40 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



spraying the leaves with 1 pound of the poison and 1 pound of 

 lime to 100 gallons of water, and 40^ more died within four days 

 after the spraying, the general results were not at all satis- 

 factory, and the reason therefor can not be given. 



The breeding cage experiments with arsenate of lead would 

 lead one to expect most excellent results in the field, but such 

 was not the case last year, though this may have been 

 due to the fact that the spraying was done shortly before 

 considerable rain fell, and was followed by nearly daily precipi- 

 tations. The initial applicatiou was made July 8, 1902, and 

 repeated the 9th, the rain of the preceding day making it ad- 

 visable to go over the entire field a second time. The ground at 

 the time the spraying was done was so wet that it was almost 

 impossible to drive a team slowly enough to do good work. Care- 

 ful search in the vineyard eight days after failed to reveal a 

 single dead beetle. July 31 there were plenty of beetles and 

 many eggs in Mr Northrop's vineyard, where the vines had been 

 sprayed. The necessity of two sprayings resulted in the applica- 

 tion of considerable poison, and about five weeks after the treat- 

 ment it was seen that the sprayed vines had developed very little 

 new growth as compared with untreated ones. There was no 

 perceptible burning, yet the edges of the leaves were somewhat 

 crumpled, and it is very probable that the poison checked the 

 development of the more tender shoots. 



The breeding cage experiments in 1902 led us to expect excel- 

 lent results in the field, and our not obtaining the same after 

 making two applications was attributed largely to the exces- 

 sively wet weather, which not only washed off the poison but 

 interfered with work in the vineyard. Similar experi- 

 ments in 1903 gave even less satisfactory results than the year 

 before. It required nine days to kill three out of five beetles. 

 Arsenate of lead and poisoned bordeaux mixture were severely 

 tested in caged outdoor vines, as detailed on page 26, 27. It will 

 be seen by consulting the record that, though the vines were 

 sprayed thoroughly on both June 19 and 27, there were fully as 

 many living beetles on both July 1, 13 days after the first appli- 

 cation, as on the two vines in the check cage, and the same was 

 true July 21. Careful observation, during the remainder of the 



