REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST I904 399 



least 30 minutes active boiling. This is very nearly the minimum 

 amount of material which can be used safely, and we believe it 

 hardly advisable to indorse the employment of a large amount of 

 lime for the purpose of doing away with the necessity of boiling 

 the mixture. Experiments with a caustic soda solution and with 

 bordeaux mixture to which 2 ounces of corrosive sublimate were 

 added, to 50 gallons, confirmed our belief in the comparative in- 

 efficacy of either of these washes. It may be remembered that 

 this caustic soda wash was extensively advertised by certain agri- 

 cultural papers, as one of the best methods of controlling the San 

 Jose scale, in spite of the fact that earlier experiments by ento- 

 mologists of good standing had shown that it was of comparatively 

 little value. This material at best is a very caustic mixture and 

 its employment under any circumstances, hardly advisable. One 

 of the remarkable things about the matter was, that the wash was 

 recommended by a party who appeared to have no standing, and 

 as subsequent communications seemed to show very little idea 

 of how the solution was actually made, yet his statements were 

 accepted at face value and a great many, we fear, were induced to 

 try this, and were probably greatly disappointed. 



Last fall another method of preparing a lime-sulfur wash was 

 extensively noticed in agricultural papers and is substantially as 

 follows: make a paste of 20 pounds of sulfur with 2 gallons of 

 boiling water and about 40 pounds of lime in a barrel, slaking the 

 same with 12 gallons of boiling water, immediately adding the 

 sulfur paste. Cover with an old blanket and allow it to cook 20 

 minutes, stirring occasionally with a garden hoe or other imple- 

 ment to keep the lime from settling, then dilute with warm water 

 to 60 gallons and add 15 pounds of coarse salt, stirring a few min- 

 utes till it is dissolved. This method was brought to notice by 

 Mr A. N. Brown of Delaware, who stated that the mixture gave 

 excellent results and obviated the necessity of a prolonged boiling. 

 This formula calls for the use of considerable boiling water and 

 also for a large excess of lime, and while it may be efficient in most 

 careful hands, we prefer, if boiling is dispensed with, to advocate 

 the employment of either the sal soda lime-sulfur wash or the 

 caustic soda wash. It is only fair to state that we observed a 

 number of trees in Columbia county, which were treated last spring 

 with a wash prepared as directed by Mr Brown, with fairly satis- 

 factory results. The work was done by a very careful man who 

 followed directions literally, and he probably obtained the best 

 results possible. We also know of certain experiments which have 



