REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 1902 143 



lime, salt and sulfur proved fully as effective as the other insec- 

 ticides under these unsatisfactory conditions. 



The results obtained with the lime, salt and sulfur mixture 

 seem to indicate that, in order to be effective, the wash must not 

 be exposed to drenching rains within three or four days after ap- 

 plication. The exceedingly poor results following the application 

 in the vicinity of Albany apparently show that this material is 

 nearly worthless if the application be followed immediately by 

 considerable rain. This instance certainly raises a strong doubt 

 as to the value of this material when applied under such con- 

 ditions. Should subsequent experiments prove this to be true, it 

 will nearly disqualify this wash for use in our eastern climate, 

 since such periods of immunity from rain can not be depended on 

 in early spring, and the same is true to a lesser extent in the 

 fall and during the winter. 



Summary 



Our experience during the past three years and that of many 

 others with spring applications of crude petroleum emulsion has 

 been so uniformly satisfactory that we are at loss to account for 

 the poor results obtained by others. The many injuries to fruit 

 trees and the dangerous nature of the material emphasize the 

 necessity of caution and the grower, who would use crude 

 petroleum is therefore advised to experiment on a small scale at 

 first. The fall treatment came so near injuring the trees that 

 we can not advise it. The application of this material in suc- 

 cessive years has not caused the injury we feared but on the 

 contrary the trees have grown rapidly and gained in vigor. 



The whale oil soap is a valuable insecticide, particularly when 

 applied in the fall though in doing this there is danger of in- 

 juring peach buds. A spring application, using only l 1 /^ lb to the 

 gallon, if thorough, is a very effective check. 



Our experience with lime, salt and sulfur has not been entirely 

 satisfactory but the many excellent reports from other experi- 

 menters lead us to believe that possibly our results may have been 

 exceptional and that this mixture may prove a most excellent ma- 

 terial for controlling this scale insect, a point which can be 

 determined only by further experimentation. It is, however, very 

 disagreeable to handle, being hard on operator and apparatus. 



