New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 251 
results that were obtained in the eastern part of the State where 
applications of undiluted oil seriously injured many of the sprayed 
trees. 
In 1901 the Station carried on two extensive series of tests which 
seemed to show that 4o per ct. of crude oil could be used with safety 
upon apple, cherry, and pear trees. In the treatment of plums, 
caution was advised in its use;—to apply the minimum quantity 
necessary to cover the trees. Oil treatment of peaches was regarded 
as a dangerous practice as the applications are liable to kill the 
trees at any strength that will destroy the scale. 
Experiments with the lime-sulphur wash. With the establish- 
ment of the San José scale in many orchards, there was a demand 
on the part of our fruit growers for a cheap, safe and efficient 
spraying mixture. Whale oil soap, once the recognized remedy, 
was not satisfactory because of its cost and variable composition.. 
There was also dissatisfaction with kerosene and crude petroleum. 
While they are the most available and effective sprays, they were 
not answering the purposes of average fruit growers, because of 
the difficulty of making thorough applications without causing in- 
juries to the trees, such as are liable to occur from a too free use of 
these oils: In 1902 it was proposed to introduce the lime-sulphur 
wash, which was thoroughly tested in a series of experiments’ on 
Long Island, in the Hudson Valley and in western New York, to de- 
termine its value under our climatic conditions as a remedy for the 
scale. In California its utility for this purpose had been thoroughly 
established, but the advisability of using sulphur washes in this State 
was still a matter of doubt. It was thought that if rains should 
follow the applications, as is very apt to be the case during the 
spraying season, the treatment would prove only a partial success. 
In ‘the experiments that were conducted, frequent rains or snows 
invariably occurred during the spraying operations or immediately 
following the completion of the work, and yet withal the results 
on scale and trees were most satisfactory. Because of its 
safe and efficient qualities combined with its cheapness, the sulphur 
wash was regarded as the remedy best adapted to the needs of our 
fruit growers for the control of the scale and its use has been 
persistently advocated by the Station. It is now generally employed 
by orchardists in preference to the oil or soap mixtures. In many 
localities, while there is a full appreciation of its destructive capacity 
* Bul. 228; same in Rpt. 21:281-348 (1902). 
