306 FORCING DEPARTMENT. 



when they are cultivated in a dry atmosphere ; the 

 effluvia arising from the fermenting materials is very 

 prejudicial to these depredators.* 



* The insects to which the Pine plants are most liable, are, the 

 mealy bug, and white scale. 



The numerous recipes that have been published for the destruc- 

 tion of these agents, have, in many instances, proved ultimately 

 inefficacious, and, when not repeatedly applied, the insects will 

 commit considerable devastation both on fruit and foliage. I 

 shall merely quote those receipts which I have found, from prac- 

 tice, the most effectual for eradicating these depredators. Mr. 

 McMurtrie, who is a successful cultivator of the Pine, recom- 

 mends, " simply, equal proportions of soot and flour of sulphur, 

 with a little pounded camphor added, in the proportion of one- 

 half to two pounds of the mixture of soot and sulphur, to be dusted 

 all over the plants after having been washed with a lotion of soft 

 soap and water, say, one pound of soft soap, dissolved in two gallons 

 of water;" and adds, " I am of opinion the camphor might be 

 omitted altogether. " It is, however, necessary to observe, that this 

 mixture of soot and sulphur must not be too freely applied, other- 

 wise it will injure the leaves. 



Griffin's recipe is, " To one gallon of soft rain water add eight 

 ounces of soft green soap, one ounce of tobacco, and three table 

 spoonfuls of turpentine ; stir and mix them well together in a 

 watering pot, and let them stand a day or two. When you are 

 going to use this mixture, stir and mix it well again, then strain it 

 through a thin cloth. If the fruit only be infested, dash the mix- 

 ture over the crown and fruit with a squirt, until it be all fairly 

 wet, and that which runs down the stems of the fruit will kill all 

 the insects that are amongst the bottom of the leaves. When 

 young plants are infested, take them out of their pots, and shaking 

 all the earth from their roots, tying the leaves of the largest plants 

 together, plunge them into the above mixture, keeping every part 

 covered for the space of five minutes, then take them out and set 

 them on a clean place, with their tops declining downwards, for 

 the mixture to drain out of their centre. When the plants are 



