FlovSr 



AND LAWN 



WINTER ROSE TROUBLES. 



I 



,F ALL pests of the rose in the house 

 or the greenhouse the red spider is 

 certainly the most common and also 

 one of the hardest to get rid of. 

 The only practical cure or preventive for it 

 is often overlooked by the young rosarian 

 because of its simplicity ; this cure is the 

 " cold water " one. In commercial rose 

 growing one of the essentials is a good water 

 pressure for thoroughly spraying the foliage 

 above and below on sunny days. In a con- 

 servatory it is, of course, an easy matter to 

 apply the cold water cure with the hose or 

 syringe, but with plants grown in the house 

 they are difficulties enough. Rose plants can- 

 not be effectively syringed in the window or 

 on the plant stand ; take them to the sink or 

 bath and give the foliage as thorough a 

 drenching as it would get in a driving rain 

 storm. Do this every other day if the 

 weather is bright ; it must also be attended 

 to on dull days during a continued spell of 

 them. 



The Scollay rubber sprinklers, of which 

 several sizes are made, are a grand thing for 

 sprinkling roses, in fact one is indispensable 

 for the window garden. The red spider 

 will be found on the under sides of the 

 leaves, he often works away there, sapping 



the life and substance from the foliage tiH 

 the plant becomes unhealthy looking and re- 

 ceives a check that it will not recover from 

 all winter. The minuteness of this insect is 

 well illustrated by this amusing incident told 

 by the late Peter Henderson in Practical 

 Floriculture : " Many years ago I had in 

 my employment a young Irishman, who, by 

 showing more than ordinary energy, quickly 

 passed through the different grades, until he 

 was duly installed as foreman. At that 

 time we had been firing a Camellia house, 

 and by neglect of keeping a properly moist 

 atmosphere, the red spider had made sad in- 

 roads. John was duly instructed to syringe 

 the plants night and morning to destroy it, 

 which he did, no doubt, with a double object 

 in view, as the sequel will show. John was 

 on all occasions rather demonstrative, but 

 one morning he came rushing towards me, 

 his face radiant with triumph, with his hat 

 off, but clasped in his hands in a careful 

 manner, evidently having something of no 

 common value within it. Before I had time 

 to inquire the cause of his excitement he 

 yelled out : ' I've got him ! bedad ! I've got 

 him at last.' 'What have you got?' I 

 enquired, expecting to see something in the 

 way of a rat or mouse. ' Arra the big 



