GOOSEBERRY AND IVY RED SPIDER. 99 



Middlesex. This is procurable on application to the manager 

 (I believe) at the same price as ordinary soft-soap, and I know 

 it to act well as a remedy for various insect or mite attacks, 

 and in a bad infestation of Eed S^jider on Lime trees it 

 cleared it thoroughly. 



" Kerosine emulsion " has been found in the United States 

 to be a thoroughly effective remedy for a very similar kind of 

 "Eed Spider" infestation, especially "when a small quantity 

 of flowers of sulphur has been added." 



For this preparation there are various formulae, but one of 

 the American Department of Agriculture recipes is as fol- 

 lows : — Add one gallon of water, in which a quarter of a 

 pound of soft-soap (or other coarse soap if preferred) has been 

 dissolved, boiling or hot, to two gallons of mineral oil ; then 

 churn the mixture by action of a syringe or pump for about 

 ten minutes to the consistency of cream, and if this is properly 

 done the ingredients will not separate after standing. For 

 use as a wash or syringing the "emulsion" must be diluted 

 with at least nine gallons of water to each gallon of emulsion. 



Of this mixture Mr. J. Masters, of Evesham, the well-known 

 fruit-grower, wrote me : — "We have found here that nothing 

 has proved more effective than the ' kerosine emulsion,' as 

 recommended in your ' Manual.' . . . We have found 

 that it is best to apply the preparation to the bushes hot, say 

 80 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. We boil the water, in which 

 we put the emulsion in the proportion recommended ; in this 

 state we cart it away to our gardens in a barrel, and apply it 

 to the bushes by the knapsack pump as soon as possible. 

 The test is for the preparation to be as hot as the men can 

 endure it to their backs. The results have been very satis- 

 factory, — death to the Spiders without injury to the foliage. 

 It should be done on a sunny day, as the Spider is then on 

 the upper surface of the foliage, so that the spray comes 

 immediately in contact with them." 



This point of the Spiders collecting on the leafage, and the 

 desirableness of spraying whilst the sun is on, was noted by 

 various contributors, and amongst other observations in a 

 leaflet of directions for treatment written by Mr. Nixon, before 

 mentioned. In this it is mentioned, at p. 3: — "Bushes should 

 always be syringed when the leaves are dry, after 9 a.m., and 

 preferably when the sun is shining, as then most Spiders are 

 on the surface of leaves, where they can be the most easily 

 got at, taking care to wet all the foliage. If it is likely to be 

 a frost, the syringing should cease about 4 or 5 p.m. in order 

 to allow the foliage to dry before the frost comes on." 



Should there be difficulty in thoroughly mixing the in- 

 gredients of the emulsion so that they remain permanenthj 



h2 



