12 



circumstances, since it is so coarse that it will not com- 

 bine completely with the lime even with prolonged boil- 

 ing. The result is a direct waste of sulfur and a wash 

 solution that is liable to contain too little sulfur to be effi- 

 cient, thus wasting all the chemicals, the labor of applica- 

 tion and possibly, too, the life of the trees through inef- 

 fective treatment. 



Preparation of the Wash. — For this work some fa- 

 cility for boiling the solution is essential. Where it is to 

 be made on a small scale, and even in the treatment of 

 several thousand trees where only one barrel pump is to 

 be supplied, the cooking may be done quite conveniently 

 in two large cast iron kettles, one of which may hold 

 about 20 to 25 gallons, while the other should hold 40 

 gallons. The smaller kettle can be used in heating water 

 while the lime and sulfur are being boiled in the larger 

 one. For treatment of from 5,000 to 10,000 trees it is 

 better to have larger kettles holding 75 to 80 gallons and 

 mounted in a brick frame work or furnace. The cooking 

 should be done when possible near a convenient water 

 supply, but it is better to haul the water than the wash. 

 For more than 10,000 trees it will be far better to cook 

 the wash by steam supplied directly from a portable boil- 

 er or some such source, the cooking may then be done 

 in barrels placed side by side and preferably upon an 

 elevated platform. The essential point is that the boiler 

 supply about one horse power for each barrel to be boiled 

 with about 30% surplus power for the pumping and heat- 

 ing of water, etc. Wherever possible the water supply 

 and the cooking barrels should be elevated sufficiently to 

 utilize gravity in the flow of the liquids into the cooking 

 barrels and from them into the spray tanks. 



The kettle method of preparation will be described par- 

 ticularly as it may be more commonly employed in this 

 State. Much latitude is permissible in the details of the 

 preparation for the cooking. The essential points are to 

 secure the complete and rapid slaking of the lime and the 

 mixture of the sulfur with the lime solution without the 



