THE TREATMENT OF INSECTS. 87 



The brown aphis feeds on the young shoots of 

 peaches in early winter, and must be dealt with 

 in like manner. But all these fade into insigni- 

 ficance when compared to the pest of the house, 

 the Red Spider. This dangerous foe requires 

 early attention. A small magnifying glass will 

 discover it, like a grain of red sand, slowly walk* 

 ing over the under side of the leaves. But, after 

 a little sad practice, one glance at the yellow 

 spots on the upper surface of the leaf is enough. 

 This disaster arises generally from confined and 

 heated air, and insufficient syringing. Indeed 

 I found that near the ventilators, I mean those 

 at the top, where the air is rarified by its ascent* 

 * and at the very lowest parts of the stems, 

 where it was difficult to apply the syringe, and 

 behind even a slight pillar, three inches in 

 thickness, which screened a few leaves from the 

 shower of water, in these three places alone, did 

 the red spider first come, and was so rigidly 

 syringed down that he made little further pro- 

 gress. But the Gishurst compound is an excel- 

 lent f cure, and not dear to purchase, say two 

 ounces per gallon of rain water. Syringe the 

 afflicted parts well ; or I should say, under them, 

 because it is often by syringing above the leaves 

 in a graceful manner that the only efficient way 

 of watering the under portions, where the insects 

 are, is neglected. "With these precautions, and 

 avoiding this sprinkling when the sun is on the 



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