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<pre>> We are suffering badly from black sooty mould. I know this subject has
> been discussed before but this may be a new slant on the problem.
>
> I have a chalk that was obtained in China for repelling insects. It
> works great on ants. Initially they don't seem to take much notice but
> after about 1/2 an hour there is no sign of ants.
> I tried it on the trunk of a few trees where ants were scurrying up the
> tree. I put a line of this chalk around the trunk. A little later no
> sign of ants.

Interesting results. I have had great success using pyrethrum based sprays
for knocking down ants, and although I cannot see why simple calcium
carbonate (chalk) would have any effect on ants, some for of chalk that
contained pyrethrum might be effective. I suspect that Andrew hasn't had the
Chinese chalk analysed (!) for exactly what is the effecive ingredient, but
if it stops the little bu**ers from spreading sooty mould everywhere, I'm
in!


> I would like to develop a spray of some sort to spread the chalk onto a
> number of trrees to see if it continues to repel the little b"s.
>
> Anyone got any ideas. The medium for the liquid would have to be
> something which did not cover the chalk with a coating as that might
> smother the effect. But it needs to be something which would stick the
> chalk to the trunk. If this works it could be a boon to the industry.

Some form of light oil is most likely. The oil should carry the chalk, but
evaporate in the heat? I knew there had to be a constructive use for Canola
Oil!
{now, that's not nice, Mike!!}
Regards,

Mike Wilson
Hunter Valley.
</pre>
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