INSECTS. 117 







used by steeping one pound in five gallons of water, un- 

 til the water gets to be the color of strong tea. This 

 liquid applied over and under the leaves with a syringe, 

 will destroy 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 be- 

 come ineffectual to dislodge them. Another means of 

 preventing the green-fly is to apply tobacco in the shape 

 of dust. The sweepings of tobacco warehouses, which 

 can be found for sale in most seed or agricultural 

 establishments, at a cost of five to ten cents per 

 pound. This applied once or twice a week to an ordinary 

 sized private greenhouse, would effectually prevent any 

 injury from green-fly. No special quantity of this need 

 be prescribed, all 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 syringe 

 the plants beforehand, so that the dust will adhere to the 

 leaves. When applied to plants out-doors, it should be 

 done in the morning when the dew is on. Fruit-trees 

 of many kinds, shrubs, and Eoses of all kinds, out of 

 doors, are particularly liable to injury from some species 

 of Aphis, but the application of tobacco dust, if made in 

 time, will be found a cheap and effectual remedy. 



Ground or Blue Aphis, is a close relative of the pre- 

 ceeding, but it gets its living from the roots down in the 

 soil, while the Green Aphis feeds in the air on the leaves. 

 The Blue Aphis attacks a great many varieties of plants, 

 particularly in hot, dry weather, and whenever Asters, 

 Verbenas, Petunias, Centaureas, or such plants begin to 

 droop, it will be found on examination, in three cases out 

 of four, that the farthest extremities of their roots are 

 completely surrounded by the Blue Aphis. The only 

 remedy we have ever found for this pest is a strong de- 



