194 



obtain apples which had been undoubtedly sprayed in accordance with the instruc- 

 tions given by entomologists, and at last, through your own kindness, succeeded. 

 These, upon receipt, were kindly taken in hand at once by Mr. F. T. Shutt, Chemist 

 to the Dominion Experimental Farms, and analysed with the greatest care. I send 

 you herewith for publication his report. Coming from so high an authority, I feel 

 sure it will be of interest to all fruit-growers." 



Here followed Mr. Shutt's results, which are given in full on page 189 of this 

 report. This analysis showed that some Rhode Island Gi-eenings, which were obtained 

 from the editor of the Canadian Horticulturist, and which he had twice sprayed in 

 the month of June with Paris Green, in the proportion of 1 lb. to 200 gallons of 

 water, when analysed by a most delicate method, capable of showing one fifty- 

 thousandth part of a grain of arsenic, had it been present, revealed not the slightest 

 trace of that poison. Further, in addition to the above, I may perhaps be allowed 

 to give an extract from my own report to the Hon. Minister of Agriculture, for 

 1887, page 21: 



" Frequent enquiries are made, and occasionally mistatements appear, as to the 

 possible danger of poisoning the consumers of fruit and crops, protected with these 

 arsenical poisons, which it is urged may be absorbed by the plants. These state- 

 ments, however, are quite inaccurate, as a very elementary knowledge of vegetable 

 physiology will show. Fear is expressed that when apples are treated for the 

 Codling-moth the poison may be absorbed through the stigma and laid up in the 

 seeds. With regard to this statement, it should be remembered that the stigma of 

 a flower is without any epidermis, and is exceedingly delicate, so that any corrosive 

 poison, like arsenic, in even a very weak solution, would be much more likely to 

 injure the stigma than to be absorbed, and further than this, even in the natural 

 operation of fertilization, the stigma is a passive member, and absorbs nothing. 

 The activity is on the part of the pollen, which pushes out its fovilla-bearing pollen- 

 tubes and protrudes them through the tissues of the stigma, down the style into the 

 ovary." In corresponding on this matter. Prof Forbes says : " Of course, yon will 

 have no trouble in proving by the highest authority that there is no possibility of 

 the poisons being absorbed by the plants," which statement, with the following letter 

 from Prof. A. J. Cook, should, I think, set this contention at rest : — 



" I experimented twice extensively to find out the truth — first in 1880, when I 

 had fifty apples analysed, which were very thoroughly sprayed ; poison was carefully 

 thrown on each fruit — with one pound of pure Paris Green to 50 gallons of water — 

 four times as strong as necessary — in May. Chemical analysis in August found not 

 a trace of poison. Another lot of fifty was analysed with the same result. " 



In short, all analyses have shown that practically there is no danger whatever 

 in spraying fruit trees if ordinary common sense precautions are taken. In con- 

 clusion, let me add the following extract taken from the Boston Transcript of 

 1st January, 1892, which is a report of a lecture delivered by Prof. C. V. Riley, the 

 United States Entomologist, undoubtedly the most eminent economic entomologist 

 living : — 



" The conclusion of the lecture was particularly appropriate and reassuring, as 

 it dealt with the possibility of danger in the use of arsenical poisons, and the lecturer 

 showed how perfectly safe and incapable of harm they are, if used intelligently and 

 in accordance with the recommendations of those who had large experience in their 

 use. He referred to the scare of last autumn in reference to grapes that were 

 supposed to have been poisoned by spraying, and exposed for sale in New York 

 city, and stated that the alarm, as the Department of Agriculture had showed, was 

 eutii-ely unjustified. ' In no instance, ' said Professor Riley, ' is there an authentic 

 case of poisoning thi-ough the use of plants or fruits that have been treated, and I 

 wish to em2)haBize this fact, because almost eveiy year there are statements in the 

 press that are well calculated to alarm and engender the belief that we are in danger 

 of wholesale poisoning by the increasing use of these arsenites. ' The latest sen- 

 sational report of this kind was the i-umour, emanating from London, within the last 

 week, that American apples were being rejected for fear that their use was unsafe. 



