PESTS AND DISEASES, 157 



Both feed on the undersides of the leaves of indoor plants, 

 sucking out the sap and causing the foliage to assume a 

 pale, sickly hue. If allowed to increase rapidly they 

 will soon render Eucharises, Cyclamen, etc., unhealthy. 



EEMEDIBS. In case of attack syringe the foliage with 

 an insecticide, or fumigate with one of the nicotine 

 compounds. 



Mealy Bug. A most troublesome pest, fortunately 

 confining its attacks to hothouse and greenhouse plants 

 only. The female insect is wingless, and has an oval 

 body about fin. long, covered with a white mealy powder. 

 The male is smaller and winged. It is the former that 

 gives the gardener so much anxiety and trouble once it 

 gains access to a hothouse or greenhouse. By means of 

 its beak it pierces the leaves and shoots, and sucks out 

 the sap. It establishes itself along the mid-ribs of the 

 leaves, and at the base of the leaf-stalks; and, as it 

 multiplies very fast, soon becomes a nuisance. 



REMEDIES. The infested plants should either be care- 

 fully sponged or well syringed with an insecticide. This 

 remedy should be persisted in until every vestige of the 

 pest is eradicated. 



Rats and Mice The Eat, the Long-tailed Field 

 Mouse, and the Common Vole are destructive to outdoor 

 bulbs in some districts. 



REMEDIES. Laying down poison, where there are no 

 domestic animals, is a good remedy for destroying them. 

 Traps baited with toasted cheese and then sprinkled with 

 the following scent to attract the rats will generally lure 

 them to their doom: Aniseed, Joz. ; aquafortis, 3 drops; 

 musk, 1 grain. Mix the musk and aniseed well to- 

 gether; then add the aquafortis, and sprinkle the mixture 

 freely over the trap. Mice and voles may also be 

 trapped with toasted cheese as a bait, or the bulbs 

 protected from attack by placing them in water for a short 



