FLOWER GARDEN PESTS. 
60 
FLOWER GARDEN PESTS. 
Insect, animal, and fungoid pests are pretty numerous in the 
flower garden, and often do a considerable amount of damage. 
A book like the present one would therefore be wanting in 
completeness if it failed to make mention of the principal 
pests, at any rate. There are entomological, mycological, and 
other natural history critics, however, who assert that it is no 
part of a horticulturist’s business to deal with such a subject 
in ordinary gardening books, and that such information should 
only be given by the learned experts in question. We claim, 
however, to know enough of the life history and habits of most 
pests to be able to impart sound advice to readers of this 
volume, and so care not one jot about the opinions of natural 
history faddists. 
Ants. — These are often troublesome creatures on lawns, 
paths and borders, tunnelling the soil, throwing up heaps of 
fine earth, and disturbing the roots of plants generally. A 
simple way of eradicating them on paths is to find out their 
nests, loosen the gravel, and pour boiling water freely over the 
surface. In borders and on lawns the most effectual remedy 
is to make holes six inches deep and a foot apart, put a table- 
spoonful of bisulphide of carbon in each, and fill up at once 
with soil, trodden down firmly. The carbon will emit a gas 
which permeates the soil and kills the ants. Do not inhale the 
gas, nor use a light near it. 
Aphis (Green Fly.). — The insects known as Green Flies are 
very abundant in flower gardens during summer. Their 
fecundity is prodigious, and unless speedily eradicated rose 
trees, especially, soon become literally smothered with them. 
They pierce the epidermis of the young shoots and suck out 
the sap, causing the shoots to be unhealthy. Three species 
are harmful to flower garden plants, the Common Green Fly 
(Rophalosiphon Dianthi), Rose Aphis (Siphonophora Rosee), 
and the Sweet Pea Aphis (Siphonophora pisi). Besides robbing 
shoots of their sap, they also coat the leaves with a sticky 
substance called honeydew, which seals the stomato or 
