FERNS 



fronds grow closely together at the crown. If 

 the pest is discovered before it has had time 

 to increase its numbers, it is possible to get rid 

 of it. Take a tooth-pick or something similar 

 and go over the plant, leaf by leaf, and careful- 

 ly pick off each insect, and destroy it. This 

 may prove a tedious task, but any one having 

 a fine plant will not begrudge the labor re- 

 quired, in the hope of saving it. But if it has 

 become badly infested before discovering its 

 condition, about the best thing to do is to cut 

 away all the fronds and allow the plant to 

 completely renew itself, or throw away the 

 old plant and provide yourself new ones, 

 which you should make sure are clean before 

 bringing them from the greenhouse. Insects 

 are often introduced into collections by plants 

 infested with them in the propagating-house. 

 Always look the plants you buy over carefully 

 before you give them a place in the window 

 witii plants that have been kept clean. It is a 

 much easier matter to keep insects away than 

 it is to get rid of them after they have secured 

 a foothold on your plants. In case you cut 

 back old plants, with a view to ridding them 

 of insects, isolate them until you are sure that 

 they are entirely free from these pests. 



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