FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
63 
spreading fungus and spraying. We will 
assume they are worth $2,000,000. You 
see the proposition; there is apparently 
still a loss to the state of $2,000,000. Can 
we save it? By diligent spreading of the 
fungus we can probably save somewhat 
more than one-third of it and, of course, 
as the fungus becomes spread to the sec¬ 
tions where there is no fungus, it means 
a saving of perhaps a third to those sec¬ 
tions. 
We have found that by judicious spray¬ 
ing, or fumigation, the whitefly can be all 
but eradicated. Fumigation will kill 999 
out of every 1000. Thorough spraying 
might be made to do nearly the same. 
Suppose the cost of spraying per tree 
to control the whitefly costs 5 cents per 
box. To save yourself two million boxes, 
then, would cost $100,000.00. Suppose 
it costs 10 cents a box. Is it worth $200,- 
000 to save $2,000,000.00? 
Just a few words on the mites: 
I have been receiving letters and 
specimens from the western and 
southern parts of the state, which indi¬ 
cate that there is going to be, or is, an 
epidemic of one of the mites, namely 
the six-spotted mite. The remedy is sul¬ 
phur in some form. The best remedy, 
the one most generally used, is the soda- 
sulphur solution—most of you know it— 
using it at the rate of about a gallon to 
fifty gallons of water. 
This six-spotted mite is a serious prop¬ 
osition. Some of the letters state that the 
leaves are shedding by the bushel. That 
is serious; something should be done at 
once. 
I have not heard so much complaint, 
or, perhaps, no special complaint about 
the purple mite. I have seen some groves, 
however, where the purple mite is very 
abundant, but the injury is not so severe 
as that caused by the red spider. I have 
not heard of the rust mite, but it will no 
doubt be moving on to the fruit and let¬ 
ting us know that it is still with us. 
If you have to spray for red spider or 
purple mites, you may put the soda-sul¬ 
phur solution into almost any solution 
you have to apply for whitefly or scale. 
You may mix it with Whale Oil Soap, 
Mr. Yothers’ Formula 4, Target Brand, 
and Schnarr’s Insecticide. You cannot 
mix the sulphur-lime solution with these. 
Lime in solution, is incompatible with al¬ 
most anything that has soap in it. 
Mr. Thompson: Last year I said 
something about using a flour paste and 
sulphur without using any caustic soda, 
and I have had good results for two or 
three years. But last year, in order to 
make a short cut, I mixed up my solution 
with soda in the latter part of the year, 
and the result has been that I had more 
scale since that spraying was done than I 
had for the last five years. I never had 
it before; I do not spray for the scale; 
I let the fungi take care of that. Now, do 
you think the soda killed the fungus that 
destroyed the scale? 
Dr. Berger: We occasionally get re¬ 
ports of that kind. On the other hand, 
other growers find soda-sulphur, even the 
lime-sulphur solution does not interfere 
with the natural agencies. Possibly you 
sprayed when the fungi were in the most 
susceptible condition, and the fact that 
the soda-sulphur solution is a strong in¬ 
secticide may account for your experi¬ 
ence. 
Mr. Blackman: The question of scale 
brought to the orange growers of the So- 
