HOR TICUL TURE B Y IRRIGA TION. 



More About Spraying. It may be quite pos- 

 sible that too great amounts of poison are used in 

 the preparation of the mixtures ordinarily used 

 for spraying fruits. Much experiment along this 

 line has resulted in changing the formulas from 

 time to time of some of the most useful sprays. 

 And it might easily result that still further experi- 

 ment would lead to other modifications. One thing 

 is clear: as little poison as will do the work in hand 

 should be used. Beyond that point lies danger, as 

 well as increased expense. It has been found that 

 minute quantities only of our best insecticides are 

 fully effective when duly appropriated by the insect. 

 It may easily follow from this fact that weaker solu- 

 tions more frequently applied would, in many cases at 

 least, bring about the sought for result without en- 

 dangering the consumer of fruit in any degree. Rel- 

 ative to this subject, Professor Kedzie, of the Michi- 

 gan Experiment Station, says: 



" The use of poisons in horticulture, in my opinion, 

 is largely in excess of the amount required for a 

 fungicide. One-half or even one-third of the amount 

 usually employed would probably give as good re- 

 sults. 



" In the spraying of some fruits, such as strawber- 

 ries, in 1892, the amount was purposely used in large 

 excess. In one case nearly five grains of blue vitriol 

 were recovered from one pound of fruit a dose no 

 sensible person would want to take. in his food. Yet, 

 even that dose would not probably be fatal, though it 

 might cause vomiting. Any of the doses of arsenic or 

 of copper found in a pound of these fruits might be 

 swallowed without endangering life by such single 

 dose. It is the repeated doses, day by day, of such 

 poisons that might produce slow poisoning and the 

 gradual undermining of the health, without obvious 

 cause. It is safe to refuse all fruits which have been 

 sprayed with these poisons (especially arsenic) dur- 

 ing the period of ripening.' 1 



Farms, where there are 414 acres. No record is made 

 of trees set out prior to 1887. 



Idaho as a Fruit Country. The Producers 

 Association of Nampa have gathered and compiled 

 some interesting data with reference to the fruit acre- 

 age of Ada and Canyon counties. The association 

 was unable to get reports from a number of growers, 

 principally in the Payette valley. 



The table prepared and printed by the association 

 gives the acreage of trees set out from 1887 to 1893 

 inclusive, at 3,321.1 acres, of which 604.5 acres is 

 apples, 86 is peaches, 2,388.3 is prunes, 120.2 is pears 

 and 32.1 is cherries. The most remarkable increase 

 is noticed in prunes. In 1887 there were 81 acres of 

 prunes planted in the territory embraced in the two 

 counties. In 1892 this had been increased to some- 

 thing over 1,135 acres, and, in 1893, 1,252 acres were 

 set out. The largest prune acreage is at Orchard 



English Sparrow Pest. Every year there is a 

 renewed agitation for the suppression of the English 

 sparrow. Dr. C. Hart Merriam, the ornithologist of 

 the agricultural department, says that the sparrow is 

 now spreading rapidly over the fruit-growing dis- 

 tricts of California, where, if repressive measures are 

 not quickly inaugurated, it is destined to levy a heavy 

 tax on the State. By far the best way to fight the 

 pest is by the destruction of its nests and young. 

 The breeding season is unusually prolonged, from 

 four to six broods being commonly reared each year. 

 The great strongholds of the English sparrow in 

 towns and cities are the masses of Japanese and 

 English ivy and Virginia creeper that cover the sides 

 of churches and other buildings. In such places the 

 sparrows nest by hundreds or thousands, according to 

 the area covered by the vines. If these vine-covered 

 walls are within reach of a hose pipe, multitudes of 

 the young birds may be destroyed by thoroughly 

 dousing the vines with water at night. By systematic 

 and concerted efforts millions of young sparrows may 

 be prevented from reaching maturity. 



Palms can be used to advantage out of doors in 

 summer if kept partly shaded from the direct rays 

 of the sun, and it improves them; they come in in 

 the fall in much better color and stronger and stiffer. 

 Plunge the pots into a bed of ashes up to the rims 

 underneath a shade tree and sprinkle the foliage 

 often. Do not keep the roots soaked nor allow them 

 to become dried out. 



Small Fruits, such as strawberries and rasp- 

 berries, require frequent and clean cultivation to pro- 

 duce the best results. 



Hot Alum Water applied with a brush is said 

 to be sure death to all insect life on fruit trees. 



In irrigating orchards do not forget that cultivation 

 is as essential as the application of water. Irrigated 

 land requires more cultivation than that which is not 

 irrigated, and without cultivation your crops are 

 likely to be failures.. The mistake of many begin- 

 ners is that they cultivate too little and water too 

 much; cultivate intensively and put on no more water 

 than necessary. 



Prof. L. O. Howard succeeds Prof. Riley as chief 

 of the National Entomological Bureau at Washington. 

 For sixteen years he has been Prof. Riley's first as- 

 sistant. The bureau has been a great source of aid 

 to the horticulture of this country. 



