FERN FOES, BRITISH AND EXOTIC. 



173 



which do not appear to take any effect on them. When the fronds infested 

 with scales happen to be old, they may with safety be cut clean off ; but, 

 unless the Fern be of a deciduous nature, the whole or even the greater 

 part of the fronds should not be cut off at once, as in most cases this mode 

 of curing would prove quite as dangerous as the complaint. The most 



Fig. 15, Scale Insect (Lecanium HesperidiumJ. Fig. 16. Scale Insect (Lecanium Persicee), 



a, Twig and Leaf bearing Females (nat. size) ; a, Leaf with Male on it (slightly enlarged) ; 



6 Female (magnified). h, Male flying (much enlarged). 



practical way is to pick off by hand all that can be seen, and then to well wash 

 the plant with warm water containing soft soap in the proportion of 2oz. to 

 1 gallon of water ; by that means, the young brood of very minute scales, 

 which have been unavoidably missed, will be effectively destroyed. A most 

 interesting dissertation on scale insects, and their mode of reproduction, is 

 published in Nicholson's "Dictionary of Gardening," vol. iii., p. 378. 



As the ant is, in many instances, the travelling medium of the scale, it 

 may also be classed among the Fern enemies, and its presence in the 

 Fernery must be checked by all possible means. Among the many ways 

 recommended for destroying ants, one of the easiest and most efficacious 

 consists in laying in the places where they are accustomed to assemble pieces 

 of thick twine or rope, about 1ft. long, which have been previously dipped 

 in a syrup made of coarse sugar. The ants cluster in great numbers 

 upon these strips, which, from time to time, can easily be taken up and 

 dipped into boiling water. The same satisfactory results may be obtained 

 from the use of a good-sized sponge, sprinkled over with finely-powdered sugar : 

 the sponge, thus prepared, being laid near the holes whence the ants issue, 



