February, '19] BRITTON AND ZAPPE: KEROSENE V. NICOTINE 79' 



Mr. L. B. Smith: In eastern Virginia we have viviparous females 

 occurring throughout the year. Our most serious outbreaks of the 

 green peach aphis occur during the winter. At certain times they will 

 be scarce, then, as Dr. Headlee described, the aphids will appear in 

 enormous numbers. The thirty-first of October of this year was 

 particularly warm; the air was filled with winged forms of the pink 

 and green aphid which were apparently migrating from weeds and 

 kale to young spinach plants. The spinach became heavily infested 

 and the outbreak was so serious that by November 25, several ship- 

 ments were seized by the health authorities in New York City. The 

 yield was also cut severely. At the present time, as a result of the out- 

 break of aphids, there is occurring an epidemic of the disease known as 

 spinach blight. I believe the southern conditions influencing the 

 development of aphids are quite different from those further north 

 where the sexual forms are produced. If the conditions which cause 

 the outbreaks can be foreseen and the control measures applied in 

 time, it will undoubtedly save in a great measure some of the losses 

 which now occur. 



We have recently perfected a means of spraying young spinach plants. 

 Spinach is a low-growing plant and is difficult to spray effectively. By 

 using a gasoline outfit and maintaining sufficient pressure, we have 

 been able to get very good control of the aphids this fall. I might also 

 say that in spraying for the control of the green pea aphid, the pink 

 and green aphid of potato and the green peach aphis, our results have 

 been similar to Dr. Headlee's, we have had to use strong solutions. 

 With the most careful spraying it is impossible to soak every aphid on a 

 plant, particularly spinach or potatoes, when the leaves are savoyed 

 or curled, with any arrangement of nozzle that we have been using. 

 By having a solution with the proper wetting power, so that when the 

 spray strikes the aphid it will form in a film, good results can be ob- 

 tained by using the stronger solution. Under field conditions, on the 

 crops mentioned, we have not had good results with Black-Leaf 40 

 diluted more than one to six-fifty, unless excess quantities of soap are 

 added. 



Mr. p. J. Parrott: The entomologists in New York, during the 

 last fifteen or twenty years, have been called upon at different times to 

 carry on some very extensive work against sucking insects, such as the 

 apple red bugs, the pear psylla and several species of plant lice, par- 

 ticularly those attacking apple trees and cabbage. What spray to 

 recommend to a farmer is oftentimes a puzzling question, because in 

 addition to effectiveness, one must also consider economy and safety. 

 It is the general opinion of the entomologists of New York that the 

 great merit of the nicotine spray is its safeness. Before the nicotine 



