SAFEGUARD YOUR ROSES

Evening Star, Issue 23101, 29 October 1938, Page 23

SAFEGUARD YOUR ROSES

CURES FOR COMMON PESTS v There are many pests from which rose ,trees need protection, especially the many kinds of caterpillars, which eat the buds. A rather unpleasant but effective way of destroying these is to pick them off by hand. Every damaged leaf should be squeezed and pinched off (says ‘ Popular Gardening,’ London). Caterpillars should be searched for in the early stages when they are just hatched. If they are so plentiful as to become a menace, arsenate of lead should be sprayed over the trees. This can be bought is paste form and requires only to be mixed with water. Rose maggots are very destructive and may ruin the whole of the first crop of bloom. They must be searched for early in the season. It is always wise to look with suspiciqn upon a curled or rolled leaf. When maggots are found, burn the bud or spray the tree at this time of year with nicotine solution.

The presence of leaf-raining maggots can be detected by the disfiguring lines to be seen on the leaves. The leaf can he crushed by pressure of thumbnail, but a better remedy is to remove and burn all leaves which show that the insect has been there.

Aphides or greenfly can do a tremendous amount of harm because of their countless numbers. These insects commence work in the autumn and layj their eggs, hiding them away in the rose, stems and leaf stalks. _ In spring the eggs are hatched in a suitable place on the wood or foliage of the rose. / There are several remedies. The unpleasant but useful one of crushing the aphides with finger and thumb is effective, afterwards cleansing the shoots with soft water. Tobacco water can be made by dissolving soft soap in 2gal of hot water, with which is mixed the juice obtained by steeping 4oz of tobacco in one quart of boiling water. Leave this until it is cold, mix well, and dilute with 2ogal_of water. Better still, buv a prepared insecticide. Paraffin emulsion _ is also useful against greenfly. This can be made by dissolving a handful of soft soap in a little hot- water, adding an eggcupful of paraffin and 2gal of water. This must be kept in thorough solution, otherwise the paraffin will float on the As all remedies which include soft soap are liable to clog the pores of the leaves the trees should be sprayed with clear water two davs after the second application. Spraying, in any case, is advisable fairly frequently through the season.