June, '09] journal of economic entomology 213 



about the actual farmers, nine tenths of whom have never been to col- 

 lege or high school? I make a plea right here for an easy formula 

 that any farmer can understand and use without trouble. All these 

 complications I am inclined to think we can do away with to a large 

 extent, and I do make a plea for simplicity in these things. 



Mr. J. B. Smith : I want to express my agreement with what Mr. 

 Sherman has said. It is the basis of my recommendations for com- 

 mercial insecticides in most cases. Most farmers would pay a little 

 more for a commercial insecticide than to make it up themselves. It 

 was for this reason that I urged, some years ago, upon manufacturers 

 the preparation of an oil that would be directly soluble in water. It 

 was for that reason that I urged manufacturers of chemicals and manu- 

 facturing chemists to attempt the preparation of a commercial lime 

 sulfur mixture. It is for that reason that another manufacturer is 

 attempting and has actually manufactured a soluble sulfur, that is, 

 a preparation of sulfur in the liquid form that dissolves by simply put- 

 ting it in water, without any combination with lime. It is the manu- 

 facturer of chemicals that will help the entomologist out if he is given 

 a chance, and I recommend the manufacture of commercial insecti- 

 cides, and I recommend that the farmer buy his insecticides instead 

 of trying to make them himself, for he will certainly make a botch of 

 it if he possibly can do it. 



Mr. Slingerland: 'Mr. President, I feel there is a bit of danger 

 in some of Professor Sherman's notions, especially in regard to the 

 methods of conducting demonstration experiments. I am a firm be- 

 liever in such experiments, but can we not carry on these demonstra- 

 tion experiments scientifically just as easih^? If a farmer sees you 

 do it a bit slovenly, he will often go to the other extreme and do it 

 very carelessly and thus get unsatisfactory results. 



A Member : ]\Ir. President, it seems to me that kerosene emulsion 

 has been given a rather bad reputation here in this discussion. I want 

 to come to the rescue of kerosene emulsion as a simple insecticide. 

 It is true that a great many orchard men fail in mixing it up, but 

 I believe there is a chance for the elevation of the standard of our or- 

 chard men, so as to make them able to prepare kerosene emulsion and 

 make no mistake. I have seen orchardists in one season, in one 

 county, prepare, of their own accord largely, about 500,000 gallons 

 of kerosene emulsion and use it successfully against woolly aphis, 

 and I want to say that kerosene emulsion against woolly aphis, with 

 Jts powers of penetration, is a splendid insecticide. 



Mr. Sherman : I maintain that the majority of the people in North 



