24 THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



very carefully, or remove and burn them if they can be spared, for the leaves are so 

 brittle that they can hardly be sponged without injury. Maintain a proper amount of 

 moisture in the atmosphere, and keep the roots of the plants well supplied with water 

 and nourishment ; then there will be little to fear from red spider, but if it should appear 

 syringe the plants forcibly with clear rain-water warmed to the temperature of the house, 

 and repeat as necessary. Plants in frames may be well sprinkled at closing time. Soot 

 water, made by forming a peck of dry soot into a paste with water, adding 100 gallons 

 of water, stirred thoroughly, allowed to stand until clear, then applied with a syringe, 

 is effective against red spider. Sulphur formed into a thin cream with skim-milk, 

 and brushed on the hot- water pipes when heated to 170, or a little of the sulphur 

 sprinkled on slates in frames where the sun can act upon it, gives off fumes inimical 

 to the pests. 



Thrips and Aphides. These occasionally infest melons, especially when the atmo- 

 sphere and soil are kept too dry. Black and green aphides increase marvellously on 

 melons, but both these insects and thrips succumb to careful fumigation with the best 

 tobacco paper on two or three consecutive evenings. 



White Fly (Aleyrodes vaporariorura). This small midge has milk-white, unspotted 

 wings and a pale yellow body. The larvae feed on the back of the leaves, pierce the 

 skin and suck the juices; the pupae are also fixed to the leaves, and the perfect insect 

 emerges in a few days. The insects fall to the ground when disturbed or on fumigating; 

 therefore, the floors and beds should be well damped before fumigating with tobacco, 

 yet the plants must not be wetted. But, perhaps, a better means of destruction is to 

 heat the hot- water pipes to 170, brush them over lightly whilst hot with a cream of 

 sulphur and skim-milk, and repeat in about a week, so as to kill the larvae and insects 

 that may have emerged from the eggs and pupae. 



