Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 April 1896 — Spraying with Insecticides and Fnngicides. [ARTICLE]

Spraying with Insecticides and Fnngicides.

The season for spraying our orchards and vineyards is at baud, audit “should be> attended to at once|| ■ ' It ra estimated that (lie apple crop, alone iu Indiana, iu an ordinary season amounts to, approximately, -8,000,000 bushels aud it is also estimated that at least two thirds of these would be classed as “seconds” iu the market, owing to the defects caused by insects and fungi. This means a direct loss to the farmers of the Htate from this one cause of-at least $500,000 annually. The same may be said of all other kinds of fruit, to a greater or less extent, so that a set of spraying machinery has come to be just as essential to successful fruit culture as the In es themselves; for it has been thoroughly demonstrated that from 80 to 90 per cent, of the fruit crop can be saved iu perfect condition by an intelligent use of the spray piimp; and at a» cost of not more than 30 to 40 cents per tree. 1 In the application of insecticides it should be remembered there are 1 twp classes of insects with which we have to deal; one takes its food by eating the foliage, fruit, etc, while the second class sucks its nourishment from the interior of the stem, foliage or fruit. The Tent caterpillar, Cauker wo?m and Currant worm are familiar examples of the hist class, and the plant - lice, squash bug, etc , represent the second class. Accordingly ipgpcticides may be divided into two classes, viz: (1) those which must be taken into the system 1 before becoming active and which contain more or less arsenic, such as Paris green. London purple and White arsenic, and which should be used at the Tate of one pound to 200 gallons of water; (2) those which kill by Contact; such as kerosene emulsion, pyrethum, bisulphide of carbon, etc. The only precaution necessary here is in the use of bi-sulphide of carbou, which is very “explosive w'hen brought near the fire. It is used in the destruction of all kinds of grain insects in bins. To these *may be added.a third ciass called repellauts—those which by their offensive odors prevent egg layiug —such as carbolic acid, soft soap, etc., which are applied to the bodies of trees as a prevention against the attacks of borers. j The numerous fungous diseases, such as the black rot of grapes, apples scab, plum rot, etc., require a different class of remedies. The one in most general use is the Bordeaux mixture, which is made by dissolving six pounds of(sulphate of copper and four pounds of quick lime and adding these to 45 or 50 gallons of water. The first application shoqld be made before any sign of the disease has manifested itself, repeating at intervals of ten or fifteen days. After the fruit has set, a comof Paris green and Bordeaux mixture will be foilua' to serve a double purpose in destroying both insects and fungi. James Troop, Horticulturist, Purdue University Acricjultural Experiment Station. Newspaper Bulletin No. 24, April 8. 1896.