738 



mently that the steady use of these poisons for a 

 period of years gets so much poison in the soil that 

 it damages vegetation, kills apple-trees, etc. They 

 give two or three pages toward proving this state- 

 ment. Now, T. B. Terry, you may be aware, says in 

 his potato-book it's very much better to get along 

 without poisons, and I agree with him. Perhaps if 

 I were growing potatoes on a larger scale, however, 

 I would use poison. Now, why I come to you in 

 regard to this matter is that the book winds up its 

 argument by recommending " Bug Death," and I 

 am inclined to think the book is sent out by those 

 concerned in the sale of " Bug Death." Could you 

 briefly tell me what you think about the statement 

 that " the continued use of Paris green or even 

 arsenite of soda will injure the soil " ? I feel sat- 

 isfied Paris green usually injures the foliage of the 

 potatoes more or less. That's one reason why I pre- 

 fer to get along without it. 



A. I. Root. 



Below is a reply from Professor Gossard, 

 the Station Entomologist : 



Mr. A. I. Root: — Director Thorne has referred to 

 me your letter of July 10, requesting that I answer 

 regarding continuous use of arsenicals. The original 

 investigations upon which these statements regarding 

 the accumulative effects of arsenic are based were 

 conducted- by Prof. Headen, of the Colorado Agri- 

 cultural College, on apple-trees growing in an alkali 

 soil. It is probably true that the continued use of 

 arsenicals on such a soil will finally work injury to 

 the trees by putting arsenic into solution in water. 

 The hair roots are said to be killed, and more or 

 less of arsenic was found in the wood, bark, fruit, 

 and leaves of these trees. Some other Western in- 

 vestigators, notably Director E. D. Ball, of the Utah 

 Experiment Station, take issue with Prof. Headen 

 regarding his general conclusion, and believe that 

 caution is to be exercised only with trees standing 

 in alkali land. However this may be, we know of 

 orchards in Ohio' that have been continuously spray- 

 ed with arsenicals and copper salts for 20 to 25 

 years, and the orchards are in tlie pink of condition, 

 while surrounding orchards that were not sprayed 

 at all are in far worse shape, most of them dead 

 long ago. I have had occasion to sample soils in 

 Ohio orchards where spraying had been done very 

 liberally for a number of seasons, and we were never 

 able to get more than a trace of arsenic in the soil 

 or in the wood of these trees. The arsenic goes into 

 solution slowly, and is carried away with the per- 

 colating waters. While I am in no position to say 

 that enough arsenic might not accumulate in the 

 course of a century to injure orchard trees, or other 

 vegetation growing upon such soil, I think it rather 

 improbable, and am sure that such sprays can be 

 applied very liberally for more than a quarter of a 

 century without perceptibly injuring apple-orchards 

 planted on it, and in which grass, weeds, and the 

 general mulch of the orchard appear to be in perfect 

 health. I do not remember the exact composition of 

 " Bug Death," but from a hazy remembrance believe 

 that the poison principle in it is zinc oxide. It ap- 

 pears to me that an accumulation of insoluble zinc 

 compounds in the soil would be as apt, and prob- 

 ably more apt, to cause injury to vegetation than 

 arsenic would be. 



Arsenic, in a small quantity, is a tonic to many 

 kinds of plants, just as it is to the human being, 

 and with the abup.dant rainfall we have in Ohio, 

 and with the absence of alkali. I believe it very 

 improbable that any damage whatever will be done 

 to the soil in the course of half a century or more 

 of continuous use. However, with such crops as 

 potatoes and garden stuff, I would think it the part 

 of wisdom to rotate crops, and not apply the spray 

 oftener than once every two or three years. With 

 this sort of usage it is improbable that Ohio soils 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



would ever be injured by the small quantities of 

 arsenic used on potatoes. 



I question if uny one is able to give a much more 

 definite answer than this to your question ; but you 

 may be able to get fuller experimental data from the 

 United States Department of Agriculture. 



H. A. Gossard, Entomologist. 



Wooster, Ohio, July 12. 



1 am very glad to know that the danger 

 alluded to is little or nothing in the average 

 locality; but I wish to add one suggestion 

 in regard to poison of any kind. Terry 

 says in our potato-book that many times 

 killing the first Colorado beetle as soon as 

 one can be found, and followed it up, will 

 often obviate the need of the troublesome 

 business of spraying. When a potato first 

 begins to shoot up out of the ground, give 

 the little boys and girls a nickel for every 

 bug they find. Later, when the bugs get to 

 be more plentiful, give the children a cent 

 apiece for them; then 25 cts. a hundred, 

 and finally 5 cts. a hundred. A wise fathei 

 can regailate the price so that the children 

 will not make money tou fast. I have done 

 this repeatedly with my own garden, and J 

 not only have better potatoes, but gathering 

 the bugs and picking off the eggs is less 

 ■work than using poison. Where your neigh- 

 bors are close by, and allow the bugs to eat 

 up their potatoes, I know it makes a little 

 more work. At the same time you go after 

 the bugs you can look carefully, not only 

 after eggs, but for any weed that has got a 

 start in the potato-hill. During this last 

 summer 1 have greatly enjoyed this method 

 of i^roving that " prevention is better than 

 cure." 



THE DASHEEN — MORE ABOUT IT. 



We clip the following from the Jackson- 

 ville Times-Union: 



THE BEOOKSVILLE PLANT-TESTING STATION ; " FOR- 

 EIGN-PLANT INTRODUCTORY STATION " OF 

 THE GOVERNMENT. 



" The Stroller," in the last issue of the Florida 

 Grower, has the following mention of this interesting 

 and important institution: 



" Brooksville has the distinction of being one of 

 two places selected by the United States Government 

 as a plant-testing station, the other being at Miami. 

 Here the Agricultural Department has 35 acres of 

 land, and has established what is known as a " for- 

 eign-plant introductory station." Here have been 

 introduced many kinds of forage plants, foreign 

 bamboos, foreign oranges and grapefruit, and last, 

 but by no means least, 182 varieties of the dasheen. 

 Of this number over one-half have been found tO' be 

 practically worthless, and but three edible. The 

 roots of these three varieties are used as substitutes 

 for potatoes, some claiming them to be superior, and 

 certainly they are very fine eating, being widely 

 used for that purpose in the countries from which 

 they came. One other variety is being produced in 

 quantify for a tryout as to its value as a fiour. Last 

 year this station raised 45,000 pounds of dasheens. 

 Of these, 15,000 pounds were distributed to growers 

 and 30,000 jDOunds sent to Battle Creek to be tried 

 out for flour. 



Prof. Gomm, who is in charge of the station, says 

 that the demand last \enr for seed was tremendous. 



