46 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



satisfactory and efficient fungicide for apple scab. On the other 

 hand no one will deny that lime-sulphur, all things considered, 

 is one of the best spraying materials yet devised for use on apple 

 orchards. It was welcomed as a panacea by the enthusiasts 

 when it first appeared, and those of us who were inclined to 

 take a more conservative attitude then must admit that it is 

 standing the test of time in a most creditable manner. At the 

 same time the Highmoor experiments show that as ordinarily 

 used, under Maine climatic conditions, it, too, has its limitations. 



The Highmoor experiments have been conducted throughout 

 with Ben Davis trees between 20 and 30 years old. In many 

 respects this variety is very satisfactory for the purpose. 

 It is very susceptible to spray injury and would hardly be 

 classed as particularly resistant to scab. The number of ex- 

 perimental trees in different years has varied from a little less 

 than 150 to nearly 300. As a rule each plot has consisted of 

 24 trees, or four rows of six trees to the row. To obtain 

 the records of results for comparison it has been the cus- 

 tom to reject the crop obtained on the two outside rows, or 

 at least on the outside half of the two outside rows. This is 

 to avoid the effects from the spray drifting across from the 

 adjoining plots which received a different treatment. At har- 

 vest time each individual apple composing the portion of the 

 crop selected from each plot has been carefully examined. The 

 total number of fruits, the number of scabby and russeted and 

 the percentages of the latter, as well as the percentage of per- 

 fect apples, are determined. During the summer a careful 

 record has been kept of the effects of the different sprays on 

 the foliage. 



Scale and blister mite are not troublesome in the experimen- 

 tal orchard so no dormant sprays have been used except as is 

 noted later. Throughout the work the general plan has been 

 to make the first spray application when the' flower buds were 

 showing pink, the second just after the blossoms fell and the 

 third ten days or two weeks later. Aside from definite, inten- 

 tional variations with individual plots this program has been 

 followed fairly closely. Occasionally the time between the 

 second and third applications has been lengthened somewhat. 

 and once during the speaker's absence a misunderstanding led 

 to the postponement of the "pink spray" on all but one of the 

 plots so long that it was necessary to omit it. All applications 



