410 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



pedes are very active. There is, however, 

 one exception, the luminous centipede, a 

 long, thread-like creature, 2 inches to 2^ 

 inches in length, which, in spite of its 

 extraordinary number of legs, moves with 

 the greatest deliberation. The snake mil- 

 lipedes, according to the species, when 

 full-grown each measures from half to i 

 inch in length, and are composed of a 

 .great number of joints. With the excep- 

 tion of the "flattened snake millipede," 

 they are nearly cylindrical in form. 



THRIPS (Thrips adonidum). This in- 

 sect is more injurious to plants grown 

 under glass than to those in the open air; 

 but Phloxes, Carnations, Dahlias, and 

 some other plants often suffer from their 

 attacks. Syringing or spraying with para- 

 ffin emulsion, quassia extract and soft soap, 

 Gishurst compound, or tobacco water are 

 the best remedies for outdoor use. 



VARIOUS CATERPILLARS. Besides the 

 caterpillars already mentioned, most plants 

 in the flower garden are liable to be at- 

 tacked by the caterpillars of various moths, 

 which it is hardly necessary to enumerate. 

 Suffice it to say that theyare best destroyed 

 by hand-picking. 



THE WHITE CABBAGE and TURNIP 

 BUTTERFLIES (Pieris brassicec and P. 

 rapi). In the flower garden the cater- 

 pillars of these butterflies are very injuri- 

 ous to the leaves of Tropasolums of various 

 kinds and Mignonette. The plants should 

 be carefully looked over, and the cater- 

 pillars picked off. If very numerous, 

 syringe or spray with paraffin emulsion. 



WlREWORMS (the grubs of various spe- 

 cies of "click beetles," Elateridae). These 

 well-known pests are by no means easy to 

 get rid of, and as they are over two years 

 in coming to maturity, if left alone they 

 have plenty of time to do a great amount 

 of harm. They attack various flowering 



plants, but they are particularly fond of 

 Carnations and plants of that nature. 

 Those belonging to the largest species 

 when full-grown are three-quarters of an 

 inch in length, and much resemble a piece 

 of brass or copper wire of that length, and 

 they are almost as tough. No insecticide 

 is of much use, and trapping them is the 

 best way of destroying them. Slices of 

 Carrots, Turnips, Potatoes, or Rape-cake 

 buried about an inch below the surface 

 make good traps. Each should have a 

 small skewer stuck into it to show where 

 it was buried. They should be examined 

 every morning. Fortunately most birds 

 are very fond of them. 



WOODLICE, if found to congregate at 

 the base of a wall or in other positions, 

 may be killed by pouring boiling water 

 over them. They may be trapped by lay- 

 ing bricks, tiles, or pieces of slate or 

 board near their haunts, which they will 

 creep under. Toads kill great numbers 

 of them. Or they may be poisoned by 

 laying pieces of Potato about which have 

 been boiled in water in which some arsenic 

 has been placed. 



EARTH-WORMS. These creatures, of 

 which there are several species, do no 

 harm in gardens or lawns, and indeed are 

 very beneficial, but there are some small 

 worms belonging to a nearly related 

 family, the Enchytraeidae (they have no 

 English name), which are very injurious 

 to many plants, feeding on their roots and 

 the lower parts of their stems ; they very 

 much resemble very small earth-worms ; 

 they are generally about half-an-inch in 

 length, but some of the species are an 

 inch long. They are white, about the 

 thickness of a packthread. Soaking the 

 soil in which they are with lime-water 

 kills them. 



G. S. S. 



