GARDENING FOR LITTLE GIRLS 



tables. The saw-flies with their offspring, and cer- 

 tain kinds of ants (especially the ''soldier ants") 

 are as troublesome as the caterpillars, while the 

 next family group, the grasshoppers, locusts, katy- 

 dids and crickets are all great feeders, — the grass- 

 hoppers and locusts often becoming an actual 

 plague and destroying whole crops. To get rid of 

 the caterpillars and beetles various means are em- 

 ployed, such as spraying with Paris green, Bor- 

 deaux mixture, kerosene emulsion, or even strong 

 suds made vnth whale-oil soap ; and Paris green is 

 also applied dry. A pretty good poison is bran- 

 and-arsenic mixture, but the different liquids and 

 powders make a story by themselves, and require 

 great care in using ; so you better consult some suc- 

 cessful gardener-friend about the best one (and 

 the way to use it,) for your particular foe. 



Of the sucking insects, — those that draw out 

 the juice or sap of the plant, — the aphides or 

 ' ' plant lice ' ' do inestimable damage to all kinds of 

 plants and flowers, while the chinch bug and garden 

 tree-hopper seem to prefer to attack vegetables. 

 The most familiar aphides are green, and they 

 have tiny, soft, pear-shaped bodies, with long legs 

 and * ' feelers. ' ' They usually live on the under side 

 of the leaves and along the stems, and one good way 

 to get rid of them is to spray with kerosene emul- 



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