-6- 



a 4-foot rovi with a 2-foot path. Nothing sloivs up picking more than having 



a solid mass of plants with no path. Such wide spacing may not give the 



greatest returns for the labor involved. Land is plentiful and cheap. Labor 

 is scarce and high. 



Like all other commercial enterprises, strav/berry growing will be 

 altered by war conditions. During normal times it has been localized to a 

 great extent. Often shipments from berry centers have been made into other 

 areas just as well suited to berry culture. For a time v;e shall see little 

 labor available for picking extensive areas of berries. Transportation will 

 be an increasing problem. Baskets and crates may be hard to procure. All 

 of there factors point toward a decentralization of berry growing. The small 

 grower will have several advantages. Perhaps some labor will be available 

 that would not otherwise be profitably be used. A nearby market is usually 

 available for the small grower. Transportation is at a minimum. He can 

 grow the best table varieties and permit them to attain the fine perfection 

 which comes with a vine ripened berry. Certainly the small grower has all 

 the advantage of meeting emergency conditions." 



Are Sprayed Apples Injurious to Health? 



Undoubtedly some consumers eat oranges instead of apples because 

 of fear of arsenic and lead poisoning from sprayed apples. Carefully con- 

 ducted experiments by tlie U. 3. Public Health Service at 'Jjenatchee, Y.ashington 

 failed to show that this fear has any foundation in fact. This study was 

 made to determine to v.-hat extent the eating of sprayed apples affected the 

 healtli of the consumer. VJenatchee was selected as the place to conduct the 

 experiment because the people in that area are exposed to lead and arsenic 

 to a greater extent than those in any other part of the United States. 



In making this study a total of 1,231 persons were examined, in- 

 cluding men, women and children, representing varying degrees of exposure 

 to lead arsenate. The youngest was a 19 months old girl and the oldest an 

 86 year old woman. Some ate no apples v/hile others said they ate more than 

 2,000 a year. Even in a section where excessive amounts of lead arsenate 

 are used so that all apples have to be washed before going to market, 34J3 

 men and 5 71 v;oraen ate unv.'ashed apples. 



Various tests were applied to these people, particularly tests 

 which would indicate the general state of health and tlie amount of lead and 

 arsenic eliminated from the body. These tests revealed that blood lead con- 

 centration v/as h'jfh'Jr in orchardists than in non- orchardists but when the 

 orchardist is fr^-.e from s:,:posu:e to lead and arsenic intake, these sub- 

 stances are el:,m:nat-=d rapid.! y so that in a comparatively short time lead 

 and arsenic values in the sody fall t-^ the levels of men who never had an 

 unusual exposure to tlie^e metals, Also, these tests showed that there is 

 no evidence that orchardists \;e:e subject to more ills than non-orchardists, 

 nor had any cases of chronic diseases been caused or influenced by lead 

 arsenate exposure. 



The results of this experiment indicate that the average consumer 

 has no justifiable reason to sliun apples offered for sale for fear that tliesej 

 apples may contain lead and arsenic deposits which may be hariM^ul to good 



