No. 1- ] ]\Iificdl(ineoic!i Nu/.es. 49 



lor next year, but trust to he able to do so wlien I can I;iy the result uf the ijluckin<'B 

 of the sulphured and uon-sulpliureJ areas bel'ore yuu." 



An experiment in applyiiiiif an insecticide, formed of a decoction 

 Tomato decoction for red of tomato leaves, for the deptruction of red 

 ®P"^^'"- spider {'J'etran2/c/tus hioculatus W. M.) on 



tea bushes, has recently been recorded in the publications of the A<'ri.- 

 Horticidtuial Society of Calcutt;i. The experiment was made hy 

 Mr. VV. Weston of the Senijjjeli Tea Company in Assam, and the 

 results, so far as the experiments went, seem to have been to some 

 extent eiieoura<,''iDg, thoug-h the lahour required was very great, and the 

 cost was much heavier than in the case of the sulphur treatment de- 

 scribed in the piecedinjif section. 



The decoction was tried upon a small scale, and Mr. "Weston found 

 that it thoroui^hly extirpated the red spider, without injury to the tea 

 bushes. The treatment had no effect upon the yield of the bushes, for 

 it was found that, as long as a tea bush is suffering from red spider, it 

 does not flush, and as soon as the pest is destroyed the treatment can be 

 discontinued. 



A number of iipplications were found necessary to destroy th^ 

 blight, some of the bushes being sprayed, morning and evening, for 

 from eighteen to twenty-seven days before blight was killed ; eventually, 

 however, the blight was effectually destroyed. The cost of the treat- 

 ment was coiisiderable, one hundred and thirty rupees being the esti- 

 mated cost per annum of destroyin;^' the blight on one acre of infested 

 tea; but as red spider is foiuid to start on a few bushes, whence it 

 spreads over a gaiden, Mr. Weston expects that by keeping a sharp 

 look-out and using the decoction to destroy tiie bh'ght on the bushes, 

 where it fii'st appears and before it has time to spread, there will be no 

 need to spray any considerable area. 



The directions for preparing and applying the wash are given as 

 follows : — 



"Take 80 lbs. of tomato leaves and stalks (bine), throw a portion into a cask, and 

 pulp well with a long wooden mortar. Continue adding till the whole of the 80 lbs. 

 is pulped ; then add 40 quarts of water and mix well. The decoction is now ready for 



use. Old leaves and bine which are stringy are useless The best and quickest 



method of apphing the decoction is with syringes with rose heads. Syringe the 

 bush thoroughly morning and evening." 



The tomato plant grows with great freedom, so a supply of the 

 materials for making the insecticide is said to be readily procuralle. 



There has long been a tradition that the tomato plant has ceitain 

 insecticide properties, but the few records that have been published of 

 attempts made in America to utilize tomato decoctions as insecticides 



u 



