Gardening for Amateurs 



985 



Now, these insects are hard to dislodge 

 from a garden, so that instant measures are 

 necessary if the grower would protect his 

 trees. Young bushes in particular should 

 be, in a sense, sterilised before they are 

 planted, i.e. fumigated or treated with 

 insecticide ; yet even then they must be 

 inspected weekly during the first year. 



The number of remedies is almost beyond 

 count, but the aim in every case is the same, 

 viz. to stifle the insects, and so kill them. 

 Local applications have met with a con- 

 siderable amount of success, and are worth 

 mentioning to the amateur ; should he notice 

 the fluffy down that betokens the pest he 

 may brush that branch over very carefully 

 with paraffin oil, varnish, petrol, ammonia 

 in water, methylated spirits, and the like, 

 with the result that that colony is wiped 

 out of existence. Remedies, however, gener- 

 ally consist of sprays, yet these are alike of 

 little avail unless considerable force is given 

 to wash through the protective covering of 

 the aphides, and into every crevice and nook 

 of the tree ; spraying should be carried out 

 from all directions, then, and with the 

 greatest possible pressure. Caustic washes 

 in winter and spring do some good, but much 

 more beneficial is a paraffin emulsion applied 

 at the beginning of the growing season. 

 XL ALL Nicotine Wash has been proved of 

 great value and the lime-sulphur spray has 

 met with a considerable degree of success in 

 many colonial orchards. 



To kill those insects which are to be found 

 at the roots the best plan is to soak the soil 

 with some liquid preparation or even with 

 water. Certain soil fumigants have proved 

 fairly satisfactory for this purpose, but our 

 experiments do not yet justify a definite 

 conclusion. The best plan we can recommend 

 in the meantime is to take soap-suds con- 

 taining a little ammonia (1 ounce soft soap 

 and 1 tablespoonful of household ammonia 

 per gallon of water) and to pour this plenti- 

 fully over the soil below the tree. 



Old trees may continue bearing for years 

 while infested with these prolific pests, but 

 young trees seldom make any progress unless 

 something is done for them at an early 

 stage in the attack. Don't use any oil, resin 

 or volatile preparation in such a case, for 

 there is every likelihood of doing injury to 



the young tree ; brush the branches down, 

 then spray with any good insecticide, allow- 

 ing plenty to fall on the ground. 



The Apple Weevil. During recent years 

 a great deal of damage has been done to 

 Apple blossom by this tiny insect, and 

 latest reports show that its ravages now 

 extend to small gardens. Unfortunately, 

 too, the damage is often laid down to frosts, 

 but a careful inspection will probably reveal 

 one of the little grubs sporting inside the 

 bud, and destroying its power to mature and 

 set fruit properly. 



The weevil proper is a greyish - black 

 beetle, about J inch long, and half that in 

 breadth, marked with a peculiar pale-tinted 

 V across the middle of its body ; its legs 

 are reddish-black in colour, and its snout is 

 particularly long and slightly curved. In 

 the warm days of early spring these weevils 

 emerge from their winter abode and make 

 for the Apple (or Pear) trees nearest at 

 hand, either on wing or by the slower way 

 on foot. The females eventually reach the 

 blossom buds, and in them proceed to bore 

 holes, in each of which one egg is deposited 

 before passing on to other buds. In a week 

 of fine weather the egg becomes a small 

 greyish-white grub, maggot or larva, almost 

 as long as the mature beetle, but with an 

 appetite out of all proportion to its size ; 

 under its attack the flower-bud languishes, 

 becomes rusted or faded in appearance, and 

 never forms a fruit. The larva in three 

 weeks becomes a dormant pupa, the pupa 

 soon grows into a beetle, and this pest whiles 

 away its time either on the tree or about 

 the ground until the following year. The 

 beetle never seems to deposit her eggs on a 

 fully-developed flower, so that a fine spring 

 generally causes the buds to burst before 

 they are badly attacked, while a cold back- 

 ward season allows time for each pest to lay 

 her full complement of eggs. 



Winter washes of a caustic nature generally 

 eradicate such pests as are hibernating about 

 the broken bark and lichen of the tree ; 

 weeds round the foot of the tree should be 

 removed so as to allow no harbour for the 

 insects, and a light application of gas lime or 

 other soil fumigant forked just below the 

 surface will prevent them from sheltering 

 there. Insecticides are of little avail except 



