'252 Report of State Board of Horticulture. 



of the worms. A marked improvement appeared; yet the results were 

 not striking. It takes more than one year to bring up such an orchard. 

 Spraying destroys many enemies, but not all. It cannot reach the apple 

 maggot. In spite of the treatment, these pests ruined much of the fruit. 

 'ihey must be handled in other ways. 



The treatment of this orchard was continued in 1900. The trees were 

 sprayed with Bordeaux mixture before the buds opened. This is effective 

 against apple scab, and cleans the bark of many low forms of fungous 

 growth. The trees were sprayed again after the blossoms fell. The cover 

 crop of 1899 consisted of oats and peas. These did not thrive. The oats 

 dried up, and the peas made little growth. Nitrogen was, therefore, con- 

 tinued in the fertilizer, but this year the amount of fertilizer was dropped 

 to five hundred pounds per acre, made up as follows: 



Nitrate of soda ' 100 lbs. 



Dried blood 100 lbs. 



Tankage 100 lbs. 



Acid phosphate 100 lbs. 



Muriate of potash 100 lbs. 



In choosing this combination the composition of a good crop of apples 

 was used as a basis. Considerably more of each element was supplied 

 than the apples would remove. This is fairly safe guessing. It supplies 

 all the needs, but the soil may contain enough of some of the elements. 

 Experiment alone could determine that. Tillage was continued as before. 

 The trees suffered somewhat from the attacks of plant-lice. Aside from 

 that they were in good condition. The growth was not large, but thrifty. 

 The foliage was dark, large, and vigorous. That on adjoining trees not 

 under care was much lighter in color and smaller. Fig. 5 shows a com- 

 parison between leaves from treated and untreated trees. The photograph 

 shows difference in size, but not in color. Comparison with colored silks 

 showed several shades difference between the two lots. The orchard bore 

 some good fruit in 1900. The Baldwin and Russet trees were well loaded. 

 The second spraying was delayed a little too long, and the codling moth 

 did much injury. The apple maggot was also troublesome. 



In 1901 the orchard was pruned, sprayed, and fertilized as directed. 

 Spraying was done on time, and the results were much more effective. 



The cover crop used in 1900 was crimson clover. The growth was small, 

 and nitrogen was continued as before, the fertilizer applied being the same 

 in kind and amounts as in 1900. Throughout the experiment, plowing and 

 tillage have been left to the owner to do. This year, owing to an accident, 

 that part of the work was dropped when only part of the orchard was 

 plowed. No further tillage was given. The orchard, however, shows the 

 effect of the previous years' treatment. The Greening and Russet trees 

 bore a good crop of fruit, in spite of the general apple failure throughout 

 the region. Some early varieties also bore well. Much of this fruit was 

 very fine. Fig. 7 and the illustration upon the cover show the proportion 

 of apples injured by the codling moth. 



The apple maggot has been the most troublesome pest. This is known 

 to many as the railroad worm. It is the larvae of a small fly, which 



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