484 
July 13 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Jarmers Club. 
[Every query must be accompanied by 
the name and address of the writer to In¬ 
sure attention. Before asking a question, 
please see whether it is not answered in 
our advertising columns. Ask only a few 
questions at one time. Put questions on a 
separate piece of paper.] 
Peach Root-Aphis. 
TF. F. ¥., Fisherville, Pa.—I have a young 
peach orchard one year planted. Part of 
the trees are seriously affected by a small 
black Insect working on the roots. I find 
them in colonies on roots of trees and 
they simply such out their life. I never had 
anything like it on my farm, and I have 
been in the peach business for 14 years. 
What is the Insect called, and what is to 
be done? Can those affected trees be 
saved, and can I prevent the rogues from 
going to the rest of the trees that are rtill 
healthy? 
Ans.— The culprit is doubtless the 
Peach root-aphis or plant-louse, which 
works both on the roots and above 
ground on the foliage. It is a very seri¬ 
ous pest in young orchards, but old 
bearing trees are not often seriously 
injured. Recent observations indicate 
that ants have much to do with the dis¬ 
tribution of the lice from tree to tree, 
and other more vital relations are sus¬ 
pected between the ants and their 
cows—the lice. The lice working on 
the leaves readily succumb to a spray 
of whale-oil soap or tobacco water, but 
the more destructive root-feeding forms 
are difficult to reach. The best results 
seem to have been attained by digging 
in liberal quantities of fine tobacco dust 
about the bases of infested trees. If 
there are ants in noticeable numbers 
in the soil in the orchard they will 
doubtless soon carry the lice from 
infested to healthy trees. Carbon bi¬ 
sulphide is too dangerous to use in 
the soil at the base of the tree, and 
solutions of soap and tobacco poured 
around the base have not been effectual. 
Keep the trees well fed and cultivated, 
and use tobacco dust freely, and it is 
probable that the trees can be carried 
through their youth and get growth 
enough so that the lice will not notice¬ 
ably injure them as bearing trees. One 
should always carefully examine the 
roots of peach nursery stock for these 
dark brown plant-lice, and if any indi¬ 
cations of their presence are found 
either destroy the stock or dip it in a 
strong whale-oil soap solution, or better 
still have it fumigated by experts or re¬ 
liable persons. m. v. slingerland. 
Woolly Aphis on Apple Roots. 
J. W. W., Woodford Co., Kp.—l send some 
kind of insect that is on roots of apple 
trees in my nursery. What will kill them 
while trees are standing in nursery rows 
without hurting the trees? Are they the 
Woolly aphis, and will they hurt trees to 
amount to anything? Are other nurseries 
subject to them? 
Ans. —The apple roots bore many gen¬ 
uine Woolly aphids or plant-lice. This 
insect is a dangerous pest in a nur¬ 
sery or young orchard. No nurseryman 
should send out trees thus infested, and 
the orchardist should keep a sharp 
lookout that he dogs not get trees in¬ 
fested with Woolly aphids. They are a 
difficult pest to handle, and it is a case 
where an ounce of prevention is worth 
many pounds of trying to cure. Liberal 
quantities of tobacco dust dug in around 
the base of the trees has given the .best 
results thus far reported, and there is 
no danger of its injuring the trees, but 
it would be rather an expensive opera¬ 
tion in a nursery. I would root out 
and burn all infested trees, and grow 
some other trees, like peaches or plums, 
which the pest does not attack, in their 
places. I would rather stop growing 
apple trees for a time than to send out 
infested trees. Destroy all trees where 
roots are badly knotted by the lice, and 
fumigate all others thoroughly before 
selling. M. V. slingereand. 
A Talk About Plant Lice. 
IS. n. A., Poughkeepsie, N. Y.—Js any rem¬ 
edy known for the Insects like lice now In¬ 
festing maple trees, covering the leaves 
with a glaze which causes them to fall? 
Ans. —Plant-lice of all kinds seem to 
be much more numerous this year than 
usual. To combat them successfully one 
must understand how they eat. They do 
not have jaws for biting off pieces of 
food, like the Potato beetle or a cater¬ 
pillar. Their mouth parts are drawn 
out into a beak with which they suck 
the sap from the interior of the plant 
in a way similar to that by which a mos¬ 
quito sucks the blood from us. There¬ 
fore one cannot fight these sucking in¬ 
sects with Paris-green or similar poi¬ 
sons, by putting it on the surface of the 
plant, nor is it possible to inoculate the 
plant with any substances which will go 
into the sap and thus be taken up by 
the insect. Such sucking insects then 
can only be killed by actually hitting 
them with a spray of a soap or an oil 
which wiil either close their breathing 
holes or soak through their skin. The 
fact that we have to aim our spray much 
more accurately in fighting sucking in¬ 
sects makes it a very difficult matter to 
kill them, and this is especially true 
where they Infest such large-leaved 
trees as the maple. It would not often 
be practicable to spray a maple tree for 
these insects. However, I find that the 
enemies of plant-lice are now fast get¬ 
ting the upper hand, and miliions of the 
lice are being included in the daily menu 
of ladybird beetles and their other nu¬ 
merous enemies, so I think that in a 
short time the maple trees will probably 
be relieved of most of the tiny pumps 
which are now sapping the life from 
the leaves. m. v. slingerland. 
Seventeen-Year Locust; Watermelon Bug; 
Strawberries. 
F. IS. B., Romney, F. Va.—1. What effect 
will the Seventeen-year locust have on 
young peach trees one year old, also on 
trees set the Fall previous to locust year? 
If they have a bad effect would spraying 
help to protect the trees at time the locusts 
are on trees? 2. I have been troubled sev¬ 
eral years with the Watermelon bug, and 
have used several preparations. All seem 
to be detrimental to the vine. What is 
the best thing to do? 3. Can you set straw¬ 
berries out in September and get a good 
crop the following Spring? 
Ans. —1. The Seventeen-year locust is 
capable of doing very serious injury to 
young orchard trees; trees set the Fall 
previous might be killed, and one-year- 
old trees so maimed as to ruin their 
symmetry of growth. But usualiy such 
injury occurs only when the locusts ap¬ 
pear in very great numbers, and in the 
near neighborhood of the orchard. The 
injury is done by the female locust in 
depositing her eggs, which she prefers 
to do in slits cut into the tender growth 
of young trees. As serious injury to 
young orchard trees by this insect is of 
comparatively rare occurrence, I would 
never hesitate to set trees at any time 
in regions where the locusts are sched¬ 
uled to appear. But I can suggest no 
practicable method of preventing the lo¬ 
custs from laying their eggs in the trees. 
One cannot feed them a poison, as they 
suck what little food they may eat, and 
I do not think any substance sprayed on 
the bark would prevent them from ovi¬ 
positing. Possibly a good coating of 
crude petroleum applied in early Spring 
might have some deterrent effect, but I 
would not depend much on it. It would 
probably require so strong an oil or a 
soap spray to kill the locusts that it 
would also seriously injure the trees. 2. 
I am not quite sure what insect is called 
the “Watermelon bug’’ in West Vir¬ 
ginia. If it is the striped beetle, thor¬ 
ough work with the Bordeaux Mixture 
has been found very effectual. But the 
“bug” may be an entirely different crea¬ 
ture, perhaps a sucking insect. 3. A 
strawberry expert tells me that if one 
sets potted strawberry plants in Septem¬ 
ber a fairly good crop of fruit may be 
raised the following season. But with 
ordinary runner plants one should not 
expect to let the vines bear much the 
next year. m. v. slingerland. 
Plant Lice on Apples. 
E. M. M., Irving, III.—Enclosed find leaves 
taken from an apple tree in my orchard. 
Will you tell me with what the leaves are 
infested? 
Ans.—^T he apple leaves were iniestcd 
with plant-lice or aphids. These little 
insects suck the sap from the inside of 
the leaves, hence one cannot feed them 
a poison spray, but each louse must he 
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OHILDS* 
'BOS*: 
KILFLY 
[Cows Will Give 
More Milk 
From 15 to 25 
Per Gent. 
|aii(i better milk if protected from Flies by the use of CHILDS’ SO-BOS-SO KILFLY. 
It is a thorough fly killer and germicide^ destroys all bacterial germs, 
insures health, greater strength and vigor to the animals, and by the abso¬ 
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cow during the season, making it a first-class investment. It allays ner¬ 
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cows can be sprayed in a few moments. Prior to the invention of SO- 
BOS-SO**KILFLY and the Electric Sprayer there was nothing on the 
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Abortion in cows, which is caused by a germ—propagated by unsani¬ 
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Sold only in gallon cans. Ask your dealer, or send $2.00 for one gal. can and Ekctric 
Sprayer complete, securely packed and express paid to any point east of Mississippi river 
except State of Maine. The sprayer can also be used for spraying potato vines, bushes, 
trees, etc. Beware of imitations. 
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The following testimonials speak for themselves: 
I '1 
Munhai.1., Allegheny Co., Pa., July 7, ’99. 
I received the .So-I5«is-.So Killly and Sprayer and 
Pittsfield, Mass., April 28,1990. 
We have found the So-IJos So Kilfly to be an excellent article 
doiiiK perfectly the work intended. Our customers report ttiat 
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(|uitn extensively lui liorses. One of our customers wisliins; to 
pliotoRraphhis team found it necessary to use So-Uos-.S»> Kilfly 
with successful results. Howard & Morrow. 
am very well pleased with it. 1 have a lierdof 27 cows, 
and when we put them in the stable to milk these liot 
oveninKS, flies torment them very much, hut a few min¬ 
utes with the sprayer and all Is quiet, and wo can then 
do our^milkinK in peace. James G. Kearney. 
Philadelphia, Pa., May 2,1900. 
Last July the dally quantity of milk produced by my Chester 
County dairy fell off very considerably, w-hich I attributed to the 
annoyance which the cattle received from the flies. About half 
the time the herd was standing in the stream switchintj instead of 
Kraziiifi. I ordered a sample of So-IJos-So Kilfly and by havlnK 
it applied every second morninn, ftreatly relieved the herd 
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Lowell’s Station, Pa., April 18,1900. 
■ - ■ Ki'- 
We can hiehly recommend So-Hos-So Kilfly as by 
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keep them free from lice and scurf durintr the winter. 
C. F. McCray & Son, Maplew<K)d .Stock Farm, 
since that time. Our herd of about 20 head could be sprayed in 
the stiibiein less time than it would require to milk a single cow, 
and 1 consider that I have saved many times the cost of the 
So-lJos-So Kilfly used, in addition to affording comfort to the 
herd. G. S. W. Brubaker. 
Lenox, Mass., Aiu-il 21st, liKKl. 
I have used .So-Itos So Kilfly with good residts. It is a com¬ 
fort to both man and beast at the milking time. 
;Jacob Stribel, Supt. to the lion. John E. Parsons. 
CHAS. H. CHILDS & GO., Sole Manufacturers, 
12 La Fayette Street, 
UTICA, 
