63 



oil varied with nearlj-^ every pump, and even the same pump at differ- 

 ent times. Many of the orchards in the State were managed by 

 tenants. Under such conditions it was difficult to get the intelligent 

 cooperation necessary to secure proper results from the use of kero- 

 sene or crude petroleum. 



Mr. Smith suggested that we have to do with a problem for a plant 

 physiologist. The records given were so contradictory that it seemed 

 to him to be due somewhat to the condition of the plant. He sug- 

 gested that the matter be investigated from this point of view and that 

 it be referred to some plant physiologist. He considered that the 

 experiments reported proved two or three points fairly well — that the 

 oil would kill the insect under the scale if it comes in contact with it, 

 and that a quantity of oil sufficient to touch the insect is all that is 

 necessary. The question of its effect on the tree is an important one. 

 It is not fair to take the results from one part of the country and make 

 them the basis for recommendations for another part. The results 

 which he had obtained in New Jersey had been duplicated time and 

 again in his State. He had never yet succeeded in killing a peach tree 

 with crude petroleum, but had crippled some. He knew of other per- 

 sons who had killed trees. He did not understand this difference, nor 

 why the scale is more hardy in the North than in the South. 



Mr. Holland stated that crude petroleum, as generally supplied, was 

 a most puzzling mixture. He had at the university something like 150 

 samples of oil ranging from white to some of high specific gravity, 

 and thought that a chemical analysis would probably eliminate some of 

 the trouble. He stated that he considered Professor Phillips probably 

 best qualified to make an analysis of crude oil, and thought the work 

 one of the most complicated problems in chemistry. He thought that 

 if the fruit growers could get the run of certain wells the difficulty 

 might be largely obviated. 



Mr. Felt remarked that he had gotten very good results from wells 

 in certain sections, but he was very much puzzled how such contra- 

 dictory results could have been secured from New York State. The 

 results published by Professor Lowe were not at all like those which 

 he had obtained. 



Mr. Burgess agreed that the assistance of a chemist and a plant 

 physiologist were urgently needed. 



Mr. Smith stated that the question of determining the composition 

 of crude petroleum and of getting an oil of as uniform a grade as 

 possible for spray purposes was recognized by him as a serious one. 

 At his suggestion the Standard Oil Company, from which he had been 

 securing material, had applied the term "insecticide oil" to a particu- 

 lar grade which they sent out under that name. Oil simply ordered 

 as insecticide oil was of this grade, and had been very uniform, so far 

 as he knew. This oil was and had been used in New Jersey with con- 



