The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1900-03-07
REMEDY FOR SCALE

DuhV'tU AoO WI ANcW OcGNcv
experiment station gives valuable
Information in iis account of expert
ments with the use Of crude petro.
!eum on trees that were affected with
scale insects The first trial was On
q email tree that was SO badly affsc.
ed that il had been given up 10 die,
aud the result was complete destruc
tioD OF the scale and the revival of
the tree /, has been put on in the
form Of spray. and painted on with
q brush. The following summary
will tell the story:
"Since January, 1893. nearly 5000
trees Of the ordinary orchard fruite
other than cherries have been treated
with crude petroleum. either diluted
or mixed with 60 or IS per cent Of
water. The trees varied from stock
just out Of the nursery row to old
treea in full bearing.
Not q single case Of injury to
any tree treated in winter has been
observed, on the contrary, in o
number Of cases, the oil seems to
have acted as stimulant, and the
sprayed trees have shown greater
vigor and better foliage than those
untreated
"ln no case has there been any
injury 10 fruit or buds, bot on this
point the observations are incom
plete. no early winter treatments
having been made on bearing or
chsrds. Applications made after Jan
Is. have 70 no way lessened the crop
Of apples and pears the following
year, and applications made in March
have not injured the fruit buds in
peach and plum.
Crude petroleum is not suited T,r
summer application, either pure or
diluted. because of choking effec. on
the foliage and its persistehce This
however. increases its value. for
winter work as compared with kero
sene ; the latter acts at once or no,
at oil and evsporatos very soon after
IL has been spplied-in fact. to avoid
injury. il must be applied in such q
way ss to favor rapid evaporation
Crude oil does not evsporate readily.
il is penetrating. aud If applied With
Q brush half wsy around q branch
completely {; IL remains ss On oily or
greasy surface coating for many
weeks, and no scales can set on the
coating within . month of the appli
cation and live
''lt does not ordinarily penetrate
through even the surface layer of
bark; under the most favorable cir
cumstances if the outer layer is
penetrated, the inner layer remains
healthy and there is no progressive
injury; il does not seem 20 interfere
with bark functions aud young trees
painted with the oil increased in
size quite ss rapidly as those untreat
ed
"Crude petroleum will kill the Der.
nicious scale in winter whenever il
comes into sufficient contact with the
insect 1t is q constant iusecticide.
and will not injure whs, it does not
touch, but, literally applied, it will
soak through the masses Of scales, no
matter how densely set. a. nothing
else will.
"A minor advantage is the fac,
that it gives q greasy, brown color to
the bark. making il easy to Gee ex
sctIy how thorough the application
has been made
The bulletin fu,ther says: "If it is
put on undiluted, o fine Vermorel
nozzle should be used. not only be
cause better distribution eau be pro
cured in that way, but because of the
saving Of the material 1t will be
just ss we'll, however, to use an emul.
sion sprsyer. and mix from 80 TO rs
per cent of water 1t will then be
possible to use q nozzle of larger
capacity. or better, q group Of Yer
morels. and the material can be
applied until everything is dripping.
A gallon Of emulsion containing rs
per cent oil will give better coating
than one quart of oil uodijntei