400 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



given fairly good results. We consider the large amount of lime 

 employed disadvantageous because the excess appears to increase 

 the tendency of the dried wash to scale off or peel. 



A check row was left in this orchard in 1903, and in the spring 

 of 1904, 18 of these trees were dead. The difference between them 

 and others treated with various washes in 1903, was very striking. 

 The insects bred rapidly during the latter end of the season of 

 1903 and consequently there were large numbers of scale insects, 

 which evidently weakened the trees so that they were not able to 

 survive the severe cold weather of last year. This was true not 

 only of the trees on the check row, but also of some others on the 

 western side of the orchard which had never been treated prior to 

 1904, and though they were sprayed in the course of our work 

 last spring, our observations have been confined almost entirely 

 to the trees which had been sprayed the previous year, because the 

 badly infested ones which had not been treated were in about the 

 same condition as those in the check row and consequently not 

 adapted to experimental purposes. 



It is interesting in this connection to place on record another 

 instance of the value of the lime-sulfur wash in controlling peach 

 leaf curl. In the Warwick orchard above mentioned, the different 

 sprays were applied in rows running crosswise to the varieties, and 

 it happened that the rows treated with the caustic potash solution 

 included the last few trees of two rows of Elbertas, w^hereas all of 

 the remainder were sprayed with one or the other of the various 

 lime-sulfur combinations. The latter trees showed no indication 

 of this disease throughout the season, whereas the Elbertas sprayed 

 with the caustic potash solution were affected by this trouble to 

 some extent, indicating that even if the caustic potash destroyed 

 the scale, which our experiments show that it does not, the lime- 

 sulfur wash is decidedly more valuable in checking the leaf curl. 



Recom.mendations. Despite some evidence to the contrary, 

 we believe that, for New York State at least, the best material for 

 controlling the San Jose scale is a lime-sulfur wash provided it is 

 properly made, and in this connection it is w^ell to add that one 

 can not be too careful in securing excellent lime because its quality 

 has considerable to do with the efficiency of the w^ash. 



