SHRUBS 



that the branches often bend beneath their 

 weight. Of late years there has been widespread 

 complaint of failure with this plant, because of 

 the attack of aphides. These little green plant- 

 lice locate themselves on the underside of the ten- 

 der foliage, before it is fully developed, and cause 

 it to curl in an unsightly way. The harm is 

 done by these pests sucking the juices from the 

 leaf. I have had no difficulty in preventing them 

 from injuring my bushes since I began the use 

 of the insecticide sold by the florists under the 

 name of Nicoticide. If this is applied as directed 

 on the can in which it is put up, two or three 

 applications will entirely rid the plant of the in- 

 sects, and they will not return after being driven 

 away by anything as disagreeable to them as a 

 nicotine extract. Great care must be taken to see 

 that the application gets to the underside of the 

 foliage where the pests will establish themselves. 

 This is a matter of the greatest importance, for, 

 in order to rout them, it is absolutely necessary 

 that you get the nicotine where they are. Simply 

 sprinkling it over the bush will do very little 

 good. 



The Spirea is one of the loveliest of all shrubs. 

 Its flowers are exquisite in their daintiness, and 

 so freely produced that the bush is literally cov- 



58 



