13 



INSECTICIDES. 



No. 1. — Lime aiii! SiiJiiliiir W<isli. — For winter use. 



This .sjiray is now so universally recommended, and is so effectual, not 

 only as au insecticide, but to a large extent as a funtricide. that it is deemed 

 e.xriedient to give a full resume of its uses and the formulie for its manufac- 

 ture ill the various States and in Canada. From the U. S. Year Book, 190ti, 

 I take the following : — 



"The lime-sulphur-salt, or so-called California wa.sh. has been for many 

 years the principal treatment for the San Jose scale (Asi)Uliotus pcniiciosiis 

 — Comst. ) in orchards in California and el.sewhere on the Pacific slope, and 

 within the last five or si.x .vears it has liecoine practically the standard treat- 

 ment for this insect in the East. Originally developed as a di]) for the control 

 of .scab on sheep, it was first used as an insecticide on fruit trees, according 

 to Qua.vle. in 1SS6. by a Mr. F. Dusey, of Fresno, Cal., who experimented with 

 a sheep dip prepared by Mr. A. T. Covell. The wash proved very efficient, and 

 with modifications came quickl.v into favour. Lime-sulphur preparations, 

 either dry or in the form of washes, have long been more or less used by 

 <iri-hardists in the control of insects and fungi, but these preparations are not 

 comparable to the boiled lime-sulphur-salt wash, and practically tlie usefulness 

 of the latter as a scalecide was an iiide[iendent discovery. Since first used on 

 fruit trees, the wash has been variously modified in formula, and it has been 

 shown to have a considerable range of usefulness, both as au insecticide and 

 as a fungi(.-ide. 



'■ For small orchards, of 50 acres or less, it may not be considered advis- 

 .•ible by owners to erect a steam-cooking plant, but the writer believes it would 

 be economy to do so where orchards of 25 acres or more are to he treated. 

 es]3ecially if the trees are large ones. If but .small quantities of wash are 

 needed, as for the treatment of a small home orchard, an ordinary kettle or 

 hog-scalder will be satisfactory. It may be placed ou biicUs on the ground 

 and the tire built beneath, as in the ordinary heating of water. The kettle 

 should hold 35 to 40 gallons, and preferably more if a barrel spray lainip is 

 to l)e kept suiiiilied; and it will be necessary to make final dilution of the wash 

 in the spra.v-immp barrel. With some such facilities for (.ooking, one barrel 

 sjirayer can be kept busy most of the time. 



"For larger orchards, if a steam outfit is not considered advisable, large 

 iron kettles holding from (JO to SO gallons should be placed in a brick furnace, 

 one or more kettles being used, according to size of orchard and the number 

 of spray gangs which it is jiroijosed to run. With a l)attery of tliree or four 

 large kettles and with proper water facilities, from 1.50 to 200 gallons of wash 

 may be prepared every hour. An iiniJort:uit olijection to this method of cook- 

 ing is that the wa.sh, wlien iireiiared, must be dipped from the kettles and 

 lioured into the spray barrel or tank, entailing an important loss of time; and 

 to prevent burning, while cooking, the wash must be constantly stirred. Time 

 and labour-saving conveniences, however, may often be provided which will 

 ojiisiderably les.sen these difficulties." 



