GOOSEBEERY AND CURRANT SAWFLY. 107 



saves successive trials. I have at this minute that of Messrs. 

 Hemingwaj^ of Mark Lane, London, before me. 



Tlie following note was sent me on May 10th, 1895, by Mr. 

 Nixon, from Great Eversden, near Cambridge: — "With re- 

 gard to the London-purple, I have used it for the last five to 

 sis years, and at the outset made sad havoc amongst my trees 

 and foliage, in fact I killed numbers of trees by giving too 

 strong an application. I am wiser now, and have found out 

 the proper proportions in which to mix it. Nothing appears 

 to me so good, cheap, or easy of application. I use Heming- 

 way's, and mix in the proportions of 1 lb. of purple to 200 

 gallons of water. The purple itself should be mixed to the 

 consistency of paste before finally mixing with the bulk of 

 water, and this bulk must be well stirred every time the 

 spraying-machine is filled, otherwise the purple will be all at 

 the bottom, and the water at the top, the effect of which is 

 that in some places the caterpillars are not killed, and in. 

 others the foliage is scorched (I am speaking of Gooseberry 

 bushes). 



"Our No. 86 spraying-machine, manufactured by Messrs. 

 Boulton & Paul, of Norwich, is an excellent implement for 

 spraying this insecticide for the reasons that for this purpose 

 I have a return-pipe attached to the pump, so that a strong 

 jet of the mixture is continually forced through the bulk which 

 the tank of machine contains, thus keeping the whole, as it 

 w^ere, boiling and well mixed up. 



"The caterpillars are not killed the same day the application 

 is made. The day after some will be found dead ; the second 

 day, a good number; and the third da}^ as a rule, the bushes 

 will be cleared. Many people make a grave error here. They 

 expect the insects to be killed in a few hours after the appli- 

 cation, forgetting that they must have time to eat the poisoned 

 foliage, and that it must have time to do its work. Conse- 

 quently they will apply a stronger mixture, which is certain 

 to scorch the foliage, and thus they complain that purple can 

 only be effective at such a strength as will likewise burn the 

 foliage. This is entirely wrong, for after years of experience 

 I can confidently guarantee that, mixed and used in the 

 proportions and way I have named, London-purple will kill 

 almost every caterpillar that may be present. I am proving 

 this every day in my own orchards." — (F. N.) 



To the above, Mr. Nixon added that he sent me a few 

 Gooseberry leaves with the caterpillars on them, as he wished 

 me to see exactly how they died. These had been syringed 

 with London-purple in the way described at noon on the 

 previous day (that is, just twenty-four hours from time of 

 writing). Mr. Nixon noted that they were not quite dead 



