43 



had heen given somewhat earlier than that of the year previous. In 

 another case an orchard of 3,000 trees had been spraj^ed with 20 and 

 25 per cent kerosene-soap emulsion, using- two or three times as much 

 soap as is ordinaril}^ prescribed, also using Good's potash whale-oil 

 soap. This treatment had been given during the spring of 1903 and 

 up to November, ])ut very few live scales were to be found in the 

 orchard. It required ver}^ careful examinations to find any scales at 

 all on approximate!}' 90 per cent of the trees. 



Mr. Alwood desired to know exactly how the emulsion had been 

 prepared, 



Mr. Webb stated that he had not done the work himself, simply 

 observing it. but it was his recollection that a pound of soap was used 

 to a gallon of water and a gallon of oil to make the emulsion, and then 

 2 gallons of water were added to make the 25 per cent mixture, and in 

 other cases 3 gallons of water to nnike the 20 per cent mixture. 



Mr. Fiske stated, in reference to the emulsion, that it had been used 

 to some extent in Georgia last winter. It had been experimented 

 with (juite extensively, and the present winter a large immber of 

 growers were discarding their kerowater pumps and making- the 

 emulsion. They are putting it on at the rate of 16 per cent, and in 

 general their method of procedure is to make an emulsion of 2 

 pounds of soap. 



Mr. Fernald remarked that the San Jose scale had l)een in Massa- 

 chusetts for some years, but that there had not ])eon an opportunity 

 for experimenting upon it until the present j^ear. Last year and the 

 year before the college orchard had been found to l)e quite badly 

 infested. This orchard consists of 600 trees, ranging from 6 to 30 

 yeai-s old, and the infestation by the scale was very general. The idea 

 in undertaking the tests was to determine the value of the different 

 substances employed under New England conditions. Different trees 

 were treated, the applications being made last spring, a1)out March 27 

 to April 1-1. At that time the weather was quite variable, so that there 

 was an opportunity to test the effect of different kinds of weather upon 

 spra3'ing operations. In view of the fact that it had been suggested 

 that temperature and weather conditions in general might affect the 

 results from spraying, full meteorological records were kept for every 

 tree. This included a record of the temperature, force and direction 

 of the wind, humidity, etc. A careful study of the records indicates 

 that no relation exists, except possibly in a slight degree in the appli- 

 cation of kerosene. Mr. Fernald did not consider that the weather 

 made any perceptible difference, except as stated. As to the best 

 method of determining results, the speaker stated that he soon became 

 satisfied that earl}^ counting of the percentage of living scale was one 

 that could not be depended on, from the fact that at that time of the 

 year so many of the young scales are killed ])y the weather. Inspec- 



