138 The Amateur's Book of the Dahlia 



under the leaves, close to these mid-ribs. They 

 possess sharp beaks like the flies, and suck the 

 juice also from the mid-rib, causing as much, if 

 not more, damage than the white fly. 



From the Wisconsin Experiment Station 

 comes the news that these little fellows not only 

 cause trouble by sucking the juice, but that they 

 are liable to impregnate the plant with a dis- 

 ease. In dahlias it is carried over from year to 

 year in the tuber. This disease is commonly 

 called Mosaic, and is so resistant to remedies 

 that most people recommend total destruction 

 of the whole plant. 



Bordeaux mixture and nicotine sulphate con- 

 trol the pest. The plants should be sprayed 

 four or five times during the summer; the first 

 spray to be applied about the middle of June. 

 The following sprays should be applied at peri- 

 ods of ten days or a fortnight, and, if frequent 

 rains occur, repeated immediately. 



Mix your Bordeaux according to the direc- 

 tions on the container in which it comes (or if 

 you choose, 4 pounds copper sulphate and 4 

 pounds unslaked lime to 50 gallons water). 

 Mix your nicotine with it — 6 fluid ounces to the 

 50 gallons Bordeaux — and spray with the finest 

 mist under the leaves. It raust be under the 

 leaves and it may be everywhere else ! 



