190 PEACH LEAF CUEL: ITS KATURE AND TREATMENT. 



lime to liberate ammonia, which is then reconverted into bicarbonate 

 by the carbonic acid evolved in the conversion of the sodium bicar- 

 bonate into monocarbonate by heat. The ammonium bicarbonate thus 

 reproduced is employed to decompose fresh portions of sodium chlo- 

 ride, so that the process is made continuous. ^ 



SULPHUR {symbol S). 



The value of sulphur as a fungicide, insecticide, and germicide nas 

 been known for many years. Its use in a powdered state has been 

 long followed in hothouses and vineyards, and its application in the 

 treatment of parasitic skin diseases of man and the lower animals, and 

 in the control of fermentation in fruits and wines is equally well 

 known. In connection with potash and soda it has been applied to 

 the treatment of fungous diseases in the form of sulphides of these 

 bases. 



The recent marked use of sulphur in preparing sulphide of lime for 

 the spraying of trees is believed to have been lirst suggested in Cali- 

 fornia, the idea coming, it is thought, from the use of sulphur in a 

 similar form as a dip to kill scab mites on sheep. The spraying of 

 trees infested by scale insects was a natural application of its known 

 insecticidal qualities to the needs of the orchard. In combination with 

 lime and salt it is now very widely used on the Pacific coast. These 

 chemicals are boiled together for a considerable time, and result in the 

 formation of one or more of the sulphides of calcium in liquid form. 

 While the value of this spray is well established in regions west of the 

 Rock}^ Mountains, its introduction in the East has been slow, though 

 it is almost certain to have a wide application in that section in coming 

 years, when the full importance of winter spraying for the control of 

 insect pests and fungous diseases is more full}" appreciated. This is 

 more especially true where both of these classes of diseases occur at 

 one time on the same host plant. 



Sulphur is obtainable in the market in several forms and degrees of 

 purity. The forms most common are known as brimstone, the flour 

 of sulphur, and flowers of sulphur. Brimstone is sulphur in the solid 

 form, flour of sulphur is ground brimstone, and flowers of sulphur is 

 sulphur which has been sublimed. Common brimstone is the cheapest 

 form on the market, flour of sulphur stands next in price, while 

 flowers of sulphur comes still higher. The purity of any of these 



^Quotations on sal soda were received as follows during March and April, 1899: 

 San Francisco quotes 50-sack lots at 60 cents per 100 pounds, 10-barrel lots at 

 70 cents per 100 pounds, and smaller quantities at 75 cents per 100 pounds; Los 

 Angeles quotes by the barrel §1.25 per 100 pounds, and by the car in sacks $1 per 

 100 pounds; St. Louis quotes by the car load in barrels 55 cents per 100 pounds; 

 New York quotes, f. o. b. Syracuse, in jobbing lots, barrels of 375 pounds, 40 centa 

 per 100 pounds; Fairport, N. Y., quotes 50 cents per 100 pounds, f. o. b. 



