Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1901-02-21
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CRUDE PETROLEUM.
One Theory of It's Effects When Used
Against San Jose Scale.

OF usefulness must SEEM FedSOHaUle 10
those who remember that paris green,
now in universal use, was long opposed
as dangerous to both plants and con-
sumers of plant products and that the
range Of its usefulness was not estab-
lished for many years if indeed it can
be said to be fixed even now. Paris
green is fatal to certain class of in
sects and is also fatal to plants, but
there is margin of safety in tie diff
ference between the amount which is
fatal to insects and the amount fatal to
plants; hence we use 1t as an inSeeti-
eide. This margin of safety is not the
same for all kinds of vegetation, and in
some cases it disappears altogether, the
plant being more sensitive to the poi
son than the insect infesting 1t. To
learn all this has required years of ex-
pertinent and experience at cost of
many dead plants and many lost crops.
So it must not be considered as a dis
couragement If some injury is caused
by this new product.
My own experiments had been so uni
formly safe and successful that the un-
satisfactory outcome in number of
cases seemed incomprehensible until
carefully investigated. 1t was found,
first of all, that many of those who had
used the oil and suffered injury had
done so without ever having seen or
read anything concerning the method
of its use Others had used it without
any regard to the question whether the
tree needed ii or not or had been captl-
waited by the incidental result recorded
as renewed vigor in treated trees.
There were enough other cases of In
jury seen, where oil was intelligently
used, to direct attention to the material
itself, and 1t was then found that the
term "crude petroleum" had no definite
meaning in the trade; that in some
cases reduced oil" fuel oiP' or in
termediate oil' had been sold and ac-
cepted as crude oil and that straight
crude" was the exception rather than
the rule. When my attention was
drawn to the differences in so called
"crude petroleum" / first of all tested
the, material with which my own ex-
periments were made and found that
1t had specific gravity of 43 degrees
on the Beaume oil scale. In color 1t was
dark green. No other oil used, as far
as tested by me, registered higher than
this, but much of it was decidedly low
er, some intermediate" as low as 30
degrees The latter was almost uni
formly fatal, and on trees on which |
applied it myself in exactly the way
used the straight crude 1t killed peach,
plum and cherry Afterward | secured
sample of an oil that had killed a
number Of peach trees at White House,
n. ]. This had n specific gravity of
37.6 degrees and was reported by n
chemist as probably mixed crude and
distlllate. Further inquiry showed that
even straight crudes differed widely in
color, In specific gravity and in other
ways. From the Pacific coast | receiv-
oil undiluted was an impossibility, and
some OF my eastern correspondents
made a similar claim.
From West Virginia Professor Hop
kins of the experiment station reported
results with crude oil fully sustaining
my own conclusions and, as the oil
used by his constituents came from the
fields near by, 1t was determined that
/ should visit this locality to ascertain
If possible just what sort of oils could
be best used for insecticide purposes.
From personal observation and In
formation obtained 1t seems that nat
ural crude oils do comparatively little
injury to vegetation unless the applica-
ton Is very excessive or long contin-
ued. From almost every well there is
some overflow down hill In n fairly de-
fined channel. All vegetation Is killed
In this channel, but trees and shrubs
may grow at Its edge. 1t was the testi-
mony of all with whom / spoke that
when wells were shot and oil soaked oil
the trees round about there was injury
In exceptional cases only. The oils test
ed by me ran high, reaching 47.5 de-
grees In specific gravity.
Perhaps this is good place to note
that even In straight crudes there IL
considerable range In specific gravity.
In the report OF the West Virginia geo.
logical survey for 1880 the specific
gravity of 93 different samples OF oils
Is given, all from different wells. The
lowest of these Is 341a degrees and Is
green oil, only one well giving so low
reading. From past experience this.
would be a dangerous oil TO use for In
secticide purposes. One well yields a
black oil, specific gravity 3S degrees;
one well a green oil, 30 degrees, and
two wells green OIL 39la degrees. All
OF these would be dangerous to plant
life. One green oil runs 40 degrees,
two green and two amber oils run Al
degrees, and all OF these might be
harmful on peach or plum trees. Thus
10 samples out of 03 would have to be
rejected for insectlcide purposes unless,
being mixed with lighter oils, the spe-
clfic gravity is brought above the dan
ger line. Oils OF AZ degrees and up
ward may be considered safe. Tho
llghtest sample listed is one OF G31a de-
grces, and this IL nm amber oil. Thir-
teen samples register 30 degrees or
over, leaving 10 that run between 40
ana 40 degrees, the majority running
nearer to 40 degrees than TO "A degrees
both In green and In amber. ii Is
fair requirement, then, for n straight
crude petroleum that 1t should have
specific gravity OF 43 degrees or over
at temperature OF GO degrees Il. Any
thing less might be harmful, anything
more than 45 degrees Is unnecessary.
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