48 
FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 
which, as soda has been very much cheaper than potass ever since the inode of obtain¬ 
ing it from common salt was discovered, was, in all probability, nothing but purified 
soda. It was mixed in the proportion of one part, by measurement, of saleratus to 
fifty parts of water. This I applied, precisely in the same way as the tobacco-water 
in the preceding statement, to another branch, prepared and labeled in a similar manner. 
Repeatedly, as the summer progressed, I examined this branch, and the young Bark-lice 
on it seemed to be growing as nicely as on the rest of the tree. The results, on cutting 
off, October 30th, a piece of the same size and length, and similarly situated, as com¬ 
pared with that used in the preceding experiment, were almost precisely the same. 
For I found 201 matured scales containing plump, healthy eggs, and nine that I took 
to be male scales, though possibly some or all of them might have been young larvae 
killed by the soda-wash. I did not count the old, dead last year’s scales, or those of 
the current year which were infested or gutted by Mites ; but I estimated that they 
were in all about 200 in number. From this experiment I conclude that a solution of 
soda will not kill the Bark-lice even in the larva state ; and I draw the same inference 
as to the effect of alkaline solutions upon the matured Bark-louse, that I have already 
drawn in the tobacco-water experiment. 
The proportion of soda used was nearly that recommended in the Horticulturist of 
March, 1867, namely, “one pound of potash to six gallons of water;” for, as every 
druggist knows, a pint of such substances as soda is nearly the equivalent of a pound. 
All accounts seemed to agree that stronger solutions were injurious to vegetable liff 
But from the following statement, made by Wm. Mead, Jun., of Taunton, Massachu 
setts, it appears that even the very strongest alkaline solutions have no effec 1 ipo 
Bark-lice. “To kill the scale-insect,” he says, “upon my pear trees, I havi ied 
potash — one pound to a gallon of water — which has no effect upon the insect, •< pt 
to make it brighter.” (Hew York Sem. Tribune, March 16,1866.) Judging fron he 
date of publication, Mr. Mead must have operated in the dead of the year, and . e- 
fore upon the perfected scale. Dr. Houghton, of Philadelphia, used in the su ner 
time a wash of the same unusual strength, as he has informed me — one pound, of 
“concentrated lye” to one gallon of water—upon the ot her species (Harris’s Park- 
louse) that were infesting his pear trees in prodigious numbers, without its prod mg 
the least perceptible effect in diminishing their ravages, though he was of o^ .on 
that it injured the trees to a considerable extent. 
Statement 3d. — On June 12tli, 1867, I prepared a solution of good, home-mad ft 
soap, manufactured from soap-grease and what is sold under the name of “ concern, .^ed 
lye,” and is probably nothing but impure soda. I took one part, by measurement, 
of soap to six parts of water, and stirred the mixture over a fire till it got warm and 
had about the consistence of thin paint. This I applied, in the same way as the 
tobacco-water in the first experiment, to a branch prepared and labeled in the same 
manner, except that I had unfortunately omitted to trim off a few of the small, termi¬ 
nal twigs, and neglected to apply the soapy solution to those twigs. On examining 
this branch, from time to time through the months of June and July, it was quite 
plain that the great bulk of the young Bark-lice on it had ceased growing and were 
dead, though they still adhered firmly in their original form to the bark. On October 
27tli, I cut off a portion of this branch, of the same size and length as in the other 
two experiments, and carefully lifted and examined, under the lens, all the matured 
scales upon it, whether of this year’s or of last year’s growth. I found but seven 
scales containing plump, healthy eggs ; the number of last year’s scales, and of those 
