220 EXPEBIMENTAL FARMS. 



have special buildings in which all trees and shrubs are treated whether known to be 

 infested or not. To save time, these buildings are divided into two compartments, so that 

 one may be emptied while the stock in the other compartment is being disinfected. 

 For treatment of a small number of trees a box may be rendered air tight by pasting 

 paper over all cracks and openings. 



4. Lime-Salt-and-Sulphur Wash ; — This wash is one of the favourite washes on the 

 Pacific coast and has certainly given excellent results in British Columbia. Mr. R. M. 

 Palmer has found it most satisfactory for some years and in his last report refers to it 

 as follows : — " Another year's experience with the No. 1 spraying mixture (lime, salt 

 and sulphur) has added further evidence of its value as a winter wash for all kinds of 

 fruit trees and bushes. It is generally noted that so much improvement results from 

 its use in the health and vigour of the trees to which it is applied, as alone to justify 

 the cost of the work." 



Mr. Marlatt, when in California, noticed the same good results there in the vicinity 

 of Pomona, Cal., where " unsprayed orchards were badly infested with San Josd Scale, 

 while in adjoining sprayed orchards the scale was entirely killed and the trees were 

 rapidly recovering and showing vigorous and healthy new growth. In contiguous 

 orchards also of the same kinds of trees which had been cultivated in a similar manner, 

 those trees which had been sprayed yearly were at least one-third larger than the 

 others." 



The mixture which Mr. Palmer has found so valuable is as follows : — 



" Lime, unslaked 30 pounds- 

 Sulphur, powdered 20 " 



Salt, coarse 15 " 



Water 60 gallons. 



" Place 10 pounds of lime and 20 pounds of sulphur in a boiler with 20 gallons of 

 water, and boil over a brisk fire for two hours, until the sulphur is thoroughly dissolved. 

 It will then be amber-coloured. Next, place 20 pounds of lime in a cask and pour 

 enough water over it to thoroughly slake it. Add the salt. When dissolved, add to the 

 lime and sulphur, and boil half an hour longer. Add enough water to make 60 gallons. 

 Apply lukewarm. Spray when the trees are dormant, or as soon as the leaves fall, and 

 again in the spring before the buds swell. A good force pump should be used, and care 

 must be taken to cover the infested trees thoroughly with the mixture, which should be 

 constantly stirred when applying. 



" To insure freedom from lumps, it is advisable to pass the mixture through a wire 

 sieve or strainer." — [R. M. Palmer, Insect Pests and Plant DiseaseSjYictoria, B.C., 1897.] 



Prof. J. B. Smith also speaks of the good results obtained with this wash on the 

 Pacific coast in his Annual Report for 1896, p. 487 : — " In Yuba and Sutter counties, the 

 lime, sulphur and salt wash is the favourite. The testimony to its efficiency is universal. 

 Few claim that a single spraying is absolutely effective ; all contend that two sprayings 

 will kill practically all the scales. Absolutely perfect work cannot be expected, and so 

 there is always a small amount of scale in the orchard ; but, as they have found that the 

 use of this wash is beneficial to the trees by seeming to make them more vigorous, less 

 liable to fungus attack and, in the case of peach trees, less susceptible to leaf curl, the 

 spraying is continued every year, whether the scale is abundant or not. A man who 

 does not spray is considered a very poor farmer." 



The above quotations are given for the benefit of British Columbia fruit growers, 

 all of whom are urged to take the fullest advantage of the excellent work which is being 

 done by Mr. R. M. Palmer, Inspector of Fruit Pests, His Annual Reports to the Pro- 

 vincial Board of Horticulture are indispensible to the farmer, fruit grower and gardener, 

 in all parts of the province. 



This valuable remedy of the West, however, it must be acknowledged, has not 

 given satisfactory results in the East, Mr. Marlatt even going so far as to say, while 

 acknowledging its value in the West : — "Our experience with the wash in the East had 

 thrown doubt on its real efficiency as an insecticide, and it has been clearly demonstrated 

 that under the climatic conditions east of the Alleghanies it is almost valueless." 



