35 



growers fearing that the action of the soap on the bnds would pi event 

 growth and result in their failure to properly develop have followed 

 the practice of allowing the bud sticks to remain in the mixture for a 

 short time, and on taking them out of washing them with water in 

 order to remove as much as possible of the caustic material remaining, 

 with a view to preventing injury Others have tried fumigation in a 

 limited way, but realizing that should this process cause injury, espe- 

 cially to the more tender varieties of trees, such as the peach, it would 

 mean great financial loss, have been slow to adopt this measure. 



In order to test the value of these treatments a set of experiments 

 was begun at Painesville, Ohio, in August, 1902, in cooperation with 

 Mr. W. B. Cole, of that place. The objects in view were to ascertain 

 the effect of the treatments on the development of the buds and also 

 to determine their action on living San Jose scale. 



An excellent set of experiments on the fumigation of apple, pear, 

 cherry, peach, and plum buds was conducted by Messrs. Lowe and 

 Parrott in New York and was published in December, 1901 (Bulletin 

 ISTo. 202, ST. Y. Agr. Expt. Station), but check trees were used to test 

 the effect of the gas upon the scale, and the latter were fumigated in 

 December and early in June. 



In the experiment at Painesville peach trees were selected, as they 

 were the most tender fruit trees available, and badly infested fruit 

 from apple trees was fumigated or treated with the soap mixture at 

 the same time and in the same manner as the buds. 



FUMIGATION OF PEACH BUDS. 



On August 28 three lots of Kalamazoo peach bud sticks. were tied 

 in bundles and placed in a gas-tight box, which was double boarded, 

 with a double thickness of building paper between, and exposed to 

 the action of hydrocyanic-acid gas for forty minutes. The cyanide 

 used was of 98 per cent purity and the sulphuric acid was of the com- 

 mercial grade. The following charges were used for each 100 cubic 

 feet of space : 



Lot 1: 1 ounce cyanide, 1 fluid ounce acid, 3 fluid ounces water. 

 Lot 2: Three-fourths ounce cyanide, three-fourths fluid ounce acid, 2£ fluid 

 ounces water. 



Lot 3: One-half ounce cyanide, one-half fluid ounce acid, 1-J fluid ounces water. 



Several apples badly infested with San Jose scale were fumigated 

 with each lot. 



TREATMENT OF PEACH BUDS. 



On the same date two lots of Wheeler's Late bud sticks were 

 immersed in whale oil soap mixture. Good's No. 3 whale-oil soap 

 was used at the rate of 2 pounds and 1 pound to each gallon of water. 

 The sticks were removed after remaining fifteen minutes and, with 

 the exception of a few that were selected from each lot, were placed 



