130 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



WEATHER FORECASTS FOR SPRAYING. 



Particularly when the rains continue for a number of days it is hij^hly 

 important that the trees be covered with a fungicide previous to a rain 

 as otherwise the spores will have time to deveolp and infect the leaves and 

 buds. In order that notice of a rain might be furnished to fruit growers 

 arrangements were made with Mr. D. A. Seelcy, Director of the Michigan 

 Weather Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, at East Lansing, 

 for special weather forecasts with a notice of impending storms three or 

 four days in advance. These reports were sent to this office each morning 

 in advance of the regular weather reports, during the spraying season. 

 Owing to the local character of the storms during much of the spraying 

 period the results were not as satisfactory as they otherwise would have 

 been. 



Plans were made to send out notice of the storms by telegraph to the 

 various fruit growing sections where the word was distributed over the 

 telephone and through the local papers, making it possible to protect the 

 leaves and fruit from attack during rainy period. 



Trees that were sprayed at the ''pre-pink" stage were quite free from 

 the attack of scab while those that did not receive the fungicide until 

 late in the pink period were quite badly infected. Had the weather been 

 wet during the two or three weeks following the setting of the fruit serious 

 harm would have resulted where a primary infection had taken place. 



The benefits from the special weather forecast seemed to be so large 

 that is is planned to extend the service another season and cover a very 

 large proportion of the leading Michigan apple districts. 



THE DUSTING OF ORCHARDS. 



Several of the largest fruit growers in Michigan have substituted 

 the use of dust for the spraying of their orchards and" thus far most of 

 them feel well satisfied with the results. One advantage comes from the 

 very marked saving of time as two men with one outfit are able to dust 

 from 40 to 100 acres of bearing trees in eight hours, the number of acres 

 of course varying with the size of the trees. As a consequence, it is often 

 possible to cover an orchard with a combined fungicide and insecticide 

 at the proper time when it would not be possible to do so with a spray rig, 

 unless the number was made two or three times as many as would be 

 needed of dusting machines. It is also possible to use the dusting ma- 

 chines in the orchard at night, which in fact is the very best time for the 

 work and the dust may be applied when the trees are wet, or even when 

 there is a light mist; which of course, would not be desirable conditions 

 for spraying. 



As opposed to dusting is the matter of cost of materials, which is con- 

 siderably in favor of spraying, especially if a combined insecticide and 

 fungicide is used. The question of cost however, would not be considered 

 to any great extent provided the results are in favor of the dusting. 

 In this regard it may be said that the results where dust has been used 

 have been very satisfactory so far as injury to the foliage and fruit is con- 

 cerned. Using the ordinary mixture with approximately 85 per cent of sul- 

 phur, and 15 per cent of arsenate of lead, injury is practically unknown; 

 while with lime-sulphur solution at the rate of one gallon to forty and 

 with one pound of arsenate of lead serious injury has often occurred, par- 

 ticularly if the application has been made while the trees were wet, or 

 when the application is followed by several hot days. 



