INSECTS. 



179 



destroying them : — " In June last, I observed directions 

 in the Npw England Farmer for destroying the parasitic 

 «nemy; and, that being the particular time to make the 

 -application, { immediately set about it. For this purpose^ 

 I took eight parts of water and two of soft soap, and mixed 

 with these lime enough to make a thick whitewash. With 

 a whitewash and paint brush, I put this upon th^ trunks 

 and limbs of trees, as high as was practicable, filling the 

 cracks in the bark, and covering the whole surface. The 

 effect has been not only to destroy most of the lice, but to 

 ^ive the trees ah improved and vigorous appearance. The 

 outer bark, which, from a stinted growth, had become 

 rough and hard, has, in a measure, fallen off in flakes, and 

 disclosed a soft, smooth bark, the sure indication of health.^' 



E. Perley, Esq. published a description of this insect m 

 the Mass, Agr. Repos. vol. iii. p. 114, and «ays, "The 

 application which I have found most effectual is, washing 

 the trees with lie or brine.'' He observes, that " they 

 resemble blisters, and are near the colour of the bark of 

 the tree. These blisters contain from ten to thirty nits or 

 eggs each, in form like a snake's egg ; which, in a common 

 reason, begin to hatch about the 25th of May, and finish 

 ^bout the 10th of June. These nits produce a white animal- 

 <jule, resembling a louse, so small^ that they are hardly per- 

 ceptible by the naked eye ; which, immediately after they 

 ^re hatched, open a passage at the end of the blister, and 

 scrawl out on the bark of the tree, and there remain, with 

 little motion, about ten days, when they stick themselves 

 last to the bark of the tree, and die. From this little car- 

 tiass arises a small speck of blue mouldy which is most plain 

 to be seen between the 10th and 20th of June, and con- 

 tinues about fifteen days, and then gradually wears off 

 until the old carcass appears, which, by this time, is formed 

 into a new blister, and contains the spawns or nits before- 

 mentioned. These blisters prevent the circulation of the 

 sap, and prove as fatal to the tree as the canker-worm." 



" A correspondent of the Caledonian Horticultural Society 

 recommends clay paint for the destruction of insects, and 

 the mildew on fruit-trees. The instructions are, that you 

 take a quantity of the most tenacious brown clay that can 

 be obtained ; diffuse among it as much soft water as will 

 bring it to the consistence of cream or paint ; pass it through 

 a fine sieve, so that it may be made perfectly smooth and 

 uactuous, and freed from any gritty particles. With a 

 painter's brush, dipped in the clay paint, go carefully over 



