14 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



some new barrels; the last year's ones have dried up and blown off 

 the platform; find the spray rod that he used for a handle to the apple 

 picker last fall. You see, must be seen to by the man behind the gun, 

 for when the time and the weather are right minutes mean dimes and 

 days mean dollars. 



I don't want you to think I am giving you any forced advertising dope 

 for I am not, but if I am to do you any good I must tell you what I 

 do and let you glean from it what seems good to you. 



I use a steamer of my own make. I am not going to siiy that steam is 

 the only power to spray with but I will say that it suits me best, and no 

 machine that will not handle seven nozzles at 200 pounds or better is 

 right to spray with for profit, and that takes a machine with ginger in 

 it. 



None of your one-horse powers or your juniors for spraying. It needs 

 a seni(y)% a regular old dad, with at least three horsepower in him. 



Now you have the power let us look at the method. 



This is my spray rod. It is my invention on which T hold a patent. 

 I will show you its advantages for spmving grapes and row fruit. So 

 far all is well, but if the mixture is wrong all is wrong — 4-4-50 with 

 one pound of vrealand dry arsenate of lead and 14 pound arsenate of 

 soda makes a 50-gallon mixture. Dilute the copper sulphate in 25 gal- 

 lons of water and the 4 pounds of lime the same and combine them in 

 the trough that runs to the spray tank. 



The man that tries to make bordeaux combining them in his spray tank 

 is like the fellow who buys a one-horse engine to do three-horse work. 

 He loses, both in time and efficiency. 



I was requested by the Secretai'y, Mr. Smythe, to make especial men- 

 tion of the grape pests and I will treat them in the order that their 

 merit — or demerit — deserves. In and around Benton Harbor, I under- 

 stand, the root worm heads the list. 



When he is in the beetle stage he is a dirty brown color, shaped like an 

 adult potato bug, only about one-half the size. His presence is easily 

 detected by the lacework that he makes of the leaves, eating out the 

 pulp of the leaf, leaving the rib or skeleton. 



The root worm api)ears on the vines in the Chautauqua belt about the 

 20th of June and is all out by the 1st of July usually. 



The damage to the foliage by the beetle is very slight compared with 

 the damage done the roots when he is in the grub form. 



The females commence depositing their eggs about the 1st of July, 

 under the bark of the main stalk usually. 



They are of a yellowish white color and a trifle more than a thirty- 

 second of an inch long and hatch in from one to two weeks, according to 

 the weather. 



They soon find their way into the ground and feed and fatten on 

 the vitals of the grape, its roots. This I know is a very brief history of 

 the root worm and his work and it is much easier for me to tell 3'ou 

 about him and his work than it is for you to get rid of him. 



But in this case, as in all nature, it will be the survival of the fit- 

 test, you or the root worm. 



There are three ways to keep him in check. One is by plowing and 

 harrowing when he is in pupae state. This breaks open the pupae cells 

 and exposes him to the sun and air which is sure death. 



