106 IVIAKING OF A FLOWER GARDEN 



thrips, slugs and mildew. Fortunately the rose bugs 

 appear but once in a season, but the aphis we have 

 always with us. "With a good water supply many 

 pests may be kept in check by spraying for from 

 fifteen minutes to half an hour each day, but this will 

 have no effect on blight, mildew and ills of that na- 

 ture. A good insecticide — or several — should be at 

 hand from early spring on. Before the first leaves 

 appear spraying once a week with bordeaux mixture 

 will control most of the ills the rose is heir to, espe- 

 cially black spot and blight. Lime sulphur solution 

 is remedial for mildew and as a tonic, while hot water 

 about one hundred and forty degrees will effectually 

 remove all lice and slugs if used so that it reaches the 

 under as well as the upper side of the foliage. Where 

 the plants are slender enough to allow of dipping 

 the tips of the branches into a dish of hot water very 

 thorough work can be done with lice. The slugs work 

 from the ground up so the water must be applied in 

 the form of a spray. Picking all leaves that show 

 perforations and destroying them is a great help; 

 spraying with hellebore is also a standard remedy 

 against slugs. Black spot is controlled by spraying, 

 but every diseased leaf should be picked and burned. 

 Always the new growth must be watched for lice as 

 they appear first at the tip of the branches, where 

 they may be easily controlled, but once spread to the 



