95 



special pains being taken to throw the poison down upon 

 the upturned ends of the young apples. The results we 

 propose to discuss for a few moments should be compared in 

 every instance with the yield from check or imsprayed trees, 

 which, during the four years period under discussion, pro- 

 duced 32 per cent, or practically one-third wormy fruit. 



Spraying during the first period, namely the week or 

 ten days after the blossoms drop and preferably as soon as 

 possible thereafter, depends for efficiency upon poisoning the 

 floral organs and the calyx cup or the calyx cavity, the small 

 depression at the blossom end of the young apple. This 

 application, as mentioned above, is given some two to three 

 weeks before the small apple worms begin feeding, and finas 

 its justification in the fact that two-thirds to three-fourths 

 of the wormy apples on unsprayed trees are what are known 

 as end wormy; in other words, about three-fourths of the 

 young caterpillars seek to enter the fruit at the blossom end. 

 There are those who insist upon the necessity of using a high 

 power and a coarse, driving spray in order to secure the 

 maximum benefits, though experiments in earlier years, un- 

 dei Hudson valley conditions, have shown so little difference 

 between the two methods that we are unwilling to insist up- 

 on this point. In fact the weight of evidence, which is not 

 strong one way or the other, is somewhat in favor of the fine, 

 well distributed spray. The method of application has in- 

 variably been to adjust the nozzles so that the poison (2 to 

 3 lbs., 15 per cent, arsenic oxide, arsenate of lead to 50 gals, 

 of water) would be thrown down into the upturned blossom 

 ends and an effort made to cover all portions oi the tree 

 rapidly and uniformly. Most of this spraying was done 

 from the ground with ordinary nozzle extensions and disk 

 nozzles set at an angle of 45 degrees, though in one orchard 

 the owner preferred to use bamboo poles to which the hose 

 was tied and nozzles adjusted so that they would discharge 

 in the desired direction. One thorough spraying given as 

 outlined above and during this period, gave an average foi 

 the entire series of experiments, of 97.56 per cent, of worm 

 free apples, less than 21/2 per cent, being wormy; or, stated 

 differently, out of a yield of 423 barrels, one spraying gave 

 over 55 additional barrels of sound fruit when compared 

 with the product from unsprayed trees. These returns are 



