Milford chronicle., 1909-03-12
Professor MeCue Vn Spraying.


On Saturday, March 9Th, Professor Nc
Cue Of the Delaware Experiment Station,
talked to Milford Grange on Spraying"
There are two classes Of mixtures used
for San Jose scale, first the lime and sui
phur wash and second, the soluble oils
There are many preparations on the mar
ket and all have some merit Crude oil
has been used with deadly effect on the
scale and if not used with great care will
thoroughly kill peach trees. 1t is a good
thing to use on old pear and apple trees.
The professor would not advise the us
ing Of crude oil because Of the danger OF
killing or injuring the trees. II used it
should be applied with a small nozzle
under high pressure and on a fair day.
There are various brands Of the soluble
oils some of which have been thoroughly
tested. The base is paraine oil combined
with soap or caustic slkali.
The professor believes that to apply
this year after year might resultin injury
to peach trees though this has not yet
been proved by experience. In some
cases the soluble oil mixture cleans up
the scale better than the lime and sui
phur will as the oil will spread and cover
better. 1t is hard to do a good job on an
old apple tree with anything.
There are many commercial sprays on
the market and they should be we'll tested
before anyone invests. There are two
sorts of the home made soluble oil but
practically the same. One is the penny
OiP' Of the Delaware Experiment sta
ton. While there have been some com
plants of the result from the penny
Oil" the professor thinks the trouble
came from not using it strong enough
If used at the rate of Ia gallon of oil to nine
Of water it will kill the scale. The trouble
with the homemade article comes from
tine chemicals used varying in strength.
One can not be sure OF getting them twice
alike
So far as killing the scale and not hurt
ing the trees there is nothing better than
the homemade lime and sulphur spray.
1t is not pleasant to make nor to use and
any man would be warranted in using
something else if a mixture equally etfica-
cious can be found. The Chemists have
tried to meet the need and there are
many preparations on the market. The
Rex brand, a commercial mixture Of lime
and sulphur, has been used with uni
formly good results on the Pacific Coast.
There are complaints of nearly every mix
ture but often the fault is in the man us
ing the spray or in the machinery.
The professor would advise the fruit
grower to buy a good commercial lime
and sulphur preparation and put on too
much rather than too little. The trees
must be well drenched. The best results
are obtained from early fall and late spring
spraying. Leaf curl can be easily con-
trolled by using weak Bordeaux. The
Elberta peach is especially subject to leaf
curl.
The manufacturers OF commercial lime
and sulphur claim it can be used in sum-
mer to combat scab and brown rot but
the professor does not recommend the
use OF it.
Many experiments were tried last year
at the Experiment Station and while
brown rot and scab were largely over
come and the fruit grew larger, the foliage
was injured and the fruit more or less
spotted with lime.
The trouble seems to be that it has not
been determined d yet, what strength to
use the sprays for these summer appliCa-
tions. The older the foliage the more it
is hurt as the young leaves are protected
on some trees by waxy covering and
others by a woody fuzz.
The professor thinks it would pay to
spray all small fruits with Bordeaux,
twice before blOssoming and once after
the berries are of. The grange gave a
unanimous vote Of thanks to Prof. Nc
Cue for his talk to them.
Topic for the next meeting will be
{ Growing of Tomatoes"