38 
fifteen parts of water, or 1.pound of resin in about 16 gallons of water. 
(The former mixtures were somewhat stronger; 1 pound of resin in 
9 pints of liquid.) The action upon the Phylloxera is much more 
marked and with a mixture of one part of compound in thirty parts of 
water the insects, if immersed for a few seconds only and left exposed, 
will die, notwithstanding this solution will not adhere to parts of the 
roots, not having at this strength the required penetrating power which 
a sufficiently strong solution, say about 1 pound resin in 15 gallons of 
water, has, and more so than any other insecticide I know of. The 
experiments were made on 25-year-old Tokay vines (the only ones re-— 
maining that have withstood the ravages of the Phylloxera), in loamy 
soil, which was completely dry and hard at this time of the year, no 
moisture being noticeable until a depth of from 10 to 12 inches below 
the surface was reached. ' 
In all cases the ground was removed te a depth of about 6 inches, 
forming a hole 4 feet in diameter. Ten gallons of the solution, it was 
observed, penetrated here to 12 inches in depth around the roots where 
the hole was deepest, or about 18 inches from original surface of ground, 
and most of the insects were destroyed to about 16 inches in depth, if 
the 10 gallons contained 4 pints of compound. In the later experiments 
these holes were made only about 2 feet in diameter, and nearly if not 
the same results were obtained with only half the amount or 5 gallons 
of the mixture. This is more practical, as the chief roots only are 
reached and the solution can be used so much stronger. The less 
solution required the better, providing it will do the work, for at 10 gal- 
lons to each plant this would mean 7,000 gallons or over per acre. If 
the solution is applied at another time of the year, say early spring, 
when rain is still expected, the results undoubtedly will be still more 
favorable. I have had excellent results with solutions prepared with 
caustic soda by using 4 pints of this to 16 pints of water only and ap- 
plying 5 gallons of water soon after and 5 gallons the following day. 
This destroyed the Phylloxera to nearly the depth the fluid reached. 
Thus it wili be seen if a small amount of the mixture, sufficiently strong, 
be applied in early spring the following rains will do the rest. As it 
was, with the dry soil, the 4 pints of compound in 10 gallons of diluent 
did better work than the same amount of compound in only 5 gallons, 
‘for the simple reason that it penetrated farther and thus reached more 
of the insects in sufficient strength to kill. It must also be remembered 
that a completely dry soil will take up a large amount of the 1.quid, 
whereas in a moist soil this is not the case. 
The compounds were prepared as formerly, sal soda 3 pounds, resin 4 
pounds, dissolved together with 1 quart of water, and water added 
slowly while boiling to make 40 pints. The caustic soda, which comes 
in 10-pound tin cans, is dissolved in 4 gallons of water, after which 4 
gallons more should be added. This lye will dissolve 100 pounds of 
resin and make 125 gallons of compound, sufficient for 250 plants, and 
