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Show HORTICULTURE DR. E. D. BALL, A. C. U. IS ARSENICAL SPRAYING KILLING KIL-LING OUR FRUIT TREES? By Dr. E. D. Ball. An adUrcss, delivered ilJcforc the Utah State Horticultural Society. Dr. Iicaddcn in a recent Colorado Bulletin, entitled "Arsenical poisoning poison-ing of fruit trees" comes to some very startling conclusions with rc-. rc-. fcrcncc to the effect of continued arsenical spraying on thew life of, pur ' orchards. The truth or falsity of these -conclusions is a matter of vital import-4 tancc to the fruit growers of the West, and, if the interest taken in a paper on the subjccrprcsehtcd by the writer to the Association of Economic Eco-nomic Entomologists at their recent; meeting in Baltimore, can be taken as a guide, even the fruit growers' of the East arc seeking information on the subject. Briefly stated the case seems to be as follows: Mr. O. B. V tppk, Field Horticulturist of the Western Slope of Colorado, in his report for 1906, discusses, under the head of "root rots," two diseases which were found to be destroying -the apple tree of that region. One of these diseases di-seases Mr. Whipple dismisses with this statement, "one form, (of root rot) which is proving the least destructive de-structive of the two, seems to show no preference for varieties, and "confines "con-fines .itself to that pafct of he. tree bclpw the ground." The. Qthe,r con dition described by Mr. Whipple at some length is apparently our old friend long1 known as "collar rot." He says it "works exclusively on the Bcu Davis and Gano," and describes the dead area of bark, the girdling of the trunk, the early ripening of the foliage and other characters well known as characteristic of that condition. con-dition. Mr. Whipple suggests that the disease di-sease may be infectious and carried by theMvatcr. He also suggests that it might be due to arsenic collecting about .the tree and killing the bark, but seems to doubt that conclusion. Dr. Hcaddcn, who had had some previous pre-vious experience with arsenic injuring injur-ing vegetation and had already predicted pre-dicted that there would be a grave danger in spraying with the arscn-cial arscn-cial compounds, apparently took up the investigation of these troubles the next year with the idta in mind that the trouble was due to the arsenic ar-senic in the soil. After a number of tests had been made, which' will be taken up in detail later, the Doctor came to the following conclusions, which I quote. "I regret that I can sec no other conclusion than that the corroding of the -crowns, the killing of the bark, the staining and final destruction of the woody fibers, the early dropping of the leaves presaging the early death of the tree and its final death a few months later arc caused by arsenical poisoning.'' Dr. Hcaddcn in this statement is J talking about 'conditions, wliich he states he observed "from near Fruita, almost to Palisade and in the neighborhood of Delta" and which he believes already involves the principal prin-cipal apple growing sections of Colorado Colo-rado and of which he says$ "It is also true that literally hundreds of trees have already died or arc sick." If Dr. Headden is right in this conclusion con-clusion as to the cause of the death of those "hundreds of trees" he has given us a warning which if heeded in time will prevent a course being pursued1 by the fruit. growers of the West, which would have caused millions mil-lions of dollars of loss in ruined orchards. or-chards. 1 If on .the .other hand he is mis- I taken in his conclusions the publica- I tion is most unfortunate as it will cause a decided reaction against a highly successful method of spraying and ibring consequent financial loss only equalled by that which we suffered suf-fered some years ago through the unwarranted statements of Wood- I worth with cfcrcncc to the purity of spraying compounds. Whether the Doctor is right or wrong in his" general conclusions there arc a good many important facts brought out in this bulletin that it will be well for the fruit growers generally to become familiar with and J which will serve to explain a number I of occurrences in our own State which have been hitherto incxplainable. It will be only fair to Dr. Hcad'dcn to state the reasons he gives for his conclusions. The DoctoV in investigating investi-gating the region in wliich this dying dy-ing occurcd found a tree, part of which had died very suddenly and near it the stump of one that had died previously. On inquiry he found that the owner of the orchard had at one time made arscnile of lime under the tree of which only the stump remained and' had doubtless t spilled the soluble arscnitc of soda, causing its death. In the second case ithcy had attempted to be more careful care-ful and had poured the excess arscnitc arscn-itc of soda into the irrigating ditch from which a part of the roots of the second tree secured its water. The roots of this tree next to the ditch were found to be dead and black streaks of dead bark extended up the trunk of the tree from the - . .. roots clear into the branches and the branches on that side, according to the owner had turned brown and died within a few days after the soluble arscnitc had been poured into the ditch. Dr. Hcaddcn made a chemf-cal chemf-cal examination of the roots, trunk and branches and found arscnitc present pre-sent in every case. He then examined exam-ined parts of fourteen other trees, ah of which showed the symptoms that Mr. Whipple included under "root rots" and in every case found traces of arsenic in the affected parjts. He1 then examined the soil under the' trees that had1 been sprayed " ami found arsenic present in considerable quantities, but in an insoluble form: From these' facts he draws the conclusion con-clusion quoted above, that arsenic is killing our fruit trees. It might be well to slate in this connection that Dr. Hcaddcn is a well kncwn and thoroughly reliable chemist and there is no reason to doubt the absolute accuracy of any of his chemical findings. find-ings. Dr. Hcaddcn is not, however, a horticulturist or a plant; pathologist, patholo-gist, and has taken little interest in orcharding and his conclusion that the trees he found dying or tfcad in other orchards were tiffected in the same way as the ones known to have been killed by the soluble arscnitc, is open to serious question. He places a great deal of weight on the similarity of appearance in the tbark and the discoloration of the heart-wood, heart-wood, as illustrated by his figures, but as far as anyone .can discover (Continued on page 10) HORTIGUTRE 1 ARSENICAL SPRAYING. (Continued from page 3) from the statements of the bulletin, he made no examination of the apparently ap-parently healthy trees in these same orchards nor of dead trees in orchards or-chards that had not been treated with arsenical sprays. In fact no where in the bulletin can wc find a statement that would lead us to believe be-lieve that he knows of any cases of trees dying where no arsenical sprays have been used. This appears to us to be the weakest point in Dr. llcaddcn's claim of evidence and is due, no doubt to the fact that Dr. Hcaddcn has little knowledge of orchard or-chard conditions. It might be well to bear in mind also that Mr. Carpenter who form- crly lived in Grand Valley, states that, the waters of the Grand1 River, carry considerable amounts of arsenic arsen-ic which they receive from the mines and smelters farther up the stream and that traces of arsenic can be found in all soils around Fruita. The entire en-tire district investigated by Dr. Hcaddcn Hcad-dcn is watered by irrigation canals taken from this stream and as he docs not mention testing the irrigation water, this may have been the source of the soluble arsenic found in the trees instead of the insoluble compounds com-pounds used in spraying. Alkaline Ground Water Killing Trees In the writer's investigations of orchard or-chard conditions in Utah during the past six years he has found a number of sections in the state where considerable con-siderable loss has been experienced by conditions apparently identical with the two described by Mr. Whipple Whip-ple and Dr. Hcaddcn. The condition which is apparently the first one mentioned by Mr. Whipple Whip-ple in which there is no preference for varieties and in which there is no marked ring around the base of the tree has destroyed hundreds of acres of orchaids in Utah and in every case where this has been investigated in-vestigated it has been found that the ground water has been very close to the surface and contained a large per ccntage of alkali. In one section where the greatest loss has occured, a survey-of the region showing the depth to the ground water has been made and in Vvery case the worst affected orchards arc located in the region where the water is closest to the surface, as shown by this map. In other cases trees arc dying from alkali where the ground water is not normally close to the surface, but where at certain seasons of the year, irrigation on the higher lands brings it up temporarily. Where the ground water is constantly con-stantly close to the surface, young trees grow with great vigor until the roots reach this standing water, then they gradually become sickly an yellow yel-low and the leaves ripen prematurely premature-ly and as the trouble progresses the bark becomes mottled and discolored with brown areas and the trees gradually grad-ually die off. In cases where the ground water fluctuates through irrigation, ir-rigation, the tree may be growing in apparently healthy and vigorous man ncr one day, and in a few thiys the entire foliage will look like it had been sprayed with some soluble arsenical ar-senical solution. If the ground watc-rcmains watc-rcmains close to the surface for some time the trees will die. If it soon falls they will often drop their burned burn-ed leaves and if not too late in the season the young shoots will push out and form a partial green covering cover-ing again. This occurence is so common com-mon in some of the low lying districts dis-tricts adjacent to the Great Salt Lake where it is impossible to drain, that it occasions little comment, everyone understanding the conditions that produce it. An example witnessed by the writer on the Central Utah ' Experiment Station was very interesting. inter-esting. An orchard of several acres was planted just under an irrigated bench. Soon after the irrigation water wa-ter had been applied above it would seep out on the slopes of the bench , and render the upper part of the orchard or-chard impassable for man or beast. When first seen the first three rows of trees next to the bench were practically prac-tically all dying or dead, except on a small knoll of rising ground which was high enough to escape, and the injury was extending to the' next few rows adjoining. A deep trench was dug so as to intercept the seepage water with the result that the land below the ditch was hard and firm while 'that above was impassable as before. 'Thetrees below this ditch IB rapidly recovered their vigor and it H appeared that the orchard was saved. H A cave occurcd, however, in this HI ditch near one end, damming up the jH water for a small distance when it H immediately appeared on the surface H in the orchard below the ditch and IH within three or four days the ad- H jacent trees were brown and scorch- H cd as if they had been swept by fire. H nc (l'tcn was leaned and repaired and the water soon subsided from around these trees and all but one of them recovered and put forth a new crop of leaves, the one next to the break being the only one that died. This condition is found in is-solated is-solated situations throughout the Western country where the drainage is poor and the soils arc alkaline. These conditions exist throughout the lower and heavier lands between Fruita and Palisade where in certain places not only the fruit trees have been killed as cited by Dr. Hcaddcn but much of the farm land has also been ruined for sugar beets and other oth-er crops, and is now abandoned. Some of these orchard's had never been sprayed at all and of course I none of the farm land had received any arsenical treatment. A careful investigation has ibeen made since the appearance of Dr. llcaddcn's bulletin and many instances instan-ces have been found in which orchards or-chards have died from these conditions condi-tions without ever having received an arsenical spray of any kind, and in many other cases the dying has been limited' to the lower part of an orchard directly affected by the M ground water, so it appears absolute ly impossible to identify this condition condi-tion with any effect of arsenical spraying. Collar Rot Killing Trees. The 'second condition mentioned by Mr. Whipple and which is commonly com-monly recognized throughout the United States as "collar rot" apparently appar-ently confines itself very largely to the Ben Davis apple with the Gano as a second choice. In three or four places in Utah this disease has been alarmingly prevalent. The first orchard or-chard in which it was found by the .writer, belonged to Mr. Lars. Nord-ing Nord-ing of Hyrum. Mr. Nording planted Bqn Davis and Jonathan alternately, I within two or three years after plant ing the Ben Davis began dying and continued to die until now they are . nearly all gone. As fast as a tree , 1 died Mr.. Nording replaced it with a Jonathan in the same hole and so far has not lost a single Jonathan. Many of Mr. Nording's trees died before the orchard had been sprayed and they have not died more rapidly since spraying has been carried on. When the writer began his codling cod-ling moth experiments on the orchard or-chard of Hon. Thomas Smart of Logan, Lo-gan, this orchard was chosen because be-cause it had not been sprayed previously pre-viously and yet at that time trees were found dead and dying from "collar "col-lar rot." These trees were in one small section of the orchard and others oth-ers in the same section have died since the spraying has .been carried on, but it has not extended to other parts of the orchard. At Morgan, which is situated in a high Mountain valley, a large number of Ben Davis trees were planted a few years ago Mid before any of these orchards began be-gan bearing, and therefore before spraying had commenced, numerous complaints were made of the loss of trees through disease. In the Central Cen-tral Utah Experiment Station the orchard or-chard mentioned previously, contained contain-ed two acres of Ben Davis on the lower end1, and in this end a number of the trees had already died from "collar rot" when the arsenical sprays were first applied. The writer is fairly fair-ly familiar with most of the orchard regions of both Colorado and Utah, and has visited many of the sections of the Northwest, and in no case has he observed that there has been any more loss from these causes in orchards or-chards that were cared for and sprayed spray-ed than in neglected ones which should, if Dr. Hcaddcn's conclusions arc correct, be immune from these troubles. It seems therefore safe to conclude that arsenical poisoning is not the un-(Continued un-(Continued on page 14) 1 HORTICULTURE I i ARSENICAL SPRAYING. (Continued from page 11) derlying cause of cither one of the above-mentioned conditions. In the Colorado bulletin "a third condition is mentioned, as occurring in a few cases, cas-es, in which the sap oozes from the trees and forms a gummy or crystalline crystal-line mass. This condition the writer has never seen and therefore is not in position to discuss. It might also be well to state that the conclusion of the Colorado bulletin bulle-tin arc apparently based on few observations ob-servations in the field, the greater amount of work having been done in the laboratory hundVcds of miles from the. spot where the damage occurred; oc-curred; that vo experiments were carried car-ried on on fruit trees, the only attempt at-tempt to test he effect of arsenic being be-ing on greenhouse plants, and that the only trees known to have died from arsenical poisoning were the two that were killed by the soluble -arscnitc of soda, which we know would have killed them immediately if it had been sprayed on the foliage. Where the Bulletin is Valuable. This bulletin if rightly interpreted will be of great value to a great and growing industry. This interpretation however, will be one of very guarded warning against intemperate and excessive ex-cessive as well as needless use ot arscnicals. It will only serve to strengthen the position of those who arc urging the use of the new method of spraying first worked out and published pub-lished by the Utah Experiment Station Sta-tion and later confirmed by other western workers. In these experiments experi-ments it has been abundantly proven that one single driving spray, if cor rcctly applied at the right time, will do more to protect an orchard for the entire season than any numiber of sprayings as ordinarily applied. Dr. Hcaddsn shows in his bulletin that even r mall amount of alkali, or even of common salt alone, in the water will serve to render some of the arsenic of spraying solutions soluble, so-luble, which serves to explain a number num-ber of things that have happened in this State in the past. In one case an orchardist sprayed his entire orchard with Paris Green and practically ruined ruin-ed the crop by burning, while his Utah Bulletins 87 and 95. ' I neighbors used the same brand pf poison without serious injury. This particular orchardist, howcvcA, mm- doubtcdly used water taken from a well heavily charged with alkali (as all the well water in that rcgionjs v known to be strongly alkaline) which no doubt rendered his Paris Grccn I soluble and caused it to burn the fo- l liagc, while the neighbors used water jl from the irrigation ditches and in that jl case experienced little difficulty. . In IJ another case an orchardist sprayed ' a young orchard with lead arsenate of an approved brand and burned the : foliage from the trees and even killed the weeds and sugar beets ibe- l ncath. This was his first spraying j and it is very probable that if the ' matter could be investigated it would , be found that he had used a barrel which had previously contained salt " or brine and that a sufficient quantity I remained in the barrel to free the arsenic. This bulletin will also serve as a warning to those contemplating planting plant-ing trees in strongly alkaline soil, even where the ground water is not close enough to the surface to be considered dangerous, for if the alkali is capable of freeing the arsenic it would not be very long before the ' soil would be so impregnated that it would not only kill the trees but render ren-der the ground unfit for any other crop. The matter is one that calls for careful and exhaustive investigation and for cautious and guarded state- I ments of any kind until results of 1 these investigations arc known. Has- I ty and ill-advised1 statements with 1 reference to the use of arscnicals has 1 already done, a great injury in the intermountain region by retarding the development of the fruit industry, our most profitable crop. ' Conclusions, That the conditions described by Dr. Hcaddcn and attributed to the effects of arsenical spraying occur over widely distributed areas and have killed thousands of trees on which no arsenic has ever been used, and that thcr rorc arsenical poisoning canrrot be the primary cause of this condition. That the only trees positively known to have died of arsenical poisoning H were the two to which a soluble ar-S ar-S senitc was applied; a compound which B no one has ever used for spraying S purposes. 9 That the entire subject of arsenical M poisoning is a matter for careful and 8 exhaustive investigation and that any m statcnKiits preceding that investiga- tion should be of the most guarded nature. I That there is danger in the use of I even slightly alkaline waters in the I application of spraying materials, and that there is a probability of danger from excessive spraying on strongly allcalinc soils. That it has been abundantly proved that a single spray by the new method me-thod is much mor.c valuable than the excessive spraying as formerly practiced, prac-ticed, thus obviating the greater part of the possible difficulty. That those who arc using the driving driv-ing spray or contemplate using it may do so with the assurance that they arc using the least dangerous method possible if danger there should be, and' that the best and most productive orchards in the state arc the ones that have been the longest sprayed. 0 I Experts say there is no mystery about setting an asparagus bed. The land should be plowed or spaded up the same as for ord'nary garden work. Furrows about six inche deep,, running parallel about three feet apart, arc the proper preliminaries prelimi-naries for putting in a bed. The roots should be spread out flat and set about twenty inches apart in the bottom of the furrows and covered with soil, Cultivation for asparagus is the same as that required for ordinary or-dinary garden crops. The surface must be well stirred and kept free from weeds and plenty of fertilizers should be applied every year. An asparagus bed is a good thing for the home, or market gardens and should be a part of every farm, whether large or small. White Bluffs is situated in wljnt is known as the early fruit belt ol the Columbia river basin. It has the distinction of being about three weeks earlier in the period of ripening ripen-ing strawberries and similar fruits than some of the localities of central Washington in which land has reached reach-ed an enormous figure because of its' productiveness. The entire area surrounding the White Bluffs region was formerly a desert. It has been reclaimed from ardity by irrigation. 1 Now it promises to make fortunes for those engaged in tilling the soil. Asparagus is one of the plants that gives promise of being profitable. When once firmly established it lasts for many years and insures a good cash income every spring. Arc you interested in California, Arizona and Old Mexico, if so, it would be wise to write for full information infor-mation about the shortest line and the best service from your point to those sections via the SALT LAKE ROUTE, Utah's most popular Road. K. C. KERR, District Passenger Agent. |