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smell lunl j,n-eatly eva|)()i"aletl, and (.•oncludeil to jj^ivc it a trial on 

 plant lice. 1 dissolved a quantity in water and sprinkled it over 

 infested plants, and it acted like a charm, soon killing all the 

 aphides without injuring the plants. I then tried it on root-lice, 

 and a marked beneficial effect was evident. Drooping herbaceous 

 plants soon revived. A small Botan plum tree was badly infested 

 at the roots. 1 saturated the ground around it with the mi.xture, 

 and very soon the tree put on a healthy look. 



But of all the insects which we have to combat the rose-bug 

 [Macrodactyliis subspiiiosiis) is the most formidal)le. It over- 

 whelms us with its numbers. In favored localities where this in- 

 sect is unknown, the statement of its ravages would seem im- 

 probable. 



'I'hey make their appearance toward the last of May, and re- 

 main with us about si.v weeks, devouring foliage, flowers and fruit. 

 By Decoration Day they are in full working order, and their devas- 

 tations in our cemeteries is almost past belief. Not only are all 

 the flowering shrubs and jilants swe])t clean, but also the beauti- 

 ful designs and emblems woven by loving hands are wholly de- 

 voured before the sun disappears. .About this time they also 

 attack the grai)e-bloss()ms, all of whith they take except those 

 protected with ])ai)er bags. After the grape-blossoms are eaten 

 and the roses and most of the other garden flowers are consumed, 

 they swarm over the fruit trees. The ai)ple seems to be their first 

 choice ; after this plums, cherries and peaches. .\s far as I have 

 observed they do not eat pears. 



Were it not for their social habits scarcely any fruit would be 

 left. They cluster thickly over an apple which the first one ha|)- 

 pens to alight upon, and soon there is a great ball of clinging 

 insects around it which only the center ones can reach. At this 

 stage the stem is often eaten, and the mass falls to the grountl, 

 when they disperse, and we see nothing is left of the apple but 

 the core. When they start for flight they do not rise as high as 

 the tree from which they fell, but gradually rise higher as they 

 fly until each strikes some plant, shrub or tree on which it alights 

 as a nucleus for another. 



I saved plums on small trees by often shaking them, when the 

 beetles would drop to the ground and pass on to other things. 



The only way to kill them is either by crushing or drowning 

 in kerosene oil. I keep several pails partly filled with water and 

 a good supply of kerosene in each, and set them near the plants I 

 wish to save. Many times during the day the plants are visited 



