ON ROSES. 



125 



of gardeners. With any insect pest the first question that a 

 gardener must ask himself is, How do"es the creature feed ? as- 

 upon that the method or combating it chiefly depends. The 

 gardener who has not given a very deep consideration to the 

 subject is frequently puzzled to find that after using perhaps a 

 strong poison upon a food-plant, not the slightest impression is 

 made upon the insects it was his desire to kill. The explanation 

 is an easy one, and it will, be dealt with in the chapter upon. 

 Pests already alluded to. Suffice it to say that Aphides, of 

 which from four to six species derive their sustenance from 

 Roses, are provided with a tubular beak, by means of which they 

 extract the sap from the plant. They are objectionable on that 

 account, as also by reason of the fact that they sometimes cover 

 the leaves of the food-plant with excreta, and so clog them 

 that they are quite incapable of performing their proper 

 functions. 



These pests are found upon indoor Roses as well as upon' 

 outdoor ones. In the former case recourse must be had 

 to one of the vaporising insecticides. There are now many- 

 excellent preparations on the market, and they are so made that 

 they leave behind no objectionable odour, as was the case with 

 many of the old fumigating compounds; indeed, in one or 

 two cases the insecticide leaves quite a pleasant smell. For 

 outdoor trees there is nothing better in the early part of the 

 season than to keep the syringe actively at work. Even luke- 

 warm rain-water will in itself be beneficial, taking care to 

 syringe the shoots very carefully. Gishurst Compound and Abol 

 are two excellent aphidicides that are cheap and readily prepared.. 

 If a home-made one is considered best, then the following 

 should be tried : 20Z. carbolic soft soap, well dissolved in one 

 gallon of hot water, and sprayed while warm on both sides of 

 the foliage. Two washings will effectually oust the enemy. 



Moth Caterpillars. — These are very numerous and correspond- 

 ingly destructive. The worst are the caterpillars of certain 

 Tortrices, which feed either in a case, or else between tw^o leaflets, 

 or leaflets and shoots, drawn together in a most ingenious 

 fashion, so that the culprits are difficult to detect. Syringing is 

 of little use to keep down these minute pests, as feeding as they 

 do concealed they are not likely to be affected by it ; moreover, 

 they are readily alarmed, and on the first intimation that some- 

 thing is wrong drop from their snug retreats and lie concealed 

 until danger is past. The commonest of the Tortrices — the grubs 



