An Account of the Insects Noxious to Agriculture and Plants in New Zealand: The Scale Insects (Coccididae)Maskell, William Miles
Science
An Account of the Insects Noxious to Agriculture and Plants in New Zealand: The Scale Insects (Coccididae)
Maskell, William Miles
Insects -- New Zealand; Scale insects
The treatment of evergreen plants, or of plants which are attacked both
on the bark and leaves, is really the same as the above as regards its
object, but it necessarily differs in its method. Here, again, it is
desired not only to kill the insects themselves, but also to devitalize
the eggs; but in this case the work is much harder, for the eggs are
especially difficult to reach. Still, there is this advantage: that in
dealing with evergreens the season of the year need not be specially
studied, and, in default of touching the eggs, one may get at the young
larvæ. The remedy is again a fluid, but it must be applied in the form
of spray. Coccids are sometimes found on the upper surfaces of leaves,
but as a rule they affect the lower sides. This, of course, renders
it much more difficult to get at them; and the ordinary rose of a
garden syringe would not, as a general thing, distribute the fluid in a
sufficiently-fine form. The finer the spray and the more it is forced
into every corner and nook of the plant the better. Various force-pumps
and spray-throwers have been invented for this purpose in the United
States; but probably tree-growers in this country need only procure the
finest possible rose for their syringes, and use them in the ordinary
way. The fluid should be thrown as thoroughly as possible on all parts
of the plant, every care being taken to direct it most fully against
the under sides of the leaves.
The work, then, to be done is in itself simple enough. A destructive
fluid must be selected and applied according to the character of the
insect and its position on the tree. For covered or naked insects on
the bark, apply it with a hard, stiff brush; for covered or naked
insects on the leaves, apply it in the form of the _finest spray_
thoroughly forced as much as possible into every nook and cranny, and
especially against the under side of the leaves.
The question, "What is the best fluid to use?" is more complicated.
Many answers have been given to it: many fluids have been strongly
recommended by different people. It must be well remembered that, as
stated above, a sure and sovereign remedy has yet to be discovered, and
failure may attend even the best suggested at present. Bearing this
in mind, tree-growers will find in the following list the result of
the experience of a number of observers, which may serve as a useful
guide. It does not profess to be more than a summary, compiled from the
researches of entomologists such as Mr. Comstock, Professor Riley, Mr.
Hubbard; from suggestions by gardeners and others, embodied in various
parliamentary and private documents; and from actual observation and
experiment in this country: but it is believed that the information
here given may be accepted and relied on.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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