NO DANGERS.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18569, 19 December 1925, Page 17

NO DANGERS.

ARSENATE ON APPUBS. EXPERTS INTERVIEWED. buu Aiaocuno* tbxbsiak.) NELSON, December 18. In reference to the cable message referring to arsenate* of- lead on apple** Mr Campbell, Director of the Horticntture Division, who is at prevent in Kelson, expressed the opinion that while the information from England most be treated seriously, the trouble existed mainly in regard to American apples. Spraying apples with arsenate of lead had been the practice . for jthej past twenty years, and for a lone permdbaioro that pario green, snother aretsncal spray, had been used. TJ» cheapness of arsenate in America no doubt le« ve its lavish use there, and moat likely the present trouble was due tothafirea use of dry arsenate, quantities of wax* may have accumulated round the stefju, Mr Campbell stated that he woajd recommend- the .Department's cheaaiste ? to make exhaustive testa as to the quantity of arsenate found on apples. The strength used in New Zealand «*» - one pound of arsenate of lead to : €t gallons of V.ater. About a third «*, the compound, was areanato, and allowing a gallon of wash to a ton* carrying, say. two bushels of ftm, fle> greatest portion 61 whicE WOOJd gp *j| to, the foliage, some on .to the trwait, and some wasted on the ground, the) estimated quantity of arsenate oaf* pound of apples immediately after epiajring was certainly not more thin a) tenth of a grain. This quantity ma gradually reduced by tain and VMM. and by the time the fruit waa pu&ad* graded, wrapped, and packed, these) was practically no trace of arsenate «sv the apples. •.'■•-'-.'-' * „ Growers, said Igr .Campbell, nmsf carry on spraying operations withM consideration of the development flat had taken place. They aaafar the spray to within a fortnight of pJes> r ihg. When picking, the Jfrnit sheeJd . be wiped, removing any traces of spray remaining. If this were done, he> £d not think, any complaint* wonfci jbe made in England about New apples, but if the crop was to eaeaaw the ravages of codlin moth .and stof roller, it was spray_tbe fruit. No substitittes far the) sprays in use, were known, suM-t&Mpfe : mustbe^clepended'on a* presort. ''f^f. Dr. TiUyaxd's Vtowa. When interviewed about tka eaUa Dr. Tillyard, of the Cawthron Instita*e» remarked -that the arsenate which gate carried on apples to England is all Sons the later sprays, hence, in any east, sprays put on before January eoald he) continued with safety. . u it ■QMS necessary to discontinue lata wiM|s for codhn moth and leaf roller, tlrtf, could be done at slight extra expttate bv using instead the method of napping worked out by Comrade entoass. logists. This experiment hie haw «■*» ried out this season in Mr Btaai«s% orchard at Stoke.'and ressrte am hia£~ ly encouraging. Last week a* pie than 93 codli* sioths Wwre caasjkt % fermented aople juice. The iadfeattoM are that leaf roller is just as efettivafj controlled bv this method as caaVm moth. "One obvious reflection ia> mains," he said, "the>more «e«saieplace sprays by biological methods it control, the better it will be for flat future of the industry.