AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



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gate twice a week, by burning about half a 

 pound of refuse tobacco stems (made damp) 

 to every 500 square feet of glass surface, but 

 in private green-houses or on plants in rooms, 

 fumigating is often impracticable. But To- 

 bacco in any form is quickly fatal to the 

 Green Fly ; so in private green-houses or in 

 rooms, where the fumes of Tobacco would be 

 objectionable, Tobacco stems can be used by 

 steeping one pound in five gallons of water, 

 until the water gets to be the color of strong 

 coffee. This is applied over and under the 

 leaves with a syringe, and destroys the insect 

 quite as well as by fumigating, only in either 

 case the application should be made before 

 the insects are seen, to prevent their coming 

 rather than to destroy them when established ; 

 for often by neglect they get a foothold in 

 such legions that all remedies become inef- 

 fectual to dislodge them, unless by brushing 

 them off the leaves with a light brush. 

 Another means of preventing the Green Fly is 

 to apply Tobacco in the shape of dust or snuff. 

 The sweepings of Tobacco warehouses can be 

 bought in most places at a cost of five or ten 

 cents per pound. This, applied once or twice 

 a week to an ordinary-sized private green- 

 house, would effectually prevent any injury 

 from the Green Fly. No special quantity of 

 this need be prescribed, as it is in no way 

 hurtful to the plant ; ail that is necessary is 

 to see that it is so dusted on that it reaches 

 all parts of the plant, and on both sides of the 

 leaves. It is best to slightly moisten the 

 leaves beforehand, so that the dust will 

 adhere to them. When applied to plants out- 

 doors, it should be done in the morning when 

 the dew is on, or after a rain. Fruit trees of 

 many kinds, shrubs, and Roses of all kinds, 

 out of doors, are particularly liable to injury 

 from some species of Aphis, but the applica- 

 tion of Tobacco in any of the forms alluded to, 

 if made in time, will be found a cheap and 

 effectual remedy. 



GROUND OR BLUE APHIS is another species 

 of Aphis that gets its living from the roots 

 down in the soil, which may have the effect 

 of changing its color, while the Green Aphis 

 feeds in the air on the leaves. The Blue 

 Aphis attacks a great many varieties of 

 plants, both flower and vegetable, particu- 

 larly in hot, dry weather, and whenever As- 

 ters, Verbenas, Petunias, Centaureas, Beets, 

 Radishes, Lettuce, etc., begin to droop, it 

 will be found on examination, in three cases 

 out of four, that the farthest extremities of 

 their root are completely surrounded by the 

 Blue Aphis. The only remedy we have ever 

 found for this pest is strong decoction of 

 Tobacco stems, made by being boiled until it 

 gets to the color of strong coffee, and poured 

 on, when cold, in quantity enough to reach 

 the extremity of the roots. There is no fear 

 of injuring the plants by this application, as 

 it acts as a fertilizer to some extent. 



THE VERBENA MITE, the minute cause of 

 the "black rust" so disastrous in its ravages 

 on the Verbena, Heliotrope, Petunia, Pelar- 

 gonium, and various other plants, is so small 

 that it cannot be seen by the naked eye ; but 

 its ravages under certain conditions are so 

 disastrous as to render the cultivation of the 

 Verbena and some similar plants next to 

 impossible. 



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When this little pest has once got a foothold, 

 all direct remedies to dislodge it seem to 

 be powerless ; the fumes of tobacco, so dis- 

 tructive to the aphis, or of sulphur, which is 

 death to the spider, fall harmlessly on this 

 microscopic insect. 



There is hardly a doubt but that the fumes 

 of sulphur and tobacco would destroy it, if it 

 had not the power of imbedding itself in the 

 leaf. This is evidently the case, as on subject- 

 ing affected plants to a severe fumigation 

 with tobacco for thirty minutes no insects 

 could be discerned on the leaves ; but after a 

 short time they again appeared on the field of 

 the microscope, apparently unscathed. We 

 also find that an excellent preventive against 

 this insect is to syringe the plants twice a 

 week with a weak solution of fir-tree oil ; one- 

 half pint to five gallons of water. This seems 

 like tobacco smoke to check it somewhat, yet 

 it is not a complete remedy and if plants are 

 severely attacked, there is nothing for it but 

 to throw those affected out as there is but 

 little doubt that it quickly spreads. Now, 

 although we have no direct remedy against 

 this insect, which produces the black rust, we 

 have, I think, a preventive, by keeping the 

 plants in that healthy, vigorous condition 

 which seems to be repellant to its attack. 



The MEALY BUG, as it is familiarly known, 

 from its white, mealy-like appearance, be- 

 longs to the same family as the Cochineal 

 insect (Coccus Cacti), from which the Cochi- 

 neal dye is obtained. It is one of the most 

 troublesome of all insects to dislodge. The 

 only certain remedy we have ever been able 

 to get to kill Mealy Bug without injury to the 

 leaves, is a mixture known as "Cole's Insect 

 Destroyer," the ingredients of which we do 

 not know, as the inventor so far has been 

 able to keep his secret. This, put on with an 

 atomizer, never fails to destroy them. The 

 great objection to this remedy is its price, 

 which is entirely too high to admit of its 

 being used on a large scale. The common 

 method to get rid of Mealy Bug is to 

 brush it off the leaves with a brush, made 

 soft enough not to scratch the leaves or 

 stems, or by using the Kerosene Emulsion. 

 See Insecticides. 



THRIPS (Tettigonia) vary in color, being 

 light green, brown, and black. It is much 

 more active in its movements than the Green 

 Fly, and more difficult to destroy, and when 

 it once gets a foothold is one of the most 

 destructive enemies to the grapery or green- 

 house. Tobacco smoke that will destroy the 

 Aphis, has but little effect on Thrips ; but in 

 our experiments in destroying insects in the 

 winter of 1H81 in our green-houses, we found 

 that Tobacco stems boiled so that the liquid 

 from them was as dark as strong coffee or 

 porter, was certain death to the Thrips. We had 

 a large house of Dracaenas and other tropical 

 plants badly affected by Thrips ; we syringed 

 the plants freely with the Tobacco water for 

 ten or twelve days with the most satisfactory 

 results, as at the end of that time not an insect 

 was to be seen, and the plants at once began 

 to grow with unwonted vigor. 



The RED SPIDER (Acarus tellarius) is an- 

 other well-known pest to the green-house, 

 and, like the Thrips, seems perfectly indiffer- 

 ent to the fumes of Tobacco. It is one of the 

 most insidious of all our insect enemies, as it 



