RESULTS AT CHAMBERS EXPERIMENT STATION. 45 



your kind tried at the experiment station and if they prove to be valu- 

 able then we will buy them. 



We have been experimenting in a small way in spraying. We find 

 that the enemy we have to contend with most is not the codling moth 

 but the curculio. 



Perhaps I should say that our work with the sprayer was not so 

 much in the way of experiment as for direct results, so that I can only 

 give results in our own orchards as compared with my neighbors. 



Our Success in Combating the Curculio. 



It appears from reports that there have been many failures in spray- 

 ing for this pest, and it is noticeable that in nearly all the cases of fail- 

 ure reported paris green was the arsenate used. So last year we used 

 disparene, a preparation of arsenate of lead, with the result that we 

 only had about 5 per cent of wormy apples, while my next neighbor, 

 less than a half mile away, stated to me that the per cent with him was 

 reversed. That is he had only 5 per cent of worm-free apples. He did 

 not spray. 



The Spray Material I Use. 



As stated above, we used disparene as an insecticide last year, but 

 the price was so high that we concluded this year to make our own 

 arsenate of lead, which I believe any man can do with the exercise of 

 ordinary judgment and care, and thus save the extra expense. 



We do not depend on the manufactured arsenate of soda, as it is so 

 unreliable. We take 1 pound of white arsenic and 4 pounds of salsoda, 

 and boil them together until they are dissolved, using 1 gallon of water, 

 replacing what is lost by evaporation. We then take an amount of sugar 

 of lead, owing to the number and size of the trees to be sprayed, and 

 dissolve in water, which will require some time, as it dissolves rather 

 slowly. Water at ordinary temperature will hold about 37 ounces of 

 the lead per gallon. We then take six and one-half pints of the sugar 

 of lead solution and one pint of the arsenate of soda, mix and if it is 

 to be used with bordeaux, pour it into the lime before it is mixed with 

 the vitriol. 



We test our arsenate of lead to see whether there is any free arsenic 

 in it by letting it settle, then take a small quantity of the clear liquid 

 and put it in a glass or bowl and pour a little of the lead solution into 

 it, and if there is a white substance formed more lead is required. We 

 use seven and one-half pints to one hundred gallons of water or bordeaux 

 mixture. There are several points in which the arsenate of lead is 

 superior to paris green, among which are, it is more easily held in sus- 

 pension; it can be used in greater strength without danger of burning 

 the foliage, and it adheres to the leaves better. 



We have been much interested in observing the behavior of the dif- 

 ferent varieties of apples in the different kinds of soil. I believe that 

 this is a subject that should receive more attention at the hands of 



