PESTS. 



6l 



is thrown on the charcoal. When the pump is at work a current 

 of air is forced into the furnace. The air enters the lower part 

 of the furnace and drives out the poisonous fumes produced by 

 the combustion of the powder through a hole near the top of the 

 furnace with which is connected a second flexible tube. In 

 practice the nose of the latter is placed in a gallery of an ants' 

 nest and the pump started. The fumes are driven into the 

 galleries, and all crevices through which they escape should be 



FIG. 5. " The Universal Ant Destroyer." 



stopped with clay. Two or three minutes' treatment is usually 

 sufficient, but if, when examined a week later, any living termites 

 be found the treatment should be repeated. The apparatus 

 costs about 4. in Natal. The Government entomologists of 

 both Natal and Ceylon have tested it, and found it works 

 satisfactorily. 



INSECTICIDES. 



In addition to fungicides, sprays, &c., a stock of insecticides 

 should be stored by every Para rubber planter. 



Insect pests may be divided into three main sections 

 sucking insects, leaf-eating insects, and boring insects. 



Sucking Insects are those such as plant-lice (aphidae), scale 

 insects, and mealy-bugs, &c., which suck the plant juices by 

 means of a slender tube which they insert into the tissues of the 

 plant. To exterminate them it is necessary to apply what are 

 known as " contact-poisons " which destroy the insects when 



