Abstract
MR. HAGEN'S letter on the destruction of insect-pests (NATURE, vol. xxi. p. 611) induces me to make generally known an absolute preventive of the bites of mosquitos, gnats, of green-fly in the vinery, blight in the garden, and a protection to animals from these “insect-pests.” A few years ago I had some peach-trees which, being on a wall exposed to draught, were annually blighted. One died, and the new wood of the others was not more than a hand's length. A scientific friend advised me to try a weak solution of quassia to water them with, and the success was complete. Blight was prevented. The first year the trees bore well and the new wood was elbow-length or more. I next tried quassia in the vinery. Instead of lime-washing the walls to get rid of the green-fly, one watering with quassia dismissed them in a day. My head-gardener, who had previously tnuch experience in nursery-grounds, wondered that he had never heard of it before. He now uses it in ail cases as a protection from flies and blight. The dilution goes a long way: one pound of chips of quassia-wood boiled and reboiled in other water until he has eight gallons of the extract for his garden-engine. He finds it inadvisable to use it stronger for some plants. This boiling makes the quassia adhesive, and being principally applied to the underleaf, because most blight settles there, it is not readily washed off by rain. Quassia is used in medicine as a powerful tonic, and the chips are sold by chemists at from sixpence to a shilling a pound. The tree is indigenous to the West Indies and to South America.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
CHAPPELL, W. Protection against Mosquitos, Flies, and Blight. Nature 22, 11 (1880). https://doi.org/10.1038/022011a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/022011a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.