979 
-3  i  £ 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  A NO  COTTAGE  GARDENER  September  is,  1902. 
The  Bulb  Mite  (Rhizoglyphus  echinopus) , 
This  pest,  though  commonly  regarded  as  having  a  particular 
liking  for  the  bulbs  of  Eucharis,  and  frequently  referred  to  as 
the  Eucharis  bulb  mite,  attacks  the  roots  of  a  great"  variety  of 
plants  both  under  glass  and  outdoors.  As  occurring  on  a  bulb  of 
The  Bulb  Mite  (Rhizoglyphus  echinopus). 
A,  Eucharis  bulb,  natural  size,  showing  mites. 
B,  Mite  enlarged  fifty  diameters.  Body  colourless  or  nearly  so,  legs  very  pale 
rose,  with  two  brown  spots  on  the  body. 
C,  Ilypopial  or  harder-skinned  form,  enlarged  fifty  diamelers. 
1),  Suckers  from  underneath  hypopial  form,  enlaige  1  lot)  diameters. 
Eucharis,  it  is  faithfully  represented  in  the  accompanying  illustra¬ 
tion  by  Mr.  W.  G.  Smith,  with  the  mite  in  its  two  forms — the 
mite  or  Rhizoglyphus,  and  the  hypopial  or  Hypopus.  Into  these 
extremely  curious  transformations  I  do  not  propose  to  enter,  but 
content  myself  with  the  matter  most  interesting  to  cultivators. 
In  the  case  of  bulbs  the  mite  usually  lives  between  the  scales, 
and  is  protected  by  the  outer  or  dead  ones.  The  seat  of  the  mite 
is  well  shown  at  A,  'though  the  mites  are  only  just  or  scarcely 
visible  to  the  unaided  eye.  The  mites  abstract  the  juices  of  the 
plant  and  set  up  decay,  the  foliage  becoming  sickly  and  the  plants 
very  unsatisfactory  in  all  respects,  at  most  continuing  a  sickly 
and  lingering  existence,  rendering  them  worse  than  worthless. 
Perhaps  the  bulbs  most  liable  to  attack  are  Eucharis  and  Vallota. 
When  such  is  the  case  the  best  plan  is  to  allow  the  soil  to  become 
rather  dry,  then  turn  the  plants  out  of  the  pots,  remove  all  the 
soil,  all  injured  roots,  and  scaly  matter  from  both  the  base  and 
neck  of  the  bulbs  ;  then  wash  them  thoroughly  in  a  solution  made 
by  dissolving  2oz  of  softsoap  in  16oz  of  soft  water  by  boiling, 
adding  a  lump  of  soda  about  the  size  of  a  nutmeg,  and  when  dis¬ 
solved  remove  from  the  fire  and  place  in  a  wineglassful  of  paraffin 
oil,  stirring  briskly  until  amalgamated,  then  dilute  to  1  gallon 
with  boiling  soft  water.  When  the  solution  is  cooled  so  as  to 
bear  the  hand  in  it,  dip  the  bulbs  in  it  and  rub  the  solution  into 
every  fissure  with  a  soft  brush.  This  treatment  will  destroy  all  mites 
reached,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  the  bulbs  may  be  potted 
in  small,  clean,  wrell-drained  pots  of  rather  sandy  turfy  loam  and 
peat,  embedding  them  in  and  surrounding  with  crushed  charcoal, 
plunging  the  pots  in  bottom  heat  if  convenient.  If  the  soil  be 
kept  moderately  moist,  but  not  wet,  fresh  roots  will,  in  all 
probability,  soon  be  emitted,  and  the  nlants  grow  well. 
Other  insecticides,  such  as  Fir  tree  oil,  may  be  used  for 
cleansing  the  bulbs  from  the  mites,  cleansing  them  at  once  in 
clear  water,  preferably  at  a  temperature  of  llOdeg,  and  when 
drained  dry  potting.  It  is  not  always,  howmver,  convenient  or 
even  advisable  to  dissoil  the  bulbs,  but  treat  them  in  the  pots. 
For  this  purpose  Clibran’s  Eucharis  mite  killer  has  attained  con¬ 
siderable  repute,  and  applied  according  to  the  instructions  is 
efficacious.  It,  however,  rather  retards  the  growth  of  the  plants 
to  which  it  is  applied  for  a  time,  but  this  is  brief,  the  plants  soon 
recovering  and  starting  into  vigorous  growth,  hence  the  insecti¬ 
cide  acts  both  that  way  and  as  a  fertiliser. 
Similar  remark  applies  to  Little’s  soluble  plienyle  at  a 
strength  of  one  part  in  1,000  parts,  of  water,  or  one  fluid  ounce  to 
Ojgals  cf  water.  Soot  water  also  appears,  probably  from  the 
ammonia  it  contains,  very  objectionable  to  the  mites.  The  soot, 
fresh,  light  and  dry,  should  be  made  into  a  paste  with  water 
before  pouring  on.  the  body  of  water,  say  30gals  to  a  peck  of  soot 
paste,  then  stir  well  with  a  broom  and  sprinkle  on  a  couple  of 
i  handfuls  of  powdered  quicklime,  and  use  the  broom  again.  After 
standing  twenty-four  hours  a  scum  will  form  on  the  surface,  and 
this  must  be  skimmed  off.  Underneath,  with  the  exception  of 
the  sediment  at  the  bottom,  the  water  will  be  clear  and  bright, 
though  a  light  brown  colour.  This  soot  water  may  be  used  for 
w  atering  bulbs  troubled  with  a  mite  as  a  cure,  or  as  a.  preventive, 
diluted  with  an  equal  volume  of  water,  and  for  general  watering, 
purposes  at  a  quarter  strength. 
The  bulb  mite  attacks  the  roots  of  many  plants.  I  have  found 
it  on  the  conns  of  the  Gladioli,  especially  the  Bride,  on  the  roots  of 
Cucumbers,  especially  the  root,  stems  associated  with  such  gentry 
as  eelworms  and  whiteworms,  on  the  corticated  roots  of  Vines, 
and  even  adventitious  roots,  and  not  unfrequently  on  the  knotty 
roots  of  stone  fruits. 
In  one  garden  it  has  completely  annihilated  the  Snowdrop, 
and  in  another  rendered  Lily  of  the  Valley  very  patchy.  What  is 
the  cause?  Candidly  I  do  not  know.  Where  it  is  it  does  a  lot 
of  harm,  and  probably  the  best  means  of  riddance  outdoors  is  to 
soak  the  ground  thoroughly  with  lime  water  made  by  placing  a 
peck  of  quicklime,  light  lumps,  in  a  tub,  and  pouring  on  30gals 
of  water,  stirring  well  and  letting  stand  forty-eight  hours  or  twice 
as  long,  then  using  the  clear  lime  water  only.  Probably,  too, 
lime  water  does  considerable  good  by  acting  on  organic  matter, 
at  any  rate  the  plants' thrive  afterwards. — G.  Abbey. 
Hyacinths  and  Tulips  for  Exhibition.4 
To  obtain  first-rate  spikes  of  these  showy  spring  flow  ers  thero 
are  several  cultural  items  of  importance.  In  the  first  place,  many 
think  large  spikes  is  a  matter  of  selecting  the  bulbs.  This  I  have 
proved  is  only  in  a  small  degree  the  ease  ;  for  I  w  ould  rely 
more  upon  good  culture  after  having  obtained  medium-sized  solid 
bulbs.  I  have  found  large  bulbs  have  a  tendency  to  throw  more 
than  one  spike,  and  this  is  not  at  all  desirable  for  exhibition 
purposes.  The  compost  recommended  is  loam  two  parts  and  one 
part  thoroughly  rotted  manure.  To  this  is  added  half  a  part  of 
road  grit  or  coarse  silver  sand.  The  whole  is  well  mixed  and  got 
into  a  state  of  even’  moisture- — that  is,  neither  wet  nor  dry — and 
placed  under  cover  for  use.  Pots  are  cleaned  and  crocked  ready, 
the  Sin  size  being  employed,  and  each  has  one  bulb.  The  month 
of  October  is  a  good  period  for  potting.  If  left  later  the  bulbs 
may  suffer.  Another  object  of  fairly  early  potting  is  to  get  an 
ample  supply  of  roots  before  the  tops  grow  to  any  extent. 
This,  to  us,  is  the  chief  element  of  success  in  bulb  culture  in 
pots.  I  have  seen  Hyacinths  potted  and  put  into  peat  straight 
away,  and  the  owmer  wondered  why  the  bloom  spikes  refused  to 
come  out  of  the  bulbs.  The  wTay  to  pot  bulbs  is  to  fill  each  pot 
with  earth,  press  it  in  fairly  firm,  then  scoop  out  a  hole  with  the 
fingers  to  hold  the  bulb.  Too  often  the  soil  is  pressed  in,  then  the 
bulb  is  pressed  down  on  that.  The  consequence  is  the  soil 
immediately  under  the  bulb  becomes  very  hard,  and  when  the  roots 
begin  to  grow,  the  bulb  is  pushed  out  of  its  place. 
As  the  bulbs  are  potted,  we  stand  the  pots  on  a  firm  bottom 
of  ashes  in  a  cool  frame,  not  that  they  require  protection,  as  they 
are  covered,  but  the  glass  may  then  he  put  on  if  necessary  to  guard 
off  over-abundant  rain.  We  do  not  water  the  earth  after  potting, 
but  place  an  inverted  flower-pot  over  each  bulb.  This  protects 
the  growth  later.  Then  we  cover  the  whole  with  cocoa-fibre  or 
ashes,  the  former  for  preference,  because  ashes- — at  least  fresh 
ashes — contain  sulphur  enough  to  do  harm  sometimes. 
The  Hyacinths  are  left  in  this  covering  for  about  three  months, 
then  examined.  Ample  roots  will  be  found,  and  the  tops  will 
have  advanced  very  little.  The  plants  now  need  light.  We  shift 
them  from  the  covering,  but  for  a  dav  or  two-  leave  the  inverted 
flower-pets.  Then  they  are  removed  to  shelves  near  the  glass  in 
cool  greenhouses  to  come  on  gradually.  Most  Hyacinths  lose  in 
size  by  being  forced.  Slow  growth  in  a  cool  house  is  the  thing 
to  bring  the  spikes  well  up  from  the  bulb,  and  large.  WTater 
through  the  winter  months  is  not  often  required,  but  as  the  spring 
advances  moisture  at  the  roots  is  needed  pretty  often. 
I  would  not  give  anything  except  clear  water  until  the  spikes 
begin  to  show  colour;  then  they  require  something  to  push  them 
out  to  their  utmost  extent.  Nitrate  of  soda  is  a  capital  stimu- 
*  The  Royal  Bulb  Growing  Society  of  Haarlem  offer  £24  in  prizes  for  Tulips 
and  Hyacinths,  to  be  competed  for  at  a  meeting  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society 
of  England  in  March,  1003.  Particulars  of  this  competition  may  be  received  from 
the  Secretary,  R.H.S.,  117,  Victoria  Street,  Westminster,  S.W. 
