22 The Custard Apple in Queensland. 



5. All wounds, especially the larger ones made in pruning, should 

 be brushed over with Stockholm tar 



6. No fruit should be allowed to lie on the ground; 



7. Grub-infested fruit should be collected and destroyed by boiling 

 or burning. 



Fruit-fly seldom attacks Custard Apples, but grub-infested fruits 

 have been found i.e., those which have been bruised or had fallen and 

 burst. The larva? of the maize moth have also been found in the fruit. 

 They generally enter where the skin is soft i.e., where two fruits touch 

 or where a fruit touches a branch. 



Towards the end of September in each year trees of the Island and 

 Mammoth varieties lose their leaves in a varying degree, and they may 

 be almost leafless for several weeks. This period is the time for pruning 

 and spraying. If the trees are infested with scale and smut, they should, 

 after pruning, be thoroughly sprayed with lime and sulphur or kerosene 

 emulsion. If a few old leaves remain after pruning, and they are 

 infested, it is better to pull them off and destroy them with other infested 

 material. Insecticides applied at this period check the growth and 

 development of pests more successfully than at any other time, and the 

 spraying solutions will reach all parts more thoroughly. 



In seasons when the fruit becomes infested with mealy bug it 

 amy be found helpful to give the trees another spraying when the 

 first crop of fruit is about half-grown. Kerosene or kerosene-carbolic 

 emulsions are generally preferred for combating mealy bug. The natural 

 enemies of this pest generally reduce its numbers considerably, but in 

 some seasons it becomes quite abundant and renders much of the fruit 

 unsightly; additional work is also laid on the grower, who has to brush or 

 wash the fruit before packing it. A third spraying, aiming chiefly at the 

 fruit, might be necessary when the fruit is nearly full grown. The first 

 spraying with a strong solution or emulsion when the trees have just 

 been pruned and are leafless will be found useful for this as for many 

 other pests. 



Kerosene Emulsion. 

 Kerosene, 2 gallons; 

 Soap (whale-oil or soft soap), ^lb. ; 

 Water, 1 gallon. 



Boil the water and in it dissolve the soap, then add the kerosene. 

 Whilst still hot churn thoroughly with a pump till a thick emulsion is 

 obtained and no free oil. For spraying use one part of this emulsion to 

 twelve parts of water. 



Carbolic Acid Emulsion. 

 Crude carbolic acid, 1 gallon; 

 Whale-oil soap, 8 Ib. ; 

 Water, 8 gallons. 



Dissolve the soap by boiling in the water, then add the carbolic acid. 

 For spraying acid 20 gallons of water to every gallon of the emulsion. 



