i8o 



Aphides. 



its appearance in the form of wingless females, popularly- 

 known as green lice, the products of eggs laid in the autumn. 

 These bring forth living young, which again give birth 

 to lice and multiply in a remarkable manner, there being,, 

 according to Westwood, nine generations. In seasons of bad 

 attacks, notably in the last (1898), by the time the damsons 

 are formed they are beset by aphides which suck up the 

 juices from the stems and the leaves near them, and cause 

 them to drop off, or to be stunted and mis-shapen. Plum 

 trees are also often seriously injured in the same manner, but 

 not so much as the damson trees. As a rule, prudent fruit- 

 growers spray or "wash'' damson and plum tree?, before the 

 fruit is formed, with solutions of soft soap ard quassia, made 



Plum Aphis {Apkis pruni). 



of the extract of 6 or 7 lbs. of quassia chips and 6 lbs. ot 

 soft soap to 100 gallons of water. This solution, thoroughly 

 applied, was very efficacious in the past season in clearing 

 off the aphides and their filth. It is found that Paris 

 green, mixed with the quassia and soft soap solutions, makes 

 them far more effective. Only a very small quantity of Paris 

 green is used for this purpose, four ounces to 100 gallons 

 of this solution being found sufficient to affect insects without 

 injuring the blossoms and leafage. 



The apple aphis [Aphis viali) makes its appearance as soon 

 as the leaves show signs of coming forth, and it follows up 



