38 



San Jose' scale, than the lime-sulfur wash, a mixture which 

 may be prepared in a variety of ways and yet give most 

 satisfactory results provided the essentials of thoroughness 

 and timeliness are observed. We really believe that these 

 last two factors are, in many instances, of more importance 

 than the way the wash is prepared. The boiled lime-sulfur 

 wash is, generally speaking, the one that can be used to 

 best advantage. We have been advising the employment of 

 20 lbs. of lime and 15 lbs. of flowers or flour of sulfur to 50 

 gallons of water, boiling the same actively at least 30 min- 

 utes. Our method has been to put a few pails of water in 

 a kettle over a fire, bring it nearly to a boil, add the lime 

 followed at once by the sulfur, stir thoroughly and repeat 

 occasionally to prevent the material from caking on the bot- 

 tom of the kettle. Thirty minutes of active boiling should 

 produce a deep brick color in the clear liquid. The prepa- 

 ration may than be removed from the flre and strained 

 through burlap or ordinary wire mosquito netting. The 

 latter, we have found, sufficed very well provided a fair 

 amount of care was exercised to keep the apparatus clean. 

 The strained mixture is placed in a spray barrel and enough 

 cold water added to bring the amount up to 50 gallons. We 

 believe it essential, in preparing thi.s or any other lime-sul- 

 fur wash, to secure a good grade of stone lime ; that is, one 

 that will slake vigorously and, when treated as indicated 

 above, leave comparatively little sediment in the kettle. 



It is not always convenient to secure a kettle for boil- 

 ing purposes, and we have found that a wash calling for 

 the same amounts of lime and sulfur and, in addition, 10 

 lbs. of sal soda, would give practically as good results as 

 the boiled wash provided it was properly made. The pro- 

 cedure is as folloM^s : Put five or six pails of hot water in 

 a wooden barrel or other vessel, add the lime quickly follow- 

 ing with the sulfur and sal soda, in the order named, and stir 

 vigorously till slaking is completed, being careful at the out- 

 set to stir enough so as to promote a vigorous reaction. It 

 may be necessary to add a little cold water to keep this 

 compound from boiling over the top of the barrel. After 

 the more violent boiling is completed, cover the top of the 

 barrel with burlap and allow it to stand 30 minutes or more. 

 There should result an excellent compound of deep red or 

 even pea green color with very little sediment. Strain and 

 dilute with cold water to 50 gallons. This wash has been 



