46 



DANGEROUS EXPERIMENTS. 



(From the Toronto Weekly Globe of March llth, 1891.) 



" Imagine an application of poison spray to a dying man to restore him to 

 a state of primal health I" 



OUR FRUIT TREE ENEMIES. 



[By B. G.I 

 (Ancona, March 5th, 1891.) 



"Perhaps I may be allowed to say for the immediate information of some who 

 have come to look upon spraying as an essentially fundamental principle of fruit- 

 growing that in reality it is not so. If this was admitted then what would become 

 of an industry of such immense growing importance to the great interests of this 

 great country. Why, it would simply become extinct, and that in less time than it 

 would take to grow the trees. If men were convinced that they would be compelled 

 to supply a continued spray of liquid poison to the whole mass of their fruit trees, 

 or to any considerable part of them, before they could be sure that anything could 

 be gathered from them for their own or others' use, what would they do ? Would 

 they plant fruit trees at all ? Not under ordinary circumstances. 



" Just think for a moment what this thing in its minutia means. It means in 

 the first place that every fruitgrower, before he can ever indulge in the fond hope 

 to see beautiful bright red apples or rich, luscious golden plums on those trees, must 

 keep on hand a heavy stock of poisons in the form of London purple or Paris green, 

 articles that should never be seen or thought of in connection with an orchard or a 

 fruit garden, much less to be used in them. It means further, that a heavy and 

 expensive paraphernalia, consisting of implements and machinery of various forms 

 and designs be kept always on hand for the manufacture, preservation and appli- 

 cation of this essential liquid poison many timea during the season to each and 

 several of those trees. It means, still further, the possession and use of the con- 

 stant, watchful, scientific eye; the eye, indeed, of the practised expert and the close 

 observer of phenomena to discern just the exact time when to apply those poisons, 

 some for insects and some for fungus, so as to be most effectual and to be ever ready 

 just at the proper moment to apply them. It means, finally, an immense amount 

 of valuable time and of persevering attention and industry, a large outlay of ex- 

 penses and a display of talent and business tact in this particular line of work that 

 are granted to the favored few. 



" But it means, again, far more than all this and something that involves in its 

 conception an immense amount of valuable as well as of invaluable life to the in- 

 sect and animal. We all know full well, and some of us to our sorrow, how very 

 dangerous these deadly poisons are, not only to handle, but to anything with which 

 they may come in contact. In spraying trees either for fungus or insects it must 

 be done in early summer time when the most plentiful of insects of all classes, both 

 friendly and unfriendly, are on the move in beautiful activity. To hastily conclude 

 that the whole brood of them are necessarily enemies and ought to be poisoned (in- 

 cluding bees) is rash, false and ruinous in the extreme to the best interests of this 

 country and its own population; and so, if we go at this business on a systematic 

 scale we shall find it out to our deepest chagrin and regret. It will be quite safe to 

 say that many of our most valued friends, as well as our most virulent enemies, will 

 be thus destroyed by coming in contact with poisoned fruit trees at this early period 

 of the year. (This equally applies to any fumigating process). 



" But again, a liberal application of these deadly ingredients to our fruit trees 

 during the early summer means leaving much of their force and deadly power over 

 and about the fiuits themselves, some of which sticking undiasolved and visible 

 about the cavity, and some considerable of it adhering to the calix of the eye. These 

 doctored fruits coming into the hands of young eager, incautious children, and 

 animals, are quickly devoured holos-bolos and without a thought of danger until a 

 pain seizes them in the stomach and bowels, and the foundation of deadly disease is 

 firmly laid in the system, but the secret potent cause is never once suspected. Who 

 would like willingly and knowingly to supply an article like this so dire in its effect 



