Mine Enemies 127 



The new horror was the oil beetle, a bright blue metallic in- 

 sect without visible wings, fully two inches long, with a ridic- 

 ulously small waist, and an enormous distension of body 

 tapering to a point. This also infested the Anemone Pennsyl- 

 vania, now in complete rags and tatters, the wild clematis, 

 Japanese clematis, and occasionally the larkspur. Drowning 

 in kerosene is the only fit death for this disgusting vulture. 



I despatched about forty thousand of these despicable ene- 

 mies, had my usual bout with the potato-bug which devours 

 the Nicotiana ajfinis, and thought to breathe something be- 

 side the nauseating fumes of kerosene, when I discovered the 

 aster beetle at work, not so much on the China asters as on 

 the Michaelmas daisies. It is a jet black beetle, less than an 

 inch long, and must be hand picked, or more correctly speak- 

 ing hand-scraped into kerosene. I am sure these enemies 

 have been with me in previous seasons, but either in less num- 

 ber, or the scales had just fallen from my eyes. We had un- 

 usual rains that year and in consequence more bugs. Drought 

 may be my chief blessing after all. 



With the establishment of a white woody variety of late 

 aster, came a horde of yellow wasps, which were despatched 

 by scraping them into a glass of soap/ water, either early in 

 the morning, or late at night when they were a trifle stiff with 

 the cold. 



The green louse that infests the tender tips of roses, also the 

 Gaura and pinks can be controlled by spraying with a strong 

 solution of Ivory soap-suds; or add to hot soap-suds two 

 tablespoonfuls of kerosene to four gallons of water; mix 

 thoroughly with a sprayer and then spray two or three times 

 at intervals of two weeks. This is a weak kerosene emulsion 

 and may be used for white worms, rose beetles and aster 

 beetles, but is better for sucking insects. A solution of one 

 pound of whale oil soap to eight gallons of water will also 



