Plant Sanitation. 



34 



[July, 1910. 



ceived a letter from Mr. A. G. Nicholson— 

 the originator of the soap and salt- 

 petre mixture. I h\d suggested that 

 a cheaper soap than " Mottled Blue 

 Bar" might be employed, and that it 

 might be more economical to apply the 

 mixture with a spraying machine. Mr. 

 Nicholson brings forward arguments in 

 favour of his system, and as — in such 

 a case — the results of actual practice 

 are of more value than empirical theory, 

 I take the liberty of quoting from his 

 letter in extenso. He writes : — 



"I see that you suggest using 'Im- 

 perial Bar ' instead of ' Blue Bar ' as 

 the cheapest soap, but from experience 

 I do not find that statement correct. 

 1 do not think that 108 lbs. of 'Imperial 

 Bar' can be delivered either at Calicut 

 or Colombo for Rs. 15/8. Apart from 

 this, 'Imperial Bar' has not the effect 

 upon Green Bug that either 'Sunlight' 

 or 'Gossages' have, and the latter is 

 the best of all, 'Gossages Blue Bar' 

 is the quickest and surest of all, and 

 I have tried nearly every sort worth 

 trying. The only thorough test is by 

 brushing on the lather, and even theu 

 lather has to be well made or the soap 

 and water separate, the water gets 

 below and the lather slips off without 

 effect. There is nothing to prevent 

 spraying with this soap. I have used 

 it with one of the best sprayers on 

 the market, the ' Deeming Success.' 

 Then, as to brushing being costly, this 

 is not so real as apparent, when you 

 come to compare the amount of solu- 

 tion used and the thoroughness of the 

 work. To be absolutely thorough the 

 first essential is a big soft brush 2" — 2%' 

 in diameter, and the lather must be 

 worked up until the water will not 

 separate from it. If such a lather is 

 painted on thoroughly not a bug escapes, 

 unless rain falls on it within twelve 

 hours. The lather has to be worked 

 up in the left hand, holding the brush 

 in the right. Spraying fails for want 

 of this lather, want of thoroughness 

 and the enormous quantity of solution 

 required. Want of water on estates 

 bars spraying as often as not," 



Insecticides. 



I have commented, on several occa- 

 sions, upon the difficulty of obtaining 

 reliable insecticides locally, or at a price 

 that will permit of their extended use. 

 The following circular letter from the 

 Indian Imperial Entomologist describes 

 a useful iusecticide manufactured in 

 India and found to be a reliable contact 

 poison. Particulars of prices can be 

 obtained from the ' "Vermisapon Special- 

 ities Co., Coimbatore.' 



Dear Sir,— Insecticides are being in- 

 creasingly used in India, and I have for 

 several years been trying to render 

 available to the public good insecticides 

 at a reasonable price. Up to now, there 

 have been no firms or private indi- 

 viduals specialising in this, and the 

 iuseeticides principally used have been 

 those made locally as required. I have 

 at different times tested patent insecti- 

 cides which firms in England, America 

 and Germany proposed to sell in India, 

 but these have been practically all 

 either inefficient or too costly. Recently 

 an insecticide made in India, known as 

 Vermisapon, has been put on the market ; 

 the producers have consulted me, and I 

 have suggested certain modifications. 

 The insecticide has been thoroughly 

 tested by me on a variety of insects, 

 and I know how it is prepared. It is, 

 I believe, a thoroughly reliable contact 

 poison, effective against the various 

 sucking insects such as bug, mealy 

 bug, scale insects, plant lice, thrips, etc., 

 which attack tea, coffee, fruit trees, 

 vegetables and garden plants ; it will 

 also kill small caterpillars and biting 

 insects, and to some extent deter 

 larger biting insects, but it is not a 

 stomach poison. It is harmless and non- 

 poisonous, requiring no heat for its 

 mixing with water, and prepared by 

 simply dissolving in water. Its price is 

 remarkably low, and it is the cheapest 

 insecticide known to me, cheaper at the 

 same effective strength than even Rosin 

 Compound. I write to draw your atten- 

 tion to it, as it is likely to be of value in 

 many cases where spraying is or should 

 be practised, and because its production 

 in India removes one of the difficulties 

 which formerly militated against spray- 

 ing as a remedy for pests on valuable 

 cultivation.— Yours faithfully, (Signed) 

 H. M. Lefroy, Imperial Entomologist." 



A New Coccid Pest op Castilloa 

 Rubber. 



A new pest of Castilloa Rubber has 

 appeared recently in the Bandarawella 

 district, This is not only a new pest, 

 but a new and undescribed species of 

 scale-insect belonging to the genus 

 Inglisa. From reports and specimens to 

 hand, it appears to have suddenly 

 spread through a five-acre clearing of 

 Castilloa trees. The older insects encrust 

 the undersurface of all the lateral 

 branches, and are accompanied by a 

 copious growth of the sooty fungus 

 that is associated with the presence 

 of many Coccidae. The younger stages 

 of the insect are ranged along the 

 midrib and more prominent veins on 

 the undersurface of the foliage. Cro- 

 talaria plants growing beneath the in- 



