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Value of Kerosene Emulsion . — It is now the custom to use the time of 
a team and, say, two men for fifteen or twenty minutes or more, and 30, 
40, or 50 gallons of liquid on a single medium-sized tree. In this wav 
the tree is sprayed until the fluid runs to the ground and is lost in great 
quantities, some growers using sheet-iron contrivances around the base 
of the tree in order to save and re-use the otherwise wasted material. 
Now, however much this drenching may be necessary, or has come into 
vogue, in the use of soap, and potash and soda washes, it is all wrong, 
so far as the oil emulsion is concerned, as the oil rising to the surface 
falls from the leaves and wastes more, proportionately, than the water. 
The essence of successful spraying of the kerosene emulsion consists 
in forcing it as a mist from the heart of the tree first and then from the 
periphery, if the tree is large, allowing as little as possible to fall to the 
ground, and permitting each spray particle to adhere. It is best done 
in the cool of the day, and, where possible, in calm and cloudy weather. 
There has been no morning since my sojourn among you that I have seen 
the sun rise in a clear sky. Cloudiness has prevailed for some hours 
after dawn, and in this regard you are favored, as this would be the 
time of day, of all others, to spray. Proper spraying should be done 
with one-fifth of the time and material now expended, or even one-tenth 
of that which I have seen wasted in some cases, so that three sprayings 
at proper intervals of from four to six weeks in spring and summer will 
be cheaper and far more satisfactory than one as ordinarily conducted. 
In this particular neither Mr. Coquillett’s nor Mr.Koebele’s experiments 
were entirely satisfactory, as I was too far from the field to permit of 
the detailed direction necessary. 
I cannot emphasize the fact too strongly that it is practically impos- 
sible to eradicate, by any system, every individual insect and egg upon 
a tree in one spraying. It is almost futile to attempt to do so. 
Improved Wash recommended . — Let us now see whether the kerosene 
emulsion, pure and simple, can be improved upon by the addition of 
any other material. It is plain to be seen from the circulars and docu- 
ments, both official and unofficial, that have been published in the 
State and distributed among you, that, in many cases, the proper use 
of kerosene has been entirely misunderstood. Having already seen 
that it destroys the eggs of Icerya only when used in the ratio of one 
part of kerosene to about seven or eight of the diluent, it follows that 
any lesser amount will give less satisfactory results. Moreover, it is 
extremely important to prepare the emulsion properly. This has usu- 
ally been done by the use of milk or of soap, because they are cheap 
and satisfactory. Raw eggs and sugar, and other mucilaginous sub- 
stances may be used. Experience has shown that the best pro- 
portions are two parts of the oil to one of the emulsifying agent, 
whether milk or soap, i. e. f for instance, two gallons of the oil to one of 
milk or one of the soap-water made by dissolving half a pound of soap 
in one gallon of water. So long as these proportions are maintained 
