The Canadian Horticulturist. 251 



that nothing but small sized trees and plants can be sent out by mail. Some 

 time ago the Association attempted the plan of distributing large sized trees, 

 sending them to one person in a town and trusting to him to distribute to the 

 others, but this work was not satisfactory, because frequently they were left in 

 this person's garden for a long time without being delivered. We are willing in 

 the future to send large sized trees, where any special agreement is made for 

 their distribution on arrival ; otherwise, sending small trees by mail is, on the 

 whole, more satisfactory. The Sari Synap could not be furnished in large sized 

 trees last spring, for it was only one year since the scions had been received from 

 Russia, and nothing larger than yearling trees could possibly be obtained. We 

 shall do our best to give satisfaction to all, and, where failure occurs, to make up 

 at the succeeding distribution. 



BARK LICE. 



Sir, — Several of my neighbors' orchards are dying with bark lice ; the trees are utterly 

 covered with them, even to the tips of the twigs, and they are now spreading over the new 

 growth. What can be done to prevent the spread of this pest ? 



John Fothergill, Mamock. 



The best insecticides for the destruction of the bark louse have been fre- 

 quently given in the columns of this journal. One of the simplest is a strong 

 mixture of washing soda and water applied to the branches with an old broom, 

 and if a sufficient amount of soft soap is added to bring the mixture to the con- 

 sistency of paint, it will be still more effective. Kerosene emulsion is another 

 effective remedy for the bark louse; but any of these applications will be less 

 useful if applied at any other season than in the month of June, when the young 

 lice are young and tender, and, therefore, easily destroyed. In the leisure of 

 winter time the trees effected should be well scraped, thus removing a large 

 number of the lice and a considerable portion cf the scaly bark, in which they 

 hide. By this means the tree will be prepared for the applications of the 

 remedy when the proper time comes. 



BLACK KNOT, 



Sir, — I notice that Prof. Farlow, of Harvard University, has successfully used red 

 oxide of iron with linseed oil as a paint to destroy black knot on plum trees. VVould not a 

 liberal dressing of copperas around our plum and cherry trees fortify them to some extent 

 against the attack of fungus by absorbing some of the iron, or would plum and cherry trees 

 not absorb it ? 



Again, would not iron sprayed on the trees in the early spring, before the foliage 

 appears, be destructive to the fungus spores which might be blown upon them ? 



SUBftCRIBBR. 



The plum and cherry trees would not be likely to absorb a sufficient quan- 

 tity of iron to prevent the spores of the black knot from growing upon them, for 



