INSECT ENEMIES TO HOUSE PLANTS. 
The cultivators of house plants have an army of enemies, small, to be sure, but numerous 
and active. Fortunately, they are not very brave, but like to attack the weak, and soon become 
discouraged when they meet with vigorous opposition. Indeed, they seem to know where they 
have a chance of victory and seldom attack plants that are M^ell watched and cared for. 
THE GREEN-FLY. 
The "green-fly" every j^lant-raiser knoM's, and he knows, too, to his sorrow, how destructive 
it is if left to itself. The plants which this insect attacks are the softest and most succulent^ 
and at the ends of the young shoots, and the softest leaves. It sucks the 
^^^^^^^^^^^^..^^^^ juices so as materially to injure the plant in a short time. The insects of this 
^^^^^^^^-^ kind { Aphis) increase with such wonderful rapidity that Reaumur has proved 
I I V that in five generations one aphis may be the progenitor of six thousand 
millions, and there may be ten generations in a year. 
GREEN-FLY (aphis) The lusect inflicts the injury by means of a long rostrum or beak through 
MAGNIFIED. whlchit sucks out the juices — the rostrum, when not in use, lies inflected 
beneath the breast. Their bodies, at the hinder extremity, are furnished with two little promi- 
nent or knotty openings, from which exude almost continually little di^ops of a sweet or honey- 
like fluid. As they take in great quantities of sap, they would soon become gorged if they did 
not get rid of the superabundant fluid. The leaves and bark of plants much infested by these 
insects are often completely sprinkled over with drops of this sticky fluid, which, on drying, 
becomes dark colored and greatly disfigures the foliage. 
Of all the means that have been employed for the destruction of this insect, that which 
has proved most eflicient and the one now almost universally practiced, is fumigation with 
tobacco. Some plants, such as Heliotropes, Salvias, Lantanas, and some others with soft, downy 
foliage, will not bear ordinary fumigations without injury to the leaves, and these plants, there- 
fore, .should not be subjected to it. Many plants in full flower, but especially Pelargoniums, will 
throw off their expanded blooms after smoking, and therefore it is best to remove such plants before 
fumigating! Care should be used also to have the foliage of all the plants dry, for if they are 
wet or damp, the smoke will be apt to injure such as are of a soft texture. If the plants are in 
a conservatory attached to the house, the time chosen for fumi- 
gating should be a still evening when there is little or no wind 
stirring, and the temperature of the house should be pretty well 
up, as then the insects are more active and the smoke will more 
easily affect them. A few chips or a little charcoal may be placed 
upon a small furnace or a pan and ignited, and then a small quan- 
tity of tobacco placed upon it — the tobacco should have been 
previously dampened so as to prevent its burning too rapidly or 
blazing. 
When only a plant or two, or a small number of them are to be 
treated, they can be fumigated under an inverted barrel or large 
box in a back room or shed. Single plants may be fumigated by 
making a bell of a newspaper, as shown in the engraving. The 
smoke can be introduced by means of a tobacco-pipe. Fill the 
bowl two-thirds full of quick-burning tobacco, and after lighting, 
place a piece of cotton cloth over the bowl, and blow the smoke 
through the stem, with the mouth. Instead of fumigation, a weak 
solution of tobacco may sometimes be used quite as effectively ; this is often the more convenient 
way for a few plants. Soak or steep some tobacco in water until the strength is extracted. The 
strength of the water may be determined by dipping a leaf into it or letting it remain in it for a 
short time — if the leaf is browned or burned, or turns so when taken out of the water, the solu- 
tion is too strong, and must be reduced by increasing the quantity of water. When the right 
degree of strength is acquired, dip the whole plant into the water and afterwards syringe it off 
with clean water. What we desire to impress most forcibly on the minds of our readers, and 
27 
