47 



to injure the plant they are feeding on, and so must be dealt with as 

 vermin, viz. by placing a small portion of a very powerful poison 

 on the affected plant. 



There are only three good poisons for this purpose, which are 

 Paris green, London purple, and lead arseniate. 



The sucking insect is the more vulnerable, and can generally be 

 killed by spraying with a wash, which will close up the breathing 

 places or spiracles on the sides of their bodies, and, as they suck the 

 juices from within the plant, this is the only way of killing them. 



Spraying. It is often seen recommended that spraying should 

 be done not only as a cure but as a preventive, but this is only in 

 the case of fungi, as it is quite useless and a waste of time and money 

 to spray when the insects are not there. 



Not only should the orchard be sprayed, but also the surrounding 

 hedgerows, palings, and forest plantations, that help enormously in 

 acting as breeding-grounds for insects such as the winter moth, 

 lackey and little ermine moths, and scale insects, besides many 

 others. Knapsack sprayers are best for small orchards even up to 

 two or three acres, and not garden syringes, as these do not distribute 

 the insecticide evenly on to the tree, and have also to be filled 

 continually, but not so with the knapsack sprayer. 



For large orchards and fruit farms, a large machine must be used 

 that runs on wheels and has a pump handle that one man alone must 

 work. 



The wheels should be large, so that a^greater amount of ground 

 can be gone over than in a small-circumferenced wheel. 



The tyres should be wide, so that the wheels would not sink into 

 the ground, especially on clayey or porous ground. 



The size of the machine will vary with the size of the plantation. 

 The best machines of this size are those made by the " Four Oaks " 

 Company. Machines should be made of brass, copper, or wood, 

 and if of wood, water should be kept in them to prevent warping. 



When buying a sprayer, whether large or small, always see that 

 the pumps are well packed, and that there is a sufficiently large air- 

 chamber to cause a good pressure, and see that there is an agitator 

 in order to stir up the sediment in some of the washes. The chief 

 thing to be studied in spraying is the nozzle, and it should be 

 made so that the water, on passing through, is broken up into the 

 finest spray possible, and as much resembling a Scotch mist as 

 possible. 



A fruit farmer, who is a sprayer, of course, holds the following 

 proverb: "The finer the spray, the better the results." 



Besides spraying for pests, many other means are used, such as 

 picking the larvae off the leaves and putting them in hot water. 

 Chopped " lights " of sheep are deposited on the ground to catch 

 carnivorous insects such as weevils.* 



* "Ground beetles" is meant, one or two species of which attack ripe 

 strawberries. F. J. C. 



