EXTERMINATING NOXIOUS INSECTS. 273 



pupa envelope. The female afterwards becomes distended 

 with eggs. She then gradually dries up, leaving the shell 

 of her body for a covering to the newly-hatched young, of 

 which there are two broods in a year. 



Harris recommends a preventive : To two parts of soft- 

 soap add eight of water, and mix as much lime with it as 

 will make a stiff whitewash, and apply with a brush to the 

 trunk and branches of the infected trees, in the month of 

 June, when the young insects are newly hatched. 



Root Lice, how to Exterminate. In many sections of 

 country, roots of apple-trees, and some roots of other fruit- 

 trees, are infested with immense numbers of root lice. 

 The most effective remedy is to apply liberal quantities of 

 ashes, lime, or barn-yard manure, and dig them into the soil 

 round about the trees, as far as the branches extend. Dr. 

 Warden recommends boiling cheap tobacco, or the stems, 

 in water; after the strength has been extracted from the 

 tobacco, skim out the stems and leaves, and to each bucket- 

 ful of the water add, say, one quart of soap. When the 

 soap becomes mixed, and the decoction is sufficiently cool- 

 ed, it is fit for use. A good plan is to take a barrel to con- 

 tain the mixture to a central part of the ground, where the 

 trees are to be planted, and when one lot of trees is taken 

 out for planting, another lot may be put in. In this way, 

 with but little loss of time, the trees will be immersed long 

 enough to kill all the lice there may be on the roots. Tree- 

 roots once free from lice may be kept so by smearing 

 the trunks above ground, each year, with boiling-hot soap. 

 This should be done in the month of June, when it will 

 answer the double purpose of keeping away the lice, and 

 preventing the Apple -tree Borers from depositing their 

 eggs. The soap put upon the trunks of trees, while it is 

 hot, strikes into the bark, and is not soon washed out. 

 Make a liberal use of the soap at the base of the trunks, 



12* 



