FLOWER GARDEN PESTS. 



By no means the least of the difficuUies 

 that the cultivator of plants has to con- 

 tend with is the number of different kinds 

 of insects that feed on the objects of his 

 care, at times rendering all his efforts of 

 no avail. To keep a garden tolerably free 

 from insect pests is never an easy task, 

 and in some seasons an utterly impossible 

 one, but a great deal may be done by a 

 little well-directed care. Prevention is, 

 of course, " much better than cure," and a 

 great deal may be done in this way by 

 never allowing any weeds to grow in a 

 garden, as the insects that feed on them 

 often prefer those in cultivation. A weedy, 

 uncared-for corner in a garden is a regular 

 nursery for all sorts of insects. Rubbish, 

 stones, and the refuse of a crop should 

 never be allowed to lie about, as they 

 form a welcome shelter to many kinds of 

 pests. Anything taken from a plant that 

 has been attacked by an insect or fungus 

 should at once be burnt. Some plants 

 suffer most from the attacks of insects 

 when they are quite young ; in such cases 

 the plants should be pushed into vigorous 

 growth as quickly as possible by suitable 

 cultivation. Birds should be encouraged 

 in gardens. Few persons realise the 

 enormous number of insects killed by 

 them, especially during the breeding 

 season, when nearly all the young birds 

 are fed on animal food. Toads also are 

 most useful creatures in gardens, and 

 should be encouraged far more than they 

 are. All dead leaves should be collected 

 and burnt, unless they are required for 

 leaf-mould, when they should be made 

 into a heap as soon as possible. Any 

 leaves that do not fall with the others 

 should be picked off and burnt, as they 

 often contain chrysalides. When borders 

 are being dug, a sharp look-out should be 

 kept for chrysalides or cocoons which 

 may be turned up. Any ground that is 

 not in use should be kept well hoed and 

 broken up. This will keep down weeds 

 and expose any insects which may be in 

 the soil to the birds. As soon as the 

 attack of any insect is noticed, steps 

 should at once be taken to check it, as in 



this case the old proverb, "A stitch in 



j time saves nine," is especially true. If 

 ants are seen running over plants, it is 



j generally the case that the latter are in- 

 fested by aphides or scale insects, and 

 when ants make their nests at the roots 

 of plants it will often be found that the 

 roots are attacked by one of the root- 



i feeding aphides. 



Remedies will be applied in a more 

 intelligent manner if those who use them 

 are acquainted with a few elementary 

 entomological facts ; so it may be men- 

 tioned that a typical female insect when 

 in a perfect state lays eggs ; from these 

 are hatched grubs, maggots or caterpillars, 

 according to the kind of insect ; these 

 usually feed voraciously and increase 

 rapidly ; they change their skins several 

 times, and when full grown become 

 chrysalides ; from these in due course the 

 perfect insect emerges. Butterflies, moths, 

 beetles, bees, wasps, ants and some other 

 kinds of insects undergo these changes, 

 which are very marked. Others, such as 

 crickets, grasshoppers, cockroaches, bugs, 

 earwigs, green flies and scale insects, 

 really go through the same changes, but 

 they are much less apparent ; the young 

 just hatched from the egg very much 

 resembles its parents. It is, of course, 

 very much smaller and is never winged, 

 but there is a general family resemblance 

 between them. The young one as it 

 grows at times changes its skin, and at a 

 certain change the wings may be seen in 



j a very rudimentary condition. The insect 



j is then in the state that answers to the 

 chrysalis state in the other insects, and on 



I the next change of skin the insect appears 

 in its mature condition. After attaining 



I this period in its existence it never grows. 

 A butterfly, bee, wasp, fly, or whate\er 

 the insect is, when in its perfect state 

 never becomes any larger. All insects in 

 their mature condition have a general 

 similarity in their structure, although it 

 may not always be easy to trace the three 

 divisions in which theyare formed, namely, 

 head, thorax or forebody, and body, which 

 in a wasp are particularly well marked. 



