INSECTS AND OTHER PARASITES. 205 



cause of his trouble. It is so minute as hardly to be 

 B§en by the naked eye, but its ravages soon show; and if 

 the leaves of your plants begin to get brown, an exami- 

 nation of the under surface of the leaf will usually reveal 

 the little pests in great numbers. When they get thus 

 established there is no remedy but to sponge the leaves 

 thoroughly with water or weak soapsuds. 



The Mealy Bug, as it is generally called, is a white 

 mealy or downy-looking insect, which is often very trou- 

 blesome among hothouse plants, but rarely does any harm 

 among those that can live in a cool room. It is a native 

 of some tropical latitudes, and can only exist in such a 

 temperature as is required by plants of that class. There 

 are various remedies used by florists, but the safest is to 

 use Cole's Insect Destroyer, a remedy that never fails to 

 destroy this insect, without injury to the plant, when 

 sprayed on the plants by a barber's atomizer. On a large 

 scale we find a certain remedy in the use of one pint of 

 Fir Tree Oil to ten gallons of water, applied by the syringe 

 once a week. In fact, we find the use of Fir Tree Oil in 

 this proportion a safe and sure remedy against all insect 

 life; but its application must be continuous, and at least 

 once a week. 



Brown and White Scale Insects. — These appear as if 

 lifeless, and adhere closely to the stems of such plants as 

 Oleanders, Ivies, etc., and, like the Mealy Bug, are best 

 destroyed by being washed or rubbed off. Remedy, when 

 on a large scale, is Fir Tree Oil, 



TJirips. — This is an insect varying in color from light 

 yellow to dark brown, and much more active in its move- 

 ments than the Green Fly, and more difiScult to destroy. 

 When it once gets a foothold it is very destructive. It 

 succumbs to tobacco in any of the forms recommended 

 for the destruction of Green Fly, but not so readily. It 

 luxuriates m shaded situations, and generally abounds 

 where plants are standing too thickly together, or where 



