EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. i6l 



spraved with lime and sulphur, and another block very near 

 by that was not sprayed at all. The unsprayed block was 

 very thoroughly affected with leaf curl and a great many 

 leaves dropped. In both blocks sprayed there was no drop- 

 pino- of leaves. That was a surprise to me, because I did 

 not know of, and had not looked for, fungicidal properties 

 in the oil, and I am not satisfied now that there are any, but 

 I feel there must be some value there, and think that is still 

 another question that needs to be determined. 



Professor Surface: I would like to take this opportu- 

 nity to make my views clear concerning- the oil and the lime 

 and sulphur washes. It appears, unfortunately, that my 

 expressions were misunderstood to make the whole sweeping 

 condemnation of oils. Such impression I did not mean to 

 convey by any manner of means. What I did mean, and do 

 yet, is that there is danger to trees from the use of oil. I 

 did not explain at the time the force of this danger, but my 

 friend Dr. Britton has explained this in part. Whatever 

 may be the cause, the fact remains, occasionally there is such 

 injury. However, from my observation and from the reports 

 that have been brought to me, there are certainly very grave 

 and disastrous results, according to the kinds of oils used. I 

 came here expecting to render service to the fruit growers, 

 not to "knock" any manufacturer or agent, and I feel it my 

 duty to give out this word of warning, — that if in one case 

 in a hundred a man may injure his trees, it will be the hun- 

 dredth man who suffers and the loss becomes severe. In 

 naming the oils that injure, the "Target brand" I mention 

 first. I have known many cases of injury by the use of that, 

 and next to that, from my observation, would perhaps be the 

 use of crude petroleum, and I can name several men who 

 have suffered from the use of these oils. I have a record of 

 a man using Target brand who injured a thousand trees. 

 The next in line is the home-made soluble oils. The soluble 

 oils are not usually uniformly made. Next would come 

 "Scalecide" and "Thompson's soluble oil." Since I spoke 

 yesterday, I have received these voluntary reports here in 

 this place of injuries by oils to fruit trees. I am not con- 



