STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 89 



things be. Not infrequently does one hear the query: "Is the 

 potato passing out of existence, as shown by the failure to perfect 

 its seed — the potato ball, so called ?" The frequency with which 

 letters come to the desk of every publisher of an agricultural 

 paper, asking for information regarding these changes and 

 expressing fears as to possible outcome suggests a widespread 

 feeling of apprehension regarding what is manifest and anxiety 

 as to the future of these important crops. 



It will be admitted by all that for complete growth of tree or 

 vine, for largest possible yield and choicest quality of fruit or 

 crop we must at every step conserve the life of stalk and leaf, 

 feed the entire plant or tree to the completion of the harvest time. 

 To do this the preservation of the lungs — the leaves — becomes 

 of supreme importance. 



To my mind, as a simple student of this great problem, there 

 is no question of greater importance to the fruit grower of Maine 

 than that involved in this question of insecticides. Investigation 

 and experimentation may well be conducted not to determine 

 the degree of danger, but to search out the agent or agents which 

 will insure complete protection while promoting growth and life 

 of leaf, stem and stalk. 



It is not my province to discuss agents save to call attention 

 to the dangers threatening a continuance of present methods and 

 practices. To claim that no other pathway is open to the grower, 

 and that he must still cling to arsenic, proves the man a charlatan 

 and not a student, for under the most careful experiments, con- 

 ducted by intelligent farmers directly interested in the outcome, 

 it has been clearly demonstrated that there is no call for further 

 reliance on arsenical preparations to destroy insect pests. It is 

 perfectly safe to say that we can promote healthy growth while 

 destroying, not driving away, insect pests. 



There is no question as to the truth of this claim, for acres of 

 growing plants and orchards tested in part with solutions of 

 arsenic and in part with non-poisonous compounds tell the story. 

 In the case of Paris green applications the leaves early showed 

 signs of decay and a slight hold on the limb, indicating weak 

 feeding powers, while alongside was a rich, deep, healthy growth, 

 and a yield in fruit as well as crop which fully confirms the les- 

 son, and in every case bears unmistakable evidence of the sure 

 benefits derived from the vigorous, living leaves. Size, quantity 



