252 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



invention of the pal-injector by M. Gastine. This instrument was later 

 improved by M. Vermorel, and it fills the need admirably. The carbon 

 bisulphide is placed in a large chamber, from which an outlet leads down 

 through a series of valves, so adjusted that the amount of each discharge 

 can be exactly regulated as desired, and open near the tip of a pointed 

 bar. The instrument is forced into the ground by the handle and the 

 pressure of the foot upon a spur to a depth of about a foot ; the central 

 plunger is then pressed down and the desired amount of liquid is dis- 

 charged ; the instrument is withdrawn and the hole closed with the foot, 

 or, as it is usual in extensive work, another workman follows with a rammer, 

 with which the holes are closed and the soil at the same time is firmly 

 compacted. It is said that two men working together in this way can 

 make between 2,000 and 3,000 injections per day. One acre will require 

 on the average from 10,000 to 12,000 holes. 



Many of the foregoing statements regarding the treatment of Phyl- 

 loxera apply equally well to the treatment of other insects living under 

 ground. 



Treatment for Boot Maggots. — Carbon bisulphide has been more or less 

 successfully used for the Cabbage-root maggot ever since Professor A. J. 

 Cook experimented with it with such success that he began to recommend 

 it. There is no doubt that its efficacy varies considerably with the nature 

 of the soil, and there is equally little doubt that many of the failures which 

 have been reported in its use have been due very largely to improper or 

 too tardy application. If the liquid comes in contact with the roots, it 

 will undoubtedly prove fatal to the plant, but a considerable amount of 

 the vapour will do no harm. If the remedy is delayed until the plants 

 are badly wilted, it is very likely they will not recover, even though the 

 enemy be killed, but their death cannot fairly be attributed to the carbon 

 bisulphide. Some growers who have tested it thoroughly state that it 

 will work on clay or sand without injuring the plants. It has been found 

 fatal to the pupa3 as well as the larva?. Mr. M. V. Slingerland, of the 

 Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, investigated the 

 subject in 1894,* and his " experiments demonstrated that when properly 

 applied the substance was sure death to the insects and did not injure 

 the plants." 



Whatever the instrument used, the treatment should be made in 

 practically the same way. The hole should start thr^e or four inches 

 from the stem of the plant and run down obliquely to a point a little 

 below the roots, where the liquid is deposited. The hole is then closed 

 with earth and compacted by pressure of the foot. The dose required 

 varies from a teaspoonful for large plants (four teaspoonfuls=one table- 

 spoonful^ fluid ounce approximately). One injection will be sufficient 

 if made in time, but if delayed too long nothing can save the plants. The 

 conditions of the soil noted under Phylloxera treatment will have practi- 

 cally the same influence in this case. 



Destruction of Ants. 



Carbon bisulphide is the best remedy known for the destruction of 

 -ants, which are frequently great nuisances to farmers and gardeners. 

 * See Bull. No. 78, Cornell University Experiment Station. 



