94: 



THK CANADIAN HOKTICDLTURIST. 



choice of food plants — -they are by no 

 means insensible to the difference be- 

 tween dryness and moistin-e. To the lat- 

 ter they have a most decided objection, 

 and it is only in warm and dry siti;ations 

 that they give much trouble, and it is 

 nearly always in dry seasons that plants, 

 &.G., out-of-door suffer from these pests. 



Sulphur is one of the most efficient 

 agents known for killing them ; but it 

 will not, however, mix properly with 

 water in its ordinary form, but should 

 be treated according to the following 

 recipe : Boil together in four gallons 

 of watei-, 1 lb. of flowers of sulphur 

 and 2 lbs. of fresh lime, and add 1^ lbs. 

 of soft soap, and, before using, 3 gallons 

 more of water; or mix 4 oz. of sulphate 

 of lime with half that weight of soft 

 soap, and when well mixed add 1 gallon 

 of hot water. Use when cool enough 

 to bear your hand in. 



In vineries one of the best ways of 

 destroying these creatures is to paint 

 the hot- water pipes with one part of 

 fresh lime and two parts of flowers of 

 sulphur mixed into a paint. If a flue 

 is painted in this way great care should i 

 be taken that the sulphur does not burn, 

 or much damage may be done, as the 

 flues may become much hotter than 

 hot-water pipes. During the earlier 

 stages of growth keep the atmosphere 

 moist and impregnated with ammonia 

 by a layer of fresh stable litter, or by 

 painting the hot- water pipes with guano 

 made into a paint ; as long as the air 

 in the house is kept moist there is not 

 much danger of a bad attack. 



The red spider lays its eggs among 

 the threads of the web which it weaves 

 over the undersides of the leaves ; the 

 eggs are round and white ; the young 

 spiders are hatched in about a week, 

 and they very much resemble their- 

 parents in general appearance, but they 

 have only three pairs of legs instead of 

 four at first, and they do not acquire 

 the fourth pair until they have changed 



their skins several times ; they are, of 

 course, much smaller in size, but are, 

 however, in proportion just as destruc- 

 tive as the older ones. They obtain 

 the juice of the leaves by eating through 

 the skin with their mandibles, and then 

 thrusting in their probosces or suckei'S, 

 through which they draw out the juices. 

 Th^" females are very fertile, and breed 

 with great rapidity under favourable 

 circumstances all the year round. 



The red spiders, as I have already 

 stated, are nc)t real spiders, biit belong 

 to the family Acarina or mites, a family 

 included in the same class (the Arach- 

 nida) as the true spiders. 



Natural 

 size 



..^ 



Mite (greatly raagnified). 



The red spider ( Tetrauycluis telarms) 

 is very minute, not measuring more 

 than the sixtieth of an inch in length 

 when fiill grown ; their colour is very 

 variable, some individuals being nearly 

 white, others greenish, or various shades 

 of orange, and red. This variation in 

 colour ])robab]y depends somewhat on 

 their age or food — the red ones are 

 generally supposed to be the most 

 mature. The head is furnished with a 

 pair of pointed mandibles; between 

 which is a pointed beak or sucker. The 

 legs are eight in number ; the two front 

 pairs project forwards and the other two 



