No. 7. 



DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

 COST OF MAKING AND APPLYING 100 GALLONS. 



513 



o 



Commercial Bordeaux— lead arsenate. 

 Home-made Bordeaux — lead arsenate, 



Bordeaux — Paris green, 



Arsenate of lead 



Average of above 



The benefit of codling moth spraying is brought out very forcibly 

 by one grower who was prevented by weather conditions from doing 

 any spraying. He reports that 20 per cent, of picked fruit and 40 

 per cent, of drops were wormy. The cost of preventing this enor- 

 mous loss as calculated from average of reports was about ten 

 cents for ten year old trees, twenty cents each for trees fifteen to 

 twenty years and thirty to forty cents each for old trees. These figures 

 contemplate two applications, the first as petals are falling and the 

 second about a month to six weeks later, care being exercised to 

 make both applications very thorough so as to cover all leaf surface 

 and certainly reach all inner calyx cups. 



Applying the above proportion of loss of the man who did not 

 spray to our 1907 crop report shows that a failure to spray thorough- 

 ly for codling moth would mean a net annual loss to this county 

 of over 130,000.00. We are glad to note increased interest in this 

 matter and to report a noticeable improvement in the quality of 

 fruit displayed on our exhibition tables during the annual conven- 

 tion in December. It is also encouraging, from a State-wide view 

 point, to note that the competition which our Association met at the 

 State Horticultural meeting, January, 1909, was very much more 

 severe than in previous years indicating that other counties are 

 equally alive to the importance of this work. We trust that this 

 interest may continue to spread until it becomes a difficult matter 

 for the judges to decide between us. 



We are confident that any assistance you can give to the various 

 count.v organizations in the State who are working for the benefit 

 of the fruit interests will yield a great return of benefit to the State 

 at large. In fact the possibilities of improvement in fruit cultural 

 methods are so enormous that there is scarcely any line of effort 

 from which greater returns may be expected. This means not only 

 an increase in money returns to the growers of the State but an im- 

 provement in the quality of the fruit which will be greatly appre- 

 ciated by the consuming millions within our boundaries. In addi- 

 tion to the following up the spraying end of our business, we have 

 devoted quite a little effort during the j)ast year along the lines of 

 securing much needed National Legislation looking towards an 

 improvement in insecticides and a standardizing of fruit packages 

 and grading. These are matters of vital im])ortance and the growers 

 of the State will appreciate any assistance you may be able to 

 renaer. 



33—7—1908. 



