196 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  5,  1903. 
negative,  for  in  spite  of  scientific  knowledge  and  approved 
insecticides  orchard  and  garden  pests  increase  in  numbers 
rather  than  diminish. 
Why  is  this?  Some  may  contend  that  Nature  claims 
our  foes  as  Avell  as  our  friends  as  her  own,  and  against  her 
,  protecting  ai’m  the  arts  and  devices  of  ma.n  are  futile. 
According  to  this  theory  the- insects  and  enemies  have  pur¬ 
poses  to  serve  in  the  universe,  and  in  a  way  it  is  theirs  the 
same  as  it  is  ours,  and  consequently  man,  with  all  his  arts 
and  devices,  is  not  given  the  power  to  extirpate  them.  If 
such  be  the  case,  it  is  our  lot  to  fight  a  never-ending  war¬ 
fare,  not  with  the  hope  of  annihilating  the  foes,  but  keep¬ 
ing  them  within  bounds. 
Others  wull  perhaps  argue  that  it  is  the  cultivators  who 
are  to  blame.  Science  has  put  into  their  hands  the  means 
for  eradicating  their  common  foes,  but  they  will  not  use 
them.  There  is  no  combination  of  forces  amongst  the 
powers,  no  inclination  to  fight ;  but  instead,  a  feeling  of 
indifference  and  a  leaving  of  these  things  to  chance. 
Whether  this  be  the  correct  solution  to  the  problem  or  not 
there  is  certainly  something  in  the  argument,  and  a  long 
experience  amongst  fruit  groAvers  and  gardeners  has  taught 
me  hoAv  indifferent  they  are  as  a  class  to  the  fighting  of 
insect  pests.  Here  and  there  you  meet  Avith  one  who  takes 
up  the  cudgels  in  his  OAvn  defence  ;  but  Avhere  there  is  one 
Avho  fights  there  is  a  score  AAdio  remain  passive,  and  little 
ca;n  be  done  by  solitary  effort  in  Avarfare  against  foes  of  a 
slim  and  migratory  character. 
It  is  surprising  the  amount  of  calm  Avill-not-help-myself 
philosophy  that  still  exists  regarding  insect  pests.  GroAvers 
look  upon  them  as  natural  evils,  sent  in  some  seasons  and 
withheld  in  othps,  and  they  accept  their  visitations  much 
in  the  same  spirit  as  they  do  a  severe  spring  frost  or  a 
period  of  drought.  It  may  be  that  it  is  this  spirit  of 
lethpgy  on  the  part  of  cultiA'ators,  rather  than  any  short¬ 
comings  on  the  side  of  science,  that  accounts  for  the 
presence,  yea,  and  the  spread  of  troublesome  garden  foes. 
Another  question  that  suggests  itself  is  whether  science 
has  yet  discovered  the  secret  of  eradication.  By  adopting 
advised  methods  and  using  certain  appliances  Ave  can 
destroy  pests  at  some  stages ;  but  many  of  them  are 
creatures  of  changes  from  chrysalid,  maggot,  and  butterfly 
states,  and  the  remedy  AA'hich  answers  in  one  period  is 
futile  in  another.  At  any  rate,  aphides,  caterpillars, 
Aveevils,  maggots,  AvireAvorms,  thrips,  bug,  scale,  ancl  other 
pests  are  just  as  numerous  and  troublesome  as  they  were 
Avhen  gardeners  knew  nothing  about  them,  save  their  pre¬ 
sence  and  their  depredations,  and  before  books  and 
pamphlets  Avere  published  telling  hoAv  many  legs  they 
possessed,  the  quantity  they  can  eat,  and  other  points  of 
intormation,  including  methods  of  destruction. 
And  in  addition  to  the  pests  that  seem  to  be  half  as  old 
as  time  itself,  others  have  mj^steriously  joined  the  cam- 
during  recent  years,  Avhich  effectually  baffle  the 
efforts  of  scientific  and  practical  men  alike.  One  of  these 
IS  the  Black  Currant  Bud  Mite,  the  smallest,  and  yet  the 
most  formidable  and  mysterious  of  animated  pests.  In  a 
few  years  this  foe  has  spread  like  Avildfire,  devastating 
gardens  and  plantations,  and  threatening  the  very  existence 
branch  of  the  fruit  groAving  industry.  And 
while  this  “mighty  atom”  has  been  swiftly  and  surely 
foraging  its  way  abead,  scientific  men  have  been  investi¬ 
gating  and  experimenting,  but  Avith  little  purpose ;  and 
so  far  as  eradication  is  concerned  Ave  appear  to  be  about 
as  advanced  as  we  were  at  the  outset.  This  does  not  neces¬ 
sarily  reflect  anything  on  to  the  investigators,  but  it  shows 
the  power  of  some  of  the  tiniest  things  in  creation  to 
baffle  the  resources  of  superior  .humanity. 
Speaking  of  plant  diseases,  I  have  not  a  word  to  say 
against  the  pathologist,  for  through  his  efforts  the  means 
of  coping  with  the  ills  that  plant  life  is  heir  to  have  been 
placed  in  the  hands  of  growers  ;  but,  in  spite  of  the  horti¬ 
cultural  medicine  of  man,  old  diseases  are  not  a  jot  nearer 
being  stamped  out  than  they  were  before  the  pathologist 
took  them  in  hand,  and  new  forms  make  their  appearance 
with  alarming  frequency.  The  hair  is  now  grey  on  the 
heads  of  the  Journal  readers  Avho  remember  the  introduc¬ 
tion  of  the  Potato  disease  ;  but  this  season  once  more  we 
have  had  eA'idence  of  its  terrors,  and  the  man  has  yet  to 
be  bom  avIio  aauII  claim  the  credit  for  ridding  gardeners 
of  this  dreaded  evil.  It  does  not  require  a  long  stretch  of 
memory  to  remember  the  time  when  Tomatoes  Avere  groAvn 
without  thought  or  fear  of  disease,  and  now  look  at  them. 
They  are  just  as  liable  to  fall  sick  as  the  men  Avho  groAv 
them,  and  the  remedies  Ave  have  are  only  partially  effec¬ 
tive.  Then  AA^e  have  the  Chrysanthemum  rust.  Carnation 
rust.  Gloxinia  disease,  and  Violet  disease,  all  of  recent 
origin,  and  equMly  difficult  to  get  rid  of.  These  are  but 
a  few,  for  there  is  hardly  a  cultivated  plant  but  what  is 
liable  to  its  OAvn  peculiar  ailment  that  science  discovers 
and  describes,  but  does  not  cure. 
Is  the  matter  Avorth  considering  ?  I  think  it  is,  and  the 
consideration  of  it  brings  us  face  to  face  with  some  stubborn 
facts.  One  is  that  insect  pests  and  plant  ailments  are  on  the 
increase  rather  than  the  decline,  even  in  these  days  of 
scientific  discovery  ;  also  that  the  high  cultivation,  as  aa’cII 
as  the  continual  inbreeding  to  which  plants  are  noAV 
subject,  are  conducive  to  the  prevalence  of  pests  and  ail¬ 
ments.  Lastly,  these  opposing  forces  are  Avorthy  of  the 
steel  of  the  combined  forces  of  science  and  practice.  To 
effectually  deal  with  them  there  must  be  no  skirmishing, 
dabbling,  and  groping  in  the  dark,  but  united  effort 
conducted  on  lines  that  are  both  scientific  as  well  as 
soundly  practical.  Perhaps  it  is  for  the  want  of  this  that 
we  stand  Avhere  we  unquestionably  do  at  the  present  day, 
on  the  losing  side  in  our  efforts  to  rid  plants  of  common 
pests  and  diseases. — G.  H.  H. 
- - 
On  Knots  in  Trees  as  Pseudomorphs, 
All  readers  of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  know  very  Avell 
Avhat  knots  in  Avood  are,  but  I  am  not  sure  that  all  readers 
are  clear  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  term  pseudomorphs. 
The  word  refers  to  some  delusion  or  falseness  in  the  form, 
composition,  colour,  or  structure  of  some  object,  so  as  to 
represent,  or,  rather,  resemble,  some  object,  Avithout  having 
had  a  similar  origin.  The  most  perfect  pseudomorphs  Avith 
which  I  am  acquainted  are  in  the  students’  museums  at 
South  Kensington,  and  the  NeAV  Natural  History  Museum, 
Cromwell  Road. 
In  the  corridors  of  the  mineralogical  laboratory  of  the 
first-named  place  are,  or  were,  several  splendid  accidental 
imitations  of  animals  and  birds  in  certain  sandstones, 
nodules,  and  flints.  These  might  very  easily  be  mistaken 
for  fossils,  but  are  not  such,  although  they  mimic  organic 
remains  to  minute  details.  In  the  second  place  I  have 
named — the  NeAv  Natural  History  Museum,  South  Kensing¬ 
ton — there  is  that  famous  old  Egyptian  jasper,  Avhich,  Avhen 
broken  into  tAvo  parts,  displayed  an  exact  imitation,  in  its 
coloured  bandings,  of  the  face  of  the  father  of  English 
poetry,  Geoffrey  Chaucer.  The  minerals  seem  to  revel  in 
this  mimicry  of  other  bodies.  There  are  pseudo-apatites, 
and  pseudo-malachites,  saphirs,  sommites,  triplifes,  and 
many  more. 
The  moss-agates  and  dendrites  are  other  mossy  and 
arborescent  forms  often  mistaken  for  fossil  Ferns  and 
mosses  Avhen  observed  in  fissures  and  on  surfaces  of  rocks. 
They  have  generally  an  inorganic  or  chemical  origin.  For 
many  years  noAv  I  have  had  in  my  possession  a  very 
beautiful  dendrite  and  a  flint,  which  latter  exactly  resembles 
a  large  black  slug  with  the  mantle  muscles  and  tentacles  in 
a  contracted  condition.  These  have  been  much  admired  on 
various  occasions. 
This  unconscious  mimicry  of  the  mineral  to  the  organic 
kingdom  is  further  and  most  beautifully  illustrated  in  the 
various  forms  of  pyroleucites  and  the  so-called  “  landscape 
marbles.”  In  an  example  lately  come  into  my  possession, 
a  rather  large  knot  in  a  piece  of  w’ood,  1ft  by  4in,  mimics 
by  the  various  turns  and  colours  of  the  ligneous  deposits 
which  make  up  the  knot  the  full  outlines  of  a  Avoman  in  a 
seated  position,  the  legs,  body,  and  face  of  a  man,  a 
spleridid  head  of  a  soldier,  and  much  of  a  spaniel-like  dog 
running  round  at  the  feet  of  the  seated  lady.  All  this 
makes  the  piece  of  w^ood,  which  AA^as  meant  for  the  fire,  a 
great  curiosity,  Avorth  keeping  from  such  a  fate,  being  very 
uncommon  amongst  the  numerous  fanciful  forms  AALich  the 
knots  of  Avood  frequently  assume.  In  this  case  the 
vegetable  mimics  the  animal  creation.— S.  Fielding,  F.T.I., 
Mytholmroyd. 
