April, 1901 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



151 



A natural enemy of the aphis is one of the saw- 

 flies, which lays eggs in the aphis. The adult parasite 

 emerges through a neat round door. Dead straw- 

 berry-root aphis and the parasitic fly 



known lady-bird beetles and their little alli- 

 gator-like larvae find the aphides dainty 

 morsels and devour large numbers of them, 

 as do the larvae of the black-and-yellow 

 banded syrphus flies which are always found 

 hovering around a colony of aphides, the 

 larvae of the aphis lions, and many others. 

 In some cases fungous diseases kill out 

 hordes of aphides in a few days when damp 

 weather favors the growth of the dis- 

 ease. 



To describe all the different sorts of 

 aphides would require a book; they affect 

 almost all the garden crops, trees, and field 

 crops. The black peach aphis curls up the 



Tow\rd the end of the season the winged aphides 

 appear. An apple leaf in fall 



tender terminals, while its yellow cousins 

 corrugate the leaves of the raspberry. 

 Melons, cucumbers and all the melon family 

 are seriously injured in the field and 

 green-house by a little green and black 

 species. 



Cabbages, turnips, etc., are devoured by the 

 well-known cabbage aphis, while other famil- 

 iar species attack the rose, carnation, or 

 chrysanthemum. The snowball bush is 

 particularly troubled by a brownish kind 

 which curls up the leaves in disgusting 

 shape. 



As frost approaches many of the creatures 

 become winged and fly to the plants upon 

 which the winter eggs are to be laid. Thus 

 in October and November the apple leaves 

 are often covered with the winged aphides 

 which give birth to forms quite different 

 from those during the summer. Some are 

 small, with long legs and long antenna;, or 

 feelers, and run around nervously as if filled 

 with their importance. These are the males 

 and occur but this once in a year. Others 

 are true females which lay the winter eggs. 

 With many species the eggs have never been 

 observed, but they probably occur at some 

 out-of-the-way time and place and so have 

 eluded discovery. It is apparent that to 

 combat aphides successfully they must be 

 handled while still few in numbers, for when 

 they have so increased as to curl up the -foli- 

 age it is practically impossible to reach them 

 by ordinary means. So be on the lookout 

 for them, have the apparatus and insecticides 

 ready for immediate warfare, and waste no 

 time before exterminating the first few 

 found. 



Being sucking insects, Paris green and 

 other arsenical poisons for coating the sur- 

 faces of the leaves are of no value whatever. 

 The aphides quickly succumb to sprays of 

 kerosene emulsion, tobacco water, or whale 

 oil soap. The soap may be used in a 

 solution of one pound to five or six gallons of 

 : water on most plants, and with it may be 

 combined Bordeaux mixture for diseases 

 and Paris green for biting insects if necessary, 

 as was advised in the March Garden Maga- 

 zine. Many times tobacco dust freely used 

 will prove effective upon small plants. The 

 work must needs be thoroughly done, as 

 every individual aphis must be hit with 

 these insecticides. The sprays should be 

 applied in a fine mist and just enough used 

 to wet the foliage thoroughly. 



Where the leaves are badly curled it is im- 

 possible to reach the aphides within with a 

 spray. Fumigation is therefore often feas- 

 ible. In greenhouses this is the best method 

 for the control of aphides. A tobacco pow- 

 der, known as the "fumigating kind" is used 

 extensively by florists and seems to be the 

 best all-round fumigant. It is placed in 

 shallow pans, a -little kerosene poured on 

 to start burning, and when lit it burns 

 slowly, giving off a smudge which is fatal to 

 aphides and many similar insects. Ordin- 

 ary tobacco powder does not answer. Various 

 extracts of tobacco are similarly used, being 

 evaporated over a flame or upon steam pipes 

 or by throwing hot irons into the containers. 

 I have been very successful by covering 



As a result of the puncture by many aphides the 

 leaves curl up. It is then very hard to reach the 

 insects by a spray 



melon vines out-of-doors with oiled canvas 

 over a frame and fumigating the vine beneath 

 with one of the special preparations of paper 

 soaked in tobacco extract, and which are 

 very handy for such use. It would be easy 

 to make covers for plants such as chrysan- 

 themums, growing in rows so that they 

 could be readily fumigated out-of-doors. The 

 value of fumigating over spraying lies in 

 the fact that the gas penetrates everywhere 

 and kills practically every aphis. 



Is it any wonder that the leaves of plants curl up 

 when they are infested by a host liKe t.iis ? BacK 

 of an apple leaf 



