4Q2 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. 



1. Winged female. 



AMERICAN BLIGHT. 



2. Wingless females 3. The Aphides on a twig. 



or crevice in which these pests may have taken shelter. 

 Quassia extract, and tobacco water, mixed with soft soap, 

 are also good for this purpose. One of the most effective 

 remedies is a caustic wash, which should be applied in the 

 winter (see the list of insecticides). These aphides at 

 times also attack tile roots of the trees. When this is the 

 case, the roots near the surface should be exposed, and 

 painted with one of the above-mentioned insecticides. 

 These insects are of a slaty, leaden black or dark 

 brown colour, the full-grown females being sometimes as 

 much as | in. in length. They have very long suckers, 

 with which they draw off the sap of the trees, and are 

 generally found in regular colonies all huddled together 

 as close as possible. The action of so many suckers in 

 such a small area causes an abnormal growth of the bark 

 and the tissue just below it, which takes the form of 

 swellings and knobby protuberances. The white woolly 

 substance with which their bodies are partly covered is 

 principally secreted by the posterior half of the body. Some 

 of the females are winged. 

 Ant, Common Garden [Lashes niger).— One can hardly 

 help placing these insects among those that are injurious 

 in gardens, though the amount of mischief they do is 

 very small, and it is only when they make their nests at 

 the roots of a plant that any harm is done, and that only 

 indirectly, as they do not feed on the roots ; but these are 

 injured by not being in such close contact with the soil 

 as they should be. It will nearly always be found that if 

 an ants' nest be made among the roots of any plant the 

 roots are attacked by one of the root-feeding aphides. 

 This position has been selected in order that they may the 

 more easily feed on the sweet secretions of these insects. 

 When this is the case the plant should be taken up, its roots 

 carefully washed, and freed from the aphides, and then 

 replanted elsewhere. The ants* nest may then be destroyed 

 by pouring boiling water, diluted carbolic acid, or 

 paraffin oil into it. If it be undesirable to remove the 

 plant, take a largish garden pot, stop up the hole at the 

 bottom, till it half lull of leaves, and place it bottom 

 upwards on the ground close to the plant, then water the 

 plant copiously every day, so as to keep the soil 

 thoroughly saturated. The ants will soon begin to move 

 their nest to the shelter of the pot, which in about a 

 fortnight's time may be taken carefully away, when it will 

 be found to contain the nest. Ants are often of service by 

 showing when a plant is attacked by aphides or scale 

 insects, for if several ants are found on a plant it is almost 

 certain that it is infested by one of these insects. 



Aphides [Green fly, Black fly, and other 

 Aphides). — Of all the numerous pests in 

 gardens these are, perhaps, the most trouble- 

 some and annoying, as they attack so 

 many different kinds of plants, and some 

 increase and multiply in such an extra- 

 ordinarily rapid manner, as I mentioned in 

 my preliminary remarks, that they are 

 exceedingly difficult to keep in check. These 

 insects are too well known to render any 

 minute description of them necessary, but I 

 may say that there are a very large number 

 of species ; some individuals are winged, 

 while others are wingless. They secrete a 

 liquid commonly known as " Honey dew," 

 which is much sought after by ants, and 

 in many species is exuded through two 

 little horn-like organs situated on the back 

 of the insect towards the tail. These insects 

 injure the plants on which they feed by 

 drawing off the juices from the young shoots 

 and leaves, which they do by means of a 

 long proboscis. The best remedy for plants 

 grown in the open air is spraying with some 

 insecticide containing soft soap, such as 

 paraffin emulsion, quassia extract, soft soap, 

 etc. ; dusting with snuff, tobacco powder, or 

 insect powder is also useful. Sometimes 

 it is easiest to dip the ends of the shoots 

 in a basin containing some soapy insecticide. 

 In the case of Broad Beans being attacked by black 

 fly or black dolphin, the tops of the shoots should 

 lie cut off and put into a basket and burnt, or 

 buried so that the fly cannot make its way to the 

 surface. These pests may also be killed by tobacco smoke 

 if the plant can be enveloped in some comparatively air- 

 tighl material. Under glass, fumigation with tobacco 

 smoke, or vaporising tobacco water, two or three times, 



No. 5 



A PHIDES. 



1 and 2. Winged females. 3and4. Wingless females^ 



with an interval of four or five days between each 

 operation, are the best remedies. Whatever means are 

 used they should be applied without delay as soon as 

 the insects are noticed on a plant, the old proverb of 

 " A stitch in time, etc.," being particularly applicable in 

 this instance. 



Asparagus Beetle, The {Crioceris asparagi). — Asparagus 

 plants are often considerably injured by the grubs of this 

 insect, which feed upon the foliage, and therefore weaken 

 the plants. The beetles lay their eggs on the young 

 shoots, the grubs are hatched in the course of about 

 a week or ten days, and at once begin to feed on the 

 " grass." The best way to destroy this insect is by 

 spraying the plants with Paris green or paraffin emulsion. 

 The shoots on which the grubs are feeding may be cut 

 off and placed in a basket, to be afterwards burnt or 

 crushed. When Asparagus is being cut, a good look-out 

 should be kept for the beetles, which will then be just 

 beginning to make their appearance, or later on they can 

 easily lie shaken off the plants into an. open umbrella. 

 At the least alarm they fall to the ground feigning to be 

 dead, and lying quite motionless. The eggs may easily 



