246 THE FLORAL WOBLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



pump. The regular and vigorous employment of the water engine 

 amongst roses, will render lodgment of fly next to impossible. If 

 the plague is confined to a few plants or a few shoots, the hand 

 syringe may be sufficient to discharge a killing shower, and scatter 

 the enemy to the devouring elements. But a terrific periodica] 

 drenching, aimed as much as possible at the undersides of the leaves, 

 is the finest of all cures for a plague of aphis, because, while it sends 

 the fly to Jericho, or some other Ultima Thule, it refreshes the 

 trees, heightens their vigour, and cleanses their breathing cuticles 

 of the injurious deposits of the vermin, for it must be remembered 

 that while the fly sucks the vital juices of the plant, it spreads a 

 gummy exudation on the tender parts it banquets on, and thus 

 while bleeding suffocates, and is therefore more than a vampire. 



In the choice of water, hot water is better than cold, and if any 

 doubt as to what we mean by the term " hot," say 150° Fahr., which 

 is as hot as the hand can bear without pain. As hot water is better 

 than cold, so soft water is better than hard, and diluted sewage best 

 of all. Sewage is, in fact, a grand vermin killer, and if largely 

 diluted, does no harm to the most delicate green leaf, while every 

 drop that trickles to the roots, affords nourishment to strengthen 

 the tree against its insect plagues. 



The best house-made preparations that we can advise upon are 

 two in number. We shall give first place, because of its com- 

 plexity, to a decoction of quassia chips. To every gallon of water 

 required, measure out five ounces of quassia chips, and put the chips 

 into the cold water. An hour afterwards, add to every gallon five 

 ounces of soft soap, previously dissolved and well beaten up in a 

 little hot water. Apply with a soft brush, taking care to brush 

 upivards, and half an hour afterwards wash off the mixture and the 

 dead vermin with hot water by means of a syringe. We have tried 

 this preparation on several occasions, and obtained the most con- 

 flicting results; on one occasion it was almost useless, on the next 

 it was a " perfect cure." The difference, doubtless, is to be found 

 in the difference of quality of the quassia chips. At all events, 

 there are two kinds in the market — the Surinam, which is the pro- 

 duce of Quasia amara, and the Jamaica, obtained from Picrcena 

 excelsa. The strongest bitter and most destructive to the lower 

 forms of animal life, is the last named. All the gardening books 

 recommend the employment of hot water in preparing infusions of 

 quassia, and they are all wrong, for heat dissipates its killing 

 properties, and extracts the pure bitter only. 



Now, we come to a cheaper remedy, which you will be puzzled 

 with at first, but heartily believe in at last, if you are earnest in 

 your business. A solution of mud — call it de Feau trouble, or mud- 

 water — as thick or as thin as you can conveniently use (not in a 

 syringe, certainly, unless you can afford to buy a new syringe at 

 every operation, but) to apply with some sort of mop or big brush 

 to the undersides of the leaves, and those parts of the young stems 

 on which the fly bas, to use the gardener's language, " got a good 

 holt." You need not wash it off unless it is convenient and agree- 

 able to do so, for by contraction or expansion, as subsequent 



