346 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



drawn out and attached. While spinning, the feet are very active, and the 

 mite moves about freely, but if placed upon a smooth surface the movements are 

 more sluggish, and are produced with greater labor. 



The eggs of the " red spider " are spherical, and nearly colorless. Within 

 less than two weeks the eggs hatch, and the young mites appear. They 

 differ from the imago or mature mite in size, and by having three instead of four 

 pairs of legs (Fig. 386). The young mites are of a clear, transparent color, and 

 after shedding their skin for the last time, have eight legs. 



In order for the red mite to thrive well, the atmosphere must necessarily be 

 hot and dry. From this fact, one can readily destroy them by means of a 

 thorough spraying with pure water. 



During a very dry year at the Michigan Agricultural College, these mites 

 were exceedingly thick on the evergreens, which they threatened to injure 

 seriously. Spraying profusely with pure water seemed to be as effective to 

 destroy them as did such insecticides as whale oil soap, kerosene emulsion, etc. 

 Care should be taken, however, to make the application thorough, especially on 

 the under side of the leaves, as it is here the mites congregate. Sulphur has 

 been used extensively as a remedy for the " red spider." The sulphur should 

 be mixed with quicklime and water ; about one pound of sulphur and two of 

 lime to four gallons of water. This will make a solution strong enough to 

 destroy the pest in all its forms. If the heating pipes are painted with a 

 mixture of sulphur and lime, the pest may be destroyed. This, however, can 

 only be practised upon plants that are reared under glass. — Orchard and Garden. 



MURIATE OF POTASH. 



Manuring" Peach Trees. — The experiments which were made a year 

 or two ago in New Jersey gave interesting as well as varying results. Nitrate of 

 soda at the usual rate of 150 pounds to the acre produced no results at all ; 

 superphosphate added about 30 per cent, with 350 pounds to the acre, but 

 muriate of potash, above all the rest, with only 150 pounds doubled the crop. 

 When these three fertilizers were applied together the product was more than 

 doubled. Still above all these was the result of 20 two-horse loads of barn 

 manure, yielding three time3 as much as the unmanured ground. The value of 

 potash for peach tree* is seen in the above mentioned increase with muriate of 

 potash. The large quantity in bulk of the horse manure is sufficient to account 

 for its effects. These experiments were performed in Somerset County near the 

 centre of the State. In other localities and with unlike soils, the results in some 

 instances might have been quite different. 



