122 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



"Sticker." Difficulty is found sometimes in making 

 poisons stay on a plant as desired. This is overcome by 

 boiling together two pounds of resin, one pound of sal soda, 

 and one gallon of water for an hour or an hour and a half 

 and adding to every one hundred gallons of spray material. 



Kerosene emulsion is a valuble insecticide. It kills by 

 contact and is of greatest importance for destroying sucking 

 insects, such as lice, scale insects and soft caterpillars, but 

 also kills many biting insects. It is made as follows: 



Kerosene oil, 2 gallons, 67 per cent; common soap, or 

 whale oil soap, Y^ pound, 33 per cent. 



Two pounds of soft soap may be used in place of the 

 soap recommended. 



Dissolve the soap over a brisk fire, remove, and add the 

 kerosene while the water is hot. Churn the mixture or stir 

 rapidly until a cream-like emulsion is secured. If well made 

 the kerosene will not separate but, on cooling, the emulsion 

 will thicken into a jelly-like paste that adheres without 

 oiliness to the surface of glass. Soft water will give far 

 better results than hard water for making kerosene emulsion, 

 and soap that is made with potash or soda lye, such as 

 home-made soap, is far better than most of the soaps of the 

 stores, which do not emulsify easily. For plant lice, dilute 

 the emulsion recommended with from twenty to twenty-five 

 parts of cold water. The strength of the application will 

 necessarily depend on the insects to which it is to be ap- 

 plied. For such insects as soft-skinned caterpillars the 

 emulsion should be diluted with not more than ten parts of 

 water. 



Kerosene and milk emulsion may be used as follows : 



Kerosene, 2 gallons 



Sour milk 1 gallon 



