WIADOW GARDENING 47 
away from the " Grafton Miaeral Fertilizer," and a thorough sprinkling of the 
dry powder on the leaves or steins well moistened, will make the msects dis 
lodge their hold, not to return. 
There is another mite whose color varies from green to black, and is as par- 
ticular in its attentions to Carnations and Pinks, and to rapid in its movements, 
that it has been named the " Carnation Twitter." It is very destructive to all 
the varieties of plants above mentioned, and it affects the leaves like the spider, 
making them very unhealthy in appearance and as yet no means have been found 
to destroy it. 
If plants grow vigoroasly, are healthy and well cared for, the ravages of 
insects are not to be much dreaded ; and if they do appear they can be quickly 
routed. Undoubtedly we must fight if we would become the owners of hand 
some, finely formed, profuse blo-soming plants ; and she who devotes the most 
time to them, will be the proudest of the flowers she rears. 
Sulphur and tobacco are powerful remedies in the hands of an amateur, and 
will often not only kill all the insects, but destroy all the plants. As almost every 
amateur usually undertakes to try some experiment for himself, so we record 
the experience of a lady who writes us : 
" Years ago, when we had the charge of a small conservatory, we tried the 
eftcct of sulphur thrown upon liot coals to kill infested plants. Every insect 
succumbed before its direful fumes ; so aisodid the plants; hardly a leaf remained 
on the stems the following day, and the poor leafless branches spake to me in 
terms of sad reproach through their mute lips. I was then a tyro in the busi- 
ness, and greatly desired to have every thing done thoroughly . 
"Thus I learned, that there is no teacher like expeiience, his school is a hard 
one, he is a stern disciplinarian, but when his lessons are once learned they are 
not forgotten, but are indellibly printed upon the pages of memory 
"Luckily for my conservatory, it was denuded of its leaves in May, and soon 
the poor forlorn plants -ware set out into the borders where they could recuperate 
and regain the foliage denuded by so strong a sulphur bath. 
"Again: I tried tobacco tea, and i'^ it steeped 'ach treasured Rose, each loved 
Fuchsia, and they looked so worn and weary after it that I was heart sick with 
my efforts in their behalf. Since then, I have been very shy of tr3nng such ex- 
periments, and content myself with hand brushing ami washing, but still more 
with the daily care, the constant loving attention which is much the surest and 
the safest for flowers." 
White mites may frequently be seen infesting the soil in pots. They seem to 
be the larvae of a small black or brown fly, and are very injurious to the well-being 
of the plants. Lime water, salt and water, and hot water, have all been tried. 
The first two were inefficient to injure them, and the last killed the plants. Now 
we turn in a goodly supply of warm water, and when we see wriggling specks of 
white, take up the pot and turn off the water. Give another supi)ly, and tuin 
that away, and continue to do so until not one remains. The third or fourth day 
the process is repeated, and by this means the troublesome mites are destroyed 
