70 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



Fig. 85.— Pear-sucker (P&ylla Pyri). 

 Magnified. 



tennae are curious in having two bristles at the 

 apex. The larva is yellow, but the pupa stage 

 is more dusky, with dark wing-cases. As the 

 Pear-trees commence to flower in spring, the 

 male and female insects leave their hiding-places, 

 and, after pair- 

 ing, the female 

 lays her eggs on 

 the young shoots 

 or under side 

 of the leaves. 

 The larvae hatch 

 out in ten days 

 or a fortnight, 



and commence sucking the juices of the plant 

 about the axils of the leaves, where they are 

 covered with a copious exudation of sap. In 

 the pupa stage they distribute themselves over 

 the young shoots, doing great damage. During 

 both these stages they are very destructive to 

 the health and vigour of badly-infested trees, 

 causing the leaves to droop, owing to the great 

 loss of sap, which drops on the foliage beneath 

 and on the ground. Ants and other insects are I 

 attracted by the gummy, sweet exudation, and 

 thus call attention to the enemy. "When full- 

 fed the pupa fixes itself to a leaf, and, splitting ' 

 the pupa-case, emerges in the perfect condition. 



Remedies. — Trees that are attacked by this 

 insect in summer should have the rough bark 

 well scraped off to lessen the number of hiding- 

 places of the insect. When the larvae and pupae 

 are busy at work in early summer the trees 

 should be thoroughly syringed with soft soap 

 and water at the rate of 1 lb. of the former to 

 8 gallons of water, to which some tobacco-water 

 has been added. The experiment may be re- 

 peated if not completely effective at first. Gis- 

 hurst compound may replace the soap. Soft 

 soap, mixed with a strong solution of washing- 

 soda, may be used as a paint in winter. 



Rabbits and Hares. — Great damage is 

 often done by these animals barking the stems 

 of many kinds of trees during winter, especially 

 when there is snow on the ground. Valuable 

 trees, or those in prominent positions near the 

 mansion, should be protected by a guard of gal- 

 vanized wire-netting about 2^ feet high. In 

 other cases bundles of dead wood, such as the 

 prunings of hedges or gorse, may be tied round 

 the base of the trunk. Various expedients have 

 been tried, by painting the base of the trunk 

 with something disagreeable to the animals, and 

 with varying success. Train-oil mixed with 

 cart-grease and soot till it forms a paint has been 

 employed, and found successful. Another receipt 



is to mix equal parts of soft soap, flour, and 

 sifted ashes, putting on a layer \ inch thick. 

 Other experimenters paint the trees with slaked 

 lime, train-oil, dog's dung, grease, and blood 

 obtained from the slaughter-house, cow's urine, 

 or rub the stems with the rind of smoked bacon. 



Vine Scale (Pulvinaria Vitis). — The female 

 scale is oval in outline, deeply notched at one 

 end, elevated along the centre, and brown, with 

 some transverse lines near the middle. From 

 the notched end a cottony material begins to 

 protrude, and increases in size till three or four 

 times as large as the scale itself. Underneath 

 it is a mass of eggs, and soon after the small, 

 yellowish- white lice hatch out and commence to 

 ramble all over the stems, and even the leaves 

 and berries of the Vine, doing great mischief if 

 left undisturbed. They settle down, insert their 

 beak in the bark, and suck the juices, meanwhile 

 going through the same stages of growth as their 

 parent did. 



Remedies. — Being of large size and easily seen, 

 the scales can readily be scraped off with a knife 

 and destroyed. This should be done before the 

 insects get numerous, and before the eggs have 

 time to become hatched. 



Wceberian Tortrix (Semasia Wceberana). — 

 This small moth is only \ inch to f inch in ex- 

 panse. The fore-wings are brown, variegated 



Fig. 86.— Wceberian Tortrix {Semasia Wceberana). 



with irregular orange streaks and some branch- 

 ing silvery ones. The hind -wings are mostly 

 brownish-black, and all are fringed at the 

 outer end. The larva or caterpillar is J inch to 

 | inch long, whitish, with a pale-brown head and 

 a pinkish line along the back. It penetrates 

 the bark of most fruit trees till it reaches the 



