the spray tank when using Surround. 



The greatest challenge of attaining effective PC con- 

 trol with Surround using a motorized back-pack sprayer lies 

 in keeping the new growth of apples and foliage covered 

 with Surround. Unlike phosmet, Surround is not toxic to PC 

 or any other insect. Its mode of action is one of repellency. 

 If a PC or other insect finds a treated surface unacceptable. 

 It can crawl or fly to an untreated or incompletely treated 

 surface and cause damage. 



In my judgement, the main reason why Surround per- 

 formed much better in relation to phosmet in the trial using 

 a tractor-driven mist blower (as reported in the preceding 

 article) than in the trial reported here was the more thorough 



coverage obtained using the mist blower. Coverage was 

 especially important in 2000, a year in which PC pressured 

 orchards to a much greater extent than in 1999. 



My conclusion, based on 2 years of experimentation 

 with Surround vs. phosmet in my orchard, is that phosmet 

 achieves considerably better control of PC than does Sur- 

 round when application is by a motorized back-pack sprayer 

 and that it does so with much less labor associated with ap- 

 plication and with much less cost of material. Despite its 

 shortcomings when applied by a back-pack sprayer, Surround 

 nevertheless does offer the potential for better control of PC 

 on backyard apple trees than does any other non-toxic ma- 

 terial investigated to date. 



* ^ ^ * * 



Fruit Notes, Volume 65, 2000 



29 



