[Reprinted from the JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY, Vol. 3, No. 2, 1910] 





THE SEASON'S WORK ON ARSENICAL POISONING OF 



FRUIT TREES 



By E. D. BALL, E. G. TITUS and J. E. GKEAVES, Utah Experiment Station, Logan 



As was suggested in a former paper 1 by the senior author, the 

 determination of the effect of arsenical spraying on the life of our 

 fruit trees is a problem of immense importance to the fruit interests 

 of the country. The immediate solution of the problem is, however, 

 of most vital importance to the western fruit growing sections as it 

 is in these sections that the greatest amount of planting is now being 

 done, a planting that would not be justified if the profits of orchard- 

 ing are likely to be curtailed as has been recently suggested. 2 



It has, therefore, seemed advisable to present at this time a brief, 

 preliminary report of the results of the investigations carried on by 

 the Utah Experiment Station during the season of 1909. 



Work of the Season 



The season's work consisted of a study of the orchard and soil con- 

 ditions in all of the principal apple producing sections west of the 

 Rocky Mountains, together with various field and laboratory experi- 

 ments to determine the effect of different strengths of arsenical com- 

 pounds and different methods of application on plant growth. The 

 study of western fruit conditions was mainly preliminary in nature 

 and was undertaken with a view of determining the actual extent of 

 the injury and to discover, if possible, the most favorable locations 

 for the inauguration of detailed experiments. The experiments un- 

 dertaken were also largely preliminary in nature and for the purpose 



1 Ball, Jl. EC. Ehto., 2, p. 143, 1909. 

 2 Headden, Jl. EC. Ento., 2, p. 245, 1909. 



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