186 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



proven the home for the oppressed of every nation, and as they came 

 pouring in through our open doors from every country they brought 

 with them, not only their own individualities, but germs from Ger- 

 many, microbes from Ireland and parasites from Paris, and insects 

 from every nation. Our soil and climate proving congenial, they 

 have multiplied to such extent that there is no crop but which is 

 more or less infested and it has become a matter of the "survival of 

 the fittest." He who expects to raise fruit or any other crop on the 

 principles of our ancestors, will find he is up against the real thing; 

 and to become master of the situation he must bestir himself and 

 resort to spraying. 



This subject has been so much talked about that you can scarcely 

 pick up a paper, agricultural or horticultural, but you see articles 

 on spraying. Yet it has never been placed in such a light as to 

 fully impress the average mind with its importance. It is claimed 

 there is an annual loss in the United States alone of between 300 

 and 400 millions of dollars, and that 75 per cent, of this loss could 

 be avoided by judicious spraying. Fruit especially claims more at- 

 tention than formerly as our insect foes are increasing so rapidly. 

 In the Scriptures we read of the plagues of Egypt. They were scarcely 

 more terrible than the vast army of creeping, crawling and flying 

 insects that have been imported, developed and disseminated, that 

 are biting and sucking and thus destroying the vitality, beauty and 

 luxuriant growth and wealth of fruit. Some of them are sucking 

 insects and must be killed by contact remedies such as L. S. S. soap- 

 suds, kerosene emulsion, crude oil, etc., any oily substance that 

 closes up the breathing pores along the sides of their bodies. Some 

 are masticating insects, eating the leaves, the tender new growth 

 and the fruit. These can be killed by internal poisons, such as 

 arsenite of lead, arsenite of soda, Paris green, hellebore, etc. We 

 frequently hear of dissatisfaction caused by using fungicides for 

 masticating insects, and vice versa. 



Insects are classed under two heads: Biting and sucking. Under 

 the first class we have the caterpillar, canker worm, codling moth, 

 cut worms, wire worms, potato beetle, etc. In sucking insects we 

 have the scale insects, aphis, chinch bugs, etc. So we have with 

 fungus growths wherever it attaches itself on fruit, it prevents 

 the development by sapping the juice or, if on the leaves, it destroys 

 the cellular tissue and prevents the leaves -from performing their 

 function, that of preparing the plant food. Leaf blight or scab 

 fungus causes the leaves to drop and the fruit on such trees cannot 

 properly mature. These are best treated with fungicides of which 

 the copper salts are the best. 



What is spraying? The forcible ejectment of fungicide or insecti- 

 cide ingredients in such fine or minute particles, whether dust or 



