IX PESTS 167 



dangerous insect whose presence cannot be detected 

 till the shoot is mined. Preventive measures 

 consist in having all the shoots in bud fairly early — 

 in this point and in many others the early man has 

 an advantage over his competitors. I only find this 

 grub on the latest and strongest shoots, and fancy 

 that when once the bud is formed it is safe from this 

 pest's attacks. I have been told, however, by other 

 Eosarians that with them it has attacked bud- 

 bearing shoots ; with me, it is quite common on the 

 wild shoots of the standard stocks for budding that 

 year — I sometimes find almost every shoot "stopped" 

 by it — but decidedly luicommon on the Eose shoots 

 close at hand. 



Another boring grub, probably the larva of a 

 beetle, does only incidental damage, as it confines 

 its operations to old wood where a large shoot has 

 been cut off at the pruning, exposing the pith. It 

 is most injurious to standard stocks as it hollows 

 out the pith at the top of the main stem sometimes 

 right down to, or even below, the shoot wherein the 

 bud is inserted, thereby leading to the settlement 

 of water and consequent decay. It is best, to 

 prevent this, to smear the cut-off ends of the 

 standard stocks when planted with paint or some 

 similar substance which will protect the pith. If, 

 at the first pruning of the maiden standard, it is 

 required to cut off the top part of the stock down to 

 the newly formed Eose-head, this smearing should 

 be renewed, as any freshly exposed pith is liable to 

 attack. 



Perhaps the best known of all insect pests of the 

 Eose is the aphis or green fly (Aphis roses). These 

 creatures are formidable by their astonishing powers 



