THE COMMON MEALYBUG IN CALIFORNIA. 



13 



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 (see fig. 4) 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 2 made up as follows: 



Finely powdered flowers of sulphur part by weight 1 



Commercial tree-banding sticky material parts by weight-- 6 



The two ingredi- 

 ents are mixed to- 

 gether thoroughly 

 with a wooden 

 paddle until of a 

 uniform color and 

 consistency. That 

 possible injury may 

 be avoided, this is 

 not applied directly 

 to the bark, although 

 direct application of 

 the commercial sticky 

 tree - banding m a - 

 terial alone has never 

 been noted in Cali- 

 fornia to affect citrus 

 trees seriously. First 

 coat the trunk with a 

 thin layer of paraffin 

 and apply the mix- 

 ture 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. 



2 Compounded by Mr. J. R. Horton of the Bureau of Entomology, IT. 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.) 



FIG. 4. Keeping ants off citrus trees. A 5-inch band of 

 sulphur and commercial sticky tree-banding material 

 over a wider coating of paraffin. 



