Some Experiences with Aphids 



T70R a number of years I have had more or 

 -*■ less bitter experience in fighting aphids on 

 flowers, vegetables and fruit trees. It seemed 

 to me that when I killed any of the little pests 

 that a dozen new ones came to the funeral and 

 as usual a lot of ants, both big and little came 

 also. Somehow it always annoyed me to see 

 the ants enjoying themselves so hugely because 

 of the aphids which I knew were damaging my 

 plants. So in the early spring one year I deter- 

 mined to keep the ants off even if I could not stop 

 the aphids. I purchased a can of tree tanglefoot 

 and banded every tree. Well, I stopped the 

 ants and much to my surprise I did not see any 

 aphids. The entomologists had told me that I 

 could not keep off the aphids that way, as they 

 had wings and did not need to crawl up the tree 

 trunks. But where there were no ants there 

 were no aphids. Then one day I noticed on a 

 small apple tree some aphids and also some ants. 

 I examined the sticky band on the trunk and 

 found that some grass had grown up and blown 

 against it, sticking fast, forming a bridge for the 

 ants who undoubtedly carried the aphids up 

 with them. I removed the grass, sprayed the 

 tree with nicotine and was no longer bothered with 

 aphids on that tree. And of course the young 

 growing shoots on the apples made a greater 

 increase and the entire tree therefore gained 

 when the aphids were kept off. 



There is a black aphid which gets on sour 

 cherries here. Although it apparently does not 

 injure the trees much, it certainly can not do 

 them good. I have one sour cherry tree that 

 stands near a fence. I banded limbs of this tree 

 to save tanglefoot. A water sprout that came 

 out below the sticky band was so completely 

 covered by aphids that it was black. This 

 sprout was so badly injured that it did not live 

 through the summer. No aphids appeared above 

 the bands until the limbs, heavy with fruit and 

 new growth, bent down and touched the fence. 

 Then the aphids and their friends the ants ap- 

 peared on that side of the tree and gradually 

 spread over the whole tree. I saw on one peach 

 tree one colony of aphids that must have been 

 started from aphids flying up to the tree. This 

 one colony was destroyed by nicotine and no 

 further trouble was noticed. At intervals during 

 the summer the sticky band on the trees had to be 

 freshened. I used a band only about two inches 

 wide and one-eighth of an inch deep. 



It may be wondered, why, if the aphids can 

 fly, that they did not get on the trees that were 

 banded. In reading Farmers' Bulletin No. 362 

 on "The Common Mealy Bug and its Control 

 in California," I ran across an apparently good 

 explanation. Ants are found to carry and to 

 protect the mealy bugs in the same way they do 

 the aphids. Woglum and Nuels in this bulletin 

 say, "Remarkable results have been secured by 

 keeping the Argentine ant off of trees infested 

 with mealy bugs by banding with a sticky mix- 

 ture. In 191 5 and 1916 trees that when first freed 

 from ants were infected severely with the mealy 

 bug became commercially clean without exception 

 within a period of six weeks to three months." 



It would seem logical to suppose that the same 

 relation would exist between the aphids, the ant 

 and the predatory enemies of the aphids, such 

 as the ladybird, etc. Although the mealy bug 

 does not fly and the aphid does fly, the fact re- 

 mains that the aphid, like the mealy bug, seems 

 to have so developed that it cannot long exist in 

 large numbers when the protection of the ants is 

 withdrawn. — S. D. Conner. Lajayette, Ind. 



# 



^ 



Live Evergreens for Winter Decorations 



Charming Evergreens from Utttle QCttt jfatlttSi for 



Porches, 



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Rooms, 



Tables, 



Window 



Sills, 



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etc 



17 Blended Evergreens and Box forgicoo Delivered to the Express at Framingham, Mass. 



Plant hardy evergreens in Window Boxes, Pots, Urns, and Tubs just as you plant flowers 

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 HI Customers may order the plants without the box, deducting 75c for the box. 



Evergreens in Pots, Urns and Jardinieres are beautiful indoors all winter. Baby Spruces, 

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Our beautiful large Evergreens are much used in hotels and residences as decorations for 

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$ 



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Arborvitae without 

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($> 



Blue Spruce without pot 

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10 Arborvitae and Box for 55.00 Delivered to the Express at Framingham, Mass. 



Write for our. pamphlet on the uses of live trees for indoor decorating. Our B 

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NURSERIES OF 



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NEAR BOSTON Dept. A-ll, 15 Beacon St., Boston, Mass. H 



^SlIllilllllllllBIIIIIIIlllIIIIIIIIIIIlIIIIII 



Lilies 



Fresh 

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Lilium Auratum, Cana- 

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 Autumn supplement now ready. 



F. H. HORSFORD, Charlotte, Vt. 



ADDISONIA 



A quarterly journal containing beautiful colored illus- 

 trations and popular descriptions of plants. 



Published by the New York Botanical Garden, Bronx 

 Park. s 



Supported by the income of a bequest by the late 

 Judge Addison Brown, aided by subscriptions. 



The third volume has recently been completed; the 

 fourth volume will be issued during 1919; each volume 

 contains 40 full-page colored illustrations. 



Additional subscriptions, for the whole work only, are 

 invited at $40, being $10 per volume. Sample parts for 

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NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN 



BRONX PARK, NEW YORK CITY 



"No library complete without Kipling complete" 



PLANT 



PEONIES 



NOW 



And when you buy a plant that will 

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 buy the best. 



Special Peony catalogue on application 



GEORGE H. PETERSON 



Rose and Peony Specialist 

 Box 50 FAIR LAWN, N. J. 



