FIFTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 10?. 



vorsal in orchards in certain nortliern sections of tlie state and in old as 

 well as in young orchards. With little trees trying to fight barren sand 

 I have seen them half ruined by this canker. Canker control, then, sim- 

 mers down to (1) the elimination of firo blight both in the canker and 

 the twig stage, wiieri^ one has activcl}' giowing trees, (2) the selectior) 

 of sound limbs to produce the scaffold branches of the tree, and (3) llu; 

 judicious feeding of trees. 



I cannot leave this platform without making a plea for proper care of 

 the apple tree. Sometime ago I stood under a tree that produced (i'l 

 bushels of apples. The tre(^ was cankered and liml)s had l)een taken off. 

 The owner said that he sprayed it occasionally as it was near the house. 

 That story could be repeated with perhaps not so great a yield for every 

 old apple orchard in the state. It must be said that principles of prun- 

 ing are not followed and as a result orchards are full of woodpecker holes. 

 Stubs have been left and have not been covered. It will take about three 

 years for the natural processes to cover a pruning wound. In the mean- 

 time, it is necessary to take pains to keep rot fungi out and this is best 

 done by keeping these holes covered with some good impervious coat. 

 For this suppose we consider best a coat of pure white lead. Put this on 

 and renew it, so as to keep a protective coat over the w'ound until natural 

 healing can take place. If you do not do this, orchards that have been 

 planted by someone in faith, orchards that have been taken care of for 

 years, orchards that have fulfilled every promise, are going to be snuffed 

 out in a scant forty years and those inspiring old trees that we see here 

 and there are not going to be on your place and they are not going to 

 be left in the state for us to point to with pride. A good many of these 

 orchards you have fallen heir to, someone else is responsible for the 

 rotted heart wood and the weak branches. But everyone has an orchard 

 of young trees, or will have one coming on, sometime. Let us highly 

 resolve to prune this correctly and conserve the heart wood from decay. 

 For in so doing we shall add length of life to our orchards. 



Question: Is there any such a disease as "bitter-rot"? 



Answer: Yes, but it never does the damage with us because of our 

 climate. Bitter-rot is common in Virginia and southern apple districts. 

 We do have a "bitter-pit" which is not caused by anj- attack of organ- 

 isms upon the apple. It is probably due to unevenness of water supply 

 during the growing season so that certain cells die. About all the fruit 

 growers can do is to try to prevent the breakdown which follows uneven 

 water supply by rushing the apples into cold storage and to see that in 

 the storage, aeration is sufficient. By use of this method it has been 

 possible for growers in Australia, where bitter-pit is common, to ship 

 their fruit to England, some four-weeks-trip, simply by cold storage. 

 In keeping water supply uniform by irrigation the amount of bitter-pit 

 was cut flown markedly in experiments in w^estern Washington. This 

 disease is most serious on Baldwins, but it comes on other apples. 



Question: Would fertilizing help any? 



Answer: Cannot say definitely. If you are to follow the principles 

 Prof. Kraus laid down, yes. These suggestions lead to balancing of 

 vegetative and reproductive phases of tree growth, unevenness of bear- 

 ing, and evenness of fruit distribution. 



Question: Could you cut blight canker out and save the limbs. 



Answer: Yes, a knife or carpenter's gouge, and this cleaned portion 



