STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 151 



able to sell one at twenty-five cents. They have been swindled so 

 often, and paid so dear for it, that they have come to love to have it 

 so. They are wedded to the agent: it is love's union, and dead 

 trees, plants and grape vines cannot separate them. 



EXPEHIME^^TS WITH KEROSENE EMULSION ON THE APPLE- 

 TREE APHIS. 



By Charles Little, Rochester, N. Y. 



[From Proceedings of the Western New York Horticultural Society, 1887.] 



The summer of 1886 was, in this vicinitv, an unusuallv severe one 

 for nursery stock, particularly chei'ries aud apples ; the black aphis 

 on the cherry and the green one on the apple-trees being unusualh' 

 numerous and persistent, and of course they gave us nurserymen a 

 great deal of trouble. 



The cherry aphis appeared first, but, fortunately for us, were not 

 so numerous on our trees as on those of some of our neighbors. We 

 went over the trees two or three times with tiie old remed}' of whale- 

 oil soap and tobncco-wator, but found it of comparative!}' little use, 

 as a solution strong enough to kill the aphis was also strong enough 

 to aflfect the trees injuriousl}' ; and, as our trees had made a consid- 

 erable growth before the appearance of the aphis, we did not pa^' 

 much attention to them afterwards. 



The apple aphis appeared about the usual time, and, at first, we 

 were not much concerned about them, expecting that they would dis- 

 appear, as usual. But for some mysterious reason of their own they 

 did not take their departure, and began to increase aUrmingly fast. 

 On our yearling trees we tried dipping in whale-oil soap and tobacco- 

 water with success, but to dip a large tree was a slow and costly opera- 

 tion. We then began to look about lor some cheaper and quicker 

 method. We found, by experimenting on a small scale with kero- 

 sene soap, that it was sure death to the aphis, but this soap was open 

 to the same objection as the other remedy ; it was too costly. 



About this time there was published b}' the Department ot Agri- 

 culture, at Washington, a receipt for killing the hop- louse, which 

 was making such ravages in the central part of the State. As the 

 principal ingredient was kerosene, we determined to try it on our 

 apple-trees. It was a decided success. After going over our blocks 

 twice there were few or no aphides left, and the expense was trifling 



