202 
Gardeners and Florists’ Annual for J9J8 
The greenhouse pillbug 
( ArraadSUdium vulgare) ex- 
tended. Much enlarged. 
After Popenoet Bureau of 
Entomology, U. S. Dept, of 
Agriculture. 
other methods of sterilization are to water or sprinkle the soil with 
mild antiseptics, such as carbon bisulphide, toluene or formalin (a com- 
mercial form of formaldehyde), the latter used 
at the rate of 2 pints of a 40 per cent, formalin 
in 50 gals, of water, using one gallon of this to 
each sq. foot of the surface. The bisulphide of 
carbon is poured or watered into holes in the 
soil, these being then plugged up; the surface 
may also be covered with mats. Leave 
for at least 36 hourS. This kills soil insects. 
It is very volatile and must not be 
used near a lamp or fire. From a teaspoonful 
to a tablespoonful to each sq. ft. of soil 
is generally sufScient. In the case of the steam 
treatment, the heat kills the bacteria, and pos- 
sibly some substance toxic to them is also pro- 
duced. The beneficial results of the practice 
cannot be questioned. 
Sowbngs, Remedy For. — Wood lice or 
sowbugs appear to be doing greater injury each 
year. These creatures prefer dark, more or less 
damp situations and occur in cellars, in cracks 
of sidewalks, in garden debris, under boards 
and in similar places. Some sowbugs when dis- 
turbed roll up in the form of a ball, literally playing ’possum or feign- 
ing death. They are nocturnal in habit, usually resting securely in 
hiding places during the day. Normally they feed upon decaying vege- 
table molds and the succulent roots of plants, attacking the green leaves 
of delicate plants when these are available. The habit of injuring grow- 
ing plants appears to be increasing. These creatures are also trouble- 
some in Mushroom beds. They breed quite profusely in piles of manure 
where they collect for hibernation, etc., i.e., for passing the Winter. 
Many remedies have been used with success against sowbugs as 
they are not difBcult to eradicate. The main object is scrupulous clean- 
liness and equal care in distributing poison where it will in time kill 
out or “stamp out” the creatures where tliey are doing injury. Among 
standard remedies are kerosene-soap emulsion, applied to the soU. 
Properly applied, not too copiously, they should not injure the roots of 
plants. Directions for their use and for the preparation of carbolic- 
acid emulsion are given in Circular 3, issued by the Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, D. C., a copy of which is obtainable. Some 
of the tobacco preparations, properly applied, should give equal success. 
A simple remedy consists in pouring hot water where the sowbugs 
accumulate during the day, and another is the employment of poisoned 
baits. The best for this purpose are the various forms of vegetable 
roots, such as Potatoes, Turnips, Carrots and the like. For example: 
Cut a raw Potato in two, hollow out a space in the middle and open a 
hole at one end. Then dip each portion into Paris green, diluted with 
about 50 parts of water, or arsenate of lead one part to about 25 of 
water, bringing the two cut surfaces together. Place them about the 
beds in the greenhouse or in the garden where the sowbugs are most 
abundant. Sowbugs will enter the hole left at the end and will be 
