88 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
application of a miscible oil, find their counterpart in the case of 
certain fruit trees. The early history of the use of miscible oils in 
New York State contains several instances of severe, though some- 
what restricted injury following treatment. In one instance young 
trees were dipped when the temperature was below 40° F. The 
buds were killed and the stock ruined. In another case a number 
of trees died after a fall application followed by a heavy, wet snow 
which remained on the trees for a day or two and undoubtedly 
promoted penetration by the oil. 
The most extended injury following spraying with a miscible 
oil came to our attention last June. An apple orchard at Athens, 
set twelve years ago, was sprayed Thanksgiving week or the one 
following in 1911 with a miscible oil used at the rate of 4 gallons 
to 50 gallons of water, and about 160 trees, mostly Baldwins, were 
dead or in a dying condition at the time of our examination (plate 3, 
figure 2). There was severe and general injury to a considerable pro- 
portion of the orchard thus treated. Nine-tenths of the apple trees 
in one representative section were dead or nearly so. One tree said 
to have been sprayed with the wind from the north had most of its 
branches on that side killed. The restriction of the injury on other 
badly affected trees was such as might be expected if the damage 
were caused by spraying. Furthermore, dying limbs were girdled 
by dead inner bark near the middle or at the base, the affected 
tissues being dark brown, sappy and with a sour or acid odor. 
Many of the twigs had a reddish brown bark with some discolora-. 
tion of the wood. The buds on some of the limbs failed to start, 
while many had only sufficient vigor to develop leaves about one- 
quarter the normal size. Later in the summer, with the approach 
of drought conditions, some of the badly affected trees and most 
severely injured branches succumbed. About the middle of July — 
there was an abundant development on the dead wood of a fungus 
identified by State Botanist Peck as Naemospora croceola 
Sacec., a species which subsists only on dead bark. Numerous 
vigorous shoots appeared on the trunk and the larger limbs of the 
badly affected trees in early summer, and by fall had made a fair 
to extremely good growth, thus eliminating the probability of root 
injury. Trees most severely affected were practically free from 
San José scale or other insect pests which might have been a pos- 
sible cause of the trouble. A number of smaller trees just to the 
west of one part of the badly affected area were sprayed at the 
same time, the insecticide being used at the rate of 3 gallons to 50 
