SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 2S 



experiments of the Bureau of Entomology at Washington all 

 arsenical poisons used on peach foliage injured either the 

 leaves or the fruit. On account of this experience and tes- 

 timony we hesitated about recommending any application to 

 the foliage. Professor Smith writes me that in New Jersey 

 arsenate of lead can be used on peach leaves without injury. 

 At first a trial was made on a few peach trees at the Station, 

 and as the leaves were not injured, the matter was reported 

 to Barnes Brothers, who, fearing serious damage fom the 

 attacks of the insect, commenced spraying a portion of the 

 orchard with arsenate of lead at the rate of tw^o and one-half 

 pounds to three pounds in fifty gallons of water. There was 

 no apparent injury to the leaves, so the work was continued. 

 In all, between 4,000 and 5,000 trees were thus treated by 

 the owners, using several hundred pounds of arsenate of lead. 

 This is probably the largest trial ever made in this part of 

 the country with arsenical poisons on peach foliage, and the 

 results were entirely satisfactory. Not a particle of injury 

 to the trees could be found, though the sawfly larvae were 

 killed readily, and probably a more dilute mixture would 

 prove effective. 



This insect was found in small numbers in orchards 

 fifteen miles distant from the Yalesville orchard, so we may 

 fairly expect trouble from this pest in some localities. Whether 

 it will be as serious or as abundant anywhere again as it was 

 the past season at Yalesville, we cannot foretell, and any pre- 

 diction would be but speculation. But all peach growers 

 should be on the watch for it and be prepared to combat it 

 if necessary. 



The work of suppressing the gypsy moth (Porthetria 

 dispar Linn.) at Stonington, has been carried on successfully 

 during the year. The infested area has not increased in size, 

 and less than three thousand caterpillars were found in 1907 

 where ten thousand were taken in 1906, though twice as many 

 men were employed and ten times as many trees were banded. 



* Bull. 67, p. 47. 1907. Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of 

 Agriculture. 



