Part V.-GREENHOUSE FOES. 



CHAPTER I. 



INSECTS, MITES, ETC. 



Ants. — It will scarcely be necessary to waste iJnie or 

 space in the description of these, because they are well 

 known — or ought to be, at any rate — to everyone. We 

 will only say that the injuries they are usually respon- 

 sible for are of a two-fold character. In the first place, 

 they gain ingress to the roots of plants in pots, and form 

 tunnels in the soil, causing the latter to become light and 

 spongy, waterlogged, and sour; and, in the second, they 

 do an infinite amount of harm in transporting Aphides and 

 young Scale to various plants simply for the sake of secur- 

 ing the sugary secretions which exude from their bodies. 

 Aphides are called the milch cows of the ants, from the 

 fact of the latter carrying them about and tending them 

 for the object above mentioned. 



Kembdies. — In the case of infesting the soil the simplest 

 remedy is to immerse the pot entirely in water for a few 

 hours and thereby drown the ants. Another good and 

 simple plan is to place a piece of camphor of the size of 

 a hazel nut in two quarts of boiling water, and when 

 cold apply the solution to the soil. Both are perfectly 



