no 



HALF HOURS WITH INSECTS. 



[Packard. 



enemies, we are left solel}' to our own resources, so feeble 

 compared with nature's. The best remedy against plant lice 

 is to fumigate the plant house with tobacco. Shirley Hib- 

 bard says that the "best fumigator is one with a revolving 

 fan, or a revolving cage containing the tobacco, by means of 

 which the smoke is blown out in a rapid, dense, killing cloud ; 

 but an effectual instrument may be extemporized by knocking 

 a liole in the side of a large flower pot, and then having put 

 some hot cinders and damp tobacco in it, the nozzle of a 

 bellows is placed against the hole, and ejection promoted by 

 gentle puffing," Drenching the leaves with a syringe or 

 Fig. 74. Fig. 7.5. 



INIealy bug, female. Scale insect (young). 



hose, throwing hot water (150° F.) on them, is the b.est 

 remedy against all plant house pests. After the drenching, 

 sprinkle powdered tobacco over the leaves. 



Scale Insects. — If we take an imaginary wingless Aphis, 

 flatten the bod}^ shorten and weaken the limbs, elongate the 

 beak into threads, and endow it with a still more sluggish 

 disposition, we shall have a scale insect in its simplest form, 

 the "Mealy bug" of our conservatories (Fig. 74, enlarged). 

 It may be seen on comparison with the immature or larval 



14 



