THE STRAWBERRY AUGUST 1907 



averaged but 52 per cent, the Brown Eye 

 less than 53 percent, and the Black only 

 53.6 per cent. After the Iron variety the 

 next best record was made by the Taylor 

 variety with 68.8 per cent, and after that 

 the WhippoorwiU with an average germ- 

 ination of 66.7 per cent. Next came the 

 New Era variety with a general average 

 of 64.2 per cent, while the fifth on the 

 list, the Clay variety, dropped to 58.7 per 

 cent in these tests, and the Black Eye 

 and the Red Ripper showed 57.5 and 

 56.9 per cent, respectively. 



According to the figures obtained in 

 connection with the tests mentioned, the 

 WhippoorwiU is the most popular variety, 

 with the Clay second and the Unknown 

 third. 



Farmers are urged to test seed before 

 sowing in order to determine its vitality 

 and in this way avoid disappointment and 

 serious loss. This testing can easily be 

 done by means of two dinner plates and 

 a strip of canton flannel. One hundred 

 seeds should be counted out from the 

 package of seed which it is proposed to 

 sow, taking the seeds just as they come 

 without making any selection. These 

 seeds should be placed on one end of 

 the wet flannel and laid in one of the 

 plates, while the other end of the cloth 

 and the other plate should be placed over 

 them. On the third, fourth, and fifth 

 days the number of seeds which have 

 sprouted should be counted and in this 

 simple way the percentage of seeds which 

 would sprout if sown in the ground can 

 be definitely ascertained. 



Arsenate of Lead 



By R. L. Adams 



WHEN the gypsy and brown-tail 

 moths were rapidly defoliating 

 Massachusetts, a commission was 

 appointed to discover means for their con- 

 trol and if possible for their extinction. 

 One of the methods which were employed 

 was spraying with stomach poisons. It 

 was found that Paris green, London pur- 

 ple, Scheele's green and other poi«ons of 

 a vegetable nature were of no use in the 

 fight — the caterpillars seeming to thrive 

 and fatten on that diet; certainly their 

 complexions improved. And in casting 

 about for something which would kill, 

 the commission discovered arsenate of 

 lead. 



Since then the use of this product has 

 become more and more widespread until 

 at the present day it occupies a wide field. 

 It is getting to be the standard remedy 

 against the codling moth. It is easily and 

 surely the best poison for all leaf-eating 

 insects and its field may well be extended, 

 especially since Paris green cannot be 

 relied upon for purity and cheapness. 



Arsenate of lead, also sold under the 

 trade name of "disparene", is a whitish 

 paste, smooth and clean, resembling white 



lead to a marked degree. Its white color 

 shows on the sprayed foliage and thereby 

 saves material, at the same time insuring 

 a complete coating. It mixes easily and 

 quickly in water and being fine remains 

 in suspension for a long time — forty times 

 as long as coarse Paris green, and fifteen 

 times as long as the finest, a point certain- 

 ly in its favor. Being almost insoluble in 

 the water it forms a mechanical mixture 

 and there is absolutely no burning of the 

 most tender foliage. And, last but not 

 least, it sticks! A coating put on in early 

 spring, if allowed to dry, will usually last 

 for several months. Pear leaves sprayed 

 in April have shown plain poison traces 

 in September, after passing through sev- 

 eral long rains. 



The time and labor, to say nothing of 

 the inconvenience of repeating Paris green 

 sprayings several times, more than offsets 

 the cost of the added amount of lead, so 

 its apparent disadvantage compared with 

 Paris green is really no disadvantage at all: 

 that is, the increased amount of arsenate 

 of lead necessary. 



On strawberries the spraying need be 

 repeated only to cover new growths. 

 Put on just before the blossoms open, no 

 damage need be feared from insects which 

 devour the foliage. 



1 here are several good brands of arsen- 

 ate of lead on the market, and it is much 

 cheaper to buy the prepared article than 

 to mix it one's self. While the latter is 

 possible it is not feasible except when the 

 basic materials, arsenate of soda and ni- 

 trate or acetate of lead, are easier to obtain, 

 but even then care must be exercised to 

 get these pure. The Bowker Insecticide 

 Co. of Boston put out a good article called 

 "disparene", and Swift's arsenate of lead 

 manufactured by the Merrimac Chemical 

 Co. of the same city has an extensive sale. 

 The price is eighteen to twenty cents a 

 pound in small lots and fifteen cents a 

 pound in one-hundred-pound kegs. 



For use against the strawberry insects a 

 proportion of four to eight pounds to one 

 hundred gallons (two barrels) of water is 

 very satisfactory, the larger dose remaining 

 on the vines the longest. A still greater 

 amount may be used with no danger of 

 burning the foliage, twenty-two pounds 

 being vised by some men on the elm against 

 the gypsy moth larvae. This material 

 may be put in the Bordeaux mixture, thus 

 doing away with all expense for applying it. 



For a safe, satisfactory, sure poison 

 arsenate of lead "fills the bill." 



Salinas, Calif. 



FORTY years ago, when Last Chance 

 was at the zenith of its glory as a 

 placer camp, a miner turned rancher and 

 planted a garden patch of spuds, says the 

 Helena (i\ioiit.) Independent. When the 

 camp heard the news it was astounded 

 and for days and days chewed the morsel 

 at every gathering. 1 he fellow was con- 

 sidered crazy for attempting to grow any- 

 Page 172 



thing except wild hay. That was over 

 forty years ago. This year Anton Horsky, 

 a well-known rancher of the valley, will 

 make net .$500 on half an acre of straw- 

 berries. The berries rival the famed 

 Hood River fruit in size, flavor, color and 

 keeping qualities. This is the first demon- 

 stration that has been made of the possi- 

 bilities of land in the valley, and it is said 

 that many other ranchmen intend to grow 

 strawberries next year, while others, en- 

 couraged by the success of the strawber- 

 ries, will put in other varieties. Several 

 ranchmen are considering trying canta- 

 loupes, which have been found well suited 

 for certain portions of the state. 



A NNOUNCEMENT is made that 

 ^*- the American Breeders' association 

 will hold its fourth annual meeting at 

 Washington, D. C, January 28, 29 and 

 30, 1908. Secretary James Wilson, the 

 president of the association, will speak and 

 other able and prominent men are being 

 secured to take part in the program. The 

 sessions are to be filled with excellent 

 speaking talent and a valued meeting will 

 be the result. 



Vj^E are pleased to call special attention of 

 "^ our readers to the advertisement on the 

 back page of this issue of The Strawberry. 

 Farmers who farm to make farming pay are, 

 from far and near, becoming members of the 

 Farmers' Accounting Society and no farmer, 

 however situated, can afford, for the sake of a 

 two-cent stamp, to fail sending his name to this 

 Society so that he may learn all he can concern- 

 ing an organization the purpose of which is to 

 make it possible for the farmer to know the 

 exact cost of the production of every thing he sells. 



$ Earn a Good Salary $ 



By taking a course in | 



$ STENOGRAPHY $ 



j and ACCOUNTING 



d» at the <jj 



Three Rivers Business College j 



Cj Some of vour friends have oar catalo£ <C 



j Why Not You? 



Isle Wanted-^fz 



^^ ^^ in October and look over my 



p proposition on the Isle of Pines. 



or I have several tracts of land there 



that can be worked on shares. 



-p^« The Island is a great place for 



Lll-r^/IiO Strawberry growing, also all 



f IlltO kinds of Vegetables, Melons, Cit- 



rus Fruits, etc., and a great place 



W. for Poultry and Bee keeping. 



,1, I want to get in touch with par- 



ties who could go with me in 

 October to the Isle of Pines and investigate my 

 ofTer and proposition. 



We can get a special rate on Ward Line Steam- 

 ers from New York to the Isle of Pines for $30 

 one way. For more particulars, address 



F. M. "VanEtten, 



238 Delaware Ave., 



BUFFALO, N. Y. 



