4-t 



is a contact poison and loses its effectiveness in a short time. It is 

 essential, therefore, that it shall be used when quite fresh, and that 

 it shall reach all the insects that may be feeding upon the plants. 



A better and more lasting remedy is the arsenate of lead. This may 

 be safely applied to the foliage of any garden plant likely to be in- 

 fested, and once sprayed the foliage will remain safe for a long time. 

 All the slugs succumb readily to arsenical poisons and complete exemp- 

 tion from trouble may be easily secured. None of the ordinary shade 

 trees are subject to destructive attacks by larvffi of this character. 



INSECTICIDES. 



As against those insects that feed upon plant tissue and are to be 

 reached through the stomach, there is nothing better than arsenic in 

 some form. Paris green is the poison most generally employed and 

 is, on the whole, the cheapest and most easily available. Paris green 

 of good quality contains about sixty per cent, of arsenic, combined with 

 copper in such a way as to be practically insoluble in cold water and 

 only sparingly soluble in warm water. By adding one pound of lime 

 when the Paris green is mixed up, the remaining free arsenic is com- 

 bined. It may be used with safety on deciduous shade trees of all 

 kinds at the rate of one pound in one hundred and fifty gallons of 

 water. It may be used on most fruit trees at the same rate, but on 

 peach and plum is apt to cause injury. It should not be used on 

 tender garden plants and must not be used on conifers of any kind. 



The safest arsenical poison is arsenate of lead. It may be pur- 

 chased in paste foi-m in one-pound (or larger) boxes, and is harmless 

 to all sorts of foliage at any reasonable strength. At the rate of one 

 pound in fifty gallons of water it kills practically all leaf -feeding in- 

 sects, and may be used on even conifers with absolute safety. Against 

 most leaf -feeding insects one pound in seventy-five gallons of water will 

 prove satisfactorj'-, and, used at that strength, its cost is about double 

 that of Paris green. Its advantages are harmlessness to foliage, which 

 makes it safe to give into the hands of careless laborers, and adhe- 

 siveness, remaining upon the foliage a longer time than any other of 

 the stomach poisons. On the whole, therefore, arsenate of lead is 

 recommended, not only for the garden, but for shade trees in cities, 

 towns and villages. Under ordinary circumstances it is better to buy 

 the arsenate in paste form, ready made. Where much of it is to be 



