GARDENING BY MYSELF. ^y 



or geraniums to care for, has made acquain- 

 tance at some time or other with the deli- 

 cate, prett}^ mischievous Httle green fly, or 

 aphis. Probably most have seen (on their 

 own plants or other people's) a tender rose 

 shoot, a sweet geranium leaf, so covered 

 with these little interlopers as to be simply 

 disgusting. And though hand-picking may 

 have made a clearance for the time, yet the 

 ranks were alwa3^s filled and refilled, in ex- 

 haustless measure. Quietly sapping the juices 

 of your plants, and spoiling the "look of all 

 that they did not eat, so you have seen 

 them. Well, for your comfort and encour- 

 agement, Mr. Henderson says that this 

 small mischief-maker should never be seen. 

 Of course it follows that he need not. The 

 best greenhouse preventive seems to be 

 thorough fumigation ; — one speck of sense 

 the aphis has in its small head — it does not 

 like tobacco. Smoke your little greenhouse 

 two or three times a week ; and when you 

 can stand the smell long enough yourself to 

 go and look, you will find that the aphis 



