110 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



May, 1907 



jslerosene 4 gallonis 



Water 36 " 



This, it will be observed, is the Bor- 

 deaux-kerosene emulsion just described, 

 plus flour. To the diluted slaked lime, 

 the kerosene containing the flour is 

 added and the whole emulsified for five 

 minutes; the solution of bluestone (ap- 



proximately one-half of the total volume) 

 is then poured in and the whole well 

 stirred. This is a particularly stable 

 emulsion, no free oil showing after five 

 weeks. The thick layer that had separ- 

 ated at the end of this period, and 

 which contained the oil, readily mixed 

 again, forming a perfect emulsion. As 



a spray fumishing^at once Bordeaux 

 mixture and coal oil — a combined fungi- 

 cide and insecticide — one simply made 

 and of excellent keeping quality, this 

 formula gives great promise. From the 

 standpoint of preparation and the labor- 

 atory tests it leaves nothing to be de- 

 sired. 



Destroying ApKis -witK Flour- Herosene E.inulsion 



"W. T. Macovin, Horticulturist, Central Experimental Farm, Otta-wa 



IT having been discovered and demon- 

 strated at the Central Experimental 

 Farm that kerosene emulsion could 

 be made with flour instead of soap for 

 holding the kerosene in suspension, this 

 form of emulsion was used successfully 

 in a practical way in 1905 and 1906. As 

 the emulsion made in this way is much 

 easier to make than with soap, it was 

 desirable to learn what percentage of oil 

 was necessary to kill the aphis, as soap, 

 in addition to its value in holding the 

 kerosene in emulsion, is an insecticide 

 itself and without it more kerosene might 

 be required. The following percentages 

 of kerosene were, therefore, used on July 



With 11% kerosene : Practically all aphis 

 destroyed. 



In the kerosene emulsion made with 

 soap scarcely seven per cent, kerosene is 

 recommended. There was no injury 

 to the foliage of the trees in any case. 

 Apple trees in nursery were sprayed on 

 July 12, with very good results, the in- 

 sects being nearly all killed. Plum 

 trees were sprayed July 12, with 11 per 

 cent, kerosene emulsion. Many aphis 

 were killed without apparent injury to 

 the trees. 



Experiments had been conducted in 

 the chemical laboratories with Mr. Frank 

 T. Shutt, chemist, who discovered the 



Spraying Large Trees with a Deming Spray Pump 



16, 1906, in spraying apple trees badly 

 infested with aphis. 



Percentages used — approximately : 

 six per cent. ; seven and a half per cent. ; 

 nine per cent. ; 1 1 per cent. The follow- 

 ing notes were made : 



KEROSENE EMULSION 



With 6% kerosene: Aphis not aS'ected. 

 With 73^% kerosene : Aphis not affected. 

 With 9 % kerosene : Not so effective as 

 11%, but most of the aphis destroyed. 



value of flour in making kerosene emul- 

 sion, to determine the weight of flour 

 necessary to hold in suspension certain 

 quantities of kerosene. Experiments 

 had also been tried in different methods 

 of preparing the emulsion and the amount 

 of churning necessary. This work being 

 done with small quantities, it remained 

 to determine the best method when 

 made by the barrel. 



A dasher was made by nailing two 



pieces of wood crosswise to one end of a 

 pole, the other end being used as a handle. 

 A piece of sacking with a hole in the 

 centre for the pole to go through, held in 

 place on the barrel by a hoop, prevented 

 the emulsion from splashing out of the 

 barrel. 



To make an emulsion having approx- 

 imately 1 1 per cent, of kerosene (or to be 

 exact 11 1-9 per cent.), it was necessary 

 to have five gallons of oil to 40 gallons of 

 water. 



From these experiments it was clearly 

 demonstrated that a satisfactory emul- 

 sion containing approximately 11 per 

 cent, of kerosene could be made by using 

 only five pounds of flour to the barrel, in 

 other words only five pounds of flour are 

 necessary, when an emulsion is formed, 

 to hold in suspension five gallons of 

 kerosene for two hours. A poor grade 

 of flour answers the purpose well. The 

 cost of one barrel of emulsion would thus 

 be five pounds flour at $1.75 per 100 

 pounds, 8|^ cents; five gallons kerosene 

 at 16 cents, 80 cents; total, 88?^ cents. 



When the emulsion is not to be used 

 at once or within two hours, twice the 

 quantity of flour should be used with 

 which quantitv the oil will not separate 

 in 12 hours and more. 



r: FORMULA FOR APHIS 



The formula recommended for kero- 

 sene emulsion made with flour for de- 

 stroying aphis on apple and plum trees is 

 five pounds of flour (or 10 pounds, if 

 emulsion is not used within two hours), 

 fiye gallons of kerosene, and 40 gallons 

 of water. Pour the kerosene in the bar- 

 rel, put in the flour and stir thoroughly, 

 then pour in 20 gallons of water and 

 chum violently for from four to five 

 minutes; now add remainder of water 

 and the emulsion is ready for use. 



Experiments were tried recently in 

 conjunction with Mr. Frank T. Shutt, 

 chemist, to determine if a satisfactory 

 Bordeaux mixture and kerosene emul- 

 sion could be made which could be mixed 

 together and sprayed on the trees at the 

 same time. The results of these experi- 

 ments are given by Mr. Shutt in an 

 article written by him. One of the 

 mixtures appears so satisfactory that 

 it will be given a trial in the orchards at 

 the Central Experimental Farm this 

 year. The mixture is made by churning 



