FORTIETH ANNUAL REPORT. 121 



Lump lime 20 pounds. 



Sulphur (flour) 15 pounds. 



Water (hot) to make 50 gallons. 



The lime is slaked with a small amount of hot water and the sulphur 

 is sifted in, fifteen or twenty gallons of hot water is then added, and 

 the mixture boiled. (It should take three-quarters of an hour or an hour 

 of good boiling with frequent stirring.) When done the liquid should 

 be amber colored and fairly clear. Strain, dilute with hot water to 

 make (up to) 50 gallons, and apply warm, through a coarse nozzle. 



If small quantities are required, use an iron kettle to boil it in. If 

 larger quantities are to be used, live steam is preferable for boiling pur- 

 poses, either in a tank or in barrels. 



Applied just before the buds swell, it coats the branches in such a 

 way as partially to hinder from settling down, such pests as the oyster- 

 shell, scurfy scale, some aphids, and others. 



H0M«:-MADE CONCENTRATED LIME-SUI/PHUR WASH. 



The advantages in using the home-made concentrated lime-sulphur 

 wash, are that a quantity of it can be cooked in advance and often at 

 times when the actual work of spraying is not pressing. The great dis- 

 advantage about it is that every lot cooked has to be tested with a hy- 

 drometer, to determine its strength, and then diluted accordingly. Sev- 

 eral Experiment Stations, especially Pennsylvania^ and New York,^ have 

 made experiments with various ways of preparing this concentrated wash 

 but as yet no definite way has been found to make it of uniform strength, 

 or composition. Investigations have been made by the Chemical Divis- 

 ion of the Michigan Experiment Station in regard to the manufacture 

 and storage of the lime-sulphur wash and will be published in circular 

 No. 10. The difficulty of getting a wash of uniform strength, apparently 

 lies with the lime, which varies in composition and strength. Lime that 

 contains more than five per cent of magnesium oxide and less than 90 

 per cent of calcium oxide does not combine in the cooking with the 

 sulphur in a way to make a good mixture. 



Lump lime GO pounds. 



Sulphur 125 pounds. 



Water 50 gallons. 



S)*^ 



The lime is slaked to a thin paste and the sulphur is sifted in. Boil 

 for one hour and stir frequently. Water enough should be added so 

 that there will be fifty gallons at the end of the boiling. 



After it is cooked, if not to be used at once, it should be strained into 

 a barrel which should be air tight, as exposure to the air causes the sul- 

 phur compounds to lose their value for spraying purposes. Each lot that 

 is cooked should be tested with a hydrometer when cooled and diluted 

 according to the following table when applied: 



'Stewart, J. P., Penn. Station, Bulletin 92. 

 ^Parrot t, P. J., New York Station, Bulletin 320. 



