FORTIETH ANNUAL REPORT. ' 13 



Mr. Wilken — There are so many things that influence the test — if you 

 get it strained well the reading- will be different than if not strained 

 well. Then it will make a difference if the solution is not stirred ui> 

 well. I Avould not put too much dependence on hydrometer tests, for the 

 home made mixtures but I know that if 180-90 formula is boiled from 

 an hour to an hour and a quarter you Avill get good results with it. 



Q. What is the cause of the crystalizing of the home Lime-Sulphur 

 solution and is there any way to prevent it? 



Mr. Wilken — When Lime-Sulphur is exposed to the air, it will evap- 

 orate some and vou will have crvstalization. We have had no more of 

 it with our home formula than with the commercial. In several bar- 

 rels of commercial Lime-Sulphur we found much settling- on the bottom. 

 This is on account of the exposure to the air. 



•Q. AVhat formula do you use, how much lime and how mucli sulphur? 

 I use double the amount of suljjhur that I do lime, that is 2 to 1. 



Mr. Wilken — -You use the same as we do. 



Q. Does Lime-Sulphur diluted in hard water act the same as when 

 diluted in soft water? 



Mr. Wilken — I do not think there is any difference. 



Q. Do you use your home made at the same rate that you use the 

 manufactured? 



Mr. Wilken — ^We use the home made winter strength, 15-8-50 ; for 

 summer strength we dilute it five times. 



Q. Do you dilute one to eleven same as commercial? 



Mr. Wilken — That depends upon how much water you have left after 

 you get through boiling. You start with 8 gals, of water for every 50 gal. 

 (diluted) batch you boil or one gal. of water to every pound of lime 

 you use. These 8 gals, will boil down to about 6 which will make it 

 about one to eight. It can be got down to one to eleven by using less 

 water to start. 



Q. You spoke of using the 180 sulphur, 90 lime to 50 gallons of 

 water. Would you use it at one to eleven? 



Mr. Wilken — When you boil it up you use more than 50 gallons of 

 water to boil up. In making the home made mixture you put a gallon 

 of water to a pound of lime. You want to get down to 50 gallons of con- 

 centrated mixture, so you boil down to 50 gallons. You can make it 

 with more water than that — with GO or 75 gallons of water. The point 

 is to keep the right proportion. 



Q. By using the hydrometer what per cent would Lime-Sulphur 

 figure, or test on a hydrometer, the home-made or commercial? 



Mr. Wilken — -That all depends, the most of the commercial Lime- 

 Sulphur will register about thirty-three. 



Q. The home-made, what about that? 



Mr. Wilken — You can vary five or six degrees on that. As I said be- 

 fore you can get readings of home made Lime-Sulphur that will properly 

 denote its strength. A home made mixture reading thirty may be as 

 strong as a commercial preparation reading thirty-four. The difference 

 in reading may be entirely due to the difference in straining and not to 

 strength. For commercial preparations the hydrometer gives us some- 

 what of an idea of their strength, even in such cases it is not an accurate 

 indication of strength. 



A Member — The manufacturer of the chemical article conducts the 



