The Florida agriculturist., 1907-11-20
Red Spider.

which could only exist in a dry atmos-
phere, and being very destructive in
greenhouses, it was believed that fire.
quent sprayings by creating moist
atmosphere would do away with the
red spider. But Florida orange grow
ers and flower lovers have found that
it would thrive out of doors right
through Our rainy season and seemed
to be very little affected by spraying.
The author of Notes From the Ru-
raj Grounds, discusses the subject and
thinks that he has found satisfactory
remedy which he describes as follows:
The troublesome little spinning
mites known to horticulturists every
where as Red spider, have become a
rather serious outdoor summer pest in
many localities, particularly where
grass-grown bedding plants are freely
used. They Overrun pansy and ver
bena beds, brown the foliage of apple,
pear and chestnut trees, infest many
bush fruits and co1onize on clovers
and weeds, such as the Lamium or
Dead nett1e. They live over in green
houses, and probably endure the winter
outside in the egg state. They delight
IN fierce heat, but contrary to general
opinion, appear to increase as rapidly
in a humid as dry atmosphere pro-
vided the web-like covering over the
foliage is not greatly disturbed by
storms or forcib1e spraying with cold
water, which latter is the regulation
treatment under glass and in the open
where facilities are at hand This is
usually successful when thoroughly car
ried out-r1ot that the adult mites or
spiders are greatly injured by spraying
as ordinarily practiced-but they are
d1slOdged by the current and the in
Vulnerable larvae and eggs that have a
mast-l1ke projection on the upper sur-
face to which threads are attached like
guy ropes to the center-po1e of circus
tent, are bodily carried away AS old
and young mites, as we'll as eggs, are
most abundant on the under surfaces
of the foliage the water spray should
be directed mainly from below and
with as great force as is consistent
with the integrity of the foliage. The
colder the water the better, as adults
as we'll as young may be chilled and
carried away when ice water from the
street service cor partially frozen tanks
in winter is used, while if about the
temperature of the air in a warm
greenhouse or outside in summer, it
would not greatly disturb them With
small, tough foliage, such as that of
roses and tree fruits under glass or
in the open, forcib1e spraying is quite
successful if thoroughly carried out.
Daily Swinging in sunny weather is
the order in every we1l-conducted
glasshouse containing plants of sufG-
clent resistant foliage but with a sue
cession of dull days and with such
tender-leaved subjects as cucumbers,
melons, violets and even grapes, the
ShOwerbath treatment is anything but
satisfactory where severe infection ex-s
lists
Treatment With Insecticides.-As
Red spider is a biting insect, gnawing
with its minute jaws into the substance
of the leaf, it would seem that internal
polSons like the arsenicals would form
practical antidotes, and, indeed, we get
many rather mysterious hints from
abroad, where the pest has long been
serious IN gardens as we'll as green
houses, that Paris green is an a1l-suffi-
c1ent cure when sprayed on at the
proper strength for diverse plants It
is claimed European cu1tivators no
longer fear this pest since the Paris
green treatment has been perfected.
Possibly their chemicals are better
than ours, as our many personal trials
OF the Paris green cure have resulted
in more blistered foliage than injured
spiders. We certainly have not learn