350 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



umbrella, or a piece of board freshly tarred or painted, so as to be sticky, should be held 

 so that the weevils can be shaken on to them. The Black Vine weevil is about inch 

 in length, and is of a dark brown colour or black colour ; the other species is somewhat 

 smaller, and is of a pale brown colour. The Apple blossom weevil (Anthonomus 

 pomorum] is a much smaller species ; it lays its eggs in the opening flower-buds of the 

 Apple, which soon hatch, and the grubs feed on the flowers, at times completely ruining 

 the crop. When the weevils are seen on the trees they may be shaken down on to cloths 

 or something sticky. Thrips ( Thrips adonidum, and other species) is an insect that is 

 very annoying in greenhouses, where it may be killed by the same means as recom- 

 mended in the case of green-fly or aphides. Out of doors it seldom does much harm, but 

 Carnations, Dahlias, Phloxes, and some other plants, are at times injured by them. To 

 consider now some 



Garden Pests that are not really Insects. The mites stand first, among them 

 the red-spider (Tetranychus tellarius) is the best known. As a rule, the plants that 

 suffer most from them are too dry at the root ; and in greenhouses the want of proper venti- 

 lation is generally the cause. The red-spider delights in warmth, dryness, and a still atmos- 

 phere. When a plant is infested by them it should be syringed with paraffin emulsion : to 

 every 5 gallons add i oz. of sulphide of potassium ; or, with Jib. of flowers of sulphur, i Ib. 

 of fresh lime, boiled in 2 gallons of water, then add f Ib. of soft soap, and when all is 

 well mixed 2 gallons more water. Another very injurious mite is the Currant mite 

 (Phytoptus ribis), which infests the buds of Black Currants, causing them to swell, but 

 not to open properly, so that when many of the buds on a shoot are attacked it is 

 rendered useless to the plant. The best remedy is to pick off these buds early in the 

 spring, or cut off the entire shoot and burn them. Another mite, the bulb mite (Rhizog- 

 lyphus echinopus], is the cause of much injury to bulbs at times. They may usually be 

 found at the base of the bulbs between the scales, or among the roots where they join 

 the bulb. Various methods have been suggested for destroying them, but none of them 

 are very satisfactory, perhaps soaking them in water at a temperature of 120 degrees or 125 

 degrees Fahr. for fifteen or twenty minutes will kill them ; for, if placed in water at 115 

 degrees Fahr. (away from the bulb), they will die within five minutes. The snake millipedes 

 (Julidce) are often mistaken for insects, but there should be no difficulty in recognising 

 them, as instead of having only three pairs of legs they have a very large number. These 

 creatures are very injurious to the roots of plants, and are difficult to destroy with 

 any insecticide, as they are tough and horny. A strong solution of salt or nitrate of 

 soda will kill them if it can be made to reach them. They may be trapped by means 

 of slates, tiles, &c., laid about ; they move very slowly, and so may be easily distinguished 

 from the centipedes (Lithobius forficatus], which they somewhat reserrible. These are 

 very useful in gardens, and run with great rapidity. Woodlice, or slaters (Onisidce), 

 as they are sometimes called, are often very troublesome pests, and do much mischief in 

 greenhouses, Melon-pits, Mushroom-beds, and among Peaches and Strawberries. It is 

 no use trying to kill them with insecticides, but when they are found, as is often the case, 

 in regular colonies at the base of a wall just below the surface of the soil, they may be 

 killed wholesale by pouring boiling water over them ; they may also be trapped under 

 slates, bricks, &c. , and in small bundles of dry moss. Toads are very useful in keeping 

 woodlice under, and many other night-feeding insect pests. 



"Prevention is always said to be better than cure," and this is very true in the case 

 of plants likely to be injured by insects, and fungi, weeds, stones, rubbish, &c., which 

 harbour these pests, should never be allowed in gardens, even in out-of-the-way corners, 

 and any prunings of trees or refuse of a crop that has been infested by any pest should be 

 burned at once. Indeed, the old time-honoured rubbish heap should be turned into a 

 bonfire far oftener than it is, for even when its contents are well rotted they are not of 

 much value, and when spread over the ground often carry pests with them, and the ashes 

 from a bonfire that has not been allowed to burn too rapidly are of considerable value. 

 When garden ground is being dug a sharp look out should be kept for any chrysalides 

 that may be turned up, particularly if the last crop was attacked by caterpillars. 



Leaf -Curl in Peaches and Nectarines. Beginners are generally puzzled about this 

 characteristic of the Peach and Nectarine. The injury it causes is generally attributed to 

 cold winds or draughts of some sort. No doubt certain conditions of the weather are 

 more favourable to the growth of this fungus than others, a sudden fall in the temperature 

 after mild weather, during which the leaves have opened, being particularly liable to 

 cause an attack. Still, if this fungus was not present in the tissues of the tree, no atmos- 

 pheric conditions would cause the disease. Peach leaves are often attacked by aphides, 

 which cause the leaves to curl more or less, and the two kinds of attack are sometimes 

 mistaken for the same, but the difference as a rule is easily detected. The "curl" is 

 rather of a different nature ; it has not the same puckered appearance, and though in 

 both cases the diseased part of the leaf may turn red at last if caused by aphides, it never 

 assumes the pale sickly green colour that it does from being infested by the fungus, nor 



