INSECTS IXJURIOUS TO TOBACCO. 227 



necked nozzle which will throw a fine mist upon both the 

 upj)er and nnder surfaces of the leaves, as most of the 

 young are on the lower surfaces. Where refuse tobacco is 

 at hand a good decoction can be made by boiling it at the 

 rate of one pound to a gallon of water for an hour, then 

 draining off, and straining well before spraying. This 

 will not keep for more than two or three days before fer- 

 menting, but where it can be used at once is less expensive 

 than " Nikoteen." The spraying should be done early in 

 the day, when the adult bugs are sluggish and do not fly 

 readily. Keep a sharj^ watch for the ' ' flies '' early in 

 June, and by attacking them upon their first ap23earance 

 they may be kept from s]3reading and be destroyed before 

 they have done much injury and much more readily than 

 when more numerous. 



MINII^G THE LEAF. 



The Tobacco Leaf-miner {Gelechia solanella Boisd.). 

 The larva of a small moth has become quite injurious in 

 parts of Xorth Carolina and Florida by mining the inside 

 of the leaf, and is thus known as the Tobacco Leaf -miner. 

 This insect occurs in other parts of the country, but has 

 become injurious only in the States named and in recent 

 years. The injury is done by the larvae eating out irregular 

 patches of the tissue in the leaves, leaving only the upper 

 and lower surfaces, the lower leaves being infested the 

 worst. The leaves are rendered unfit for wrappers, split- 

 ting and tearing very easily on account of these blotches. 

 A larva does not confine its work to one place, but makes 

 several mines, and a single larva may thus destroy the value 

 of a leaf for wrapping purposes. This migratory habit is 

 of considerable importance, as in leaving the old and in 



