RED SPIDER SCALE THRIPS 389 



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 the 

 gallon, 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. The commonest and best known of the Scale insects is 

 the Lecanium hibernaculorum, here illustrated on a twig, natural 

 size and magnified. This Scale infests many plants. It is brown, 

 tumid, rounded, and com- 

 monly somewhat more than 

 hemispherical in shape. Be- 

 sides this very common species 

 there is the L. filicum of Ferns, 

 the L. hemisphczricum of Dra- 

 caenas, the L. rotundum of COMMON SCALE 

 the Peach, and the common 

 L. hesperidum or Orange-tree 



Bug ; this is one of the flat species, and it spreads to a great variety 

 of plants. The Scale insect sucks the sap from plants, and to sucri 

 an extent is this the case that in some instances the ground beneath 

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

 to be a good remedy for Scale, when mixed with water in the pro- 

 portion 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 poma- 

 ceous 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 has been recommended for the 

 extirpation of this pest, and the destruction of each separate Scale as 

 soon as seen. 



THRIPS may pursue their mischief to a great extent before they 

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



