CHAPTER XII. 



Insects. 



THERE are innumerable tribes of insects that are more or 

 less injurious to, and feed on plants and flowers, although 

 there are but few species that seem to be really of a destruc- 

 tive nature enough to encourage the florist to seek out means 

 for their destruction. It appears to have been one of those 

 beautiful ultimates of a wise Providence, to retard the mul- 

 titudinous increase of many kinds of infesting insects, by the 

 continual war and extermination of one species with another, 

 and hence we escape many serious injuries that would evi- 

 dently occur if such providential interference was not guided 

 by an unerring hand. 



One of the most destructive classes of insects to the flower 

 garden and green-house, is the Aphides, or plant-lice, of 

 which Dr. Harris says, "They are found upon almost all 

 parts of plants, the roots, stems, young shoots, buds, and 

 leaves ; and there is scarcely a plant which does not harbor 

 one or two kinds peculiar to itself. They are, moreover, 

 exceedingly prolific, for Reaumur has proved that one indi- 

 vidual, in five generations, may become the progenitor of 

 nearly six thousand millions of descendants." 



The word rfphis or plant-lice signifies to exhaust, and is a 

 truly recognizable term for this destructive insect, which is 

 seen in masses on such plants as it attacks, which it always 

 sickens and deprives of its sap or nutriment, converting the 

 fluid into a kind of honey dew which it emits on the leaves 

 of plants, and is often eagerly fed on by the rfnt, which 

 always lives in harmony with and protects the Ophidians or 

 plant-lice. 



In the green-house, the Rose and Geranium are always 

 more or less affected with this insect. It is, however, easily 



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