HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



OILS FOR THE DELAYED \ 

 DORMANT SPRAY 



Orchardists whose trees are infested 

 with either European red mite or scale, 

 may well consider the use of oil emulsion 

 as a delayed dormant spray this spring. 

 Recent experiments in the College or- 

 chards indicate some very decided advan- 

 tages in the use of oil, before the buds 

 open, as a substitute for lime sulfur. 



Professor Drain reports excellent con- 

 trol of red mite (in the egg stage) and 

 also of the scale insects, without the 

 slightest trace of injury to the trees. He 

 also reports some control of early hatch- 

 ing aphis. In addition to its effectiveness 

 as an insecticide, it is cheaper than lime 

 sulfur. The oil emulsion costs from GO^* 

 to $1.00 plus the labor of mixing, while 

 the liquid lime sulfur costs from $2.00 to 

 $3.00 per 100 gallons of spray solution. 

 It is also more easily applied. 



Care must be taken in cleaning the 

 spray tank of lime sulfur, before filling 

 it with oil emuslion. To do this wash the 

 tank with water in which half a pound of 

 lye has been dissolved. Or, add a gallon 

 of dilute Bordeaux mixture to the first 

 tank of oil emulsion. Either of the above 

 materials will eliminate the difficulties 

 resulting from a previous accumulation 

 of lime sulfur in the tank. 



If the orchardist does not care to go 

 to the bother of preparing oil emulsion, he 

 will find several very good commercial 

 brands of "Miscible Oil" on the market, 

 which, if used according to the company's 

 recommendations, will give satisfactory 

 results, altho the cost will be approxi- 

 matly the same as for a similar applica- 

 tion of lime sulfur. Professor Bourne 

 has made a series of tests with a number 

 of commercial brands and the results have 

 been almost uniformly good. 



Regardless of the material used, spray- 

 ing must be thorough in order to be ef- 

 fective. Every part of the tree, includ- 

 ing the tips of the twigs, must be covered 

 with a film of the oil emulsion, if perfect 

 control of red mite and scale is to be se- 

 sured. The orchardist is advised to try 

 out the oil emulsion in a small way the 

 first year, and determine for himself the 

 relative merits of oil as compared with 

 lime sulfur. 



W. H. Thies, M. A. C. 



EGG UYING CONTEST 



In the January reports, we changed the 

 grouping of the flocks somewhat as there 

 were very few small flocks reporting. All 

 flocks of less than 80 birds were put into 

 this class; flocks having from 80 to 290 

 birds make up Farm Flocks, while those 

 having over 290 birds make up the Poul- 

 try Farm Flocks. 



An error was made in the list of leaders 



sent out in the monthly letter. The fol- 

 lowing is the corrected list of County 

 Leaders : — 



I. Small Flocks 



Egi/s Per Bird 

 Mrs. G. W. Peaslee, Huntington 18.4 

 Miss Minnie Moody, Amher.st 18.1 

 A. H. Ballou, Ware 1.5.9 



Henry M. Parsons, Westhampton 



13.2 

 .5. I. W. King-, Williamsburg 13 2 



II. Farm Flocks 



1. R. S. Schoonmaker, Amherst 18.6 



2. S. G. Waite, Southampton 16.0 



3. S. F. Thomas, Amherst 1.5.9 



4. Mrs. J. R. Gould, Belchertown 14.6 



5. H. T. Newhall, Amherst 13 2 



III. Poultry Farm Flocks 



1. Harold C. Booth, Belchertown 17.4 



2. Hillside School, Greenwich 15.5 



3. S. Ellis Clark, Williamsburg 14.8 



4. Frank D. Steele, Cunimington 14.2 

 ■5. John Bloom, Ware 12.6 



Only eight of the flocks that were 

 among the leaders last month are in this 

 list this month. Most of those that drop- 

 ped out this month are still getting good 

 production but other flocks are doing bet- 

 ter. Next month we will publish a list 

 of those getting the highest egg produc- 

 tion from November through February. 



The average egg production for all 

 flocks for January was 9.4 per bird and 

 (')ntinucd on pa^r In. column 1 



How Much Mud 

 Do\bu Drag in the House? 



No other improvement you can make around 

 the house will please the women folks more 

 than a Concrete Walk. 



It will keep floors and rugs clean by keeping 

 mud out. That is a big help in keeping the entire 

 house clean. 



And you only have to build a Concrete 



Walk once. 



« f * 



You can easily build Concrete improvements 

 by following a few simple directions given in our 

 free illustrated booklet, "Concrete on the Dairy 

 Farm." Write for it today. 



PORTLAND CEMENT ASSOCIATION 



10 High Street 

 BOSTON, MASS. 



A National Organization to Improve and Extend 

 the Uses of Concrete 



OFFICES IN 29 CITIES 



