FEBRUARY 1, 1914 



93 



" put up fifty dollars," to feed a pound of 

 the poison to the horse. I was assured by 

 other employes tliat, where their dinners had 

 been wet down and accidentally " soaked " 

 by the spray, they took no harm, and "would 

 as lief eat the stuff as not." " It killed my 

 bees," said one, " but it was only one swann, 

 and this is a pretty good job." 



I was assured a few days ago that forcing 

 the poison into the blossom "gave a much 

 better color to the fruit;" and I was told, 

 but can not vouch for the fact, that a cer- 

 tain large orchard was sprayed on the 

 mature or nearly mature fruit to preserve 

 the color and prevent any skin fungus. 



Few lealize the danger of a cumulative 

 poison ; but the i)rogress can be observed on 

 the song bird or the toad tliat eats the dying 

 larvEe — if an insectivorous bird or a toad is 

 left to die next summer. There may be a 

 few, but they are mostly gone. 



It should be noted that the poison is quite 

 attractive to the bee, either because of a 

 sweetness in this form of lead, or, as some 

 believe, by the mixture of an adhesive like 

 the " molasses " from the sugar-beet manu- 

 facture, which, as a waste product, is very 

 cheap and eff^ective. '''^ 



This arsenate is extremely adhesive; and 

 if spread upon the fully developed leaf it 

 will remain effective for the fall crop of 

 brown-tails; but I know an old nurseryman 

 who says he does not like to have " the lungs 

 of his trees " clogged up all summer, and 

 asks, " Why not spray when the leaves are 

 small, kill the larvae when they also are 

 small, and have done less damage; then let 

 the leaf and fruit develop?" That sounds 

 sensible to me; but he is past 80, and so, 

 probably, is wrong. 



It is unavoidable that some poison be 

 taken into the hive from the foliage, espe- 



cially as wet up by dew, rain, and rarely by 

 honey-dew! but that is a loss the beekeeper 

 should bear patiently. No one is to be 

 blamed ; and the loss, as compared with that 

 resulting from spraying in bloom, is trivial, 

 although where large areas of forest land 

 pre sprayed it will destroy the bees in tlie 

 immediate vicinity. 



Late spraying is also destructive to the 

 various parasites and predatory insects 

 which would, could their numbers be suffi- 

 ciently increased, keep both gy^psy and 

 brown-tail in check. This part of the ques- 

 tion is sufficiently important to be discussed 

 in a paper by itself, and by a more compe- 

 tent person than I. 



In reviewing this article I am convinced 

 that 1 have not put this very serious matter 

 too strongly, but, rather, that I have not 

 expressed it forcibly enough; neither have I 

 touched upon the loss of domestic animals 

 by the careless and excessive use of the 

 poison, nor upon the injury to the new 

 growth and more easily injured parts of the 

 trees and plants which it is intended to pro- 

 tect. 



The United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, our vei-y efficient State Board, the 

 AgTicultural College, and many officers of 

 the Gypsy-moth Commission and State For- 

 estry, are doing all they can to spread in- 

 formation and explain " safe and sane 

 methods." Even the dealers in the poisons 

 print (in some cases) warnings not to use 

 in bloom; but still the evil increases, and 

 only yesterday I was told by a man who had 

 planned to set a rather large orchard in the 

 spring that he had abandoned the idea, for, 

 as he expressed it, " They have killed my 

 bees, and won't let me keep any more, and 

 T can't fertilize my blossoms by hand." 



NEVER SPRAY FRUIT-TREES WHEN IN BLOOM 



An Extract from the Practical Farmer 



[The following article, coming as it does from the 

 bees, has all the more weight. Notice that the emphatic 

 Ed.] 



A fruit-grower, who should by this time 

 know better, writes to State Zoologist Sur- 

 face, Harrisburg, and asks : " What kind of 

 spray is best to use when peach-trees are in 

 bloom?" Prof. Surface is anxious to have 

 the substance of his reply reach every per- 

 son who may even be interested in the least 

 in the subject of spraying. He says that it 

 should be " proclaimed from the housetops 

 and written in the schoolrooms." The reply 

 is emphatic, and based upon years of expe- 

 rience and study. It is as follows : 



Practical Farmer, a paper not directly interested in 

 reply is from our old friend Prof. H. A. Surface. — 



" I note with interest that you make in- 

 quiry concerning the kind of spray to use 

 vvhile the trees are in bloom. Again I hasten 

 to say that you are decidedly wrong. Please 

 get it out of your head now and for ever, for 

 your own sake and that of your crop as 

 well as for the bees, that no trees, shrubs, 

 bushes, or vines of any kind should ever be 

 sprayed while in bloom. Please tell this to 

 your neighbors. Please tell it to the editors 

 of all the papers. Proclaim it from the 

 housetops. Let everybody learn that, to 



