96 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



in early summer, and the perfect fly later on, 

 upon various hard- and soft-wooded plants. 



Remedies. — Valuable plants may be cleared of 

 the pest by searching for the larvae under the 

 spittle with a knife or pointed stick. On a 



Fig. 118.— Spittle-fly (Aphrophora spumaria). 



larger scale the affected plants may be brushed 

 over with a light besom of twigs on bright days, 

 so as to disperse the spittle and expose the 

 tender larvae to the scorching action of the sun. 

 Syringing the plants afterwards with soap-suds 

 would make the remedy more effective. The 

 perfect insects may be destroyed by boys carry- 

 ing tarred trays on either side of a row of 

 Chrysanthemums or other plants attacked, while 

 another shakes them to make the enemy jump 

 upon the trays. 



Thrips (Thrips minutissima). — There are many 

 species of this genus, but that here named, and 

 which infests the Potato and other subjects, 

 may be taken as a type, for the habits of all are 

 the same. It is hardly J of a line long, pale- 

 brown, and furnished with four very narrow, 

 strongly-fringed wings; the hinder part of the 

 body is black and shining. The dull -yellow 

 larva is wingless but active, while the pupa is 

 sluggish. All three stages may be found feed- 

 ing together on the leaves of various plants, 

 which they pierce with their beaks to suck the 

 juices, turning them yellow, or causing them to 

 fall. By the yellow spots and black smears 

 upon leaves their presence may be detected. 



Remedies. — Thrips are generally most destruc- 

 tive under glass, and breed there at all seasons, 

 but particularly when the atmosphere of houses 

 is kept in a dry and arid condition for any 

 length of time, or during severe weather, when 

 much firing and too little moisture is employed 

 to counteract the same. Water is inimical to 

 the insects, but they can hardly be dislodged by 

 it after they have obtained a firm footing. By 

 good culture and a proper use of the syringe, and 

 damping down, their ravages in vineries, stoves, 

 ferneries, and similar houses may be prevented. 



Indian Azaleas, before being taken indoors in 

 autumn, or at any other time when infested, 

 should be laid on their sides and thoroughly 

 syringed, especially on the under surface of the 

 leaves, with a strong solution of soft soap or 

 Gishurst compound to which some tobacco-juice 

 has been added. Soft-leaved plants, and hairy 

 ones like Gloxinias, must be thoroughly syringed, 

 on the earliest appearance of the thrips, with 

 the above remedies. Fine-foliaged plants, such 

 as Dracaenas, Anthuriums, Alocasias, and Palms, 

 should be sponged with either of those solutions 

 or diluted fir-tree oil. Thrips must be dislodged 

 from the leaf-sheaths of Orchids by means of a 

 small brush dipped in one or other of those solu- 

 tions; but the flowers may be cleared of the pest 

 with a dry brush over the vessel containing the 

 insecticide. Stove and other ferns may be fumi- 

 gated lightly on two or three successive evenings 

 until the pest has been destroyed. The sponge 

 may be used to great advantage where possible, 

 without damage to the fronds. Autumn and 

 ; winter are the best times to set about a complete 

 I eradication of thrips. When Vines get infested 

 j at any time, the leaves must be sponged with 

 | solutions of soft soap and sulphur, or Gishurst 

 compound with or without the addition of some 

 tobacco-juice; or the leaves may be wetted and 

 dusted with tobacco-powder. In other cases it 

 may only be possible to syringe the foliage with 

 the above solutions. Out-of-doors, thrips are 

 much less troublesome, except in dry summers, 

 and may be kept in check by syringing with 

 the insecticides already named. 



Turnip-fly (Phyllotreta nemorum). — In spite 

 of this and several other popular names, the 

 insect is a beetle rather than a fly. It is about 

 a line long, black with a greenish gloss, and 

 has reddish -yellow shanks. The wing-cases 

 have each a yellow band upon them. The 

 Brassy Turnip-fly (Plectroscelis concinna) is bronzy 

 or brassy-green, and also common on Turnips, 

 and closely allied to the former, of which there 

 are five or six broods in a season from April 

 to September. The maggots penetrate between 

 the skins of the leaf, where they come to ma- 

 turity in six days and then pupate in the soil. 



Remedies. — Turnips and Beet should be grown 

 in well -tilled and well -manured soil, so that 

 they may grow away rapidly. Water them 

 with weak liquid manure in dry weather, for 

 the beetles are most destructive to the seed- 

 lings, especially before they get into the rough 

 leaf. Always sow in lines, so that hoeing and 

 even rolling can be carried on between, for the 

 purpose of destroying the beetles. Tarred 



