HOW TO DESTROY INSECTS. ' 17 



THE MEALY BUG. 



THE mealy bug is a very annoying iusect ; it ap- 

 pears like a white mealy spot, iut more tlua one-third 

 as large as a lady-bug, and ir'Jests the wotchets of 

 smooth-barked plants, and also gets into -,he cracks of 

 *ae bark of rough- barked plants; here it hatches its 

 nesta of young ones. The best way to destroy it is to 

 brush the stems with an old tooth-brush dipped into 

 'he strongest soap-suds you can make, with a little 

 soot added to the water, and then give the plants a 

 good sprinkling ; it can be scraped off with the finger- 

 nails, but the process is not an agreeable one. 



S. 0. J. 



Let it once get a foothold, and it is very difficult to 

 get rid of it. 



They can also be kept down by frequent syringing 

 with warm, greasy water, to which a little sulphur 

 should be added ; but if full-grown, they should be 

 picked off by the hand or a small, sharp-pointed stick. 



Alcohol is sure death to the mealy bug. It can be 

 removed from thousands of the most delicate plants, 

 without a particle of injury, by simply applying fre- 

 quently, for a few weeks, alcohol diluted with fi-jo per 

 tent, of water. 



The most convenient way to use it is by a fine brujh 

 put through the cork of a wide-mouthed bottle. 



Kerosene may sometimes be used, as appears by the 



