88 A LITTLE GARDEN THE YEAR ROUND 



Insects injurious to houseplants usually 

 make their appearance with the coming of the 

 young plant shoots. And it is then that you 

 must commence to look for them in order that 

 they may be dealt with summarily before they 

 increase, as they invariably do with marvelous 

 rapidity, often to the utter discouragement of 

 the indoor gardener. 



Diseases of houseplants, such as mildew, 

 which arise from injudicious watering, drought 

 and drafts, show themselves when present. 

 This is also true of fungi. Mildew is most apt 

 to attack young shoots and new foliage. 

 When the leaves turn a sickly yellow, the roots 

 of the plant should be examined as the trouble 

 may lie there; if you do not find anything 

 wrong with the roots, try repotting the plant 

 in fresh soil, and it will then probably regain 

 its old freshness. 



Aphids are the most troublesome insects to 

 be found bothering houseplants; then there 

 are the mealy bug, red spider, scale, earth- 

 worm, slug, leaf mining maggot, thrips and 

 wood lice. 



These aphids, or plant lice, as they are com- 

 monly called, are tiny light or dark green flies, 



