The Pests of Garden Plants 



making a paint of sulphur, clay, and water, with which the pipes 

 should be painted. Be careful not to raise the heat at the same 

 time, for if the pipes are hotter than the hand can bear fumes 

 destructive to vegetation will be given off. Melons and Cucumbers 

 may generally be kept clear of Spider by means of the syringe 

 only ; but when Melons are ripening they must be kept rather dry, and 

 it is very difficult indeed to finish a crop without having the plants 

 attacked by Red Spider. Gishurst Compound answers admirably 

 to remove Spider from house plants. The mixture should consist of 

 one and a half or two ounces to one gallon of water, and should 

 be applied with a sponge. The scientific name of the Red Spider is 

 Tetranychus telarius. Our illustration shows one of these destructive 

 red mites natural size, and two individuals greatly magnified. 



Scale. A very common species, found on many kinds of stove 

 and other plants, is the Lecanium hibernaculorum, here illustrated 

 on a twig, natural size and magnified. It is brown, tumid, and com- 

 monly somewhat more than hemispherical in shape. Besides this 

 species there is the L. filicum 

 of Ferns, the L. hemisphceri- 

 cum of Dracaenas, the Z. 

 rotundum of the Peach, and 

 the common Z. hesperidum, 

 or Orange-tree Bug, which is 



to . COMMON SCALE 



One Of the flat Species, and it Lecanium hibernaculormn 



Spreads tO a great Variety of (natural size and enlarged) 



plants. The Scale insect sucks 



the sap from plants, and in some instances the ground beneath the 

 foliage is wet and soddened by the falling sap. Fir-tree oil is con- 

 sidered to be a good remedy for Scale, when mixed with water in 

 the proportion of half a pint of oil to two gallons of water. It is, 

 however, advisable (as in other remedies) to test this on a small 

 number of plants at first. A near relative, a large brown Coccus, 

 infests pomaceous trees, and is especially partial to the Pyracantha, 

 which it often kills outright. The Scale of the Vine is Pulvinaria 

 or Coccus vitis. Careful washing with soap and water, and the 

 destruction of each separate Scale as soon as seen, can be recom- 

 mended for the extirpation of this pest. 



Thrips may pursue their mischief to a great extent before they 

 are discovered by the novice, for their minute size and their habit 



411 



