148 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



Indeed, were it not for other insects, our great but little 

 friends, that feed upon and destroy these lice, I doubt if the 

 farmer and horticulturist could succeed at all. The pecu- 

 liar mode of propagation among these lice is strongly inter- 

 esting and anomalous. Both male and female lice appear 

 in late autumn. After pairing the female lays her many 

 eggs about the twigs among the buds of the plants. In the 

 spring only females develop from these eggs. And these fe- 

 males continue to give birth to other females the summer 

 through, so that there are no males at all till autumn comes 

 again. The fecundity of these agamic females is something 

 wonderful. It is estimated that a single pair might be, under 

 the most favorable circumstances, the ancestors of over a 

 a billion lice in a single summer. In green houses and on 

 house plants they are specially harmful, for in such cases 

 there is no check by cold, and the agamic reproduction may 

 go on indefinitely. And in case of plants thus protected the 

 predoceous and parasitic insects are fenced out, and the lice 

 go on with no let or hindrance, except that artificial means 

 are employed. The past season, owing to the wide-spread 

 and alrcost universal drought, was especially favorable to 

 the rapid increase of these pernicious sappers. Many a 

 plant was utterly devitalized because of these myriad sap 

 suckers. 



In all my extended experiments I have found nothing 

 equal to the kerosene and soap mixture as a specific against 

 these pestiferous lice. I make it thus: Mix one quart of 

 soft soap and one pint of kerosene oil thoroughly together^ 

 then add one gallon of water. If thoroughly mixed this 

 liquid will not injure even the most tender foliage, and if 

 dashed onto the planis by use of a force pump, or a Wood- 

 ason spray bellows, I will vouch that no guilty louse will 

 escape. I have used this now for years and with the most 

 perfect satisfaction. By use of the atomizers sold in the 

 drug stores this kerosene and soap mixture can be readily 

 applied to our house plants, and if the latter are set in a 

 zink, or on an oil cloth, the application can be made with 

 ease, and as the odor soon escapes, the remedy is not an un- 

 pleasant one. 



