MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES, &c. 177 



It will be very proper to water the hills, with a watering- 

 pot having a rose, once a day for two or three days before you 

 put in the plants, keeping the lights shut, which will destroy 

 anv eggs of the spider that may yet remain in the crevices of 

 the boxes and lights. 



I'he day on which you mean to put in the plants, vou should 

 give the beds a great deal of air, to let out the steam that has 

 been penned in ; then turn over the hills, and put in your plants 

 about three o'clock in the afternoon, making a hollow circle 

 round the bottom of each hill, to separate the mould of the 

 hills from that on the bed, which will suifer the steam to eva- 

 porate more easily; then watering the plants, shut them down 

 till next morning, admitting air according to the heat of your 

 bed, taking care not to give too much till your plants are well 

 rooted in the hills, which will be in a couple of days; it will 

 also be necessary to shade them, in the heat of the day, to prevent 

 the plants from flagging. 



In cold frosty weather, you must by no means sprinkle the 

 plants, as the frost in the night will infallibly bring on the 

 canker. 



Soft water should be used in sprinkling, or such as has 

 been exposed several days to the sun. If the water be very 

 hard, put some wood-ashes into it, and stir it up two or three 

 times a day, it will be fit for use in the course of two days ; 

 let the ashes subside, and use the clear water only. 



If your melons have been infested with the spider in the 

 preceding year, by no means use any of the mould again. 



Of the Coccus, 



The Coccus is a genus of insects belonging to the order 

 Hemiptera, whose males have wings, but the females have 

 none. 



The most common insects of this genus are those vrhich 

 attach themselves to peach, nectarine, and pear-trees ; and 

 when full grown they have somewhat the appearance of a boat 

 with the keel turned uppermost. These are apparently with- 

 out feet, eyes, or other members, while in this state ; and so 

 much resemble some kinds of galls, or excrescences of the 

 bark, as frequently to be taken for such. A thin film of a whit^ 

 cotton-like substance is interposed between the flat part of the 

 body and the tree. This is common, in a greater or lesser 

 quantity, to all the species, and appears at first all round the 

 edge as a kind of cement to join it to the tree. 



The males are very few in proportion to the females, and 

 not nearly one fourth of their size j they are beautiful little flies. 



