THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



37 



gallons of spraying material. The whitewash was strained through a 

 one fourteenth "(1-14) inch mesh wire screen and the same sized screen 

 used on the suction hose of the pump. The ordinary Bordeaux nozzles 

 worked well, but it was necessary to enlarge slightly the opening in 

 the disks of vermorel type nozzles. We found it very important to 

 have the lime properly slaked. Good lime properly slaked is of creamy 

 consistency, with a negligible amount of grit. It forms a smooth, 

 uniform, creamy coating on the tree. An attempt to use improperly 

 slaked lime will usually result in complete failure. No amount of 

 written instruction will teach one to slake lime. The knowledge must 

 come from actual work with some one who has had the experience. 



In orchard practice we found it convenient to have our slaking vat, 

 which was 1 by 4 by 6 feet, elevated al)Out three feet, with one end 

 slightly lower than the other. In the lower end we arranged a sliding 

 door through which the whitewash flowed by gravity into a containing 

 vat. The lower vat was shorter, narrower and deeper than the slaking 

 vat to facilitate the removal of the material to the spray tank. Be- 

 tween the two vats we arranged a piece of window screen, of one four- 

 teenth inch mesh, sui)ported by chicken fencing, through which the 

 whitewash passed in flowing from the slaking vat. 



The cost of material ranges from one (1) to one and one half (1^) 

 cents per gallon, depending upon the cost of lime and labor. One appli- 

 cation proved sufficient to protect the blossoms and permit setting of 

 fruit. We did not find it necessary to spray a second time for larvffi, 

 although in the first experiment enough larvae appeared to lead us to 

 believe that in some cases a second spraying would he necessary with 

 some good contact spray." 



THE ONION THRIPS. 



Thrips tahaci Lindeman. 



General Appearance. — The adult female is pale yellow in color 

 with an elongated dusky spot on the dorsal surface of the middle 

 thoracic segment. The length of the body varies from 1 to 1.2 mm. 

 The eyes are brown, while the antenna^ and legs are dusky. The wings 

 are faintly yellowish, their fringes being dusky. The antennti' are 

 seven jointed. The male larvK are somewhat smaller than the female 

 and of a darker color and often with a greenish tint. The eyes are 

 red. 



Life History. — The life history of this pest has not been thoroughly 

 worked out, but no doulit greatly resembles those previously described. 



Distribution. — This species is generally distributed throughout the 

 entire State. 



Food Plants. — The onion thrips is especially destructive to onions 

 grown for seed. It damages the seed buds before the seeds have hard- 

 ened and in many instances causes a complete failure of the seed crop. 



