RED SPIDER. IQI 



Cuttings or young rooted plants are especially 

 liable to be seriously injured by spider. This is 

 particularly true in spring- after the growing 

 season starts. The mites multiply rapidly at this 

 time, and unless the plants are carefully .watched 

 they will soon be so badly infested that it will be 

 exceedingly difficult to restore them to a normal 

 condition. In fact, it is questionable if 

 a plant once badly infested with spiders 

 can ever be restored to the normal 

 state. The mites by their action slowly reduce 

 vitality, and not only one, but all functions of the 

 plant are probably more or less affected by them. 

 In this way the whole nature of the plant is more 

 or less changed as it is really suffering from a 

 slow starvation. It will be seen, therefore, that 

 the ultimate effects will be a checking or stunting 

 of some kind, and, as already pointed out, every- 

 thing of this nature must be carefully avoided. 



On plants which have been grown the entire 

 winter in a house or even in frames, the mite 

 sometimes develops to such an extent in late 

 spring as to entirely destroy all growth. Millions 

 of spiders will be found on the foliage, and their 

 webs, which are rarely seen under ordinary con- 

 ditions, stretch from plant to plant and spiders of 

 all sizes will be found passing rapidly over them 

 and congregating in swarms like bees. 



An examination of the leaves of violets 

 infested with spiders, shows mites of various sizes 



