INSECTS ON FRUIT TREES. (From the Gardeners' Chronicle.)

Waikato Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1445, 6 October 1881, Page 4

INSECTS ON FRUIT TREES. (From the Gardeners' Chronicle.)

To extirpate these in the way that Used to be practised in a most tedious operation, as the old orthodox mixtures of soot, lime, softsoap, tobacco water, &c, had to be put on with a brush, daubing the trees and often the walls to such an extent as te Tender both unsightly till covered with leaves, but now, thanks to paraffin, fir tree oil, nicotine soap, Gishurat, Fowler's and other patent compounds, this painting and disfigurement, with their attendant labor, are quite unnecessary, as by diluting them to a certain regulated strength they n^ay be syringed or put on in the form of spray, and the bark and insects covered quicker and far better than could be done in the way already adverted to. The most troublesome pests to deal with' are scale, of which there are several kinds, the most difficult, of these to kill being the white, the appearance of which is something like a speck of litc^wash, aud, although without means of locomotion it is surprising how soon it spreads itself over the ' branches of a tree_ ;*and the same with, the pear scale, which is a minute kidney-shaped insect, having* ( a hard brown skin. To make either of these Jritidsof scale leave their ihold X requires "strong measures, which are best taken in the winter, as then any insecticide t&ttiitf used nmy be safe at any other peried of .thfyyetr.' 4*i .insect even, more difficult to .destroy "^han. BORle is the louss that affects pjjplft trees andV.c&usos knotty excrescences v , |fflfm on, thijjbi>ik.. /JThia Wight- spreads

ii f « rapid rate unil if not dealt with soon injures the health 1 ' of*" c Hh'' tioes on which it has efiv'-ted a jodgment. Various ii n.edieshavu been recommended, hut I have found nf>ne more efficacious thnti paraffin oil, put ifato the 1 crevice* whore the injects are with a brush, us then it, at once Maturates them and appoars to dissolve (Fein Another wily is to make a limk liquid wiMi clny, paraffin and wntor. ;ind dab the mixture over the ioj'r d pa its and Mi stifle the' lice in. their beds and stop others occupying the same position. - The wbr>t pest, however, . that gardeners have to conlend with durinir tli'e hcasou iust opening is the aphis, the black form of which k very tenacious of life. These chiefly nffect cherries, but may sometimes be found on peaches and nectarines, and if trees are to be saved from being crippled, these flies must be' allowed no quarter, but battled with as soon as they put in an appearance. - The most economical way of dealing with them when on the young shoots' of cherried,. 1 is to steep some tobacco in water, using about half a pound to the gallon, and after straining the liquid, the ends of the shoots can be dipped in by simply ■ bending them down, and a tree may thus be oleansed at a rapid and very cheap rate, as there is bnfc little loss of the, juice. .Before using it, however, the trees should be gone over, and have all superfluous growth removed, and j that on the spurs stopped bapk, which, by taking away the tender tops, will get rid of many of the insects, as .they do not attack the older and more fully developed lea yes. Nicotine soap ia also fatal to blackfly, and it contains the active properties of tobacco, and does not hurt the delicate tissues of the foliage, wnich, when applied at such an early stage, most of the other insecticides do. Tobacco-powder, puffed on by moans of a distributor Rold for the purpose, may likewise lie used with great success against these troublesome aphis, as well as greenfly, which latter it renders most uncomfortable at once, and sets them struggling from the intoxicating and paralysing 1 effect it has on them. For peaohes and nectarines at the time of thf> fruit sotting and till the •<kin gets somewhat hardoned, nothing is better, as to apply liquid insecticides so parly i" unsafe, and after disbudding it often happens th.it only a few shoots are infested, and a puff of the dust on them prevents further spread. Later on, when the weather gets warm, the garden engine i- the best inject eradicator, as by well directed streams of water they may be washed off by its powerful force, and trees by its aid kept in most luxuriant health. In oases where aphis may have got a hold previously, it is a good plan to apply a syringing of tobacco liquid, or some of the insecticides first, and after being on a few hours, to follow up with the water, which will dislodge all strag«flprs, and then the work of keeping* clean for the rest of the summor will be easy onough. In many gardens where there ■.no old walls, the red spider srives much trouble, and to cope with this pest at starting sulphur is the best remedy ; and if this is mixed up .is a paste, and then put into water and kept stirred, it may be syringed on and driven into any nail boles, moit.ir joints or other crevices in winch the reel spider lurks. By adding a half-pint of paraffin to every eight gallons of sulphur and water, the mixture will stick better and be far more effectual. What brings red-spider, perhaps more than anything else is allowing the trees to become dry at the roots, to prevent winch it is always advisable to give them a mulching of half-rotteu manure early in the spiing of the year, and allow the suno to remain on the whole of the summer, as it not only intercepts the evaporation of the moistui c from the soil, but keeps it cool, and encourages the formation of fibres nearer the surface. Before putting on the mulching the ground should be just pricked over with a foik, so as to let in rain or sewage freely, the latter being a great help to all trees when swelling their crop. The only insect that affects apricots is a 'maggot, which cm Is the young foliage, but may easily be got rid of by giving the part a pqueeze between the thumb and finger, winch pressure smashes it up in its bed.