CABBAGE FLY AND APHIS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 946, 12 April 1930, Page 30

CABBAGE FLY AND APHIS

The successful cultivation of garden plants often depends on the ability of the grower to combat and destroy the various insect and fungus pests, which, in our genial climate, multiply so much more rapidly than in colder climates, and which, if unchecked, will often ruin the work of a season in a few hours. The great secret is to be continually on the watch, and to attack them at the outset, so that they never really get a fair hold of the plants. Aphides are soft-bodied insects feeding on green shoots and young tender leaves; they are particularly prevalent on roses when they make their new shoots, and are one of the worst troubles of the gardener, and a continual watch should be kept so as to attack them as soon as they appear. As with most other pests, they very rapidly increase, one female producing millions in a few weeks; and, if not dealt with while their numbers are small, they are very difficult to eradicate. For delicate-foliaged plants we prefer a solution of Nicotine or Tobacco Extract (Black Leaf 40) with soft or Sunlight soap. This is a very safe insecticide. There are other extracts, but the above is the standard, and may be used in all cases where a solution of tobacco stems is recommended. The aphides on cabbage, turnips and cauliflowers are very troublesome in the summer season in all except the coldest districts, and in many places it is almost impossible to succeed with these crops till the late cummer, when the aphides usually disappear. Continual spraying with weak tobacco extract will keep them in check; at the same time, every effort should be made by copious watering and manuring to stimulate the growth of the crop, as the plants whose growth is arrested are the ones which arc infested and which tend to spread the disease.