172 The Landscape Gardening Book 



act and consequently "when these loose particles are themselves 

 pumped dry, the moisture below is protected by them. It is a 

 very pretty little process — one among a thousand others so inter- 

 esting and wonderful, when one stops to examine them, that the 

 greatest wonder is the little comment they provoke. 



Garden pests I am not going to talk about. They are too 

 specialized to have any place here — and space is limited. But 

 I believe they will never prove as bad as apprehension paints 

 them, if they are dealt with in the right way. Each state has 

 its agricultural station where they will tell an inquirer very 

 freely and fully just what to do for the special bug that is 

 a-ravaging. The shrubs and trees included in the lists recom- 

 mended are all exceptionally free from such enemies and will 

 withstand attack, should it be made, better than many others. 



Aphids I am tempted to give a paragraph, however — I 

 abominate them so myself — and they are so common. They are 

 the odious little things, soft-bodied, sometimes winged and 

 sometimes not, which appear by the tens of thousands, over 

 night, on almost any plant they may take a notion to. Some 

 are tiny, some are giants, and some are middle size — that is, 

 as aphids. And all sizes hobnob together and crowd and push 

 each other on leaves or along branches until one wonders how 

 there can be so many of anything in the world. Sometimes they 

 are green, sometimes blue-black, sometimes deep purple-red — 

 indeed they are resourceful as to color schemes, for they dye 

 themselves, from the inside, with the juices of the plant they feed 

 upon. 



By this you will know that they belong to the vampire class 

 of creation — they are sucking insects and not biters. They must 

 be treated from the outside therefore, for nothing put onto the 

 surface of a leaf will reach their interiors, as their bills are pushed 



