INSECTS. 157 



tortoise-shell scale, black and green fly, (aphis,) thrips, 

 fretters (cycadce,) three or four kinds of beetles, as the 

 rose bug, cockchafer, &c., and occasionally the caterpil- 

 lars of some moths. 



The red spider is a very small, dark red insect, almost 

 invisible to the naked eye, which locates on the under 

 side of the leaves ; it delights in a dry, hot atmosphere, 

 and if left long unmolested, will spread over the whole 

 house, spinning a delicate network, among which it 

 travels with the greatest facility, feeding upon, poisoning, 

 and disfiguring the plant. It may be destroyed by syring- 

 ing and a damp air, and can be completely eradicated 

 by the use of sulphur, used as advised for mildew. Indeed 

 it is doubtful if it will exist at all if sulphur be exposed 

 occasionally to a high temperature, without being ignited. 

 The writer applies it at times in his plant houses, and is 

 never troubled with either red spider or mildew ; even 

 among roses when forcing in the winter, and the only 

 trouble is, to sprinkle a small quantity over the hot water 

 pipes, or coolest end of the flues, three or four times during 

 the season. If proper use be made of the syringe, the 

 sulphur will not always be required, but when applied it 

 answers the double purpose of preventing the spread of 

 both red spider and mildew. 



The different species of scaly and mtaly bugs may be' 

 destroyed by the preparation recommended for the vines 

 as the wash to be used in the fall, page 65. The scales 

 generally adhere to the bark, and the brown ones are 

 often so near the color of it as to require a close look to 

 see them ; here they stick, sucking the juices, and ejecting 

 their sugary excrescence, which spreads over the leaves, 

 and stops up the breathing pores. The mealy bug is to be 

 found in the crevices between the bark, in the joints, and 

 among the bunches, in the form of little cottony-looking 



