642 Journal of A. gri culture. [10 Oct.. 1910. 



To get rid of this creature the best thing to be done is to drain the 

 land, and give the sheep licks of salt and iron. The birds are a great 

 help too, as they eat the snails, without which the fluke could not increase. 



SPRAYING. 



T. Diiddcridge, age ij. 



Spraying means applying some liquid that will destroy pests without 

 injuring the crop or plant. Every plant is the natural food of some insect, 

 or the host of some fungus. A person may say, " Why do you destroy 

 insects "'? Well, it is this way. If we were to let the insects go on in 

 their own way, they would eat the best of the crop, and the grower could 

 only have what was left. 



To cope with these destructive creatures we must know a little of their 

 life history. We must know by what means these insects get their food, 

 or we would most likely u.se the wrong liquid with which we spray. All 

 ivisects are not destructive. Some insects such as the mantis, ladybird, 

 and lace- wing, are very useful. There are tW'O classes of insects, and if 

 we are going to sjirav our plants we must know how to deal with them. 

 The two classes are: — 



1. Gnaiv'ing. — The gnaw'ing insects have jaws, and to kill them we 

 must poison their food, by using Paris-green or arsenic ; then their first 

 meal will be their last. 



2. Sucking. — The sucking insects have beaks, and we cannot kill them 

 by jjoisoning their food, because instead of eating the crop or fruit, tliev 

 bury their beaks in it and suck their food by means of this beak. We must 

 use something that will kill them by contact or smother them, such as 

 tobacco, kerosene emulsion or resin wash. 



Pests introduced into new lands are generally the worst, because they 

 have not got their enemies to contend against, and therefore thev increase 

 very fast. 



Fungus disea.ses destroy the plant cells. The first spray was a whisk, 

 which was used by the French, who went around their vines with their 

 bucket of spraying liquid, sprinkling them with the whisk. In France the 

 townspeople used to come down to the country and take what grapes they 

 w anted and then go back again. One year a certain man, who owned one 

 of these large vineyards, got .some copper salt and sprinkled all the outside 

 vines with this poisonous liquid and put up a sign to say that the grapes 

 were poisoned. That same year the fungus disease was verv bad, and all 

 the vines around the district but these few were badly injured. In this 

 way they found by accident a good mixture for killing fungus disease. 

 This was afterwards called Bordeaux mixture. Dry sprays, such as 

 sulphur, are used for vines, and for wet sprays we u.se the spray pump. 

 We must apply the spray as fine as a mist to be any good at all. 



ERINOSE. 



.4. Williamson, age 14.. 



Ticks and mites are related to the spider family. They got their 

 family name from a lady who was turned into a spider. This lady's name 

 was Arachne. These small animals are remarkable for their structure, the 

 great number of kinds, and their breathing arrangements. Some plants, 

 especially vines, are attacked by red spider, red mites and gall mites. 



Erinose is another disease on the leaf of a vine. It is from a Greek 

 w^ord meaning woolly. This disea.se is caused by the gall mite, also called the 



