds and blossoms, or such 
of them as are still alive, are commencing 
to expand. The rising temperature of 
those times might be responsible for a con¬ 
siderable migration amongst the mites to 
fresh pastures, either voluntarily or involun¬ 
tarily on the feet or feathers of birds or 
upon other animals or insects. 
The close planting of Black Currants 
may be responsible for the rapid spread of 
the pest from bush to bush, as the thick 
planting of fruit trees and bushes generally, 
favours the spread of various other pests. 
Mr. Wilson very rightly suggests that 
other bushes or crops might be planted 
between the Black Currants in plantations 
so as to minimise the possibility of one 
bush infesting another as much as possible. 
This might, indeed, retard infection to 
such an extent as to enable the grower to 
harvest several more crops before it became 
necessary to destroy a plantation. The 
plan might well be tried. Black Currants 
grow rapidly so that it might be possible 
to make them pay in spite of the mite. 
Weather in London.—As near as can be, the 
weather of the past week has pleased most 
Londoners. It has been seasonable, generally 
coo’er, sometimes dull and at other times bright, 
but neither very warm nor very cool. 
Royal Horticultural Society.—The next fruit 
and flower show of the Royal Horticultural Society 
will be held on Tuesday, August 28th, in the Drill 
Hall, Buckingham Gate, Westminster, 1—5 p.m. 
At three o’clock a paper on " Montbretias and 
Crocosmias," by Mons. Emile Lemoine, will be read. 
Medical Vegetables. — The medical virtue of 
vegetables, says The Irish Farming World, is not 
sufficiently recognised in these days of patent drags. 
A liberal consumption of fresh vegetables is not only 
wholesome in a general way,but when discriminately 
employed they prove to be also highly beneficial in 
certain kinds of ailments. Celery is beneficial in 
cases of rheumatism and neuralgia, and will tone up 
a debilitated nervous system. Tomatos stimulate 
the liver, and Spinach, like the common Dandelion, 
has a direct effect on diseases of the kidney. Onions, 
Garlic, and Olives promote digestion by stimulating 
the circulatory system, with the consequent increase 
of saliva and gastric juice. Raw Onions are also 
regarded as a remedy for sleeplessness, and Water 
Cress and Beetroot purify the blood. Horseradish 
applied to the temples is an excellent remedy for 
neuralgia. 
