Modern Improvements in Horticulture. 299 



which yield or contain the greatest share of sugar, and which 

 is indicated by the quantity of honey-dew on their leaves : 

 from the lime and maple trees it sometimes even drops from 

 the points of the leaves to the ground ! The aphis are the na- 

 tural prey of many other insects, particularly the beetle tribe, 

 as well as of the soft-billed birds (Motacilla), and are con- 

 stantly attended by ants, flies, and wasps collecting their sweets. 

 They injure and deform the leaves and tender shoots of plants, 

 so as sometimes to kill them entirely. They are easily killed 

 and extirpated by any acrid fumigation, particularly that of 

 tobacco : water impregnated with lime, or soft soap, is also 

 recommended as an aphidefuge. 



The Red Spider, — ^This is a very minute species of Acarus : 

 there are two or three species found on plants : the most com- 

 mon one is that which infests peach-houses, vineries, plants 

 kept in them, and wall-trees generally. A solution of soft 

 soap in water, and frequent and forcible waterings from a, 

 syringe or engine, keep them in check. 



The Coccus Lanigeray or woolly American Blight, is an im- 

 ported injurious insect. It is said it was first introduced from 

 France by a Mr. Swinton, brother of the late Lord of Session 

 Swinton, in Scotland: he was a lieutenant in the royal navy, 

 and, marrying a French lady, settled at No. 6, Sloane Street, 

 Chelsea, where he established a Foreign Nursery, and pub- 

 lished a French Newspaper. That this gentleman introduced 

 the insect to the neighbourhood of London is probable, as his 

 collection of apples, in 1790, was sadly overrun with it ; but it 

 must have been in England long before that time, because it 

 was common on crabs, and even thorns, in the wild copses of 

 Buckinghamshire in 1795. It is not generally known that 

 there are two species of coccus frequent in our hedges and 

 underwoods, designated ovate and reneform; they are both 

 found on the smooth bark of young ash-poles or trees, and 

 sometimes on the red willow. Both species may be collected, 

 and they appear to yield the dyeing matter of as deep a tint as 

 that from the cactus cochinillifer. Washes of lime water, 

 laid on with a strong brush in winter and early spring, are de- 

 structive to them ; and soft soap and water is also useful in the 

 spring, because its glutinous consistence prevents their migra- 



