RED SPIDER. 195 



again reach food. From two to three per cent of 

 all mites on the leaves manage to get back, how- 

 ever, and this shows the importance and necessity 

 of constant attention in the matter of spraying. 



If the young plants are perfectly free from 

 spider when set out in the spring it is compara- 

 tively easy to keep them so by spraying from two 

 to three times a week for the rest of the growing 

 season. However, if cuttings are rather badly 

 infested with spider we recommend their treat- 

 ment before planting with a solution of soap. 

 We have tried many soaps but the best results 

 have been obtained from ivory soap, used at the 

 rate of one five cent cake to six or seven gallons of 

 water. The soap should be shaved up with a 

 small plane and dissolved with about one gallon of 

 hot water, and then sufficient cold water added to 

 make the quantity mentioned. By using a small 

 hand spraying pump, which can readily be 

 purchased in the market for four dollars and fifty 

 cents to five dollars, the leaves can be thoroughly 

 wetted with the soap solution at a comparatively 

 slight expense in the matter of material. Five 

 gallons, in fact, will be sufficient to treat three or 

 four thousand cuttings, provided they are in flats 

 and are easily within reach. Allow the soap to 

 remain on the plants two or three hours, then 

 thoroughly syringe with clear water. This treat- 

 ment should be repeated two or three times, until 

 the spiders and eggs have been destroyed. When 



