88 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



this remedy is properly prepared and thoroughly applied there is little 

 diflSculty in holding the scale in check. While it is necessary to go over 

 the trees at least twice in order to make sure that every part is covered, 

 one thorough application just before the growth starts in the spring will 

 give even better results than two spraying such as ordinarily made 

 which leave small portions of the trees without treatment. In Cali- 

 fornia, where the scale has been at work for twentv or thirtv vears, it 

 has been found that a thorough application once in three years serves 

 to hold it in check. 



The climate in Michigan is less favorable for the development of the 

 San Jose scale, and it is probable that, equally good results can be se- 

 cured here, although the value of the sulphur-lime mixture as a fungi- 

 cide mav make it worth while to treat infested trees annuallv. 



Some persons object to the use of this remedy owing in part to the 

 fact that it has to be cooked before it can be used, and also on account 

 of its caustic effect upon the skin. When equipped with a steam cook- 

 ing plant and an elevated tank from which the mixture can be drawn 

 directly into the spraying tank, there is no difficulty in preparing the 

 mixture, and even when a kettle is used it is possible to prepare a suffi- 

 cient quantity for a large orchard, the principal drawback being the 

 necessity of dipping the liquid into the tank or barrel. It is in doing 

 this one is most likely to smear the mixture upon the hands. If care 

 is taken to use hose that does not leak and if there are gaskets upon 

 the spraying rod to prevent it from running down on the hands the 

 mixture can be used with but little more trouble than Bordeaux mix- 

 ture. It is a good plan, however, to rub vasaline upon the hands, and 

 by protecting the clothing by means of rain coats and covering the 

 horses with canvas blankets the objections against the use of the sul- 

 phur-lime mixture will be largely removed. 



The use of the so-called soluble oils has not given satisfactory results. 

 Even when used at double strength the trees have been more thickly in- 

 fested in the fall than before they were sprayed in the 'spring. At this 

 strength the cost is about five times as great as when the lime-sulphur 

 mixture is used. 



Although far less injurious, there are several other scales upon or- 

 chard trees in Michigan. Among the most common upon apple trees are 

 the oyster shell and scurfy scales. The apricot scale is also occasionally 

 found upon plum trees. For these and similar insects the lime-sulphur 

 mixture is less effectual than others that are more alkaline. The scales 

 mentioned, during the winter and spring, consist of merely a thin shell 

 covering a mass of eggs. By spraying infested trees with a solution of 

 caustic soda or lye, using five or six pounds in sixty gallons of water, 

 the shells will be loosened and the eggs will be washed off by rains. 



The ravages of peach yellows have been almost entirely confined to 

 the Lake Shore district south of Pentwater, although the disease has 

 done some harm in Kalamazoo, Jackson and Washtenaw counties. There 

 is no reason to consider it anything but a contagious disease, and, al- 

 though it will quickly destroy every tree in the orchard if allowed to go 

 undisturbed, by the prompt removal of infected trees, the loss can often 

 be kept down to one tree in one thousand. 



The ^'little peach'' has been kept within even narrower bounds, but, 

 although less is known regarding this disease, it is probable that it is 



