78 MY GROWING GARDEN 



that-is-and-apple-that-is-to-be is open, then is the 

 time that the waiting caterpillar stealthily crawls 

 into that calyx to hve there as the fruit grows, 

 unless the careful sprayer has driven into this 

 open calyx the lead-arsenate mist that will make 

 the httle worm's first meal his last one. A little 

 later, the calyx will have closed upon the fertilized 

 ovaries, and if no poison has met the worm, he is 

 sheltered and fed at your apple-expense. 



To make sure, I have sprayed before the blos- 

 soms open, in order to protect generally and to 

 catch any stray bugs that eat or scales that suck; 

 and again at the critical time after the blossoms 

 have fallen and while the calyx is open, so as to 

 both poison and protect. The first spray was a 

 fine, covering mist, from at least two sides, to 

 reach every part. The next, and the vital appli- 

 cation, is with a coarser spray, to get right into 

 the calyces where Mr. Caterpillar is or is going to 

 be waiting. For both sprayings I use commercial 

 lime-sulphur, with lead arsenate stirred in at 

 the rate of three-fourths of an ounce to a gallon 

 of the nine-to-one solution, which is a generous 

 equivalent to four pounds to the hundred gal- 

 lons (the hundred-gallon prescription is alarming; 

 how would a plain gardenman get away with two 

 barrels of this stuff?). 



