STATK POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. II/ 



just as soon as the purchase of the farm was assured, largely 

 to control leaf-eating insects which were present in great num- 

 bers. The purchase was completed too late to begin cultivation 

 that year, but 300 pounds of commercial fertilizer was applied 

 per acre as a top-dressing and pruning was begun as soon as 

 possible. Since then all of the orchards except certain plots 

 left for comparison have been brought under cultivation and 

 each year sown to a cover crop after mid-summer. They have 

 oeen liberallv dressed with commercial fertilizer. Tn the spring 

 of 1910 one thousand pounds of lime per acre was worked into 

 the soil to correct acidity. Pruning has gone on each year to 

 remove surplus, dead and diseased wood, and to open up the 

 tops to admit the sunshine. By repeated examinations borers 

 have been hunted out and destroyed. Since 1909 the main 

 orchards have been sprayed at least three times each spring. In 

 1909 and 1910 bordeaux mixture and arsenate of lead were used 

 in the main orchards but lime-sulphur and arsenate of lead have 

 since been used and will continue to be used unless something 

 better is obtained. While bordeaux mixture is a very efficient 

 fungicide, the Ben Davis and Baldwin, which varieties constitute 

 the major portion of the orchards at Highmoor Farm, are very 

 susceptible to injury from this spray. 



Unless one has had experience in similar work in orchard 

 renovation the results obtained are a little short of marvelous. 

 Many here have seen these orchards the present season and 

 before the Station took control. Others have been in the or- 

 chard this summer and have seen the plots which have been fer- 

 tilized, sprayed, and pruned but not cultivated and along side 

 the plots which, in addition to this, have been thoroughly culti- 

 vated. In one case the fruit was scanty and undersized and the 

 leaves were light green and small, while in the other the fruit 

 was good sized and abundant and the leaves were large, vigor- 

 ous and of rich deep green. To one who has not seen the 

 orchards the annual yield of fruit since the Station assumed 

 control of the farm tells the most convincing story. 



In 1909 thirty-one hundred trees produced two hundred bar- 

 rels of fruit, of which only ninety were merchantable. In 

 1910 twenty-three hundred trees produced 350 barrels of which 

 275 barrels were merchantable. In 191 1 twenty-three hundred 

 trees gave a total yield of 2,450 barrels of which only 114 bar- 



