INSECTS. 21 



ATLj plant that it attacks, destroying the fresh greenness of 

 ihe leaves, and turning them to a dirty white or brown. 

 The most effectual mode of destroying this pest, when it 

 lias been allowed to spread, is to sprinkle some flowers of 

 sulphur upon the hot-water pipes, and shut the bouse up 

 close ; this remedy must be used with great care, for if the 

 pipes should be too warm, the foliage would suffer. It is far 

 better, however, to keep a careful watch upon the plants, 

 and destroj' the spider when it first makes its appearance, as 

 extreme measures oftentimes cause the death of the plants. 



Some cultivators maintain that insects are in all cases the 

 effects of disease, and not the cause ; and that plants, when 

 treated in a proper manner, will not become infested by 

 them. Though not prepared to endorse this assertion in its 

 fullest sense, we yet believe it to be correct in the main. 

 There is no better safeguard against any serious attacks of 

 insects than keeping up a vigorous state of health in the 

 plants, and maintaining strict cleanliness in the structures in 

 which they are grown, and in the various materials brought 

 into use in the course of their cultivation. Great care should 

 be taken in fumigating. It is better to smoke two or three 

 times at intervals than to give too strong a dose at one time. 

 Care should also be taken that the tobacco does not flare. 



