Quassia. Boil 1lb. quassia chips in 4gals. of soft water, for about ten minutes, and after straining off the chips, add 1lb. of soft soap. Apply in the same way as Tobacco water, and syringe the plants with clean water after ten minutes or a quarter of an hour.
Soft Soap. This, in proportion of 8lb. to 12gals. of rain water, and 1gal. of tobacco water added after it is cold, is a cheap and good remedy out of doors, and requires the same mode of application as tobacco water.
Soap Suds. Where bleaching powder, or much soda, is not mixed with these, they make a good insect killer for hard-foliaged plants, but should be washed off with clean water in twelve hours. No mixture containing chloride of lime should be used.
Various. Fir-tree Oil, Gishurst's Compound, and Fowler's Insecticide, are all serviceable, if used as directed on the labels. Hardeman's Beetle Powder, applied with the little French powder-bellows which is sold with it, is very efficacious. For outdoor work, nothing surpasses clean cold water, applied often and forcibly with a syringe.
The best mode of clearing Aphis off Beaus, Currants, &c., is to remove the tops of the infested shoots, and to wash the plants with soapy water, or a solution of Gishurst's Compound. In some cases, a good dusting with soot and wood ashes, while the plants are wet, will keep them in check. The "Golden Eyes" or "Lacewing" fly, and also ladybirds, are to be encouraged, as the larvæ of each of these wage incessant war against Aphides, especially the green varieties, and thin them out considerably.
APHROPHORA. See Frog Hopper.
APHYLLANTHES (from aphyllos, leafless, and anthos, a flower; the flowers are on rush-like branches). ORD. Liliaceæ. A very pretty rush-like hardy perennial, forming dense, erect tufts. It thrives best in sandy peat, requires a warm sunny situation, and slight protection in winter. Increased by division of the roots, and seeds; the latter should be sown in pots in a cool greenhouse as soon as ripe.
A. monspeliensis (Montpelier).* fl., perianth six-cleft, spreading at the apex, deep blue, nearly an inch across, disposed in a small head, on slender scapes. June. l. absent; the very slender scapes are leaflike, with membranous sheaths at the base. South of France, 1791.
APHYLLOUS. Without leaves.