VEGETABLE INSECTS. 269 



STICKERS AND SPREADERS. 



Some plants have a waxy or very smooth foliage to which the 

 ordinary spray does not readily adhere. To remedy this it is neces- 

 sary to add to the spray a so-called sticker or spreader. The follow- 

 ing are a few of the best of these : 



Ordinary soap added at the rate of one pound to five gallons of 

 the spray is effective in making it stick better. 



Two pounds of resin and one pound of sal soda (crystals) boiled 

 for an hour in a gallon of water make an excellent compound for 

 the purpose. This amount is sufficient for forty gallons of spray. 



GENERAL FEEDERS. 



There are a great many insects that do not confine their attacks 

 to one particular crop, but feed on practically all vegetables indis- 

 criminately. These are known as general feeders and are treated 

 separately as follows: 



ANTS. 



Ants, which are so well known to everyone, are occasionally 

 froublesome in the garden. They are very fond of some kinds of 

 seeds, and will often eat the entire soft part of the seed, leaving noth- 

 ing but the empty shell. At other times they will carry off tlie seeds 

 bodily to their nests, where they later devour them. 



The "fire ant" (Solenopsis geminata) occasionally^ feeds on the 

 stems and fruits of some vegetables, building runways of earth over 

 both stems and fruit. 



Indirectly they cause further damage by starting colonies of 

 plant lice on the various vegetable crops, taking care of them and 

 moving them from plant to plant in return for a sweetish substance 

 secreted by the lice. 



Control. — The most effective method of controlling these pests is 

 to destroy their nests. This may be accomplished by pouring a 

 little carbon bisulphide into the nest, and then packing the earth 

 down over the entrance holes so that the evaporating carbon bisul- 

 phide will not escape into the air, but will spread through the soil 

 and kill the ants. Another method is to spray the nests thoroughly 

 with an emulsion of carbolic acid and soap. This spraying should 

 be repeated the following day to insure the destruction of all the 

 ants. The emulsion may be made as follows: 



Water 1 quart. 



Soap : Vj pound. 



Carbolic acid (crude) 1 pint. 



