152 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Commercial Ldme-Sulplmir Solution. — A number of manufacturers are 

 now placing on the market concentrated lime-sulphur solutions to be 

 used as a fungicide and an insecticide. Most of these preparations test 

 32 degrees to 33 degi'ees on the Baum6 hydrometer and contain in solu- 

 tion about two and one-half to two and three-fourths pounds of sulphur 

 to each gallon. They are practically the same as the homemade solution, 

 but are a little more concentrated and therefore require more dilution. 

 A strength; of one and one-half gallons of the solution to fifty gallons 

 of water gives about four pounds of sulphur in each fifty gallons of 

 spray and produces the same results as the home-made solution diluted 

 to contain the same amount of sulphur. 



We have experimented with several different brands of these commer- 

 cial products and have found very little difference in them. All that 

 were tested gave fairly uniform results and compared favorably with 

 the home-made solution. It appears, therefore, that, except in the matter 

 of cost, it makes very little diff'erence whether the preparation is pur- 

 chased from the factory or made at home. The home-made product is 

 less expensive, but more troublesome. 



RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS. 



Experiments comparing the lime-sulphur preparations with Bordeaux 

 mixture in the treatment of apple diseases have been conducted by the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry in Virginia, Michigan, Nebraska, Missouri 

 and Arkansas. Excepting bitter-rot and blotch all diseases of the fruit 

 and foliage in all the experiments were as thoroughly controlled by the 

 lime-sulphur solution as by the Bordeaux mixture. The lime-sulphur pro- 

 duced very little or no russeting of the fruit and no serious foliage in- 

 jury, while the Bordeaux injured both fruit and foliage of Ben Davis, 

 Jonathan, Yellow Newtown and some other varieties. The lime-sulphur 

 sprayed fruit was invariably superior in appearance to that sprayed 

 with Bordeaux. 



Experiments for the control of apple scab on Winesap were conducted 

 in Virginia during 1909 with the following results : On the plots sprayed 

 with lime-sulphur solution less than one per cent of the fruit was affected 

 with scab; on that sprayed with Bordeaux mixture about two per cent 

 of the fruit was affected- and on the check, or unsprayed plot, thirty per 

 cent of the fruit was scabby. 



During the same year similar experiments were conducted in Michigan 

 with like results. The scab was held down to four per cent of the crop 

 by the lime-sulphur solution and to three and one-half per cent by Bor- 

 deaux mixture, while eighty per cent of the unsprayed fruit of the same 

 variety (Wa3»3ner) was affected. 



Results of experiments conducted in Arkansas by the Department of 

 Agriculture were not favorable to the lime-sulphur solution in the con- 

 trol of bitter-rot and apple blotch. These two diseases were checked by 

 the spray, but not thoroughly controlled. There is, therefore, some 

 doubt as to the efficiency of the lime-sulphur solution as a remedy for 

 bitter-rot and blotch. 



In both the Virginia and the Michigan experiments the commercial 

 lime-sulphur solution at a strength of two to fifty slightly scorched the 

 leaves, particularly on the terminal shoots; but this did not prove to be 



