Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1893-04-20
Democratic Northwest.
NO DANGER
In THE SPRAYING OF ORCHARDS, SAYS
THE OHIO
Agricultural Experiment Station In
Its Last Newspaper BuiIetin-The
Results Shown.

AS many people IHaRlne IilhI tne
use of fruits which have been sprayed, {,
while growing, with arseuical poisons
is attended with danger. the following
clear statements by Professor G. IL.
Tyler Townsend, entomolOgist of the
New Mexico Experiment station, at
Las Cruces, will be read with interest.
"Just year ago the Pal MdH Ga
Sette, of London, England, published
a most Sensational article, alleging
that the use OF American apples
was unsafe on account of the large
amount of arsenic which American
Orchardists spray upon their fruit to
protect it from insects. 1t was alleged
that the fruit was by this means COM
pletely saturated, and that the bloom
or "white POWDER found on American
apples was arsenic brought to the sur
face of evaporation. These statements
which are without shadow Of ffvunda
tion were made without doubt in the
interest of spectators, and with the
sole view of injuring the sale of Ameri-
can apples in the English market.
"Now the facts In the case are these:
Ifthe poison is used in the strength OF
one pound to 200 gallons of water, it
may be easily computed that the
arsenic will be so distributed, through
the water as to make 1t necessary for
person to consume several barrels
ofapples at sitting in order to obtain
a fatal dose. According to our most
eminenp medical authorities, the
smallest fatal dose os arsenic ever re-
corded Is two gfa,as. A person would
oe obliged to eat something liketwenty
bushels of sprayed apples at one time
in order to obtain this am unit.
''In order to determine the prCximate
amount of poison mich would be
found upon grass beneath trees that
had just been sprayed, the following
experiment was made at the Michigan
Agricultural college: A thick paper
was placed under an apple tree, which
was then thoroughly sprayed OH
windy day, 80 that the dripping was
excessive. After this had ceased the pa
per, which covered space of seventy
two square feet, was analyzed and found
to contain four-tents of q grain of
arsenic. Another tree was also
sprayed, and the grass and clover be-
meath 1t was afterwards cut and fed to
a horse without the faintest sign of
injury.
"Apropose of this subject may be
mentioned the following relating to
the use of the fungicide known as the
Bordeaux mixture. (mostly sulphate
of copper) for the mildew and rot of
grapes: In the early autumn of 1891,
the board of health of New York city
condemned several car loads OF grapes
as dangerous to the public health, and
ordered them destroyed because they
were slightly disfigured with the Bor
deaux mixture. This caused q scarce
and serious fall in prices, so that the
market was bad for the rest of the sea-
son. To determine the exact amount
of copper adhering to such grapes the
Massachusetts station at Amherst an
alyzed ten pounds of grapes which
were badly disfiured from spraying
with this solution. Only two-thous-
anths of one per cent. of oxide of cop
per was found in the ten pounds. A
person would have to eat from one
half ton to one ton of such grapes at
one time, skins, stems and all, If he
wished to obtain an injurious effect.
"These experiments are sufficient to
demonstrate the utter impossibility of
any poisonous effects resulting from
the proper use Of these sprays. Careful
microscopic examinations have been
made which show that after the water
In the spray has evaporated the poison
is soon entirely dispersed, being blown
off by the winds or washed by rain.
As matter of fact no substantiated
case of poisoning, either man or ami
mails, has ever been reported from the
use of arsenical sprays as insecticides,
Notwithstanding the extensive use of
such in this country during period
of many years.u