150 THE AMERICAN PEACH ORCHARD 



32 pounds of lime and 32 pounds of sulphur. The 

 lime should be placed in a barrel and enough water 

 (about six gallons) poured on almost to cover it. 

 As soon as the lime begins to slake the sulphur 

 should be added, after first running it through a 

 sieve to break up the lumps, if any are present. The 

 mixture should be constantly stirred and more wa- 

 ter (three or four gallons) added as needed to form 

 at first a thick paste and then gradually a thin paste. 



The lime will sup- 

 ply enough heat 

 to boil the mix- 

 ture several min- 

 utes. As soon as 

 it is well slaked 

 water should be 

 added to cool the 

 mixture and pre- 

 vent further cook- 

 ing. It is then 

 ready to be 

 strained into the 

 spray tank, diluted 



DOUBLE "VERMOREL" NOZZLE ^^^ applied. 



"The stage at 

 which cold water should be poured on to stop the 

 cooking varies with different limes. Some limes are 

 so sluggish in slaking that it is difficult to obtain 

 enough heat from them to cook the mixture at all, 

 while other limes become intensely hot on slak- 

 ing, and care must be taken not to allow the boiling 

 to proceed too far. If the mixture is allowed to re- 

 main hot for 15 or 20 minutes after the slaking 

 is completed, the sulphur gradually goes into 

 solution, combining with the lime to form sulphides, 

 which are injurious to peach foliage. It is there- 



