152 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



ill comparison with any of the old methods, both as regards tl)e cost 

 of materials and the labor of application. 



The receipt is as follows: "Spray the trees with the following 

 mixture : Kerosene, two gallons ; one-half pound common soap, or 

 whale-oil soap ; water, one gallon. Heat the water, and dissolve 

 the soap in it; then add it boiling hot to the kerosene. Churn the 

 mixture bj- means of a force-pump and spray nozzle for ten min- 

 utes. wh(-n it will form an emulsion. Dilute before using one part 

 of the emulsion with nine parts of cold water. This mixture will 

 kill every louse that it touches, and the good accomplished depends 

 only on the thoroughness of the application." It will be seen that 

 two gallons of kerosene and one-half a pound of soap make, when 

 diluted to the right strength, thirty gallons of wash. 



We have found that, in using this receipt, two precautions musti 

 be carefully observed : first, and most important, the oil and water 

 must be thoroughly mixed ; soft water is preferable. With a little 

 experience it is easy to tell when the mixture is complete, as the 

 fluid becomes a milky white, and all globules of oil disappear from 

 the surface. 



Second : The mixture should be applied to the trees in the forui 

 of a fine spray from a force-pump. The nozzle we used was simply 

 a deflector ; the mixture left the mouth of the nozzle in a solid 

 stream, then struck against a tin disc, which flattened the stream 

 into H fan-shaped sheet. 



To illustrate my precautions: We made some experiments on a 

 small scale with dipping, but found that unless the mixture was 

 most thoroughly made, the young leaves would turn brown by com- 

 ing in contact with the globules of kerosene which would rise to the 

 top. The use of a force-pump obviates this difficulty, as, in the 

 first place, the pump draw^s the mixture from the bottom of the ves- 

 sel, and, secondly, the fine spray in which it is applied to the trees 

 tends to divi<le into minute portions any kerosene that may be left 

 unmixed. 



Our method of handling the emulsion is quite simjale. A small 

 force-pump is fastened to a good-siztid pail, which holds the liquid. 

 On the front and rear of the pail two pieces of leather are fastened 

 (like trunk-handles). The front handle and nozzle of the force- 

 pump are held by one man ; the back handle is held by a second, 

 who, with the other hand, works the pump. In this way three men 

 (one to make the emulsion and two to man the pump) can go over 

 two to three acres of four-yoar-old apple trees in a da}'. 



