30G 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
“sailing time'’ lor the ears lo City “li” and City “C” may 
be fixed at noon, and for City “D” and City “E” at 1 
o’elock P, M., while freight for other points may he ac- 
eepted up to the closing hour. 
This will require the delivery of a considerable quan¬ 
tity of freight in the morning hours of the “sailing day.” 
The result will he to distribute the receipts throughout 
the day, extend the capacity of the station and facilitate 
the movement of traflic. Shippers will he benefited, as 
their teams and trucks will not he forced to stand idle for 
several hours before being able to get to the platform, as 
is often the case under the present conditions. 
The apiilication of the plan at smaller stations—those 
at which less than carload freight would not accumulate 
into carloads with sullicient freiiuency lo operate Ihrougti 
cars to any given point -will he limited to the estahlish- 
ment of shipping days. 
It is the intention lo continue sullicient local “pick-up” 
freight service to meet the requirements for that form of 
service. 
One imj)ortant result which the plan is expected to 
hi’ing about \\ ill he a reduction in loss and damage to 
freight, owing to the greater promptness with which it 
w ill he loaded and dispatched. 
The siiuplilication of railroad operation, as well as the 
elimination of re-handling ol less than carload freight at 
transfer stations, w ill also diminish the amount of freight 
going astray. 
The pro})Osed })lan is being worked out on scientitic 
lines. A most careful and elaborate study lias been made 
of tlie movement of less 110111 carload freight to and from 
all points on the entire railroad and its connections, and 
the nature and frequency of service to be afforded at each 
station w ill he based iqion that study. Future changes in 
the current of Irallic will he taken care of promptly, as 
they become evident. 
A consiuvative estimate shows that the adoiition of the 
jiroposed plan will result in the saving of at least 1,000 
box cars per day in the handling of less than carload 
freight 011 the lines East of Pittsburgh and Erie. 
The new iilau will be put into effect first in the Phila¬ 
delphia District, where it will become operative in the 
near future. As soon tlieri'after as possible it will be 
applii'd at New York, Paltiniore, Pittsburgh and Duffalo, 
follow iiig w bich it w ill Ik* inaugurated at all stations. 
When making the new plan effective in any locality, 
it w ill be explained, as lo its purpose and met bod of op- 
('ralion, to the local hoard of Trade, Chambiu' of Com¬ 
merce and other trade bodies. This duty will be per¬ 
formed personally by the various Division Freight 
Agents. 
The working out of details for the various stations, 
will he completed, on each Grand Division, under the 
joint direction of Mr. 11. G. Bixler, Superintendent of 
Stations and Transfers of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and 
the jiroper Division Freight Agent, representing respec¬ 
tively, the Trans{)ortation and Traflic Departments. They 
w ill he assisted in this work by the Staffs of the Division 
Superintendents. 
LEAD ARSENATES, STONE FRUITS, AND THE 
WEATHER 
By George P. Gray. 
T he appearance of an unusual number of canker 
worms in the prune and apricot orchards of the 
Santa Clara Valley (Cal.) in the spring of 1915 
caused a great many of the orchardists of that section to 
make one or two sprayings of lead arsenate in order to 
prevent defoliation of the trees. The worms were well 
controlled within a short time, but some two or three 
w eeks after the application of the poison, it was noticed 
that the trees began shedding their foliage. The inj ured 
leaves were specked w ith brown spots, each speck being 
dead leaf tissue. Some of the fruit was also injured in 
the same way. The defoliation in some of the orchards 
amounted to perhaps 50 per cent, w hile in others the in¬ 
jury was not as serious. Defoliation and fruit dropping 
w as quite general, however, wherever lead arsenate had 
been applied for the canker worms. 
It so happened that practically all of the lead arsenate 
used on prunes and aj)ricots in the vicinity w^as })urchased 
from a single firm. Some of the orchardists had never 
before been obliged to use an arsenical and so the use of 
arsenicals in general was condemned. Others thought 
that they had been supplied with a poor grade of ar¬ 
senical, and threatened law-suits. The ollice of the 
County Horticultural Commissioner was besieged with 
inquiries as to the cause of the trouble. Tbe situation 
w^as so unusual that the Commissioner (Mr. E. L. Mor¬ 
ris) called upon the Insecticide and Fungicide Labora¬ 
tory of the Agricultural Experiment Station for assistance 
in the solution of tlie problem. The w riter made two 
trills to the valley and spent several days in company with 
Mr. Morris visiting the injured orchards, interview ing the 
owners and securing data upon which to base conclusions. 
Five samples of lead arsenate w ere secured from different 
orchards which had suffered from spray injury. The 
matter was gone over quite carefully with Mr. Morris; 
rejiresentatives of two important manufacturers of lead 
arsenate were interviewed; and the samples were ex¬ 
amined by tbe w l iter. As a result of tbe investigation, 
certain conclusions have heen made and wall be submit¬ 
ted later on in tbe pajier. 
In order that the discussion of the case may be better 
understood, it seems well lo jireseid some theories of 
spray injury, to describe the comiiH'rclal tyiies of lead 
arsenat(\ and to poiid out the recognized susceptibility of 
stone fruits lo spray injury. 
Theory of Spray Injury 
For injury to result from tbe ajiplication of a spray, it 
is necessary that the material be absorbed in some WRiy. 
It seems quite essential that the material should be in so¬ 
lution before absorption can take place. At least, there 
is no evidence that a solid can enter the tissue of plants 
or animals to cause lesions of any sort. The modern 
practice of applying arsenicals to foliage is based upon 
the pro[)er combination of the poison in a form w hich is 
insoluble in water in order to prevent its entering plant 
tissue and causing damage. It is generally recognized 
that the damage which is sometimes caused by arsenicals 
