I'KA CTICAL FLURIC L /, 77 'RE. 



ThripS. — These are small, spotted flics related to the afhidic, and found on the backs 

 of the lca\es, though they will attach themselves to any portion of a neglected or unhealthy 

 plant. They are not quite so easily got rid of as the green-fly, but washing the plant in 

 lohacc'o-water, and afterward in clean water, will drive them off. The best remedy is a 

 solution of Gishurst's Compound, a kind of soap sold by first-class seedsmen. This will 

 not only destroy these insects, but most others. The scaly bugs cannot withstand it, and 

 angleworms will die if it drops upon them. It also acts as a stimulant to plants, and is 

 not enough known to amateurs in this country. 



Red Spider, so called, known by its classic name as Acarus, is an insidious enemy to 

 plants. It is a minute insect, but capable of producing considerable destruction, as it 

 feeds on the most delicate parts of the leaves, causing them to soon perish. It is about 

 the size of the eye of a fine cambric needle. The body is usually red, though sometimes 

 brown. They congregate on the under sides of the leaves in great numbers, where they 

 {i;i:(.\ like a herd of cattle on a broad plain. 



When a plant is suspected of being infested, or if the leaves perish anil no other cause 

 is known, a leaf may be turned over on the finger, and held so until the warmth passes 

 through it, when, if there are any, they will be seen like mere specks of dust beginning 

 to show powers of locomotion. The fine webs created by this small, insignificant 

 creature, clog and impair the functions of the foliage, which are really the lungs 

 of the plant. Dryness of the atmosphere is very favorable to the existence of this 

 insect, and, as it has a repugnance to water, sprinkling, syringing or pinning wet cloths or 

 papers around individual plants at night, is the remedy. A very good preventive is to 

 keep a pan of water on the stove in winter, as it gives off a vapor to the atmosphere. A 

 little flour of sulphur sprinkled on a heated brick or flat-iron, placed where the fumes can 

 rise up among the leaves of the plants, is also an excellent remedy. 



Mealy Bug. — This is an entirely innocent looking insect, but yet at times exceedingly 

 troublesome where plants are kept at a high temperature, and is consequently found more 

 frequently in a hothouse, from whence it is many times transferred to the greenhouse. 

 It is a small, oval insect about an eighth of an inch in length, with a slightly rounded 

 back that is covered over with a short, white plush; the body underneath is brownish in 

 color, and from the sides articulate several tin\- legs. It more often rests at the axils of 

 the leaves, yet many times underneath them. Where they accumulate to a great extent, 

 whale-oil soapsuds is eflicacious, or they can be brushed off with a small brush. 



We have never had them to any great extent, and our method is to lift them off with 

 a needle, as bruising them on the plant is said to be injurious on account of the juice that 

 escapes. The eggs are deposited in little, white, webby knots, and left by the parent on 

 various parts of the plant. Under the microscope, when torn asunder with two pins or 

 needles, so as not to crush them, there are revealed several brown eggs — some half a 

 dozen, or less. 



Coccus. — There are several kinds of insects known under tiiis Latin name, that in our 

 vernacular are called scales, being in color either brown or white. Thej- are a rounded 

 oval, their encasement being a glossy, tough skin or shell. They adhere closel}' to the 

 leaves or stem on which they feed, and are not easy to dislodge. As far as our own expe- 

 rience and observation go, we find the young to be migratory, but probably not for any 



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