280 



very largely protected agaiust the ravages of this insect. Experimeuts 

 with a mixture of carbolic acid aud lime (1 pint of the crude acid to 50 

 pounds of newly slaked lime) applied to plum-trees while the dew 

 was still on them indicated that this is not a reliable remedy-. Spraying 

 with arsenites has also proved unsatisfactory in the experience of the 

 author. The trapping of the insects by putting pieces of bark or chips 

 close about the base of the tree trunk, under which the beetles hide and 

 can thus be collected and killed, aud letting poultry or even hogs or 

 sheep run in the orchard, are recommended as methods of repression 

 worthy of trial. But the old method of jarring the trees sufiBcieutly to 

 cause the insects to drop on a sheet held underneath is after all consid- 

 ered by the author to be " the surest, cheapest, and best method to 

 banish thecurculio and save our i)lums." 



New Jersey Stations, Bulletin No. 71, August 14, 1890 (pp. 12). 



Analyses of incomplete fertilizers, and the value of 

 HOME MIXTURES, E. B. VooRHEES, M. A. — The bulletin contains fifty- 

 two analyses of incomplete fertilizers, including nitrate of soda, sul- 

 phate of ammonia, dried and ground fish, tankage, dried biood, cotton- 

 seed meal, cotton-hull ashes, bone-black, bone ash, dissolved bone. 

 South Carolina rock and other mineral phosj^hates, muriate and sul- 

 phate of potash, kaiuit, sylvanit, ground tobacco stems, aud waste from 

 a cigar manufactory, the samples being taken from goods in the hands 

 of farmers. The actual cost per pound of the nitrate, phosphate, or 

 potash furnished by the above materials, aud the differences between the 

 manufacturers' retail ]>rices for these materials aud those of the iSTew 

 Jersey Station, according to the schedule for 1890, are brought out. 



" Superphosphates are now often sold on what is termed the unit 

 basis; the unit means 1 per cent per ton, or 20 pounds. For example, 

 a quotation of $1 per unit of available phosphoric acid would mean $1 

 for each 20 pounds contained in the material. Contracts on this basis 

 are perfectly fair for both buyer and seller, though it is quite as neces- 

 sary to establish by analysis the number of units per ton as to deter 

 mine the amounts contained when guaranteed on the per cent basis." 



The composition of three " home mixtures" is given, together with 

 comparison of their cost to the farmers by whom they were mixed, with 

 the valuation on the New Jersey Station schedule of prices. These 

 show that in buying unmixed materials and mixing at home "(1) there 

 is a decided saving in the cost of plant food ; (2) that the rate of sav- 

 ing depends upon whether the farmer is now an average buyer of com- 

 plete fertilizers, buying at random, or whether he selects his brands 

 from those manufacturers who furnish the most and best materials for 

 the least money." 



