Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1919-06-20

aphids. This is the invading army, and
it should be met not with flags afiying and
showers of candy, but with spray pumps
and showers of poison spray.
The entomologists tell us that there are
about 325 species of the plant lice, so
there is kind for almost every variety of
plant; yet they all have the common char
acteristic of being small and so soft bodied
and tender that you can hardly pick one
up without killing it. The question then
naturally arises, how can such delicate
organism become such menace to thrifty
treesl And the answer is, numbers, sheer
overwhelming numbers. The aphidS are
the charter members of the anti-race-sui-
eide club By way of a bit of arithmetic
let us follow one egg through summer
season. just one egg that was tucked away
in sheltered crevice in the bark over
winter and Matched out about the time
the leaves burst forth on neighbor Browns
vigorous young maple tree. This young
aphid, when about three days old, is mature
enough to produce young aphids alive at the
rate of about ten a day, and each of those
ten in turn. when from three to five days
old, is capable of producing young aphids
end Of the first two weeks we have the
amazing total of 1,548.7 aphds, at least
that was the number obtained just before
we broke the adding machine. Now, il
weather conditions are favorable, this
would continue until fall, at which time the
original female would have become the
prOgenitress of nearly six billion offspring
You will have to take the scientists word
for that, for, as mentioned before, the add
ing machine refused to register much after
the first million and a half. Fortunately
for us there are generally cold, wet spring
days which the tender aphids are unable
to survive, but this year the recent success
sion Of hot, muggy days has enabled the
aphids to get good start toward that six
billion mark.
The aphid does not eat the leaves or
tender shoots. He sticks a pump he has
for the purpose into the leaves and sucks
out the plant juices Deprived of their
proper amount of moisture, the leaves at
once curl and then wither, while the
young shoots become wilted; and eventu-
ally die. The sap after passing through
the aphid's body is elected in those sticky
drops known as Honey Dew" which gives
the leaves such vanished appearance.
The ants are very fond of this honey. In
fact, the aphids have been called the ants
cows. because the ants take this dew
from them so regularly.
| DAMAGE.
These aphids cannot kill trees in one
season, but they can appreciably retard
the growth and prevent the maturity of
fruit. and they can make a city's shade
trees unsightly to look at and unpleasant
to walk beneath. Delay is costly-to be
informed should be to act.
| REMEDIES.
Since these insects are leaf suckers and
not leaf eaters, you must meet them with
spray attack, a chemical solution power
full enough to kill the aphids the minute
it strikes them. One that will not harm
the foliage, but will be nevertheless effec-
tive is nicotine sulphate. preparation
which can be obtained, with proper drec-
tons for strength Of mixture and method
of application, from any reliable seed
house.
The private owner WILL of course, take
care of his own trees in lawn and orchard.
In the case of street trees in towns, the
municipal authorities should take the mat
ter in hand. Under the Roadside Tree
Law. the State Board of Forestry can see
that street trees are planted and properly
trimmed, but our funds are extremely
limited and municipal expenditure is
necessary to give adequate protection to
city trees from insect and fungus attacks.