568 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 17 
the Thrips, insuring more and cleaner fruit. 2. Causes early formation of large green 
leaves, covering small fruit, protecting it from sunburn and frost. 3. The fruit gains 
much of its growth before natural moisture evaporates. 4. Causes tree to function 
properly, producing larger crops and larger fruit, and 5. Fruit will be harvested 
earlier, insuring better prices. 
Examples cited and photographs. 
Stimulation to fruit and foliage has been noted from time to time 
from the application of dormant sprays. Lime Sulphur Solution and 
Bordeaux Mixture have been mentioned by growers and investigators 
occasionally but the oil sprays are mainly responsible for this stimu¬ 
lation. 
Lime Sulfur Solution will occasionally show a slight stimulation to 
prunes or pears, but has a decidedly opposite effect upon apricots if 
applied late in the spring, causing the fruit to ripen late and both fruit 
and foliage to be small and yellow. Apricot trees are very susceptible to 
sulphur poisoning in all forms, with one exception. The writer has 
never seen Barium Sulphur (BTS) retard the growth of apricots or any 
other variety of fruit. In fact, it seems to be a very fair stimulant. 
Bordeaux Mixture applied to deciduous fruits, particularly in the 
fall, will often have a noticeable effect in hastening the bloom in the 
spring. 
Oil Sprays 
Oils very often cause a more distinct hastening of the bloom and ripen¬ 
ing of the fruit than any other spray. This has been noted with the 
heavier types of emulsions and miscible oils and very seldom with the 
lighter types made from kerosene or distillates. These lighter oils gave 
some stimulation in the spring of 1924, which was a very abnormal year 
with a very light rainfall. The reason that the lighter types do not 
generally cause stimulation is due in the main to the fact that they 
evaporate too quickly and are not on the tree long enough to give any 
lasting benefits. 
With the heavy types of oil this effect has been very pronounced, more 
so with the true Miscible oils than with the ordinary emulsions. 
By the term Miscible oils is meant an oil containing liquid emulsi¬ 
fiers, particularly Cresylic Acid, the finished product resembling an oil in 
appearance. Some paste type emulsions have been called Miscible 
oils or Miscible Type oils simply because they turn white like miscible 
oils when added to water, but this is apt to cause some confusion. 
The stimulation from the oils is partly due to the emulsifiers, also, as a 
heavy oil emulsified with a mineral salt or colloidal material does not 
