Winter Meeting. 255 



five per cent, of the crop. That is what Disparene did for me. I 

 throw out a word of caution here. If you are going to use oil pumps, 

 don't use them, at all. 



Prof. Stedman. — I think the trouble with the pumps was with the 

 valve. Of course when they get out of order you must fix them. It 

 is easy to test them by spraying into a glass jar. The kerosene will come 

 to the top and you can see whether the proportion of oil and water is 

 correct. 



Mr. Hale. — We fixed them forty-three times a day and still they 

 would not work. 



Prof. Stedman. — Then return those pumps. 



Mr, Hale. — They send more just like them. None of them are 

 good and safe to use. 



Prof. Stedman. — You will note that in all cases of damage to trees 

 by the kerosene or the disparene on Mr. Hale's place that they were peach 

 trees. I have always written and talked so much about not spraying 

 peach trees that I took it for granted that by this time every one here 

 knew my views on this point. I have repeatedly said that you must not 

 spray a peach tree with kerosene or arsenical poison in any form without 

 first testing it on a few trees during the entire season, and that you 

 should not spray them at all unless absolutely necessary. I would not ad- 

 vise any one to gpray a peach orchard unless it be during the winter 

 while the trees are dormant. I have injured peach trees during the 

 summer months by spraying when I could not determine the reasons, and 

 I have come to the conclusion that it is an unsafe thing to do, and never 

 advise one to spray a peach tree while in leaf with anything — not even 

 cold water. 



Dry Bordeaux. — Dr. Bird, chemist of the station gave an interest- 

 ing talk with object illustrations on making a dry Bordeaux to use in 

 dust sprayers. He did not recommend either dry or liquid spraying one 

 above the other. That question must be decided by the orchard test. 

 He said that slacking the lime with a copper sulphate solution would 

 not make a dry Bordeaux mixture. The great heat in this process great- 

 ly injures the compound. His process was to make the mixture in very 

 much the ordinary way, except more concentrated, and then pour it into 

 a cotton flour sack and squeeze out most of the water. He said that 

 very little was lost in this way, as only the water was strained out. 

 This left the Bordeaux in a damp lumpy mass. This mass was broken 

 up, and dried by mixing it with lime dust. The details of this method 

 are given in a bulletin published by the station. 



Prof. Stedman. — That stuff will not kill canker worms. 



Dr. Bird. — It will not hurt the canker worm. It is a fungus medicine. 



