ANALYSES OF INSECTK^inKS AND FUNGICIDES 



Special Hnllclin No. OH 



r.Y ANDRKW .T. PATTEN AND E. F. HEKGER 



The purpose ol' tlie insecticide law (Act 254, Public Acts 1913) is U) pre- 

 vent the sale of misbranded or adulterated materials intended for use in 

 ''preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating"' insects or fungi that may 

 infest vegetation or "be j)resent in any environment whatsoever." This 

 aj)plies not only to materials used in spraying fruit trees, vegetables, etc., 

 hut to all materials oi' mixtures intended for cond)ating insect pests of all 

 kinds wherever found. 



All lice powders, cattle dips, roach exterminators, smut destroyers, etc., 

 come under the requirements of the law. 



The law provides that all such compounds or mixtures must bear the 

 name and address of the manufacturer and also the "correct names and 

 percentage amounts of each and every ingredient of the insecticide or 

 fungicide having insecticidal or fungicidal properties and the total per- 

 centage of inert ingredients." The laAv further ]>rovides that an article 

 shall be deemed to be misbranded if the package or label under which it is 

 sold "shall bear any statement, design or device regarding such article or 

 the ingredients or substances contained therein that shall be misleading 

 in any particular." 



COLLECTION OF SAMPLES 



One hundred sixt3'-eight samples were collected during 11)17 and 1018 by 

 official inspectors sent out by the Chemical Section. These samples rep- 

 resent a wide range of materials and, for the most part, were taken in 

 original packages. 



During 1917 special attention was given to proprietary smut remedies 

 and formaldehyde solutions. In 1918 our attention was turned partic- 

 ularly to commercial bordeaux and bordeaux-arsenate i)reparations. 



CONCERNING LIME-SI'LFUR 



The use of lime-sulfur solution has now become a fixed part of every 

 fruit-grower's program. Long ago this material passed from the experi- 

 mental stage and for several years it has been regularly used both as a 

 winter and summer spray. 



NVithin the past few years several attemi)ts have been made to prepare 

 a substitute for the solution that could be put on the market in the dry 

 form. The first of these preparations to appear in the State was "Soluble 

 Sulfur Compound" manufactured by the Niagara Sprayer Co.. ^liddle- 

 port, N. Y. This, how^ever, is not a lime and sulfur combination but one 

 of sodium and sulfur. Four samples analyzed during the past two years 

 show an average total sulfur content of 53.39 per cent. The compound 

 is fairly readily soluble in water and for winter spraving should give 

 results comparable with those obtained with ordinary lime-sulfur solution 

 If used m equivalent strength. It cannot safely be used as a summer 



