610 ANNUAL. REPORT OP THE3 Off. Doc. 



FRUIT GROWERS ASSOCIATION OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



Flora Dale, Pa., July 29, 1909. 

 The Hon. N. B. Critchfield, Secretary of Agriculture, Harrisburg, Pa, 



My dear Sir: 



I have the honor of presenting the following synopsis of reports 

 on spraying and general orchard conditions for the year 1908, pre- 

 pared for your use by members of the Fruit Growers Association of 

 Adams county. 



1908 being an ofif year for this section, the apple crop was light, 

 but owing to improvement in spraying methods and general orchard 

 management it was mostly of superior quality. The past season will 

 be remembered all over the county as having been particularly fav- 

 orable, as to weather conditions, for the increase of all kinds of in- 

 sect pests. Where thorough spraying was not practiced the results 

 were deplorable. It was the rule to find neglected orchards badly 

 scale infested, the fruit being spotted and wormy to such a degree 

 as to render it unmarketable. But it was not the unsprayed orchards 

 alone, that suffered. This condition for favorable insect propagation 

 also severely tested the thoroughness of spraying methods. Scale 

 and other insects that were missed by the slipshod and careless 

 sprayer or were unaffected because materials he used were ineffi- 

 cient or improperly prepared, seemed to have utilized every moment 

 to discredit his work. This matter of thoroughness cannot be too 

 strongly emphasized. Spray materials cost money and their appli- 

 cation occupies valuable time, all of which is lost if the personal 

 factor is deficient. 



SAN JOSE SCALE SPRAYING. 



As a protection to apple trees against San Jos6 Scale, 25 per 

 cent, of the growers reporting used home-made lime-sulphur solution 

 and the remainder employed one or another of the miscible oil sprays. 

 For peach trees, half used home-made lime-sulphur solutioH and 

 the balance an oil preparation. The two reports on pear both used 

 oil. One report on plum used home-made lime-sulphur solution. 

 No injurious effect to bark or fruit buds was reported, except that 

 one report mentioned a very slight roughening of peach bark where 

 oil had been used and another referred to some injury where oil 

 seemed to have been absorbed freely. The beneficial effect of lime- 

 sulphur on peach was especially referred to in one report. There 

 is an indication that the commercial lime-sulphur solutions will be 

 quite extensively tested during the next year as they eliminate sev- 

 eral of the objectionable features of the home-made mixture with 

 only a small per tree increase in cost. 



EFFECT ON SCALE. 



There is the usual variation in results from use of the several 

 materials by different people showing the influence of the personal 

 equation which is always a factor in this work. A review of the 

 reports indicates that 31 per cent, reported good results. Of these, 

 one-fourth used home made lime-sulphur and three-fourths employed 

 one of the oils. Another 31 per cent., all using oils, reported scale 



