Page 42 



BETTER FRUIT ' 



March 



their foliage in healthy working condi- 

 tion throughout the season. The dust 

 sprayed and check trees may be spoken 

 of together, because the behavior of the 

 foliage was the same on both. Leaves 

 began falling from these trees in July, 

 and by early September they were prac- 

 tically denuded. The loss of foliage by 

 dust sprayed and check trees was due 

 to apple scab, against which disease the 

 dust spray was entirely inefifective. Dif- 

 ferences in fruit was as marked as were 

 differences in foliage. Liquid sprayed 

 trees gave smooth fruit of good size. 

 Dust sprayed and check trees gave small, 

 ill-formed fruit, badly marked by scab 

 and fruit blotch, and of very little value 

 even as evaporator stock. Dust spray is 

 52 per cent cheaper than liquid spray, 

 and it is easier to transport about the 

 orchard. This is as far as I can go in 

 an enumeration of its advantages. It is 

 utterly worthless as a means of control- 

 ling orchard enemies, and money spent 

 in its application is thrown away." 



Grasshoppers, cut-worms and a few 

 other pests may be destroyed by poi- 

 soned baits. These are prepared in vari- 

 ous ways. Small bundles of green, 

 succulent vegetation, dipped in a strong 

 solution of any of the above poisons and 

 scattered about the infested field or gar- 

 den will prove exceedingly tempting to 

 cut-worms, particularly if the field was 

 plowed in early spring and is free from 

 vegetation. Such baits are most effective 

 if used in spring just before the crop to 



be protected comes up. Poisoned slices 

 of potato or some similar vegetable are 

 used to poison the sow-bugs and wire- 

 worms. Cultivated trees and vines may 

 be successfully protected against the 

 ravages of grasshoppers by use of the 

 so-called bran-arsenic-mash, which is 

 made as follows: 



(4) White arsenic 1 pound 



Brown sugar 1 to 2 pounds 



Bran 6 pounds 



Mix the ingredients thoroughly, then 

 add enough water to make a wet mash. 

 A spoonful should be placed at the base 

 of each tree or vine. For cut-worms a 

 still better bait may be prepared by mix- 

 ing thoroughly paris green, bran and 

 middlings as follows: 



(5) Paris green 1 pound 



Middlings 15 pounds 



Bran 15 pounds 



This may be sown broadcast upon the 

 vegetation about the borders of culti- 

 vated fields or gardens; or by use of a 

 seed drill it may be sown along the rows 

 of plants to be protected. So used it 

 has been found especially valuable for 

 destroying cut-worms in onion fields. 



Powdered hellebore, if fresh, is of 

 value for poisoning insects which are 

 injuring small fruits or vegetables which 

 are nearly ready for market, and on 

 which it is undesirable to use the arsen- 

 ical poisons. It may be dusted over the 

 plants when they are moist with dew. 

 or may be used as a spray in the follow- 

 ing proportions: 



(6) Hellebore 1 ounce 



Water 2 gallons 



Strong soap suds, made from any good 

 soap, are useful for destroying soft- 

 bodied insects like plant lice. It is usual, 

 however, to employ for this purpose 

 special soaps made with fish-oils, and 

 sold as whale-oil soaps. These vary con- 

 siderably in composition, some being 

 made with soda, others with potash lye. 

 The latter are much superior, and buyers 

 should insist on having potash soaps. 



For scale insects, whale-oil soap is 

 sometimes used in as concentrated a 

 solution as two pounds of soap to one 

 gallon of water, but only upon dormant 

 plants. As a remedy for the various 

 plant-lice one pound of soap to eight or 

 ten gallons of water is usually sufficient. 

 Hop growers are inclined to believe that 

 better results are obtained, when spray- 

 ing for hop-lice, by adding some quas- 

 sia decoction to the soap solution, as 



follows: 



(7a) Whale-oil soap 10 pounds 



Quassia 5 pounds 



Water 100 gallons 



Place the quassia chips in a sack, 

 cover with eight or ten gallons of water 

 and soak twelve to twenty-four hours. 

 Then bring to a boil, remove the chips, 

 add the soap and boil until it is dissolved. 

 Add water to make 100 gallons. If pre- 

 ferred, the grower may prepare his 

 own whale-oil soap after the following 

 formula: 



(7b) Potash lye 1 pound 



Fish oil 3 pints 



Water 2 gallons 



Dissolve the lye in the water. When 

 boiling hot add the oil and boil about 

 two hours. Add water to make two gal- 

 lons. Each pound of the soap thus made 

 should be dissolved in eight or ten gal- 

 lons of water. It will be found a satis- 

 factory remedy for hop-lice and other 

 soft-bodied insects. 



Kerosene oil, or coal oil, is a powerful 

 insecticide. The undiluted oil is, how- 

 ever, liable to seriously injure plants to 

 which it is applied. This difficulty is 

 overcome by using one of the special 

 spray pumps which have been devised 

 for the purpose of mixing the oil with 

 water in any desired proportion; or by 

 forming an emulsion with some sub- 

 stance that may be readily diluted with 

 water. Soap is most commonly used for 

 this purpose, as follows: 



(8) Kerosene oil 2 gallons 



Hard soap (preferably whale oil).^ pound 

 Water 1 gallon 



Dissolve the soap in the water by 

 boiling. Add the suds, boiling hot, to 

 the oil. Churn the mixture violently 

 with a spray pump until it becomes a 

 thick, creamy mass. If perfectly emulsi- 

 fied, the oil will not rise to the surface 

 even after standing an indefinite time. 

 Such an emulsion may be used imme- 

 diately or may be kept as a stock mix- 

 ture. Before using, dilute one part of 

 the stock emulsion with eight or ten 

 parts of water. 



This will be found to be an efficient 

 remedy for green-aphis, woolly-aphis, 

 red-spider, mealy-bugs and for certain 

 scale-insects. 



This is a favorite spray in California 

 for several of the scales infesting citrus 

 fruits. In this state its chief value is as 



