52 



EED SPIDEE. 



water in which a little sulphur (say one ounce to two 

 gallons) has been stirred, which will kill any insects or 

 larvae that may have fallen on the soil. This done, 

 and the vines kept in proper health, spider ought not 

 to make its appearance till the grapes are stoning ; but 

 watch for it constantly — do not wait till the leaves are 

 becoming red from its effects. It will first show itself 

 at the hottest part of the house ; and the moment it is 

 seen, have the return-pipes painted with sulphur mixed 

 with milk and water : repeat this painting of the pipes 

 once a- week, and it will arrest the progress of this most 

 troublesome of insects. Some recommend constant 

 syringing as a preventive, but I have often observed 

 that this cure was as bad as the disease, as far as the 

 appearance of the grapes was concerned. I am there- 

 fore averse to syringing vines with water while the 

 grapes are on them, unless it can be had free from lime, 

 chalk, or other matter in suspension, which forms a 

 crust of lime or chalk, as the case may be, on the 

 berries, and disfigures them very much. Circum- 

 stances, however, will arise where it is difficult, if not 

 impossible, to keep red spider in check by any other 

 available means ; for during hot weather in summer 

 the' pipes cannot be kept so hot as to impregnate the 

 atmosphere of the house by the radiation of sulphur 

 from their surface, and the syringe has to be called into 

 action, in which case make a sand filter, and pass rain- 

 water through it, in order to clear it of any particles of 

 soot or white-lead off the houses it may contain. Make 

 the water the same temperature as the atmosphere of 

 the house, and syringe the vines carefully all over when 

 the house is shut in the afternoon. If this is done every 

 third day, red spider will make little progress. In the 

 case of vines in the first and second years of their 



