North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Amanda Emily <amanda.emily@gmail.com>]

Actually they used toxic chemicals for insect control long before WWI 
and WWII.

The Spokane Valley here in Washington State, where there was once 
thousands acres of apple orchards along the Spokane River, has a problem 
with high levels of residual arsenic in the soil due to it being used on 
crops as pest control.

If you go and read the old 19th century orchard manuals on Google Books, 
the chemicals they suggest using and the schedules makes todays 
insecticides and modern farming practices seem quite benign in comparison.

Amanda
Colville, WA



Sonja & Raymond Barker wrote:
> ... dont forget, the toxic pesticides only came in with the war so 
> everything before was grown naturally; and if i grow it i want to eat 
> a healthy product....sonja