INSECTICIDES. 9 



Lye wash. — 1 pound concentrated lye, or potash 1^ pounds, 

 to o gallons water. On an average, 1 bushel of good wood 

 ashes contains about 4 pounds of potash. For scale-insects. 

 Common home-made lye is often diluted with water and 

 applied to apple branches with a brush as a remedy for the 

 bark-louse. It is also recommended as a remedy for the 

 cabbage-worm, being sprinkled on the cabbages with a 

 watering-pot. If concentrated lye is used, a pound should 

 be diluted with a barrel of water. 



Lye and sulphur wash. — Concentrated lye, 1 pound, or pot- 

 ash, 1;^ pounds ; sulphur, li pov.nds ; water, 3 gallons. For 

 scale- insects. 



Lye and whale-oil soap wash. — (a) Dissolve 1 pound of 

 concentrated lye in one gallon of water ; add to this 1^ 

 pounds of sulphur and boil until sulphur is dissolved. (6) 

 Dissolve 14 pounds of the best whale-oil soap in 54 gallons 

 of water; add solution a to 6 and boil for a short time. 

 For scale; used as a summer wash when the first brood is 

 hatching. Use at 130° Fahrenheit, thoroughly washing the 

 trunks and larger branches and spraying the smaller 

 branches and twigs. 



Oil and alkali wash. — 1. 1} gallons of whale oil, 25 pounds 

 sal-soda; dissolve the sal -soda in 25 gallons of water and 

 heat it to boiling. When boiling, pour the whale oil in. 

 Apply the wash when cooled to 130° Fahrenheit. 



2. 1 pound of concentrated lye (American) of 80 per 

 cent ; or 4 of a pound of Greenbank powdered caustic 

 soda, of 98 per cent ; or 1 pound of solid caustic soda, of 

 76 per cent ; or 1^ pounds of solid caustic soda of 63 per 

 cent. These varying proportions are given because the 

 caustic sodas in the markets are of different strengths and 

 purity. Whichever one is chosen, add to each amount 

 named i pound of commercial potash and dissolve in 6 

 gallons of water. 



Both washes are for scale- insects on deciduous trees in 

 winter. (Calif ornian.) 



Paraifine oil. — Essentially the same as Kerosene, which see. 



