JShe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1305 
Tree  Damaged  by  Arsenic 
I  am  looking  for  some  information  in  regard  to  severe 
peach  tree  damage  which  has  occurred  in  one  of  my 
small  orchards.  Most  of  the  trees  (there  are  85  in  all) 
are  four  years  old.  and  about  'JO  of  them  six  years  old. 
They  were  cultivated  twice  with  disk  harrow  and  in 
early  Spring  had  a  light  application  of  lien  manure, 
gravel  and  leaves  from  the  scratching  pens.  The  trees 
were  making  a  normal  growth,  but  not  very  rank  for 
so  much  rain  as  we  had  this  year.  They  are  set  on  a 
hilltop  of  rather  light  gravelly  soil.  About  the  first 
week  in  July  I  noticed  a  change  in  the  looks  of  the 
foliage;  it  turned  light  and  many  leaves  withered  and 
fell  off,  and  upon  examination  the  hark  showed  dam¬ 
age  and  gum  was  oozing  out  in  many  places.  It  has 
continued  growing  worse  all  the  time,  until  now  some 
of  the  trees  ore  about  dead,  and  all  show  damage,  hut 
one  variety,  the  Crosby,  shows  more  than  Elberta.  It 
seems  to  come  from  the  bleeding  of  the  wood  now.  but 
at  first  the  leaves  show  brown  on  the  edges  as  the  burnt 
and  brown  snots  came  on  many  of  the  leaves 
which  soon  dropped 
off. 
At  the  edge  of  this 
orchard  is  a  very  large 
oak  tree  which  was 
badly  infested  with 
Gypsy  moths  in  the 
Spring  and  as  my 
spraying  outfit  is  a 
barrel  pump  I  asked 
the  local  tree  warden 
to  spray  this  tree  and 
some  birches  near  ii 
with  his  power  spray¬ 
er.  This  he  did  on 
June  25,  and  also  gave 
the  peach  and  apple 
trees  a  coating  of  the 
arsenate  of  lead,  al¬ 
though  I  tohl  him  I 
would  look  after  them. 
They  use  a  strong  so¬ 
lution  of  8  to  50. 
What,  puzzles  us.  was 
the  spray  a  cause  of 
the  peach  tree  dam¬ 
age?  I  have  another 
orchard  about  500 
feet  away  from  this 
one  treated  the  same 
way  as  to  cultivation 
but.  no  manure,  which 
was  not.  sprayed  with 
arsenic,  and  it  is  iu 
fine  condition. 
I  called  iu  the 
County  Agent  and 
he  thought  it  un¬ 
doubtedly  damaged  by 
free  arsenic  in  the 
spray.  Then  the  State 
Moth  Inspector,  who 
supervises  the  spray¬ 
ing  came  and  looked 
at  it  and  said  it 
couldn't  possibly  have 
been  done  by  arsenic 
spraying.  Who  am  I 
to  believe?  I  figure  T 
am  set  hack  nearly 
8200  by  this  damage, 
and  I  am  a  very  poor 
man,  trying  to  pay 
for  this  farm  and 
bring  up  a  family. 
About  a  dozen  peach¬ 
es  this  year  from  500 
trees  and  L  shall  lose 
a  year  or  two  on 
these  damaged  trees, 
and  some  are  so  far 
gone  that  they  will 
have  to  be  replaced. 
k.  t.  c. 
Massachusetts. 
4 
YOI'It  description 
of  Hie  trouble 
with  the  peach  trees 
seems  to  clearly  in¬ 
dicate  burning  by  nr 
senate  of  lead.  It  is 
always  dangerous  to 
apply  arsenate  of 
lead  to  peach  foliage 
even  at  the  rate  of 
I  wo  pounds  of  paste 
in  50  gallons  of 
water,  unless  lime  i> 
added.  Considerable 
burning  of  pencil  fol¬ 
iage  h  a  s  occurred 
this  year  from  appli¬ 
cations  of  arsenate 
of  lead  made  at  the 
rate  of  from  two  to  three  pounds  of  paste  to  50 
gallons  of  water.  .V  solution  as  strong  as  eight 
pounds  of  lead  to  50  gallons  of  water  to  my  mind 
would  prove  to  be  an  exceedingly  dangerous  appli¬ 
cation  to  peach  trees.  Your  description  of  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  your  leaves  indicates  lead  burning,  and 
where  the  injury  was  at  all  serious  burned  spots 
would  be  found  upon  the  brunches.  These  would 
appear  upon  the  new  wood  as  reddish  or  purplish 
areas.  The  injured  bark  might'  also  be  expected  to 
crack  and  gum  be  exuded.  An  examination  of  the 
foliage  and  branches  before  the  injury  progresses 
loo  far  would  settle  the  question.  However,  it  is  a 
well  known  fact  that  arsenate  of  lead  is  a  danger¬ 
ous  material  to  apply  to  peach  trees  in  full  foliage 
without  the  addition  of  lime,  even  at  a  strength  of 
two  or  three  pounds  of  paste  in  50  gallons  of  water. 
m.  a  n. 
Co-operation  in  Washington,  D.  C. 
By  a  Former  Chairman  in  the  Home  Club 
Part  III. 
Defects  in  distribution:—: it  was  well 
known  that  at  the  very  time  when  peaches  and 
early  apples  were  rotting  under  the  trees  in  Vir¬ 
ginia  and  Maryland  because  the  prices  offered  in 
the  markets  did  not  justify  the  farmers  in  gathering 
and  shipping  their  fruit,  the  same  quality  of  fruit 
was  held  at  the  same  old  high  prices  iu  the  "Wash¬ 
ington  markets.  Our  committee  ^endeavored  to  get 
in  touch  with  large  growers  of  such  fruits,  but  that 
took  more  time  than  we  could  devote  to  that  one 
branch  of  the  work.  It  will,  however,  receive  care¬ 
ful  attention  iu  the  future.  Some  remarkable  facts 
The  Rush  of  Silo-fillinii  Time.  Fig.  533 
A  Simple  Apple-packing  Table  in  the  Orchard.  Fig.  534.  See  page  1306 
■  ■.•'mo  out  during  the  opening  work  of  this  commit¬ 
tee  on  food  supply.  Evaporated  milk,  retailed  at. 
10  cents  per  can,  was  found  to  be  worth  five  cents 
at  l lie  factory;  jobbers  in  carload  lots  got.  six  cents; 
wholesalers  got.  seven  cents,  etc.  Wisconsin  brick 
cheese,  retailing  in  Center  Market  at  from  30  to 
55  cents  per  pound  (according  to  the  style  of  the 
customer’s  clothes)  was  delivered  to  us  in  10-poun<l 
lots  at  lt>  cents,  the  factory  price  being  somewhat 
below  that.  Afterward  we  had  to  pay  IS  cents,  in 
order  to  provide  for  express  charges.  Boneless 
breakfast  bacon,  retailing  in  Washington  at  from 
20  to  30  cents  per  pound,  came  to  us  at  17.  Paper- 
shell  pecans  from  Mississippi,  retailing  at  85  cents, 
were  delivered  to  us  at  35  cents  per  pound;  orange 
anil  grapefruit  from  Florida  at  $1.25  to  $1.50  per 
box. 
OAYKF.O  FRFTTS.-  At  the  Bureau  of  Plant  In¬ 
dustry,  Department  of  Agriculture,  valuable  inform¬ 
ation  was  obtained  as  to  the  big  fruit  canneries  of 
the  Pacific  Coast,  potato  growers  in  New  York  and 
Maine,  etc.  It  was  learned  there  that  potatoes 
which  retailed  in  Washington  at  25  to  4U  cents  per 
peek  were  to  be  had  that'  Winter  (1915)  in 
Warren  County,  N.  Y.,  for  25  cents  per  bushel, 
with  12  cents  added  for  freight  to  Washington, 
and  the  finest  prunes  could  be  delivered  from 
Oregon  and  Washington  at  a  lower  price  than 
the  local  dealers  charged  for  the  poorest  grades. 
Canners  of  corn  and  beans  in  Illinois  made 
similar  offers.  A  permanent  exhibit  of  non-perish¬ 
able  foods,  such  as  dried  fruits  and  nuts,  was  opened 
at  the  Home  Club  rooms,  and  samples  received  from 
various  sources.  A  list  of  food  supplies  was  print¬ 
ed  and  sent  to  each 
member,  asking  how 
much  of  each  item 
would  probably  be 
r  equire  d  for  a 
month's  supply. 
These  blanks,  when 
filled  out  and  re¬ 
turned,  furnished  a 
basis  for  closing  con¬ 
tracts  for  the  various 
items  of  food.  The 
fact  was  developed 
that  g  o  v  e  r  n  in  e  n  t 
clerks  use  but  little 
meal  or  flour,  de¬ 
pending  upon  bakers 
for  their  bread. 
PROGRESS  OF 
THE  IDEA.— Last 
Summer  the  writer 
was  transferred  to 
•  another  department 
of  rbe  government 
anil  located  in  New 
York  City,  but  be 
notes  with  pleasure 
f  m  in  the  e  1  u  b  ’  s 
monthly  bulletin  that 
the  Home  Club  idea 
is  growing  in  strength 
and  usefulness.  Other 
departments,  notably 
these  of  Commerce, 
State,  War  and  Navy, 
are  falling  into  line, 
and  soon  all  official 
Washington  will,  so 
far  as  the  clerks  are 
concerned,  be  more 
or  less  identified  with 
cooperative  buying. 
At  1  a  s  t.  accounts, 
contracts,  had  been 
made  with  shoe  firms 
to  supply  footwear 
for  members  of  the 
Home  Club  at  a  sav¬ 
ing  nf  from  50  cents 
to  $1  per  pair,  and 
many  other  items  of 
clothing,  as  well  as 
furniture,  etc.,  wei'e 
being  added  to  the 
list.  In  addition,  a 
discount  list  of  mer¬ 
chants  had  been  pro¬ 
vided,  making  an¬ 
other  saving  to  mem¬ 
bers  in  local  pur¬ 
chases  of  from  five 
to  25  per  cent,  over 
ordinary  prices.  Sec¬ 
retary  Lane  hopes 
that  the  Home  Club 
idea  may  survive  buig  after  the  exigencies  of  poli¬ 
tical  life  shall  have  retired  Him  from  his  office  of 
Secretary  of  the  Inferior,  and  has  ideas  of  a  great 
civil  service  club  embracing  all  departments,  having 
its  own  club  house,  the  finest  in  the  world,  with  such 
equipment  for  the  welfare  and  enjoyment  of  all  its 
members  as  are  now  quite  beyond  their  reach,  as 
well  as  an  organization  for  buying  and  delivering 
all  necessary  supplies  for  the  household  at  greatly 
reduced  prices;  and  a  Summer  home  and  farm  near 
Washington.  The  Maryland  Agricultural  College 
officials  have  promised  their  hearty  assistance,  and 
it  goes  without  saying  that  the  Department  of  Agri¬ 
culture,  which  epitomizes  in  itself  all  that  is  best 
in  making  the  products  of  the  land  benefit  the 
whole  people,  will  add  its  mighty  aid  in  the  good 
work,  which  touches  so  many  lines  of  endeavor. 
IJXISAV  S.  rKUKT^S. 
