OECHAEDS 177 



the state of Illinois to study plants, discovered that 

 Paris green would kill the potato beetle. He said 

 that he believed the same poison would stop the 

 cankerworm from injuring the apple crops. For a 

 good many years farmers doubted and shook their 

 heads; but here and there a man began to spray 

 with Paris Green to protect the crops, and they 

 found it worked well. Fewer apples were found 

 wormy in orchards that had been sprayed. (Figs. 

 38 and 39.) This was only the beginning of an in- 

 telligent fight to protect crops and trees from in- 

 sects. Many discoveries have been made since, and 

 now the best farmers everywhere are spraying with 

 different mixtures to save their trees and fruits, 

 their gardens and other crops. In the West, where 

 the finest of fruit is raised, state laws have been 

 passed, commanding every orchardist to spray his 

 trees whether he finds them troubled with insects 

 or not. This is to make sure he will not grow mil- 

 lions of insects to attack the orchards and crop of 

 some neighboring fruit grower who is careful in 

 spraying. 



Bordeaux Mixture. Besides the insects which in- 

 jure our trees, there are tiny robber plants, or fungi, 

 like mildew and the brownrot, that attack peaches 

 and other stone fruits, sometimes even apples and 

 pears. In France, where many grapes are raised to 

 make wine, the grape farmers near Bordeaux found 

 that their vines were being injured by mildew. So 

 they set very earnestly to work to find a check for 



