New YorK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 139 
hellebore applied for the first brood is washed off by rain before 
the appearance of the second brood. Bordeaux mixture, on the 
contrary, is not readily removed by rain and enough of it still 
remains on the leaves to kill the second brood of worms. Besides 
requiring but a single application, the Bordeaux mixture has an 
additional advantage in that it protects the foliage, to a consid- 
erable extent, against leaf spot. The superiority of Bordeaux 
mixture”? is so evident that the use of hellebore has been almost 
entirely abandoned, except in cases where the application has 
been postponed until the fruit is so large that there is danger of 
spotting it if Bordeaux is used. The application of the poisoned 
Bordeaux is made upon the first appearance of worms; but last 
spring the worms appeared somewhat later than usual and so 
the Bordeaux was applied later. In fact, many persons accus- 
tomed to spray for worms did not do so the past season because 
there were so few worms that it seemed unnecessary. 
maturity in June, at which time they are about three-quarters of an inch 
long. They go to the ground and spin cocoons around themselves in 
which they change to chrysalides. During July they change again to 
adult flies; as a result a second brood of worms occurs after the crop of 
fruit is gathered. This worm can be distinguished from the span-worm 
by its color, which is usually green covered with black dots, with the 
extremities sometimes tinged with yellow; also by the fact that it does 
not loop the body when it travels, but does frequently curl itself up side- 
wise when feeding. 
In most sections of the country the last described species is usually the 
most common currant pest. When hellebore is recommended, this is the 
worm that is supposed to be doing the damage. 
The currant growers of the Hudson Valley have two distinct species of 
worms to combat and these worms appear at three distinct periods. This 
would require not only frequent applications of hellebore but also large 
quantities of it. Such treatment is expensive. The use of hellebore has 
also proven worthless as a remedy for the span-worm, as shown by the 
fact that in 1897 the fields in the vicinity of Highland, even where helle- 
bore was applied frequently, were completely stripped by this pest. 
These conditions have done much to induce growers to use some arsenical 
compound in Bordeaux mixture.—F. A. SIRRINE. 
“It appears that poisoned Bordeaux mixture as a remedy for currant 
worms came into use in the Hudson Valley about 1898. It was recom- 
mended by Mr. I’. A. Sirrine in a short article published in the Hastern 
New York Horticulurist for October, 1897. Mr. J. A. Hepworth of Marl- 
borough and Messrs. W. D. Barns & Son of Middle Hope were among 
, the first to use it. 
