IXSECT PESTS AND DISEASES 123 



flower will result. A most effectual method is to take 

 a sheet of prepared tobacco paper like aphis punk or 

 nicofume and tie it around the stem under, but close 

 up to the bud or bloom. The fumes of nicotine slowly 

 evaporating will kill every fly and save a flower that 

 otherwise would be utterly ruined. 



Red Spider and Thrips do not ordinarily infest 

 Chrysanthemums and -the grower is more or less to 

 blame s%mld they appear. They have to be reckoned 

 with, however, as once let them get the upper hand 

 they will not be exterminated till they have left serious 

 and lasting evidence of their presence. For these, 

 "prevention is better than cure," and the best pre- 

 ventive is water. Spray thoroughly on all proper occa- 

 sions, wetting the under as well as the upper surfaces 

 of the leaves, and later, when artificial heat is turned 

 on, damp down the house, if necessary, to counteract the 

 hot, dry atmosphere which is generally responsible for 

 the appearance of these pests. 



Should the necessity for remedial measures arise, 

 water, already advised for the first line of defense, must 

 also be the chief source of attack, supplemented for 

 red spider with an application of sulphur to the hot 

 water or steam pipes. Thrips can be exterminated by 

 fumigating with tobacco. If the attack be a bad one, 

 fumigate moderately for two or three successive nights 

 in preference to doing it very strong in the attempt to 

 destroy the pest at once. For the benefit of the inex- 

 perienced it is well to state that red spider and thrips 

 are scarcely visible to the naked eye, but their presence 

 is soon manifested in discoloration of the leaves by the 

 appearance of whitish spots and patches from which 

 the pests have sucked the juices of the leaf. In the 

 case of red spider a very fine web will be found on the 

 under and sometimes the upper leaf surfaces. Because 



