PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUMMER MEETING. 179 



of the foliage and the new leaf growth possible, there will be ample gain 

 to repay the expense of at least one spraying. 



Would it do to use arsenic instead of Paris green ? 



Prof. Taft: I do not like to recommend arsenic in talking about the 

 peach, though I have used it myself instead of Paris green. Arsenic is 

 more likely to injure foliage unless properly used; but, where properly 

 used, it is more likely to be pure, and the expense is not a quarter, last 

 year it was less than one sixth, the cost of Paris green. If 1 used arsenic 

 I would take, for instance, a pound of arsenic and two pounds lime, and, 

 after slaking the lime, would boil them together for at least half an hour. 

 In that way we form an insoluble material that will not burn the foliage, 

 but I certainh' would advise any one to try it on a small branch before 

 using it. We find, however, that after boiling it for half an hour we 

 dissolve the arsenic, and it becomes insoluble and does not injure the 

 foliage. 



Mr. Thomas Wilde: Don't you think you can kill the larvae of the 

 curculio, after deposited, by spraying? 



Prof. Taft: I think so, in case the gum has not covered it over and 

 closed the opening. If the poison gets into that i^lace, as it will, if you 

 spray properly, you are pretty likely to destroy it. But, in all cases, you 

 need to apply it very freely, and cover that part of the fruit, so if there 

 is a small opening the poison will go inside. I have noticed that where 

 we spray we greatly increase the number of instances where there are 

 scars on the fruit which do not have worms inside. We have left some 

 unsprayed, and while in some cases, of course, where the worm does enter 

 the egg fails to hatch, or something happens; but we find far more cases 

 where there has been an egg deposited and no worm found, where we 

 sprayed, than where we did not spray, so I am convinced that, if we spray 

 and the gum has not covered the egg, it is effectual. 



Mr. Wilde: I have used arsenic a long time, perhaps fifteen years, but 

 it is a long time since I have used Paris green. I have had good success 

 with arsenic. I first used it dilluted (dissolved it) but after a while I 

 began to put a pound and a half into a pailand put in some lime, and stir 

 and boil it, and I have found bad effects but once. I got some very hard 

 crystals, and it burned the leaves somewhat, but the arsenic I have now 

 dissolves completely in the heat of the lime; I then measure out what I 

 want, and pour it into my barrel, or into the Bordeaux mixture, and I have 

 used that on plums, and killed the curculio to a considerable extent. 

 One application will do, on Lombard. There is one peculiarity about 

 it, though — if it washes off or doesn't stick, the curculio will be present 

 on the tree afterward. Then you can jar it. The only case I ever knew 

 of spray burning was where I used corrosive sublimate, and I had som.e 

 fine lime that coated the leaves, and I never saw a live curculio on the 

 tree; and there were no live trees, either. I found it a very powerful 

 poison. Of course it is more expensive and dangerous. A calf once took 

 a suck of it, and it was very damaging to the calf. I have used it on 

 potato bugs, and have applied with lime and arsenic, without anything 

 else, and it worked all right. My son uses Paris green; he sprayed so 

 many times that the weiglit of the fruit broke the trees down. One man 

 found fault with me because I recommended spraying and didn't say 



