340 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENIXG. 



or bruising the shoots. The brush is then drawn up- 

 wards on the line of growth, and the find of Ai)hides 

 shaken or combed out. A fresh hold is then taken, 

 and so on, till all the Roses are cleared. 



A thorough vibration through the plant, caused b)' 

 giving the tree a sudden shake or tap, will make all 

 the fullest, fattest Aphides fall to the ground. This 

 should always follow the above. Any left after these 

 processes are mostly on the move, and a sudden shake 

 or Aubration will bring most of them to the ground. 

 When once there they seldom succeed in returning. 

 However, some, to make assurance doubly secure, 

 provide an adhesive bed for them to fall upon. The 

 most killing bed is formed of one and a half parts of 

 Burgundy pitch, and one of train oil. The pitch is 

 slowly melted, and when dissolved the oil is added. 



soft soap, and quassia chips, are among the most 

 potent of Aphides-killers. 



A capital liquid di'essing may be made of a pound 

 of good tobacco, and half a pound of quassia chips, 

 Gishurst compound, or soft soap, the whole being 

 carefully dissolved in boiling water, or boiled for a 

 quarter of an hour in sufficient water to dissolve and 

 incorporate it thoroughly. Then run it through a 

 sieve and add to this poweiiul decoction from twelve 

 to fifteen gallons of water, and apply the mixture 

 carefully to the Aphides, or dip the branchlets into 



Fig. 49.— The Eose Apliis, Wingless Females and Winged Male. 



and thoroughly mixed, and this mixture continues 

 liquid and sticky to a fault. A thin board, or 

 cardboard, or thick paper, smeared over with this, 

 and held under Rose-trees by a simple loop, with 

 a slit in one side for the stem of the Rose, and a 

 hook to hold by, will give account of any Aphis or 

 caterpillar that drops down on it. 



Tobacco - smoke, either pure or produced from 

 paper, rags, or refuse dipped into tobacco-water or 

 juice, proves sudden death to all kinds of Aphides, 

 either out of doors or in, if the smother of smoke is 

 only made and kept sufficiently dense for, say, ten 

 minutes. A smoke-proof bag, to hold the heads of 

 standard or other Roses, should be tied closely round 

 the stems. Apply a blow-pipe of sufficient force to 

 311 it and keep it full for the above length of time, 

 and every living Aphis will be cleared off. 



To make security doubly sure, so soon as the bag 

 is removed dash water through the garden engine 

 over the entire smoked plant or buds. This com- 

 pletes the work of clearance by dashing any sick 

 Aphides to the ground, to rise no more. 



Tobacco, in dust, as snuff, or solution as tobacco- 

 juice or water, either pure or in combination with 



the mixture. It will instantly kill all it touches. 

 Such powerful di'essings should never, however, be 

 applied during the heat of the day, but in the after- 

 noon or evening, be left on all night and washed off 

 in the morning. 



Snuff, the finest-ground and driest that can be 

 bought, should be dredged on while the shoots are 

 wet. The Aphides fall down on the heels of the 

 dredging, dead. Common and cayenne pepper are 

 generally effective, but though they hardly smell 

 so vilely among Roses as tobacco in any of its forms, 

 yet their presence is about equally objectionable and 

 even more dangerous. 



Carbonate of ammonia, or smelling salts, dissolved 

 in water at the rate of an ounce to a gallon, proves 

 most destructive to Aphides, leaves a pleasant odour 

 behind it, and proves, so it is said, a stimulating diet 

 for the Roses into the bargain. 



Rose Maggots. — Rose -growers are all too 

 familiar with the worm in the bud that wreclcs so 

 man}'- of their best blooms, though the moment 

 we try to determine which worm, we are met with 

 considerable difficulty, not from any lack of worms, 



