46 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



need of intelligent application by the fruit growers of the 

 knowledge already at hand, particularly with regard to the 

 treatment of the more common and destructive diseases of the 

 apple. For example, it is well known that thorough pruning 

 out and burning of all diseased, dead, and decaying wood, the 

 immediate removal from the orchard and destruction of all 

 diseased fruit, and yearly spraying of the trees are most efi'ect- 

 ive methods of combatting scab, the various forms of fruit rot, 

 limb canker, etc.. but how many men do you know who ever 

 make an honest attempt to do these things as they should be 

 done? I do not mean by any means that there are no well 

 cared for orchards wdiere we have been. I have seen several 

 and there are scores of others, but there is no reason why there 

 should not be many times the present number. Frequently this 

 apparent neglect is due to the scarcity of efficient help, and 

 again the orchard may be only a side line, the owner being con- 

 tent to take what he can get of third-rate fruit without any 

 care in return. As a people we New Englanders believe in the 

 gospel of the "square deal," but is it a fair thing to dig a lot of 

 holes in the greensward, frequently too close together, put an 

 apple tree in each hole, call the collection an orchard and then 

 leave it alone, trusting to the Lord to do the rest? Is it not 

 asking a little too much of the Lord? Yet that is the way that 

 most New England farmers do — good farmers, too, who look 

 after their other crops and their stock in the most careful 

 manner. I confess that that was the kind of orcharding that we 

 used to practice when I was a youngster on the home farm and 

 all our neighbors did the same. 



Every man who has a dozen apple trees or grows a half-acre 

 of potatoes should own, hire or borrow a spray pump and use 

 it. Bordeaux mixture should be used every year whether there 

 is a prospect of a crop of fruit or not. It should be looked 

 upon as a form of insurance. It is more than that, for it not 

 only protects the fruit crop from diseases in unfavorable years 

 but it also helps to keep the foliage healthy, thus making the 

 trees more strong and vigorous. With some plants, like the 

 potato, it actually appears to stimulate the plant, giving a darker 

 and healthier green to the foliage. 



