PROCEEDINGS OF NINETEENTH FRUIT GROWERS' CONVENTION. 75 



It has been suggested that manufacturers should put up their Paris 

 green in sealed packages, with their name and a guarantee as to purity. 

 In this way the orchardist would not be at the mercy of an avaricious 

 jobber or retailer. In purchasing Paris green in bulk, the orchardist is 

 compelled to take the word of the seller for an article that has passed 

 through other hands, or go to the trouble and expense of having an 

 analysis made, and in this it would probably be impossible to determine 

 whether the arsenic was present at the time it was manufactured or 

 added afterwards. It is not only time and money thrown away to be 

 swindled in this manner, but it also means the almost entire loss of the 

 crop. This is a very serious matter, and should be regulated by the 

 enactment of a law making it punishable by fine or imprisonment to 

 sell adulterated Paris green for use as an insecticide. 



I have been informed by an orchardist who heretofore has been very 

 successful in fighting codlin moth, that he lost 30 per cent of his crop 

 this season, after having sprayed five times. Formerly he sprayed but 

 three times each season, and not more than 1 per cent of his fruit would 

 be wormy, even when adjoining orchards were infested. One of his 

 neighbors sprayed three times this past season, and nearly three fourths 

 of his fruit was infested and could not be shipped. The former pur- 

 chased his Paris green from the same house that he had in previous 

 years, but after spraying the third time he still found the worms attack- 

 ing his fruit, so gave the orchard two extra sprayings. He purchased 

 and paid more than formerly for what he considered the best Paris 

 green in the market, still he was swindled. I desire to say a few words 

 about the price of Paris green. It is principally manufactured in New 

 York State, and in its pure condition is sold there at from 20 to 22-§ 

 cents per pound wholesale. With freight and commission added, it is 

 very evident that Paris green (?) at 15 and 17 cents per pound will be 

 a disappointment as an insecticide. 



Next to purity is thoroughness of application. Some orchardists 

 contend that it is better to go over the trees quickly with the spray, even 

 doing the work from the wagon, but this is wrong. If it is necessary to 

 spray, an effort should be made to moisten all the fruit, for if there be 

 nothing to prevent it, the small worm will enter the pear or apple, and 

 no subsequent sprayings will reach them, or be effective, unless for 

 succeeding broods. Thoroughness of application does not necessarily 

 imply drenching. Use a spray nozzle that will be expeditious, yet not 

 coarse enough to be wasteful. When the leaves and fruit are moistened, 

 any excess is solution thrown away. In a recent conversation with a 

 grower, he informed me that his men had sprayed thirty acres of large 

 bearing apple trees in one day, and sprayed three times; but when the 

 crop was picked this fall he found his apples badly infested with worms. 

 On his brother's place adjoining, where the sprayers were not making 

 an effort to break the record as to the acreage sprayed, they had a good 

 crop of sound apples, with three sprayings. 



The most satisfactory amount of this poison for California orchards 

 is one pound to two hundred gallons of cold water. To prepare 

 Paris green, take the necessary amount for the tank used, and mix as a 

 paste, in a little water. To make it more insoluble, and thus prevent 

 scorching of the leaves, for two hundred gallons, slack five or six pounds 

 of fresh lime in ten or twelve gallons of water, and when it has settled 

 somewhat draw off the water and pour into the spray tank; then fill up 



