INSECT AND OTHER PLANT ENEMIES. 



83 



Remedies. — To enable the plants to make good 

 headway against the fly, they should be strong 

 before they are planted out and well watered 

 afterwards, using weak liquid manure occasion- 

 ally. During June, or as soon as the least trace 

 of the enemy is observed, the cultivator should 

 go over his plants and squeeze the blistered 

 portions between the finger and thumb, so as 

 to destroy the grub. Very bad leaves and the 

 affected portions only of others may be removed 

 and burnt, but no green portions should be re- 

 moved if it can be avoided. The leaves may be 

 dusted while wet with a mixture of one part 

 gas-lime, one of quicklime, and two of soot in 

 the dry state, to drive the flies away. Trench 

 deeply in winter, using a good sprinkling of gas- 

 lime over the top spit when turned into the 

 bottom to destroy the pupae. 



Cherry Aphis (Myzus Cerasi). — The Black 

 Fly of the Cherry is entirely different from that 

 of the Bean, The wingless females are some- 

 what flattened, black, and shining. They infest 

 various kinds of Cherries in early summer, but 

 they seem to prefer the Morello, on which they 

 multiply till the leaves of whole trees are black 

 with them and their filthy excrement. 



Remedies. — This species is rather hard to kill; 

 therefore the trees might be syringed at sun- 

 down with a decoction of tobacco and water at 

 the rate of 1 lb. of coarse shag steeped in 4 

 gallons of water, to which 2 oz. of soft soap 

 has been added to make it adhere. The trees 

 should be washed forcibly with the garden 

 engine the following morning to knock down 

 the stupefied aphides and clean the trees of their 

 excrement. Another remedy is to boil 4 oz. 

 of quassia chips in a gallon of water for ten 

 minutes, then strain off the chips and add an 

 ounce or two of soft soap, and use in the same 

 way as previously mentioned. 



Chrysanthemum Leaf Miner (Phytomyza 

 nigricornis). — Here we have a small, black, two- 

 winged and hairy fly, with much the same habits 

 as the Celery Fly, but only J inch in expanse. 

 It attacks various plants, including Peas and 

 Turnips, but annual, perennial, and shrubby 

 (Marguerites) Chrysanthemums constitute its 

 favourite food. It tunnels the leaves, some- 

 times entirely destroying them, whether under 

 glass or out-of-doors. Under glass it breeds 

 all the year round. 



Remedies. — Syringing the leaves of the plants 

 occasionally with tobacco-water has been found 

 fairly effective in driving the fly away by ren- 

 dering the leaves distasteful to the females that 

 come to lay their eggs. A sharp eye should be 



kept upon the plants, and upon detecting the 

 first traces of galleries in the leaves; the latter 



Fig. 101.— Chrysanthemum Leaf Miner (Phytfimyza nipricornis). 



should be squeezed between the finger and 

 thumb to kill the grubs, the position of which 



Fig. 10'2.—Pht/tompzct nipricornis, the perfect insect. 



is generally easily detected. Badly -infested 

 leaves should be collected and burnt; but in all 

 cases early attention will save much mischief. 



Clay-coloured Weevil (OtiorJu/nchus pi- 

 cipes, see fig. 96 (5) ). — The perfect weevil is \ 

 inch long or slightly over, and dull blackish- 

 brown, but so closely covered with brown and 

 gray scales as to give it the colour of clay, 

 as implied by the name. The wing-cases are 



