14 



MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 201. 



Composition. — A comparison of home-made concentrate and the 

 commercial 33° Baume concentrate is shown in the following; table: — 



' A conservative estimate. 



Stability. — Lime-sulfur is readily oxidized on exposure to air, the 

 polysulfide being converted into thiosulfate with precipitation of sulfur, 

 the thiosulfate into sulfite with precipitation of additional sulfur, and the 

 sulfite into sulfate, as follows: — 



CaS5+03=CaS203-t-S3 

 CaS203=CaSp3+S 

 CaS03+0=CaS04 



This necessitates jtdl containers, ivell-stoppercd, or a thin covering of 

 paraffin oil to jjrevent deconiposition of lime-sidfur in storage. 



The guaranty of commercial concentrates is generally about 33° Baume 

 and 25 per cent sulfur in solution. The efficiency, however, is more accu- 

 rately measured by the amount of poh'sulfide suKur in solution, irrespective 

 of whether the effectiveness is a result of direct action or from products 

 of decomposition. The total sulfur in solution apparently gives the home- 

 made product, containing a much larger {jroportion of thiosulfate sulfur, 

 relatively too high a rating. 



According to P. J. Parrott, of the New York (Geneva) Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, a gallon of diluted lime-sulfur for dormant spray 

 (San Jose scale) should contain about 0.297 pound of sulfur in solution, 

 or 3.45 per cent; and for fungicidal work on foliage, 0.0G5 pound of sul- 

 fur, or 0.775 per cent. The following formulas are so calculated for con- 

 centrates of 15° to 36° Baum^: — 



