OUR RIVALS 137 



on a wagon, but in my own grounds I have the barrel 

 rigged between two wheels and shafts for a horse. 

 This arrangement needs one to drive the horse and 

 one to do the pumping. If you are a fruit grower, 

 you must learn to do your own work along these 

 lines, for most of the spraying that is done by pro- 

 fessionals is hardly worth the while. The spray 

 must be put on very fine and until the whole tree is 

 literally wetted. 



If Bordeaux and arsenite are to be applied, they 

 can be mixed together, and in this way only one 

 spraying is required. We are talking very freely 

 about deadly poisons and a very free use of them 

 among our fruits. I warn you that this business 

 has been carried a good deal too far in many cases 

 and that much harm has accrued ; not only in the way 

 of damaging the crop but also of poisoning the at- 

 mosphere. Some of us cannot endure an appreciable 

 amount of arsenic, while others are unaffected. At 

 all events use caution. Not one-tenth the amount 

 of arsenic is needed to kill your potato bugs that is 

 generally used. 



Borers are queer creatures; with bodies as soft as 

 hasty pudding, they have jaws sharper than the best 

 steel saw. They will work their way through ash 

 trees and bore young apple trees all into sawdust. 

 They have to be fought at all seasons, especially in 

 our orchard trees. The apple and quince trees fur- 

 nish a resort for the same borer, and it takes a very 

 short time to ruin a tree. 



