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SIXTEENTH BIENNIAL REPORT 



Apple growers, or at least some of them, used to think that all that was 

 necessary in scab spraying was to spray the fruit, believing that there was no 

 ueed for any protection except for the fruit. They soon realized their mistake, 

 however, for scab readily attacks all foliage and, if left unsprayed, the leaves 

 produce in a short time countless myriads of spring spores which sift down onto 

 the fruit continually. If the fruit were perfectly and completely covered, and if 

 the fruit skin did not Stretch with growth between sprayings, we might expect 

 the apples to remain uniufected in spite of this shower of spores, but as a matter 

 of fact, the skin does Stretch, and no grower can actually cover every particle of 

 every fruit perfectly. The high degree of unblemished fruit that many growers 

 secure is, therefore, obtained only by combining thorough fruit spraying with 

 thorough covering of the foliage at the same time. 



Where a good many growers fall down is in not having equipment sufficient 

 in size or capacity to do the work. The kind of outfit or the number of machines 



APPLE TREE ANTHRACNOSE FRUIT ROT 



which did the work successfully when the orchard was young often cannot be 

 expeeted to do the work when it comes into bearing. Of course, spray outfits 

 are expensive, but so are scab and codling moth and aphids. The grower cannot 

 afford to purchase more than he actually needs, but neither can he afford to 

 provide himself with less than he needs. In the larger orchards the new high- 

 powered, big capacity outfits with spray guns to replace the old extension rods 

 and small nozzles, are giving excellent results. with the advantage that the work 

 is done more rapidly ; that is, more ground is covered in the same length of time 

 tlian with the old equipment, and the work is far less tiring to the Operator. 

 Moreover, just as good work is done where reasonable skill is employed. It has 

 been the hope of many that dusting would prove successful for pest control, but 

 in the tests in Oregon (See Oregon Exp. Sta. Bul. 171. by Childs), the effective- 

 ness of the method under our conditions has been disappointing. 



Another source of trouble may Ite referred to here. A great many growers 

 have lost heavily from unwittingly allowing a lot of scab to develop in the fruit 



