84 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



blotting paper saturated with the compound in a large bell jar, and 

 testing the contents chemically, it was discovered that a very little Lime 

 and Sulphur would use up all the oxygen in the air in quite a large 

 bell jar. 



We know that all animals must have oxygen to breathe, and the ques- 

 tion at once arose as to how little oxygen a scale could do with. So a 

 number of scales were put in a jar in which all the oxygen had been 

 extracted from the air, and only the nitrogen remained. In about six 

 hours almost all were dead. 



This led to a field stud^' of scale insects after spraying, and a close 

 application of the knowledge gained led to the following discoveries. It 

 was found that when the spray was applied, some of it always worked 

 under the scaly covering of the insect and formed a little ring under 

 there. The caustic action of the compound made it soften the wax 

 on the edge until it was in a sort of half melted state, so that when it 

 rested against the bark of the tree it pressed down on it, and soon sealed 

 itself down, making a little air-tight shell fastened hard to the bark. 

 We might get the same result by making a little shell of sealing wax, 

 heating the edges, and then pressing it up against some tree. Well, in 

 this little air-tight box the Lime and Sulphur started working, and soon 

 it had used up the oxygen in the air there, and the scale being sealed 

 down from any of the outside air soon suffocated, just as it did in the 

 bell jar. 



In order to make sure that there could be no mistake, and that the 

 scale could by no possibility get oxygen from the tree, a glass tube was 

 put around the trunk of a tree, the ends sealed tightly, and it was left 

 there for some time, and then tested. It was found that instead of giv- 

 ing off oxygen, the tree actually used it up, and therefore could be of 

 absolutely no assistance to the scale by giving it oxygen. This was ac- 

 cepted as final proof that the scale was, so to say, choked to death in 

 the manner explained. 



In summing up, we may say the great usefulness of lime and sulphur 

 spray lies in its ability to take much oxygen from the air, and in its 

 caustic properties that enable it to seal the scale down tight to the tree 

 by softening the wax at the edge. 



THE BROWN ROT OF THE PEACH. 



p. H. McDERMID. 

 (Awarded second prize.) 



The brown rot of the peach is one of the w^orst diseases, with the 

 exception of the yellows, that affects the stone fruits. It not only is 

 severe in the case of peaches, but it also causes great losses on plums 

 and cherries. 



The loss in this country is estimated by investigators to exceed five 

 million dollars annually. It is a fungous disease especially favored by 

 warm muggy weather. It attacks the blossoms in the spring causing 

 them to wither and fall. The mycelium, or body part of the fungus 



