Evening star., 1935-04-27
Aphids.

hRAB&8Ss
THE tender foliage Of roses, tulips
and other plants Is favorite food
for aphids or plant lice as they
are often known. These insects feed
by thrusting their mouth parts into
the soft tissues and drawing on the
plant sap. Hence poison sprays can
not control them and resort must
be had to smothering type materials,
such as nicotine. pyrethrum and oil
emulsions. A nicotine sulphate ma
terial, generally used by home gar
deners, may be secured from most
all seed and hardware stores. Pre-
pared as directed on the package, 1t
will quickly rid the foliage of the
pests.
Were it not for ants one or two
sprayings would quickly solve the
aphid problem. These busy insects
quickly bring some aphids to replace
the destroyed colony and in a few
days the spraying must be repeated.
The ants feed on a sweet excretion
manufactured by the aphide. Hence
the destruction of ant nests with
barbon bisulphide may very well be
considered part Of the aphid con-
troll program. There are SO many
different species Of aphids that the
battle must continue more or less
throughout the growing season. Ger
tain plants. such as tulips, roses,
chrysanthemums and nasturtiums,
are particularly susceptible to attack.
Another bad feature Of aphids is
that they may carry disease from
plant to plant. The color breaking
of tulips, produced by virus. becomes
a serious problem largely because Of
the aphids.
Garden Notes.
T>OR shady spots in which grass
II simply will not thrive, one may
try Japanese spurge, ground
myrtle or English ivy but many times
the failure to grow grass under trees
is partly or even largely due to in
sufficient nutriments for both the tree
roots and the grass. Too many gar
deners expect grass to grow nicely
without feeding. Certain species Of
grass Withstand shade better than
others and, to meet this need, seeds
men have prepared special mixtures
for shady locations.
Thre are an unusual number of
tent caterpillars in the apple and
other fruit trees this Spring. These
nests should be destroyed as soon as
discovered for as the worms gain in
size they naturally increase in eating
capacity. One may spray the foliage
with arsenate Of lead or simply hand
pick the worms in the evening when
they are all in the nest. Burning the
nests is harmful to small trees and
none too good for any tree. One
ounce of lead paste in six quarts of
water will make an effective spray.
Pollination of fruit trees could not
have proceeded any too well during
the cold wet weather because of the
fact that insects. particularly honey
bees, were not flying. Rather fortu-
nately, apples had not blossomed. In
many cases nature offsets the bad
effects of cold weather by the simple
expedient of not having all the bios
SONS open at one time.
Many ANIMALS, such as ZinniaS and
marigolds, can be sown in the loca-
ton where they are expected to bloom.
This avoids the task of transplanting.
Where plants come up too thickly
they will of necessity require thinning.
Forget-me-nots are unusually salts
factory early Spring plants. Already
some of the species are in bloom and
they make brilliant show of light
blue when arranged in beds. Some of
the species are of two years duration,
biennial. and others perennial All
are prolific seeders and the home gar
dener will have little difficulty in per-
petuating his stock
DR.. H. r. Watkins of Somerset calls
attention to the fact that peony va
rieties differ considerably in the time
they emerge from the soil in the
Spring. La Cygne, the treasured white
variety, Is one of the earliest. The