32 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



trees, finding it much better to wash anything within reach, as many 

 caterpillars beside the winter moth infest Apple trees. 



Having had much damage done by Paris green and London purple, in 

 very hot dry weather, by Mr. Theobald's advice I have used an arsenate 

 of lead wash this season and found it very effectual. It thoroughly 

 cleared Apple and Nut trees of all caterpillars, without any damage to the 

 foliage. 



The caterpillars of the small Ermine Moth are best destroyed by 

 hand-picking off small trees, or they may be treated with the lead wash. 

 They sometimes do much mischief if not removed. 



The Apple- sucker. — One of the first enemies of the Apple in the 

 spring is the Apple-sucker or Chermes. The eggs may be seen on the 

 shoots and round the joints and buds of Apple trees in the winter, and 

 if prevalent, should be looked after very sharply in the spring, about 

 the time the buds are beginning to swell. The larvae, as soon as they are 

 hatched, make for the blossom buds, and may be seen on the buds just 

 before they open, and they are then easily killed by paraffin emulsion, 

 soft soap and quassia, or any other strong insecticide. The dose should 

 be repeated after a few days, as the eggs hatch at different periods, some 

 being placed in a warmer position than others on the tree. The Chermes, 

 after they are full-grown and have wings, are very difficult to kill, and 

 they soon migrate to other varieties of trees and cannot be dealt with. 

 I have not found any benefit from winter ivashes, of caustic soda, &c, 

 only a very small percentage of eggs being killed. Other remedies had to 

 be used in spring. 



Aphides. —I have found on Apple trees in the early spring many large 

 specimens of the Apple Aphis, which appear to have hibernated, or lived 

 through the winter, and they are very difficult to kill, requiring a stronger 

 mixture than the ordinary Aphis. It is very necessary to destroy them 

 before the blossom buds open, as, like the Chermes, they get deep down 

 in the buds, and then it becomes very difficult to get any mixture to touch 

 them, and of course they multiply rapidly. 



Wash : Soft soap, paraffin, and quassia. 



Black Bot or Fungus. — This has been very troublesome in many 

 plantations during the last few years. It attacks the leaf and fruit, and 

 appears to feed on the cells of the outer rind, sending little rods into 

 them, and extracting all the nutriment contained in the skin of the fruit 

 or leaf. Then a black spot appears, and as there is no more circulation 

 of sap in that part it cracks and shrivels, and gives that miserable appear- 

 ance to the fruit which most of us know only too well. 



I think the best remedy is a winter dressing of sulphate of copper 

 (Bordeaux mixture) as follows : 



Lead Arsenate Wash. 



Acetate of lead . 

 Arsenate of soda 



to 100 gallons 

 of water. 



Copper sulphate 



Lime 



Water 



. 6 lbs. 

 . 4 lbs. 

 . 22 galls. 



