34 



infestations, il, will probably be found satisfactory in keeping 

 moderate or slight attacks in check. Lime-sulphur should 

 be bought ready made, and be diluted when required for use 

 (not before) with water in the proportions recommended by 

 the makers to form a winter wash (usually 3 quarts of lime- 

 sulphur to 10 gallons of water). The wash should be applied 

 in late winter or early spring up to the period when the buds 

 begin to open. 



(3) If the pest has not been dealt with in winter the 

 best time it may be greatly reduced by spraying wTieu the 

 eggs are hatching, about the end of May or early June. At 

 this period a weak paraffin emulsion has proved satisfactory, 

 and probably any other contact insecticide, such as nicotine 

 and soap, would do as well. A suitable paraffin emulsion 

 may be made as recommended in paragraph (1) above, but 

 using the ingredients in the following proportions: 



Paraffin 2 pints. 



Soft soap 1 Ib. 



Water 1.0 gall. 



(4) Growers, when buying fruit trees, especially apple, 

 should examine them for Mussel Scale (and also such pests 

 as Woolly Aphis) before making a purchase. 



(5) It is better to prevent attacks by occasional winter 

 washing than to wait until it has become necessary to deal 

 with a serious infestation, and in this connection it is worth 

 noting that trees which are regularly sprayed and kept free 

 from moss, lichen, &c., seldom suffer from Mussel Scale, 

 even though the washes used have not been specially directed 

 against Scale. 



THE LACKEY MOTH. 



(Clisiocampa, neustria, Linn.) 



The Lackey Moth is an insect which is always present in 

 orchards throughout the southern half of the country but 

 which is rare and seldom harmful north of the Midlands. The 

 chief characteristic of the Lackey from the fruit-grower's point 

 of view, is that it will remain for years in a district without 

 to all appearance increasing in numbers or causing much harm. 

 Then, suddenly, with little warning, the insects become sb 

 abundant that the caterpillars are a veritable plague, stripping 

 trees of their foliage and almost defying efforts to exterminate 

 them. After a season, or perhaps two, the Lackey popula- 

 tion resumes its normal proportions and again several years 

 may elapse before another epidemic breaks cxut. 



