//? t 



IN5LCT5 AND IN5LCTICIDL5. 





In order to intelligently apply insecticides, and to be able to 

 judge whether one remedy or another will be more effective, it 

 is necessary to understand something of the habits of the 

 different insects attacking plants. Many insects, like cater- 

 pillars, grasshoppers, and beetles, devour the foliage, while 

 others, such as scale insects, plant lice, squash bugs, etc., injure 

 the plant by inserting their sharp beaks into its tissue and 

 sucking the sap from beneath the surface. Insects of the first 

 class can nearly always be destroyed by means of poisons, 

 such as paris green and various forms of arsenates. Those of 

 the second class, or sucking insects, are unaffected by these 

 poisons and must be killed by contact sprays, such as kerosene 

 emulsion, whale-oil soap, crude-oil mixtures, or the lime-sul- 

 phur-salt remedy. Another class of insects, and which none 

 of the above remedies will reach, are those which burrow into 

 the bark and trunks of trees. These must be treated mechan- 

 ically dug out, and barriers or repellants provided to prevent 

 them from regaining entrance into the trees. In the following 

 pages the most successful remedies are given, but, under cer- 

 tain climatic conditions or in abnormal seasons, other steps 

 may become necessary and advice from the State Commission 

 of Horticulture should always be obtained in cases where any 

 doubt exists. 



It should be remembered that the successful application of 

 remedies is dependent upon the exercise of proper judgment. 

 It is essential to first positively identify the insect to be 

 destroyed, then to know the most effective remedy to use, and 

 finally to apply it at the proper season. Promptness, thor- 

 oughness, and persistency, combined with good judgment, are 

 the essential factors necessary for the successful application of 

 insecticides. 



This office is at all times glad to render any assistance pos- 

 sible in determining the identity of insects and in advising as 

 to the remedy to be used for their control. Insects should not 



908 



