1906.] 



Spraying Mixtures. 



665 



successive layers of lime were slaked, or by being boiled with 

 the lime. The same objectionable conditions resulted from the 

 addition of soft soap to calcium sulphide properly prepared by 

 a manufacturing chemist. Therefore, potassium sulphide and 

 soft soap, which combine well, making an excellent spraying 

 fluid, with some other preparations, were tried last season, un- 

 sprayed bushes being left as checks. The experiments proved 

 futile, however, as unsprayed and sprayed bushes alike were un- 

 touched by birds in the winter of 1904-5, possibly because it 

 was an exceptionally mild one. The lime, sulphur, and soft 

 soap spray appeared to have an invigorating effect upon the 

 bushes, while cleansing their stems and older branches of moss 

 and lichen. 



This season a new combination has been used on gooseberry 

 bushes, consisting of 60 lb. of lime, 30 lb. of flowers of sulphur, 

 and 12 lb. of caustic soda to 100 gallons of water. It has been 

 tried in two seasons in several orchards of apples, pears, plums, 

 and peaches by the authorities of the New York Experiment 

 Station to kill scale and to check scab, and otherwise to act as 

 a caustic spray when buds are dormant. The sulphur is made 

 into a paste, thinned gradually, poured over the quicklime, and 

 mixed well with it while the latter is slaking, the caustic soda 

 being added and well stirred in immediately afterwards. This 

 is termed a self-boiling spray, and it makes an excellent mix- 

 ture which, after being strained through fine brass wire gauze, 

 passes freely through the nozzles of the spraying machine. It 

 adheres well to the bushes. 



In one of the apple orchards in New York State this spray is 

 reported to have damaged seriously the leaf and blossom buds ; 

 but the branches of the trees, it is stated, were " repeatedly 

 drenched " and tl much oversprayed." In four other apple 

 orchards no appreciable injury was done to the trees. The 

 spray proved very effective for the destruction of scale, and 

 considerably so in checking scab, while leaf-curl in peaches was 

 almost entirely prevented by it. Why this preparation harmed 

 apple buds, even when excessively sprayed, is unaccountable, 

 unless they were too much advanced, as lime and sulphur 

 appeared to invigorate gooseberry bushes, while the mischief is 

 not attributable to the caustic soda, as it occurred also after 



