The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1894-06-02
NEVADA AGRICULTURAL EXPERT.
MENT STATION.
Is There Danger Of Poisoning From
eating Sprayed Fruit

Is There Danger of Poisoning From
eating Sprayed Fruit
Newspaper Bulletin No. Al
This is a question which has been
asked many times, and undoubtedly
the fear of possible harm has kept
many from using this valuable method
of combating insect foes. To allay
any such fears, and thus perhaps pre-
vent the disuse of insecticide sprays
in many cases where they are really
needed, this newspaper bulletin is
published. The only sprays used as
insecticides which are at all danger
Gus to use are the arsenic compounds,
and the copper compounds, though
these latter are much less poisonous
than the former. Both Paris green
and London puple have been used ex-
tensively for many years in this coun-
ty as insecticides and case of fatal
poisoning has yet to be recorded.
The great danger lies in having the
poison about the ranch in bulk. The
supposed danger has developed a
great deal of opposition to the use of
Paris green, and it has been but a
year or SO since the sale of American
apples in English markets received a
setback from this supposed danger of
arsenical poisoning from their con-
8 umption.
It was shown in 1878 by McMur-
trie, of U. S. Department of Agri-
culture, that the most rigorous chem
ical analysis detects no arsenic in the
composition of plants taken from a
soil so saturated with Paris green that
the plants wilted from it's influence,
thus it can be safely assumed that
plants and vegetables can convey the
poison to the consumer only through
the very small quantity of arsenic
which may be left from spraying on
the edible part of the plant. 1t
would seem at first thought that the
use of Paris green on plant like the
cabbage would be very unsafe, but
the absence of danger has been shown
by Professor Gillette, of the Colorado
Station, as follows:
"Where the green is busted from a
bag in the proportion of one ounce to
one hundred ounces of -four, and just
enough applied to each head to make
a slight show of dust on the leaves, say,
for twenty eight heads one ounce of
the mixture, the worms will all be kill
ed in two or three days, while the
average amount of poison on each head
will be about one-seventh of grain.
Fully half of the powder will fall on
the outside leaves and on the ground,
and thus person would have to eat
about twenty eight heads of cabbage
to consume poisonous dose of arsenic
even if the balance of the poison re-
manned after cooking"
In the case of spraying apple orch.
ards there is scarcely possibility Of
injury to the consumer, for where the
poison is used in the proportion of one
pound to two hundred gallons of water
the arsenic will be so distributed thai
it will be impossible for sufficen
quantity to collect upon any giver
apple to have the slightest injurious
effect upon the consumer. In fact al
individual would have to eat severa
barrels of apples at single meal t.
absorb fatal dose. An experiment
showing the minute quantity OF arsenic
used to one tree in ordinary spraying
was made by Professor A. j. Cook o
Michigan. He placed thick pape1
under tree and thoroughly sprayed
the tree on windy day so that th'
dripping was excessive. After drip
ping ceased, the paper (coverlnl
seventy-two square feet,) was analyz