The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-07-10

qualities. Mr.. Dana has been using six
pouhus quassia chips, four pounds,
.'Sn.y per cent. whale oil soap
70 io gallons of water. He is not satisfied
win results so far. for some reason, and
trying different proportions, and thinks
perhaps he may try different kinds of
ordinary laundry soap if he does not sue
ceeo better with the whale-oil soap in
future, although there is a possibility of
tue oifhculty being wholly in the applica-
.,oh, winch may arise from spraying when
tue sun Is too hot, thus causing the leaves
70 ourn. The same thing would happen if
only pure water were used as a spray in
the bright sunlight, and only so small a
quantity used that it causes sunburn. If
sufficient quantity were used to thor
ouShiy saturate the air and ground no
sunburn would occur in this country. but
OF course sufficient quantity of emulsion
could not be used to have this effect. so
the growers must use the sprayer with
care in the bright, no: sunlight This
spring there seems to have been very little
weather that has been suitable to a proper
spraying One cannot spray in the rain.
Ior the emulsion would roll off
the foliage without saturating, and
when the wind blows the spray does not
reach the parts intended, and to spray in
the hot sun burns the leaves, which would
ieave the dull, cloudy day. without wind
or ram, OF which We have had few, as
the ideal spraying weather. The early
morning hours and the late evening
might De utilized proftahly, as it is light
enough to work at O'Clock a. m. and
would not be too warm before or 10
O'Clock a. m, while at night spraying
might be begun at O'Clock and continued
until At least 8. Last year one man at
hent owned horsepower sprayer butt
IN England and he used the sprayer dur
Ing the day and the Puyailup Hop Com
pany used it during the night most of the
season, or until they could get theirs from
England.
Judge Robert Wingate, who owns
thirty-two acres Of hops at Enumclaw and
mas been studying the hop situation for
the past two years. says that at his yard,
which is probably 600 feet higher than here,
ne mas very few lice, but still he has or
dered roller sprayer, and will spray this
year. He thought that if Mr.. Meeker
succeeded in killing all the lice down here
this year he would have none next year,
but Mr.. Meeker thought that what few
might be killed in this altitude would
have very little appreciable effect upon
mop lice IN general, as the hop was at
tackled simultaneously on this Coast from
Southern Oregon 10 British Columbia by
the hop lice. His opinion was that they
would leave in the same way, but of course
each individual hop-grower by fighting
the lice and keeping them down in
his immediate vicinity will do much
to save his crop in part or in
full, according to circumstances, each
year, and also save his yard. which the
lice, if allowed to do their work without
hindrance, would kill in a couple of years,
the same as they do in New York, where
the lice are not fought at all. Judge VIM
gate thinks that the reason of there being
less lice at his yard was on account of the
high altitude, as the air, laying in strata,
would produce lice in one stratum when it
would not in another, and he also thought
that the weather must be of certain
humidity to be favorable to the production
of lice, or rather that the humidity must
be great to be most favorable. This would
seem to answer the question of the differ
ence in the quantity of lice appearing in
the higher and lower ATTITUDES. as the
humidity is greater in the lower ATTITUDES
until the Sound or salt water is reached,
when it does not appear to be so great.
Perhaps the salt water affects it in some
way, either the constant change of tide
| or the almost constant breeze This
may account for the vermin so quickly
taking the hop yards of New York,
| for in some years the humidity is very
| high during most of the summer, with
! few or slight falls. especially during the
| growing season. We have usually little
| .Nf hat L.. e, L,ra
| be able to cope successfully with the lice
| while they stay, or at least we may be
| able to save our own yards and get partial
| crops enough to pay expenses while they
| do remain. If they prove to be like other
| pests-and why should they not be-there
| is comfort in the fact that the caterpillar
| has been with US for the past two or
| three years and last year was very bad,
even eating all the first leaves from the
| cottonwood, alder. ETC., in the forests, but
this year very few caterpillars are seen.
| Arthur n. Miller said last year that this
would be the case, as thirty years ago the
caterpillars were very bad, stripping the
| oak trees on the Steilacoom plains.
| Ezra Meeker thinks that in a weeks
! time the hops will have caught up and be
| as far along as usual, and he expects as
| large crop as ever, for he never saw his
| hops looking better in his life. This NAV
| be due to two things: Mr.. Meeker has
| raised hops in this and White river val
| legs; he has also had the advantage of
several trips to England and Germany,
studying methods of growing, curing. etc.
| and he understood that the lice must be
| gotten rid of Last year he used the En-
| glish sprayer during the night until he
could get one from England, in the latter
| part of the season. He also would scarce
| ly make the mistake of picking his hops
too green. or, rather. too early, to save
| them from the lice. thinking the hops
would come out all right after passing
| through the kiln. Mr.. Meeker thinks
Also that the injury done the hop plant
| by using the quassia emulsion too stron g
or in the too hot sun is very little. as the
| plant will throw out new leaves.
There are at present about l,4o0 hop
| growers in Oregon and Washington.
| More than half, or about 500. are in Wash
ington. New names are being added all
| the time seventeen coming from Oregon
| last week Most of these are renters. but
somenew yards are being started. l.. VI.
| Cursiss, of Prairie. near Kent. new man,
! who cultivates 80 acres, was here last week