346 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



only one — burn the bushes. That is the only remedy there is as far as we 

 can at'present ascertain. 



One point more. Of the specimens that have been sent up to the 

 Department of Agriculture in Ireland this year to be reported on as to 

 what kind of disease it was which was on the trees, 30 per cent, of them 

 have been admittedly injured by using bad washes. 



Question : I wish to ask one question of Professor Theobald. Is there 

 any remedy for the apple weevil ? This year I have suffered more from 

 that pest than from any other ; it crawls about the trees and lays its eggs 

 in the young fruit when the blossom is gone. I want to know if 

 Professor Theobald thinks there is any usejn leaving grease-bands on the 

 trees till the blossom is out — say till the middle of May — and whether he 

 thinks any of the apple weevil will crawl up the trees in the summer. 



Mr. Theobald : — I do not think grease-bands have the least effect 

 on the apple weevil. We know that you may possibly catch one or 

 two on the grease-band by chance ; but, being a winged creature, the 

 grease- band has little or no effect. As to the remedy for it, I am afraid 

 I cannot say that one seems to be known at present. Mr. Bear noticed 

 that where emulsion with lime and salt wash was used it certainly checked 

 it to some extent ; but still a lot of weevil was left. However, beyond 

 this, shaking weevils off on to cloths is the only thing that growers 

 have found of great benefit or effect at all. 



Mr. Collinge : With regard to what Professor Theobald was saying 

 about the apple-blossom weevil I have at present a paper in the press 

 detailing a number of experiments in grease-banding for the apple- 

 blossom weevil where the grease-band was entirely ineffective. No 

 weevils were found on the band. It is commonly said that the female 

 weevil does not fly ; it certainly does not creep up the stems of the trees. 

 My advice to fruit growers, so far as the apple-blossom weevil is concerned, 

 would be to re-echo the words of the gentleman who has just sat down 

 and say, Keep your orchards clean, and then I don't think you will see 

 much of the apple-blossom weevil. 



Question : I should like to ask for a substitute for soft soap in 

 paraffin emulsion ; I did not quite catch it. 



Mr. Theobald : Either iron sulphate or copper sulphate. Whether 

 the copper sulphate is worth using I do not know ; but the iron sulphate 

 in any case is. 



Mr. C. 0. Walters : I wish to make a remark with regard to caustic 

 wash. From my experience the foliage does seem to have been very much 

 better altogether after using it ; so I think the caustic washing must be 

 beneficial ; it destroys all sorts of hiding places for insects ; even if it does 

 not kill the eggs, it certainly destroys the resting places in great numbers. 



A certain firm (I will not mention the name) sent me in the spring 

 a quart of a specially prepared wash for killing caterpillars. I used some, 

 as I thought I would experiment with it before I used the whole lot or 

 ordered any more. I prepared it according to the instructions, and I 

 found half a dozen caterpillars. I gave them a good strong solution 

 and put them carefully on the grass. Next morning I examined the 

 caterpillars aixHound thom'just as lively as they were the night before; 

 H bad not the slightest effect on them. Then I used the solution of 



