The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-04-10
THE OoNTROneoF THE
 SAN JOSE SCALE.
Weapons the oreharaist May Use sgainst This Destructive
 Pest

yVashinston, April 1O.-Detailed in structions for the use pf various sprays in controlling the San Jose scale are given in new publication Of the U. S. Department of Agricul- t1fre, Farmers Bulletin 650, Fh9 San Jose Scale and It's Control In the absence of erAtreatment, this wide spread pest will bring about the death of most fruit trees and of many oTna- mental and shade trees. It's discovery, therefore, should be - followed by prompt measures of control. whether lit be found in commercial orchards or in private grounds. Private 1ndlxld- uaIs, however, will scarcely feel dis posed to equip with such expenslye ap- paratus as orchardists may find profit able The bulletin, therefore. describes washes and spraying apparatus suit able for varying coalitions
 Where only a few plants are infest- ed, it is probably better for the owner to use some of the prepared washes In fact many commercial orchardists prefer tos use these in preference to making them at home. These consist lof compounds of sulphur in a highly lconcentrated condition, or poW'ders~-to (which it is only necessary to add a sufficient uantity of water. The pow ders which have but recently appeared on the market are much more conven- Iient to handle and store than the com lmercia51 lime lphur concentrates. The latter, however, are still largely used fby orchardists who do notscare to in lcur the expense of constructing the cooking plant to make their own lime 1 sulphur washes.
 Prepared in one way or another, some form of 1in1e-su1phur wash is the most common agent for controlling this scale. A formula much in use some years ago was:
 Stone lime, 20 pounds.
 I Sulphur G1our or howers), 15 pounds 1 Water to make 50 gallons
 In preparing this wash, about one lthird of the total quantity of water Irequired is heated in a cooking barre Tor vessel; the lime then added, and the sulphur immediately afterwards. The I sulphur should previously however have been made into a thick paste with water After the lime has E1aked
 about another third of the water
 should be added and the cooking con- Etinued for an hour, when the rest o1
 the water is put in.< During the time T of cooking, stirring is necessary if ItIle
 wash is cooked in kettles It must alSt
 be strained asiit is run into the spray
 comparatively few fruit growers Sl now employ this method, because thf. wash must be applied immediately af ter it is cooked-otherwise there i -5l specialization of the sulphur ana 7 hardening of the sediment upon cool fling. The cooking is also inconvenient <i It is for these reasons that manufac
 turers put the market concentra tel
 solutions of lime-su1phur already men toned, and which when used at prope strength are quite as satisfactory a
 the old-time formula. When linne-su1
 phur concentrates are made at home E the so-ca1led 50-10o-5O formula is ire
 uuentIy used. This is composed of 5
 pounds of lime, 100 pounds of sulphur
 and water to make 50 gallons-the re tspective ingredients being boiled to
 gether for from 50 minutes to an hou1 : while the mixture is vigorously stirre [ either by hand or by a mechanical az itator. As soon as the cooking is ovel the solution should be drawn off an run through a 30-mesh strainer int barrels, the agitation being continue
 all this time in order to effect an equs distribution of the sIudge When pror ~ erly stirred this solution can be ker e' for year or more before being uset
 Such concentrates vary considerably i
 strength, and it is important that. the $ be tested with a hydrometer Tn
 new bulletin contains a table givin
 1.-the quantities of nme-sulphur concer
 trates of various strengths necessar
 to make 50 gallons of the spray soIu
 ton. The number ranges from I l.
 gallons for a summer application wit
 a strong concentrate, to II 1-2 galIor