83 
Many of the foregoing statements regarding the treatment 
of Phylloxera apply equally well to the treatment of other 
insects living underground. 
TREATMENT FOR ROOT MAGCc'tTS. 
Carbon bisulphid has been more less mecessfully used 
for the cabbage root maggot ever since .. .ien Prof. A. J. 
Cook experimented with it with such suet that he began 
to recommend it. There is no doubt that > s 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 vapor will do no harm. If the remedy is delayed- 
until the plants are badly wilted, it is very likely that they will 
not recover, even though the enemy be killed, but their death 
cannot fairly be attributed to the carbon bisulphid. 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 pupae as well as the larvae. Mr. M. V* Slingerland, 
of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, 
investigated the subject in 1894* and his “experiments demon- 
strated that when properly applied the substance was sure death 
to the insects and did not injure the plants.’’ 
♦See Bui. No. 78, Cornell University Experiment Station. 
McGowen injector. — Some instrument was needed to facili- 
tate its application, as the French pal-injectors are too heavy 
and too expensive. To fill this need, the McGowen injector 
was produced. This very convenient little instrument could 
be adapted to nearly all of our uses of carbon bisulphid for 
underground insects, but the writer has been informed by Mr. 
McGowen that the demand for it has been so small that he 
has discontinued its manufacture. 
Method of application. — Whatever the instrument used, the 
treatment should be made in practically the same way. The 
hole should start 3 or 4 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 each small plant to a tablespoonful 
for large plants (4 teaspoonfuls equal 1 tablespoonful equal 1 
fluid ounce approximately). One injection will be sufficient if 
made in time, but if delayed too long nothing can save the 
plant. The conditions of the soil noted under Phylloxera treat- 
ment will have practically the same influence in this case. 
There appears to be no reason why a similar method of 
treatment may not be equally effective against such other 
insects as the grape root-worm (Fidia viticida) and the peach 
borer (Sanninoidea exitiosa), especially on young trees, where 
the borer usually works just beneath the surface of the ground. 
DESTRUCTION OF ANTS. 
Carbon bisulphid is the best remedy known for the destruc- 
tion of ants, which are frequently great nuisances to farmers 
and gardeners. With a little careful observation most of the 
