INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CITRUS FRUITS 609 



In hot water pint 1 



Cool. Add poison solution to sirup and stir well. Add 

 to the poisoned sirup: 



Honey pounds 1 Y^ 



Mix thoroughly. 



"A number of experiments with banding in orchards infested 

 with the Argentine ant have proved the practicability of this method 

 of keeping trees free of ants during their active season, and this 

 method of control is recommended as the most effective one tried. 

 Before the band is applied the tree should be pruned so that the 

 lowest branch is fully a foot above the ground, and all rubbish 

 should be removed from beneath the tree and the soil cultivated 

 to destroy all grass and weeds. The only banding material which 

 has given satisfaction is a mixture * made up as follows: 



Finely powdered flowers of sulphur . . . part by weight 1 



Commercial tree-banding sticky material 



parts by weight 6 



" The two ingredients are mixed together thoroughly with a 

 wooden paddle until of a uniform color and consistency. That 

 possible injury may be avoided, this i's not applied directly to the 

 bark, although direct application of the commercial sticky tree- 

 banding material alone has never been noted in California to affect 

 citrus trees seriously. First coat the trunk with a thin layer of 

 paraffin and apply the mixture of sulphur and sticky tree-banding 

 material over this. Paraffin that has a high melting point is 

 preferable, and it is applied with a brush while melted. It hardens 

 almost immediately, after which the mixture just referred to can 

 be applied in a band about 5 inches wide and almost one-fourth 

 inch thick. A single application of this material has kept trees 

 free of ants for several months during warm weather. 



"Ants that are on trees at the time of banding usually drop off 

 within a day or two unless nests are in the trunk or branches. If 

 nests are present, however, they should be destroyed by applying 

 pyrethrum or some other ant powder, or with a fine spray of gasoline 

 from a plumber's torch, or with cresolated emulsion applied with a 



""Compounded by Mr. J. R. Horton of the Bureau of Entomology, U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture. (See Horton, J. R. Some weatherproof bands 

 for use against ants. In Mo. Bui. Cal. State Com. Hort., v. 5, no. 11, p. 

 419-421. 1916.) 



