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Show How To Protect Rose Bushes From The Aphis; i When new growth starts on the rose bushes In tho spring and during tho summer and fall the young growth and the flower buds and tho stems of rose bushes aro often cover-1 ed with a small green or pinkish plant louse, known ns the roso nphlv, that sucks tho sap from the tender portion of tho plant and causes an unhealthy curled condition ot the foltngo and disappointment In tho number nnd tho . quality ot tho flowers produced. Tho rose aphis passes the winter! In the egg stage on tho stems and ' dormant buds of tho roso bushes. The' Insects hatching from theso eggs reach maturity In nbout IG to 20 dnjs all being wingless. Thoy ore pear shaped and cither bright green or pinkish In color. At this stago they begin to produce living young, each Individual In course of nbout 20 days producing 50 to 100 young, which, on maturity aro either winged or wingless wing-less and In turn either green or pinkish. pink-ish. Thus tho tender growth eoon becomes crowded with various sups, colors, nnd shapes ot aphides and to Insuro their progeny with an adequate ade-quate food supply, tho wingless mothers moth-ers migrate to less crowded growth and the winged ones fly to other rose bushes, each starting a colony for herself. her-self. In favorable weather conditions especially In humid atmosphere, many generations may thus follow ono another, an-other, covering every bit of green vegetation veg-etation on the bush with their bodies, their cast skins, honoy dew nnd tho resulting sooty fungus. It enn easily be seen that, had every aphis produced produc-ed In the courso of a season lived Its full life, tho progeny of a slnglo over wintering egg would urn Into millions. mil-lions. Tlie presence of nnts on tho rcro lushes Is an Indication that the aphis Is present, becauso tho nnts collect tho honoy dew from tho aphides m.d, to n certain extent .protect tho aphides aph-ides from their Insect enemies. Natural Control As nbovo Indicated tho roso aphis thrives best In cloudy, humid, wnrm atmosphere, henco with tho nppear-anco nppear-anco of a hot and dry 'spoil they of- i ton disappear as suddenly as thoy np-peared. np-peared. Aside from a variety of causes, llko driving rains, winds, etc., which decimate de-cimate Us numbers considerably the roso aphis Is attacked by other Injects In-jects which either devour them or develop from eggs deposited In their bodies. Ladybirds, lacewlng flics, and the larvae ot two winged files called syrphus files aro among tho former and a number of species of tiny waspllko Insects represent tho Internal parasites. Sometimes theso natural agencies of control are sufficient suffi-cient to keep tho aphides so reduced In numbers that they do little or io harm. Notwithstanding tlie effectiveness effective-ness of natural checks, however, their intermittent character unfortunntely renders their help often too late to save tho flower crop. It Is always advisable ad-visable therefore to watch rose bushes bush-es for aphides and to apply remedies as soon as they are discovered. Remedies Fortunately the roso aphis readily succumbs to artificial methods of control con-trol and with tlie dlfforent st)les ot spray pumps on the market, there Is no excuse for allowing roses to suffer suf-fer from theso Insects. Tho simplest, most commonly used, and often quite effective remedy Is to turn a fine but forceful stream ot water on them by means of tho garden gar-den hose. -Applied often enough this gives satisfactory results. of fish oil or chaper ot soap are often useful as a prompt remedy. The fcoap Is used at the rato of 1 pound to 4 gallons of water. To make the solution, shave the soap Into In-to the water and dissolve by beating, adding enough water afterwards to make up for evaporation. The best remedy for the roso aphis, is 40 per cent nlcotlno sulphato (a liquid which tan be purchased In seed stores) diluted at tho rato ot t part to 1000 to 2000 parts of water, with fish oil soap or laundry soap added at tho rate of 1 pound to SO gallons of the spray mixture. The simplest way to prepare the spray in small quantities quanti-ties and secure satisfactory proportions propor-tions ot tho Ingredients is to put 1 teaspoonful of the nlcotlno sulphato in from 1 to 2 gallons of water and then add one half an ounce of laun dry soap. One spraying Is usually . -100 per cent effective, but If tho first " application has not been thoroughly mndo, a second one may be necessary. In order to prevent tho possible development de-velopment of mildew as a result ot frequent spraying It Is ndvlsablo to to make tho applications in the early morning so that the spray will dry off the plants promptly. Tho spraying dovico to use depends on the amount of spraying necessary. A cheap atomizer, such ns can ,bo bought in nny seed store, Is quite sat-tDfncjory sat-tDfncjory for small plants nnd gardens. gard-ens. Good knapsack and 'barrel pumps aro available for commercial growers. grow-ers. Utah Farmer. |