62 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



autumn. Just an example of this. I left off the dormant spray 

 one spring as an experiment, thinking that we might possibly 

 omit this spray and yet come in with two later sprays, the pink- 

 bud and the codling moth spray, and cut down a little expense. 

 Well,' the leaf blister mite came in upon those trees which I 

 did not spray with lime-sulphur and took nearly one-half the 

 foliage from the trees before the 30th of August. Now that 

 had a very damaging effect on those trees. It was two years 

 before they began to get back into condition again. So I state 

 this to show that it is important to maintain a healthy, clean 

 foliage on the trees if you expect them to do their best in the 

 production of fruit; also to secure fruit of quality— marketable 

 fruit. I would like to say right here, this last spring the pros- 

 pects for the marketing of our crop this year looked so bad — 

 it is not only so in Maine, but in Canada, and in Annapolis 

 valley — men were so discouraged at the outlook that they neg- 

 lected to spray their orchards, with the result — this is particu- 

 larly true in Canada— that what fruit they had this fall was 

 not fit for market and that thousands of barrels of Maine apples 

 were shipped into Canada to supply the demand for this year. 

 This was brought out forcibly in my own vicinity, men wlio 

 didn't have the courage to get out the sprayer and spray every 

 fair minute have lost in the apple game this fall, at marketing 

 time. So this is a great factor in the production of fruit trees. 



Cultivation. 



What effect has cultivation on the trees? How are we going 

 to cultivate ? When are we going to cultivate ? When shall wc 

 stop cultivation ? These are the most important questions, I 

 believe, that can be considered by many fruit growers, since 

 there are several who have no definite plan. In our vicinity the 

 effect of early cultivation upon the productiveness of the trees 

 and health and general vigor is having wonderful result. Our 

 seasons are much shorter here than in Massachusetts or Con- 

 necticut, so that it is important that these trees start out as 

 early in the spring as possible. I find, under my conditions, 

 the earlier I can get into the orchard in the spring and begin 

 to stir the soil and warm it, the earlier those trees start their 

 annual growth. It is so every year. I believe that we should 



