PREVENTION AND DESTRUCTION OF INSECT PESTS. 517 



water, 10 gallons. Boil together in a closed copper, and when boil- 

 ing add a few pints of cold water. When all is dissolved, pour into 

 a barrel or pails ; it then solidifies to a jelly. Use 10 lb. of jelly to 

 40 gallons of water. Paraffin jelly is an excellent remedy for red- 

 spider on fruit, for scale, aphis, and leaf hoppers. 



4. Lime-sulphur washes. — The two following formulae are the best 

 for clearing trees in winter, for pear-leaf blister mite and some 

 oocoidfe (Aspidiotus). They do not kill insect eggs, as some say, 

 nor are lime-sulphur washes at summer strength of much value as 

 insecticides. For winter use only. 



(1) Lime-sulphur-soda wash — 



Lime ... . 3 lb. 



Sulphur ... 3 lb. 



Caustic soda . . 1 lb. 



Soft-soap . . . 1 lb. 



Water . ... 10 gallons. 



Make the flowers of sulphur into a paste with water, and then thin 

 and pour over the lime ; let this boil for a quarter of an hour, then 

 stir and add the caustic soda ; let this boil for some time, and then 

 add the dissolved soap and full complement of water. 



(2) Lime-sulphur-soda-salt wash — 



Quicklime .... 3-6 lb. 



Sulphur 

 Salt . 

 Caustic soda 

 Water . 



3 1b. 

 3 1b. 

 lib. 

 10 gallons. 



Mix soda and lime together, and slake with some hot water in 

 which the sulphur has been incorporated, and then bring up to 

 the full 10 gallons. This is self- boiling. 



(3) Lime-salt wash. — This is useful for cleaning fruit-trees of 

 moss, lichen, &c., and at the same time undoubtedly checks the 

 hatching of apple sucker and plum aphis eggs. Moreover, both 

 ingredients, as they get washed off, pass to the soil, and there do 

 much good. It is made by slaking 1|- cwt. of the best white lime, 

 and adding this, strained through a coarse sieve, to 100 gallons of 

 water in which 15 lb. of salt has been dissolved. Use in March or 

 late February, putting on as thickly as possible. 



5. Soft-soap and Quassia wash forms a very useful cleansing wash 

 for aphides. It is made of 1 lb. of soft-soap, 1 lb. of boiled quassia- 

 chips to 10" gallons of water. The quassia should be boiled separ- 

 ately for two hours, with just sufficient water to keep it liquid. 



