80 AUSTRALIAN BUG. 



obviously much of it is out of reach, and likewise that 

 most of it which may be in reach, excepting the large 

 females, is too small to be hand-picked) ; also, looking 

 at the great difficulty, in the case of partially clearing 

 trees by shaking off the pest, of making sure that a 

 quantity does not remain on the ground to creep up the 

 trees again, it would appear that what is required is 

 some mixture to destroy the pest on the infested tree. 

 Something is needed 1st, which will not hurt the tree 

 or plant ; 2nd, which will hurt the "Bug," or render it 

 harmless to us whatever stage it may be in ; and 3rd, 

 this mixture needs to be something that can be applied 

 effectually with reasonable ease and at small cost. In 

 the early days of attack soft-soap wash is alluded to as 

 a thing found useful in one locality ; since then its 

 eerviceableness has been brought forward elsewhere in 

 Cape Colony, and most strongly as of use in California, 

 and looking at the great success of soft-soap washes now 

 used on such a large scale for destroying Aphides (no 

 distant relations of these " Bugs ") in England, it 

 appears well worth while to give one or two of the 

 recipes for keeping down the pest in California ; and 

 likewise some of the methods of preparing the mixtures 

 of soft-soap and mineral oil for safe and convenient 

 use, which have been worked out since Prof. Trimen 

 suggested something of this nature might probably be 

 of use. 



If a minute's thought is given to the subject it will be 

 seen that the soft- or whale-oil soap cannot fail to be 

 beneficial by sticking on the surface of the Bugs, and 

 choking their breathing-pores, and likewise by soaking 

 under the egg-bags of the females and destroying both 

 the young which are on the point of escaping, as well 

 as those which are exposed outside. It would also be to 

 a certain extent a preventive to the infestation being 

 blown about the country by the wind, a matter which 

 Mr. Bairstow especially notes as one method of 

 spread. 

 One of the remedies recommended by Mr. Matthew 



