160 WISC 
seriously impairing the vitality of 
the plants. The only way in which 
the rose gardener may prevent 
these attacks is by careful and in 
insistent spraying with insecti- 
cides. 
Insects which most commonly 
affect roses, according to special- 
ists of the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture, are of two general 
types, those which eat the foliage, 
as rose slugs and the rose chafer, 
and those which suck the sap, as 
aphids, scale insects, and thrips. 
The presence of leaf-eating insects 
is usually first detected through 
the discovery of partially eaten 
leaves or of skeletonized leaves ; 
that is, leaves from which a por- 
tion of the lower or upper surface 
lias been eaten, leaving the other 
surface as a transparent mem- 
brane, or leaves the fleshy part of 
which has been eaten clear 
through, often leaving merely the 
midrib and veins. The discovery 
of the enemy frequently follows. 
Protection from this sort of at- 
tack is afforded by hand picking 
or by covering Doth surfaces of 
the foliage thoroughly with some 
poisonous substance, as arsenate 
of lead. Wherever a garden hose 
is available, a strong stream of 
water directed against rose slugs, 
on the foliage will knock them off 
and, in many cases, save the bush 
from further injury by them. 
The rose chafer is a rather diffi- 
cult insect to control, and arseni- 
cal poisons applied at double the 
usual strength often fail to kill 
them before the damage is done. 
Frequent hand picking of the 
beetles and dropping them into a 
vessel containing water covered 
with a film of kerosene, or screen- 
ing the plants with mosquito net- 
ting, especially the latter, often 
affords the only means of prevent- 
ing their destructive work. 
NSIN HORTICULTURE June, 1917 
Insecticides. 
Arsenate of lead, which may be 
obtained as a powder or a paste, 
has been found to be one of the 
most effective substances for use 
as a spray against leaf-eating in- 
sects. It is a deadly poison and 
should be handled with great 
care. About one-eighth of a 
pound of the paste or one-six- 
teenth of a pound of the powder 
to 10 quarts of water makes a so- 
lution of the proper strength. 
Sucking insects obtain their 
food by sucking the sap. Aphids 
are usually on the youngest 
growth at the tips of the branches, 
both on the stems and on the un- 
der side of the leaves. When 
badly infested the leaves curl and 
protect the insects on their under 
surface. Thrips injure the flowers, 
while scale insects usually inhabit 
the woody portion of the bush and 
are capable of killing it. Insects 
of this class have to be killed by 
the insecticide coming in contact 
with them. Materials used for 
this purpose are 40 per cent nico- 
tine sulphate, pyrethrum, fish-oil 
soap, kerosene emulsion, and lime- 
sulphur. The material should be 
applied in a fine spray, with con- 
siderable force, so as to find its 
way under the foliage and strike 
the culprit. Death comes from 
the insecticide closing the breath- 
ing pores and suffocating the in- 
sect or penetrating to its vital 
parts, or both. Great thorough- 
ness is needed in applying these 
insecticides. The aphids may of- 
ten be knocked off by a strong 
stream of water from a hose 
where available, and this treat- 
ment, frequently given, is often 
all that is necessary to keep them 
in check. An abundance of ants 
on the plants is always suggestive 
of the presence of aphids. 
Forty per cent nicotine sul- 
phate, a liquid procurable in most 
seed stores under various proprie- 
tary names, diluted with about 
1,000 parts of water in which a 
little fish-oil soap or good laundry 
soap has been previously dis- 
solved is now recognized as the 
most efficient aphid remedy. For 
small quantities, add 1 teaspoonful 
of the nicotine to each 1 or 2 gal- 
lons of water in which about one- 
half an ounce of soap has been 
dissolved. One thorough applica- 
tion is usually 100 per cent effec- 
tive, though a second spraying 
many sometimes be necessary. The 
necessity of covering every indi- 
vidual insect should be constantly 
borne in mind. 
Other remedies useful in com- 
bating the sap-sucking insects are 
pyrethrum, or Persian insect pow- 
der. used at a rate of 1 ounce to 
2 quarts of water; .fish-oil soap 
dissolved at a rate of t/4 pound to 
8 quarts of water; kerosene emul- 
sion; and lime sulphur and other 
commercially prepared insecti- 
cides. 
Some Transplanting Reminders 
Cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes, 
eggplant, pepper, and celery are 
always transplanted, while the 
vine crops are started in the hot- 
bed and transplanted when an 
earlier product is wanted. Plants 
that have a tough, fibrous root 
system like the first group are 
easily transplanted, while those 
with large or tender roots like the 
second group must be handled 
more carefully. Roots like pars- 
nips and carrots, where a clean, 
smooth root is desired cannot be 
transplanted successfully because 
the tip of the root is broken off 
and the tap root is covered with 
a mass of hairy roots. 
June 
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