} GENERAL FRUITS. 165 
best of cultivation, Wherever I have seeded down an orchard 
the trees have done poorly, and I am not in favor of seeding 
down; if an orchard is closely planted and heavily mulched, it 
may be all right, perhaps, and just as well as cultivation. Per- 
haps, I can say nothing else that will be of profit to any one, 
and I do not like to talk unless it pleases myself or somebody 
else. 
Mr. Mackintosh: What kind of alkali do you use? 
Mr. Dartt: JI use concentrated lye. 
Mr. Mackintosh: What proportion do you put in? 
Mr. Dartt: Ido not dare to put in over aquarter of a pound 
to forty gallons, or a barrelful, of the mixture. I used about 
a quarter of a pound of Paris green. 
Mr. Mackintosh: Do you use any lime? 
Mr. Dartt: I do not use any lime. I did when I used the 
blue vitriol. 
Mr. Brackett: Would there be any peril if you should in- 
crease the amount of poison? 
Mr. Dartt: There would be no peril, but it would spoil the 
fruit. Ihave tested that matter of injury to the trees. I have 
sprayed the trees so that the mixture would drip from the trees 
into the grass; I have mowed the grass and fed it to the horse, 
and it did no harm; and it has been gathered on sheets and an- 
alized, and the chemists have agreed that a person would have 
to eata barrel of apples at a time in order to be poisoned 
(laughter). 
Mr. Brackett: Will this subject of mulching come up for 
discussion at any time during the meeting? 
Pres. Underwood: Ithink it will come up later; we had quite 
a little of it this morning. 
Mr. Brackett: What was the concentrated lye put in with 
the Paris green for? 
Mr. Dartt: To do the trees good; to make them grow; to 
make them fat. 
Mr- Wedge: Is that leaf-hopper that injures the grape vines 
the same that works in nursery apple trees, the box elder and a 
great variety of trees? At my place it commits very serious 
depredations: It retards the growth of my apple trees at least 
six inches. It almost ruins the birch, and it reduces the growth 
of the box elder one-half. 
Mr. Mackintosh: I cannot say definitely; there is a whole 
family of leaf-hoppers, and I think it first cousin to the one 
that bothers the grape. I would have to refer you to Dr. Lug- 
ger for anything more definite. 
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