12; 



wliich 30-4olbs. o£ salt have been dissolved. The mixture 

 should then be strained through sacking or other material 

 before being used. Lime washes are useful in other 

 ways and beneficial to the trees. This mixture coats the 

 eggs and prevents them from hatching, and also seals 

 up the buds protecting them from any larvae that may be 

 hatched. In the autumn, spraying with paraffin is also 

 valuable — it should be done as soon as the fruit have 

 been gathered, so as to kill the females before the eggs 

 have been laid. Paraffin 4pts., soft soap lilbs., and 

 water lO galls., forms a suitable mixture, but a stronger 

 proportion of paraffin can be used at this time of the year 

 if desirable. Heavy spraying is necessary, not only on 

 the leaves but also on the clouds of Apple Suckers which 

 are disturbed and take to the wmg. 



The family of the Cocci da^., or Scale Insects (4), in- 

 clude some highly injurious members. The females are 

 degenerate, and spend their life hidden beneath a scale- 

 like covering formed by the cast skins of the larvae, cuti- 

 cular secretions, and other means. The males live under 

 smaller but similar scales, and when mature issue as 

 minute winged Insects. The Mussel Scale {^Lefidosafhes 

 ulmi = Mytilaspis foinoruni) is the commonest and best 

 known species, and is an abundant pest of apple trees. 

 During the spring and summer it sucks the sap, and 

 passes the winter in the eggs which are hidden beneath 

 the parent female's scaley covering which still remains. 

 One or other of the Woburn washes (4, 1 5) have given 

 good results in destroying the eggs of this Insect. They 

 can be used any time during the winter, and the lob 

 formula given by Pickering and iheobald (15) is as good 

 as any. The Brown Scale {Lecanium fersicce) often 

 attacks currants and gooseberry, and the Woolly Currant 

 Scale' {Pidvinaria vitis) both currants and vines. For 

 use against these two Scale Insects the wash lob referred 

 to above, is generally recommended and should be well 

 sprayed over the bushes during January. With regard 

 to Scale Insects on vines different treatment is necessary, 

 and the same applies to Mealy Bug and to the Green- 

 house White Fly. The latter belongs to an allied family 

 of the Hemiptera, viz., the Aleurodida^, and is a minute 

 moth-like white Insect with four wings. Its larvae are 

 green and resemble young Scale Insects, and are destruc- 

 tive to tomatoes and other greenhouse plants. For 



