494 



n O HT 1 C U L T U R E 



THE CONTROL OF THE SAN JOSE 



SCALE. 



Weapon* the Orch.irdlst May Ute 



Against This Destructive Pest. 



ni'tallod inslructlons for tlic use of 

 various spniys In controllliiK the Son 

 Jose scale nre plvon In « now publtc-n- 

 Hon of the U. S. Deiwirtment of Agrl- 

 lulture, Farmers' Bulletin 650, "The 

 San Jose Scale and Its Control." In 

 the absence of |>ro|K"r treatment, this 

 widespread pi'sl will brint; about the 

 death of most fruit trees and of many 

 ornamental and shade trees. Its dis- 

 covery, therefore, should be followed 

 by prompt measures of control, wheth- 

 er It be found In commercial orchards 

 or In private groirnds. Private Individ- 

 uals, however, will scarrely feel dis- 

 posed to equip with such expensive 

 apparatus as orchardists may find 

 profitable. The bulletin, therefore, de- 

 scribes washes and spraying appara- 

 tus suitable for varj'ing conditions. 



Where only a few plants are in- 

 fested, it is probably better for the 

 owner to use some of the prepared 

 washes. In fact many commercial or- 

 chardists prefer to use these in prefer- 

 ence to making them at home. These 

 consist of compounds of sulphur in a 

 highly concentrated condition, or pow- 

 ders, to which it is only necessary to 

 add a sufficient quantity of water. The 

 powders which have but recently ap- 

 peared on the market are much more 

 convenient to handle and store than 

 the commercial lime-sulphur concen- 

 trates. The latter, however, are still 

 largely used by orchardists who do not 

 care to incur the expense of construct- 

 ing the cooking plant to make their 

 own lime-sulphur washes. 



Prepared in one way or another, 



some form of lime-sulphur wash is the 



most common agent for controlling 



this scale. A formula much in use 



some years ago was: 



Stone Lime 20 pounds 



Stulphur (Flour or Flowers) 15 pounds 



Water to make 50 gallons 



In preparing this wash, about 1-3 

 of the total quantity of water required 

 is heated in a cooking barrel or vessel; 

 the lime then added, and the sulphur 

 immediately afterwards. The sulphur 

 should previously, however, have been 

 made into a thick paste with water. 

 After the lime has slaked, about an- 

 other third of the water should be 

 added and the cooking continued for 

 an hour, when the rest of the water is 

 put in. During the time of cooking, 

 stirring is necessary if the wash is 

 cooked in kettles. It must also be 

 strained as it is run into the spray 

 tank. 



Comparatively few fruit growers 

 now employ this method, because this 

 wash must be applied immediately 

 after it is cooked — otherwise there is 

 crystallization of the sulphur and hard- 

 ening of the sediment upon cooling. 



The cooking Is also Inconvenient. It 

 Is for those roASouH that manufactur- 

 ors put on the market concent nilod 

 solutions of linu'-sulpliur already men- 

 tloni'ii. imd which when used at proper 

 KtrciiKth are (luito as satigfactory aa 

 the old'tiiiK' rorniula. When llnii'sul- 

 phur concentrates arc made at homo, 

 the so-called .'•ii-UMl-.'id formula is fre- 

 quently used. This Is compoHcd of 

 50 |>ounds of lime, 10(1 pounds of sul- 

 phur, and water to nuikc 50 gal- 

 lons — the respective ingrodlonts be- 

 ing boiled loKcthcr for from 60 min- 

 utes to an hour, while the mixture Is 

 vigorously stirred either by hand or by 

 a mechanical agitator. .As soon as the 

 cooking Is over, the solution should 

 lio drawn off and run through a 30- 

 niesh strainer into barrels, the agita- 

 tion being continued all this tinio In 

 order to effect an equal distribution of 

 the sludge. When properly stirred this 

 solution can be kept for a year or more 

 before being used. Such concentrates 

 vary considerably in strength, and it Is 

 important that they be tested with a 

 hydrometer. The new bulletin con- 

 tains a table giving the quantities of 

 lime-sulphur concentrates of various 

 strengths necessary to make 50 gallons 

 of the spray solution. The number 

 ranges from 1V4 gallons for a summer 

 application with a strong concentrate, 

 to 11% gallons for a winter application 

 with a weaker one. 



In controlling the scale, it is always 

 advisable to spray the trees while in a 

 dormant condition, for at this time the 

 wash may be used much stronger than 

 would be safe to use on foliage. Spray- 

 ing may be done in the fall, in mild 

 climates during the winter, or prefer- 

 ably in early spring before the buds 

 push out. For small plants, low trees, 

 ornamental hedges, etc., a. bucket 

 pump or a knapsack pump will provide 

 all the apparatus necessary. For or- 

 chards of some size, as 5 to 10 acres, a 

 barrel or hand power pump will prove 

 more satisfactory, and for large com- 

 mercial orchards gasoline outfits are 

 usually employed. 



In addition to the lime-sulphur 

 washes, kerosene and crude petroleum, 

 either pure or in emulsions, are used. 

 The Department does not recommend, 

 however, the use of these oils in a pure 

 condition, and while there is no ques- 

 tion as to their efficacy in destroying 

 the insects, their employment is likely 

 to cause serious injury to the trees. 

 Kerosene and crude petroleum may be 

 readily emulsified in soap and the oil 

 thus used at any desired strength. The 

 so-called "Miscible oils," however, 

 which are commercial preparations, 

 are now largely used by those requir- 

 ing oil sprays in preference to the 

 home-made emulsions. Treatment with 

 these oils is particularly desirable 

 w^hen the infestation is very se- 

 vere and experience has shown that 

 the scale will not be controlled by 

 lime-sulphur sprays. Soap washes 

 made from fishoil soap are also used to 

 some extent at the rate of two pounds 

 to the gallon of water, and always on 

 trees in a dormant condition. 



I In connection with the foregoing 

 information which is supplied by the 

 Department of Agriculture we take oc- 

 casion to call attention here to the 

 new Indestructible Sprayer advertised 

 now for the first time by George N. 

 Barrie in this paper. At the low- 

 price at which it is offered this Im- 

 plement will fill a long-felt want. — Ed.] 



April 10, lui:. 



PUPILS TO AID SAVING TREES. 



Th« school children of four cities 

 and 18 towns are contesting for four 

 silver cups offered by the MasHachu- 

 KOttH State Hoard of ,\Krlculliire to the 

 cities and towns wliose children col- 

 U»ct before May 1 the largest number 

 of egg clusters of the tent catoriilllar. 

 A first and second |>rize will be award- 

 ed In each section and shall bt-t-ome 

 the property of the public bcIiooIs of 

 the winning towns and cities. The 

 prizes will be awarded on the basis of 

 total number of egg masses collected, 

 each egg mass to be counted as one. 



The pupil will re|K)rt to the teacher 

 the number collected and the teacher 

 will make weekly returns to the super- 

 intendent in whose district the town or 

 city lies. The certified count will be 

 forwarded to the secretary of the 

 Board of Agriculture not later than on 

 Tuesday, May 1. 



Entries have been received from the 

 following cities and towns: 



Over 5000 population Braintree, 

 Easton, Framingham, Natick, Need- 

 ham,' Revere, Rockland, Springfield, 

 Waltham, Ware, Whitman, Winchen- 

 don and Worcester. 



Under .0000 Acton. Ayer, Dana, Erv- 

 ing, Hadley, Hubbardston, Haiico<k, 

 I.anesboro. Lee, Lenox. Medfield, Mil- 

 lis, Medway, Petersham, Stockbridge, 

 Warren, Wendell, Wenham and Milton. 



LICENSE TO PEDDLE. 



Editor ..f HORTICULTURE: 



Do you know of any law that gives any 

 city In Ma.ss.'i('liusp(ts tlie rlplit to demand 

 a tax or license of M.OO from anyone sell- 

 ing plants, vegetables and other farm 

 produce, raised hy (liemsclvcs outside of 

 that city In adjolnint: towns'; 



If so, I should lie pleased to have yon 

 slate case In paper. The city of Ilarerhill. 

 Mass., so demands from us a license of 

 .<."i.OO. 



I personally called up the f'lty Clerk 

 and lold him I would not pay II, and that 

 I would l.c In his illy al l.:iO r. XI. with 

 a load of plants and would sell Iheni. I 

 also called up the Mayor of the city and 

 told him. He told me the City Clerk was 

 licht and that I would have to pay or not 

 sell. I lalled this l)lnfr and dellvc^red the 

 goods, and I will continue till they prevent 

 me. 



I would like yonr opinion or an.v reader 

 of paper. 



Yours truly. 



CHARLES P. NEWELL. 



We shbuld advise the writer of the 

 foregoing communication to peacefully 

 hand over his five dollars. Elvery 

 city has the right to make its 

 own rules as to the use of its 

 streets for the selling of any sort of 

 goods and to demand such license fee 

 as it sees fit to exact from those seek- 

 ing to use its streets for such purpose. 



CORRECTION. 



Although we lay no claims to infal- 

 libility, yet WR do feel a bit "mussed 

 up" over having pennitted a picture of 

 Cypripedium acaule to get by under 

 the name of C. spectabile in our issue 

 of last week. We hardly need to say 

 that we know better, but there is no 

 danger of stones being thrown at our 

 "glass house" by anyone who has ever 

 done proof-reading, for we all get 

 caught sooner or later. 



