67 



you spray thoroughly in May and June, with plenty of ar- 

 senate of lead, I don't know whether you will have very 

 much trouble witlj the hatching of the browntails in August. 

 I have sprayed apples and have used paris green, depending 

 on it to wash right otf. The arsenate of lead will do the 

 work well, but I think you do it at your own risk. 



Mr. Ellsworth. Might I add a word in regard to spray- 

 ing when the fruit is beginning to mature, as you would have 

 to do to kill browntails? Two years ago a member of the 

 Boston Board of Health called at my office and said that 

 they were discovering poison on apples in Boston and they 

 were going to investigate it very thoroughly and were go- 

 ing to advise people not eating apples, and I asked him to 

 liold up until they found out whether there was more than 

 one lot on the market. Upon further investigation they only 

 found one lot, but somebody had sent some apples to the 

 market with poison on them. So you see the risk you peo- 

 ple run if you go to putting poison on the apples late in the 

 year against the consumption of the apples. You don't 

 know how the Boards of Health are looking out for the 

 health of you individuals, and they are liable to do some- 

 thing that would turn the tide from eating apples if they 

 started on this line. 



Mr. John B. Castner — Hood River, Oregon. I don't 

 Isnow how strong you have to use the arsenate of lead to 

 spray in order to kill the browntails, but as to this talk of 

 this spraying with arsenate of lead injuring the apples, I 

 should say it does not. I spray every year the first of Sep- 

 tember. We have a late brood of worms, coddling moths, 

 along the latter part of August, and I spray along the first 

 of September. 



Mr. Ellsworth. You wipe your apples, don't you? 



Mr. Castner. No, never wipe an apple. We have been 

 putting hundreds of thousands into Boston and New York 

 and never heard one case of anyone dying from poison yet. 

 When that question comes up as to arsenate of lead injur- 

 ing the apples, you can take a solution of arsenate of lead as 

 mixed up, two and a half, or three to fifty, and drink it, and 

 it will not hurt you. (Laughter and applause). It is migh- 

 ty hard on the coddling moths, but it will not hurt you. It 

 does not, to my knowledge ; we are doing it every year. That 

 is the remark I wanted to make at this time. 



A member. I would like to say that in regard to spray- 



