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Spray Formulas for Combating Sucking Insects

Aphine, 1 part aphine to 15 or 20 parts water; Black Leaf 40, 2 tablespoons to 1 gallon of water.

A simple recipe for tobacco extract may be made by boiling 1 pound of tobacco stems or dust in 1 gallon of [177] water for one hour. Use when cool and dilute with 1 or 2 parts water. A little soap dissolved in the mixture makes the spray adhere to the foliage better. Another simple, homemade recipe is to dissolve 1 pound of laundry soap in 5 gallons of water.

Pyrethrum, also known as insect or Persian powder, is efficacious if used when fresh. It may be dusted on the foliage or used as a spray, mixing 1 ounce of the powder in 2 gallons of water.

Whale oil soap, lemon oil and fir-tree oil soap, are excellent for use and may be dissolved according to directions given on the can. Fir-tree oil is especially good for use in summer when combating mealy bug and other scaly insects.

For eradicating scale on lilacs or other shrubs spray in spring, just before the buds swell and again in the autumn when the leaves fall, with whale oil soap, 2 pounds of the soap in 1 gallon of water. In aggravated cases a lime-sulphur spray applied during the dormant season may be necessary.

Hand picking is a common practice in dealing with some insects, as rose bugs, leaf-rollers and other caterpillars. They can be killed by dropping them into a container partly filled with kerosene. Any egg clusters that may be found must be crushed or burned. [178]