Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1909-05-20
Spraying Plum Trees, Potato
Vines. etc.

't, s'o ioCtcrs FeCenUly received
by Prof Surface, State Zoologist, al
Harrisburg, was one from a Dauphin
county farmer, which should be given
wide publicity. The correspondent
wrote:
IA few years ago my fruit trees were
dying from the effects of the San Jose
scale. Fortunately, following your ad-
vice, 1 bought good spray pump and
apparatus for using the lime-sulfur
wash, and began spraying thoroughly
fall and spring, and to-day 1 have sew
eral hundred fine, healty trees, practic-
ally free from scale. On trees tina t
were covered with scale from the tips
OF the branches to the trunks not live
scale can be found.
Kindly answer the following aues-
tions: 1) How much Paris green to
eight gallons of water can be used
safely to spray plum trees? I used a
teaspoonful last year to eight gallons
of water and killed many fruit buds.
| ~ Tell me how to make a spray for
potato blight; how much bluestone
and lime to use to so gallons of water?n
To this State Zoologist Surface re-
piled as follows:
Il certainly thank you for your very
kind letter, making such a definite
statement concerning the cleaning up
of your trees and the production of
perfect fruitand the growing of healthy
trees free from scale, by the use of the
lime-sulfur wash, following our direc-
tions. This is but an example of what
every person in this State could have
done had they acted equally intelli-
gently, faithfully and persistently. On
the other hand I have many reports
of persons who wanted something with
easier ork, even if more expensive,
and consequently, bought the high
priced oils, and in many cases killed
their trees or injured them so badly
that they are now turning to me, ask
ing what can be done to overcome the
evil Objects Of their former action.
II take great pleasure in replying in
detail to the inquiries of such persons
as yourself, because it is an inspiration
to know that you act intelligently up.
on the advice given, and regard it as
worth something, even though it is free
OF cost. 1t is, also, pleasure to me to
know that such efforts on my part are
not in vain, but are really helpful.
Concerning Paris green, the formula is
one pound or sixteen ounces to $50
gallons of water for hardy plants. For
plain proportions / would recommend
one ounce to each 10 gallons. In fact
one ounce to eight gallons will not be
too strong for potatoes. However, I
should use three or four times as much
lime as Paris green, ,smaking milk of
lime and straining it into the water
with Paris green.
"Also, on plums I would not recon-
mend you to use Paris green if you can
get arsenate of lead. The later sticks
better and is much more to be desired.
You can buy this of different firms. I
would not spray the plum trees until
after the blossoms have fallen and the
fruit is nearly as large as the average
pea.
ITO make spray for potato blight
use three pounds of bluestone and four
or five pounds of lime in fifty gallons
of water. Ifyou have potato beetles,
add one-third of pound of Paris
green, or one-pound of arsenate of lead
to this. should have told you that
there are various formulas recommend
ed for using arsenate, varying from
one to three or four pounds in fifty
gallons of water, butit has been proven
that if you use good quality of arsen-
ate of lead, one pound in fifty gallons
will do the poisoning, just the same as
though you used three times as much,
and, of course, there is less danger of
injury and it is moro economical"