AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



537 



Spraying: of Fruit-Trees and 



other plants has come to be a necessity 

 in order to secure a profitable yield so 

 as to sufficiently remunerate the grower 

 for the time, care and labor spent in 

 cultivation. But that the doing of any- 

 thing so necessary to the success of the 

 fruit-grower should be performed in a 

 way, and at a time, which should prove 

 detrimental to the interests of the fruit- 

 growers' best friends — the bee-keepers — 

 would be much regretted, were it not 

 for the fact that such spraying, if 

 properly done, will in no wise result in 

 loss to the apiarists. 



Bulletin No. 7, as issued by the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, and 

 to which we referred on page 505, gives 

 full directions for making and applying 

 the various poisonous compounds used 

 in spraying for the destruction of the 

 harmful pests, and states very decidedly 

 that " no spraying as described by the 

 Department has ever resulted in the 

 slightest deleterious effects upon the 

 fruit subjected to it." This will be wel- 

 come information to all who feared that 

 the spraying had caused poisoning 

 among those who had partaken of fruit 

 which had been sprayed. It thus be- 

 hooves all who employ this means of 

 protecting their fruit, to follow carefully 

 the modus operandi a,s given by the De- 

 partment of Agriculture. 



On the subject of preparing the arse- 

 nites (London purple, Paris green and 

 white arsenic) for spraying purposes, 

 the Bulletin says : 



The poisons should be thoroughly 

 mixed with water at the rate of from 1 

 pound to 100 to 150 gallons of water, 

 and applied with a force pump and spray 

 nozzle. In preparing the wash, it will 

 be best to first mix the poison with a 

 small quantity of water, making a thick 

 batter, and then dilute the latter and 

 add to the reservoir or spray tank, mix- 

 ing the whole thoroughly. 



When freshly mixed, either London 

 purple or Paris green may be applied to 

 apple, plum, and other fruit-trees, ex- 

 cept the peach, at the rate of 1 pound 

 to 150 to 200 gallons, the latter amount 

 being recommended for the plum, which 

 is somewhat more susceptible to scalding 



than the apple. White arsenic does 

 little, if any, injury at the rate of 1 

 pound to 50 gallons of water when 

 freshly mixed. 



As shown by Mr. Gillette, however, 

 when allowed to remain for some time 

 (two weeks or more) in water, the white 

 arsenic acts with wonderful energy, 

 scalding when used at the rate of 1 

 pound to 100 gallons from 10 to 90 

 per cent of the foliage ; the action of 

 the other arsenites remains practically 

 the same, with perhaps a slight increase 

 in the case of London purple. 



With the peach these poisons, when 

 applied alone, even at the rate of 1 

 pound to 300 or more gallons of water, 

 are injurious in their action, causing 

 the loss of much of the foliage. 



By the addition of a little lime to the 

 mixture, London purple and Paris green 

 may be safely applied, at the rate of 1 

 pound to 125 to 150 gallons of water, 

 to the peach or the tenderest foliage, or 

 in much greater strength to strong 

 foliage, such as that of the apple or 

 most shade trees. 



Whenever, therefore, the application 

 is made to tender foliage, or when the 

 treating with a strong mixture is desir- 

 able, lime water, milky, but not heavy 

 enough to close the nozzle, should be 

 added at the rate of about 2 gallons to 

 100 gallons of the poison. 



In spraying apple-bloom, which per- 

 haps as much as any other (if not more) 

 affects the bees most seriously when not 

 applied at the proper time, the Bulletin 

 continues thus : 



With the apple, in spraying for the 

 codling-moth, at least two applications 

 should be made, the first, after the falliruf 

 of the blossoms, or when the apples are 

 about the size of jieas, and the second a 

 week or ten days later. The first brood 

 of the codling-moth lays its eggs in the 

 flower end of the young apple, and the 

 worms upon hatching gnaw their way 

 into the interior of the apple, and on 

 sprayed trees get poisoned in so doing, 

 an infinitesimal amount being sufficient 

 to destroy so minute a worm. The sec- 

 ond spraying is for the purpose of de- 

 stroying larvLi? hatching from eggs 

 which may be laid after the first spray- 

 ing, as the arsenic is gradually washed 

 off by rains. 



For the plum curculio on the plum, 

 cherry, peach, etc., two or three appli- 

 cations should be made during the latter 

 part of May, and the first half of June. 

 The poison in this case is applied for tiie 



