12 



when the soap is dissolved, add the pint of kerosene, and proceed as in 

 the soft soap formula. This is one-fifth oil, and should be diluted with 

 twice its own bulk of water before using. 



Crude Carbolic Acid. 



Where diluted or emulsified, this preparation has some very good in- 

 secticidal properties, and is apparently superior to the kerosene emulsion, 

 for certain insects, especially for ants. Always use the crude carbolic 

 acid as it is cheaper and quite as effectual as that which is refined. 



(A.) Carbolic Acid Emulsion. — Take one pound of hard soap, or one 

 quart of soft soap, dissolve in one gallon of water, into which pour one 

 pint of crude carbolic acid and agitate the whole mass into an emul- 

 sion, which will remain in this condition for a long time. In treating 

 the plants, take one part of this standard emulsion and dilute it with 30 

 equal parts of water ; it can probably be used stronger without injury to 

 the plants. If the emulsion is cold and semi-solid, use several parts of 

 warm water at first. 



(B.) Carbolic Acid mixed with Soft Soap. — In the proportion of one 

 part of acid to sixteen of the soap, this makes a wash which has been 

 highly recommended for all kinds of borers and for scale insects. The 

 acid may be made into an emulsion and used as a spray, if preferred, 

 making the emulsion not weaker than one to ten when diluted. 



(C.) When mixed with Water at the rate of a tablespoonful of acid to 

 two gallons of water, or at the rate of a pint to a barrel of water, and 

 sprinkled over the plants, carbolic acid has been found to be a temporary 

 repellant for some insects. Mixed with water in the proportion of 1 of 

 acid to 3 of water it has been found to be very effective in Jamaica 

 against ants in trees and in houses. Jeyes' Fluid is often used for this 

 purpose, as it mixes readily with water. 



Bitter Wood as an Insecticide. 



" The original Quassia wood was derived from Quassia amara, L., a 

 small tree of Surinam The supply, however, fell short, and the Quassia 

 of commerce is now almost entirely derived from the tree known as 

 Jamaica Quassia or Bitter Wood (Picrama excelsa. Lindl.) 



"This is a large tree 40 to 60 feet high, with a trunk somtimes attain- 

 ing a diameter of one to two feet. It has pinnate leaves not unlike an 

 ash, hence one of its colonial names, bitter ash. The flowers are small, 

 yellowish -green in colour, followed by small black berries . . . The 

 wood is of a pale yellowish colour, it has no odour, but is 

 of an intensely bitter taste. Quassia chips are officm-1 in the 

 Pharmacopoeias of Britain, India and the United States They 

 possess tonic and stomachic properties, and are valuable in dys- 

 pepsia and debility. Bitter cups (in which water allowed to stand ac- 

 quires a bitter flavor) are made from Quassia wood. The active prin- 

 ciple is Quassia or Quassite, which appears in small white crystals, very 

 bitter and inodorous. It is present in the proportions of about ^ per 

 cent. Although an infusion of Quassia is harmless to human beings, it 

 is remarkable that the drug acts as a narcotic poison to animals. It is 

 used in what is known as papier mouri to destroy flies, and fruit and hop 

 growers also use large quantities at certain times of the year to destroy 

 aphides and so called "blights," To prepare an extract of Quassia on a 

 large scale it is recommended to use very fine chips and boil them in 



