72 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 



required; (2) lack of pressure or too large an orifice in the nozzle used, so that the 

 liquid is not broken up into a mist; (3) badly working pumps, which increase the 

 labour so that the work becomes irksome, and is done in a sloVenly manner, and (4) 

 lack of care in doing the work thoroughly and in following instructions as to mc^thods 

 and formulis given by those who have made a business of testing the best remedies 

 for the pests to be controlled. The efforts of specialists have been directed towards 

 one or two main objects in devising formulie to be used against injurious insects and 

 fungi. In the first place, the remedy must be effective so as to destroy the pest with- 

 out injuring the crop; it must be easy of application and manufacture, or the work 

 will be done improperly, and it must be economical so that the cost and labour involved 

 Tn using it may be commensurate with the increased profits secured by the operation. 



During the last twenty years so much excellent work has been done in studying 

 the life-histories of injurious insects and fungous diseases, that at the present time 

 any farmer in Canada or the United States who finds his crops being injured by pests 

 of any kind, can within a short time, by applying to the government bureaiis of infor- 

 mation, get at once advice by which in almost every instance he can prevent a very 

 large and paying percentage of loss. Of recent years it has been found that some of 

 the standard remedies for both plants and insects may be combined and applied at 

 the same time. A notable instance of this is found in the poisoned Bordeaux mixture, 

 made of the two standard remedies for leaf-eating insects and surface fungous dis- 

 eases, viz. : Paris green and Bordeaux mixture. Very soon after this remedy was 

 made known, experiments were tried, in 1887, by the Entomologist and Botanist as to 

 its efiicacy in destroying insect enemies of potatoes and at the same time the destruc- 

 tive fungous disease, Potato Rot. This whole matter was treated at length, after seve- 

 ral careful experiments, in the annual report of the Entomologist and Botanist for 

 1892, and since that time has been found by all who have tried it and have done the 

 work carefully, to be a paying and reliable means of protecting their crop against 

 considerable loss, and also of increasing the yields to a remarkable extent. This 

 work is now :carried on every year on an extended scale by the Horticulturist of the 

 Central Experimental Farm, who has of recent years published many convincing 

 proofs of its utility. 



Spraying fruit trees and potato crops with the poisoned Bordeaux mixture three 

 or four times every year at stated times, varying slightly according to the species for 

 which remedies are required, should now be recognized as part of the regular routine 

 of the season. This is being done by all leading growers who have recognized that it 

 ife a paying operation, and have made provision for it in counting the cost of growing 

 their crops. Spraying, properly done, is the most effective and economical method of 

 applying remedies, but to do the work well it is neither easy nor is it a cheap opera- 

 tion, but in every instance where done as recommended through the publications of 

 the Experimental Farms, it is an operation which pays handsomely, and is therefore 

 worthy of attention by all who grow crops for profit. Spraying carelessly done is 

 gross extravagance. It is an expensive operation both in labour and in materials. 

 The decided increase in quantity and quality of the crop reaped make this expendi- 

 ture worth while; but if the work is done improperly, little or no results follow, and 

 much additional expense has been incurred. A very marked result of careful spraying 

 practised for several years, is the cumulative effect of this continued protection of the 

 crops. Of later years it has been a rare occurrence to find in the regularly sprayed 

 fruit orchard at the Central Experimental Farm any serious injury by insects or. 

 fungous diseases, while in an orchard of seedlings where little spraying is done, Codling] 

 moth. Borers and Bud-moth occur sometimes abundantly. 



Of the active poisons whi?h are used as insecticides and which can be distributed' 

 over trees and crops by moans of a spraying pump, the various compounds containing 

 arsenic have by far the widest range of usefulness. 



Arsenites. — The best known of these are Paris green. Arsenate of lead and Arsenitel 

 of lime with soda, which has lately come into very much more general use. 



