THE SPRA YING OF FRUITS. 243 



John M. Dixon. Fruit-growers were at first incredulous as 

 to the value of the arsenites for the destruction of the larva 

 of the codlin-moth, but by 1885 sufficient experience had ac- 

 cumulated to entitle the practice to the careful consideration 

 of every progressive farmer. Spraying for the codlin-moth 

 and many other orchard insects is now demonstrated to be 

 of the greatest value, and it is a practice which every intelli- 

 gent pomologist must employ. 



The practice of spraying for fungous diseases had a sepa- 

 rate origin. It originated in Southern France, in an attempt 

 to check the mildew of the grape, a disease which had been 

 introduced from America. The first definite efforts to treat 

 plant-diseases by sprays in this country were made in 1884 

 and 1885, by Saunders and Goff. In the latter year, the De- 

 partment of Agriculture began to publish advice, at first 

 gleaned largely from French sources, respecting the treat- 

 ment of these serious disorders ; and it has prosecuted the 

 work up to the present time with a persistence and efficiency 

 which should win the admiration of the world. 



The kerosene emulsions, and like compounds used for the 

 destruction of various scales and other sucking insects, were 

 of still independent origin. The kerosene emulsion is an 

 American invention. The first successful emulsion with soap 

 was probably made by Prof. A. J. Cook, of the Michigan 

 Agricultural College, in 1877 and 1878. It was soon after rec- 

 ommended independently by Hubbard and Riley as the result 

 of investigations upon the scale of the orange ; and emulsions 

 with milk were at the same time perfected by Barnard and 

 Hubbard as the result of work upon the cotton-worm. Vari- 

 ous soaps and oils have long been known to be effective in- 

 secticides. As early as 1840, whale-oil soap was used in this 

 country for the destruction of the rose-chafer, although its 

 application to that insect is no longer considered to be effica- 

 cious. 



Spraying is only one of several practices which are of fun- 

 damental importance in the care of fruit-plantations. Tillage, 

 fertilizing, pruning and other care are cardinal methods in 

 pomology, and their importance is none the less because 

 spraying has been lately proved to be so essential. Spraying 

 is a wholly secondary operation, and its importance is the 



