API! 



[501 



APR 



humuli) frequently so destroys the crop 

 as to reduce it to a little more than 

 1 5,000. The green fly on our roses 

 (Aphis roste) is that of which we will 

 now offer a few particulars. It is curious 

 that these always are most abundant 

 after the prevalence of easterly winds ; 

 and Mr. Jenyns observed in Cambridge- 

 shire> during October, and Mr. White, at 

 Selborne, in August, myriads of aphides, 

 in both instances, after the wind had 

 been for some time easterly. So fast do 

 they multiply, twenty generations being 

 producible in one year, and the young in 

 the autumn being born alive, and not 

 from an egg, Reaumur has shown that 

 one female may be the ancestor of nearly 

 six millions in five generations' It is 

 needless to describe minutely the rose 

 aphis. It is usually light green, with 

 green wood; and red, with red wood, 

 with brown antennae and legs, and trans- 

 parent irridescent wings. They frequently 

 change their skins; and these may be 

 seen hanging about the leaves and shoots j 

 of the rose. The males may be known 

 by a double row of black dots on each of 

 their sides. The most effectual of all 

 applications for their destruction is to- 

 bacco smoke ; and the best mode of ap- 

 plying it is to cover the bush with a sheet, 

 and fill the space enclosed with the 

 smoke, by means of Brown's fumigator. 



Aphis pjyimx^ is of a grass-green 

 colour, attacking the apple and pear. To 

 prevent its appearance, the following 

 treatment is said to be very effectual. 

 The application must be made every 

 other if not every year ; but once in two 

 years may be sufficient, if thoroughly 

 well done. Take 1 Ib. sulphur vivum, 

 1 Ib. Scotch snuff, 1 Ib. quicklime, f Ib. 

 lampblack, 1 Ib. soft soap, and of water 

 sufficient to make it into the consistence 

 of paint. Unnail your trees about Fe- 

 bruary, before the bloom-buds begin to 

 swell, and with a common paint-brush 

 paint every branch from the ground up- 

 wards. 



A . persica is dark green, and is pecu- 

 liar to the peach and nectarine. 



A. pruni ravages the plum tribes, and 

 is a very light green. 



A. falce, known popularly as the Black 

 Dolphin and Elephant, is b,lack, and at- 

 tacks the common bean. The tops of 

 beans attacked by the black dolphin 

 should be forthwith removed ; and 

 smaller plants may be syringed with 

 tobacco-water, or water in which elder- 

 leaves have been boiled; which appli- 

 cations are all fatal to the aphis ; syring- 

 ing with soap-suds, on two or three 

 following days, is also effectual. 



A. pisi is green, and affects the pea. 

 A. lonicera, woodbine louse. Dingy 

 green. 



A. cerasi, Morello cherry louse. Ap- 

 pears black. Infests the under sides 

 of the leaves, especially on wet soils. 

 A. coryli, nut louse. Pale green. 

 A. dahlia, dahlia louse. Amber-co- 

 loured. 



A. ri&is, red-currant louse. Blackish. 

 A. liyustri, privet louse. Dark brown. 

 A. rilis-nigri, black-currant louse. 

 Transparent green. 



A. lathyri, sweet-pea louse. Dark 

 purple. 



A. (Cinara) raphani, radish louse. 

 Females, green ; males, lightish-red. 



The aphides on the peach appear the 

 earliest, being, as are all the others, the 

 produce of eggs deposited during the 

 previous autumn. During the spring 

 and summer they are viviparous, and 

 breed with extraordinary rapidity. The 

 gardener does well, therefore, to scrub 

 the branches of his wall-trees, and to 

 boil or change the shreds every winter, 

 for he thus destroys the pest in embryo. 

 So soon as they appear in spring, over 

 each wall-tree a mat should be fastened, 

 and tobacco, in some mode, burnt be- 

 neath it. Peas, whilst the dew is upon 

 them, may be dusted with Scotch snuff. 

 Over the apple, plum, and other stand- 

 ards, the only available remedy is a re- 

 peated application of quicklime, at the 

 same early period of the day, by the- 

 means of Curtis's lime -duster. 



The larva? of the Coccinella or Lady- 

 bird, especially C. pnnctata, the Syrplius,. 

 or bee-like fly, the Hemerobins pcrla, or 

 golden-eyed fly, the ant, some caterpil- 

 lars, and many of the Iclineumomd<e, are- 

 great destroyers of the aphis, and should 

 be encouraged rather than removed. See 

 AMERICAN BLIGHT. 



The following directions are applicable 

 to the destruction of every kind of aphis. 

 When you intend to fumigate your plants,. 



