Part 270

Sabadilla, powder 2 av. ounces Acetic acid 1⁠/⁠2 fluidounce Wood alcohol 2 fluidounces Water sufficient to make 16 fluid ounces.

Mix the acetic acid with 14 fluidounces of water and boil the sabadilla in this mixture for 5 to 10 minutes, and when nearly cold add the alcohol, let stand, and decant the clear solution and bottle.

Directions: Shake the bottle and apply to the affected parts night and morning.

«INSECTICIDES FOR PLANTS.»

Two formulas for insecticides with especial reference to vermin which attack plants:

I.—Kerosene 2 gallons Common soap 1⁠/⁠2 pound Water 1 gallon

Heat the solution of soap, add it boiling hot to the kerosene and churn until it forms a perfect emulsion. For use upon scale insects it is diluted with 9 parts of water; upon other ordinary insects with 15 parts of water, and upon soft insects, like plant lice, with from 20 to 25 parts of water.

For lice, etc., which attack the roots of vines and trees the following is recommended:

II.—Caustic soda 5 pounds Rosin 40 pounds Water, a sufficient quantity.

Dissolve the soda in 4 gallons of water, by the aid of heat, add the rosin and after it is dissolved and while boiling add, slowly, enough water to make 50 gallons. For use, 1 part of this mixture is diluted with 10 parts of water and about 5 gallons of the product poured into a depression near the root of the vine or tree.

«For Cochineal Insects.»—An emulsion for fumagine (malady of orange trees caused by the cochineal insect) and other diseases caused by insects is as follows:

Dissolve, hot, 4 parts of black soap in 15 parts of hot water. Let cool to 104° F., and pour in 10 parts of ordinary petroleum, shaking vigorously. Thus an emulsion of café au lait color is obtained, which may be preserved indefinitely. For employment, each part of the emulsion is diluted, according to circumstances, with from 10 to 20 parts of water.

«For Locusts.»—Much trouble is experienced in the Transvaal and Natal with locust pests, the remedies used being either a soap spray, containing 1 pound ordinary household soap in 5 gallons of water, or arsenite of soda, the latter being issued by the government for the purpose, and also used for the destruction of prickly pear, and as a basis of tick dips. A solution of 1 pound in 10 gallons of water is employed for full-grown insects, and of 1 pound in 20 gallons of water for newly hatched ones, 1 pound of sugar being added to each pound of arsenite dissolved. The solution sometimes causes sores on the skin, and the natives employed in its use are given grease to rub over themselves as a measure of protection. An advantage of the arsenite solution over soap is that much less liquid need be used.

A composition for the destruction of pear blight, which has been patented in {423} the United States, is as follows: Peppermint oil, 16 parts; ammonia water, 60 parts; calomel, 30 parts; and linseed oil, 1,000 parts.

«For Moths and Caterpillars.»—

I.—Venice turpentine 200 parts Rosin 1,000 parts Turpentine 140 parts Tar 80 parts Lard 500 parts Rape oil 240 parts Tallow 200 parts

II.—Rosin 50 parts Lard 40 parts Stearine oil 40 parts

«For Non-Masticating Insects.»—For protection against all non-masticating and many mandibulate insects, kerosene oil is much used. It is exhibited in the form of emulsion, which may be made as follows:

Kerosene 2 gallons Common soap 8 ounces Water 1 gallon

Dissolve the soap in the water by the aid of heat, bring to the boiling point, and add the kerosene in portions, agitating well after each addition. This is conveniently done by means of the pump to be used for spraying the mixture.

«For Scale Insects.»—For destroying scale insects dilute the cochineal emulsion (see above) with 9 times its volume of water; in the case of most others, except lice, dilute with 14 volumes, and for the latter with 20 to 25 volumes.

For the extermination of scale insects, resinous preparations are also employed, which kill by covering them with an impervious coating. Such a wash may be made as follows:

Rosin 3 1⁠/⁠2 pounds Caustic soda 1 pound Fish oil 8 ounces Water 20 gallons

Boil the rosin, soda, and oil with a small portion of the water, adding the remainder as solution is effected.

For the San José scale a stronger preparation is required, the proportion of water being decreased by half, but such a solution is applied only when the tree is dormant.

«Scale Insects on Orange Trees.»—Scale insect enemies of orange trees are directly controlled in two ways: (1) By spraying the infested trees with some liquid insecticide, and (2) by subjecting them to the fumes of hydrocyanic acid gas, commonly designated as “gassing.” The latter method is claimed to be the most effective means known of destroying scale insects. In practice the method consists in closing a tree at night with a tent and filling the latter with the poisonous fumes generated by treating refined potassium cyanide (98 per cent) with commercial sulphuric acid (66 per cent) and water. The treatment should continue from 30 to 40 minutes, the longer time being preferable. The work is done at night to avoid the scalding which follows day applications, at least in bright sunshine.

The oily washes are said to be the best for the use by the spraying method. “Kerosene emulsion” is a type of these washes. A formula published by the United States Department of Agriculture follows: Kerosene, 2 gallons; whale-oil soap, 1⁠/⁠2 pound; water, 1 gallon. The soap is dissolved in hot water, the kerosene added, and the whole thoroughly emulsified by means of a power pump until a rather heavy, creamy emulsion is produced. The quantity of soap may be increased if desired. The insecticide is applied by spraying the infected tree with an ordinary force pump with spraying nozzle.

«Coating Against the Plant Louse.»—(a)—Mix 75 parts of green soap, 50 parts of linseed oil, and 25 parts of carbolic acid. Afterwards mix the mass with 15,000 parts of water.