THIRTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 105 



the bark of the tree. I have seen whole orchards practically ruined by the 

 mice girdling the trees. 



A Member: The way we protect ourselves from danger of mice is to run 

 a bit of veneer about fifteen inches square, and wrap those around and make 

 a mulch around the tree; or, if it has been left over from the previous year, 

 before applying this veneer we go around and examine, put this veneer on, 

 and then put on the mulch; and we have never had a tree girdled" with mice 

 yet. It costs very little and is quickly done. 



A Member: A novel way is to wrap the tree with tar paper. 



A Member: I will say we have tried this mulch for the last four years; 

 all our trees up to four years old are mulched with straw or marsh hay. 

 I do know that last winter we did not lose more than three or four peach trees 

 out of 500. That is here in this county. We did not have as bad a cold 

 spell in October as they had farther west, but I believe it helped them quite 

 a good deal. Of course we used protectors. 



ANYTHING NEW IN SPRAYING? 



(by T. a. FARRAND, EATON RAPIDS.) 



I wish I might come before you this afternoon with something that would 

 stir you up, something so radically new. Like everything else, we are always 

 looking for something new in the spraying line. It is an interesting topic. 

 It has got to such a state of affairs that spraying is one of the chief things 

 in the up-to-date culture methods with fruit. But I simply want to stand 

 again and advocate some of the principles of spraying that we ought to 

 know. There are a whole lot of new things; we could talk all da/ of new 

 things here; but the people that ought to hear them are not here. You 

 that are here are looking up all these things; so it is hard to give something 

 new. But these same spraying problems are new to thousands of people 

 in the State of Michigan. The only way we can reach the masses is through 

 the individuals; and as individuals when you leave this hall you ought to 

 carry this spraying knowledge we have been hearing, to your neighborhood 

 and your locality, and spread the good news in that way. 



As you know, I want to still stand, in spraying for the San Jose scale, 

 for the old and reliable lime and sulphur. Up to date, we have nothing 

 better. There may be something in process of experimentation by our 

 station that is new; but we have nothing today that is as efficient and cheap 

 as lime and sulphur. It is all right to experiment a little, but all these 

 soluble oil sprays have been tried and found wanting up to date. At the 

 experiment station, while I was in charge, I tried a great many of them, 

 and always found them wanting, and we had to fall back on to the lime 

 and sulphur. It is a disagreeable spray, and we all certainly hope there 

 will something sometime come that will be easier to prepare. 



So far as the codling moth is concerned, it is not altogether new to us here. 

 I think we must come to the use of arsenate of lead. While I have not used 

 it myself, I have talked with a great many who have. I am going to use it 

 for the codling moth, in with the Bordeaux mixture. The only change which 

 I would make in our regular Bordeaux mixture would be, I believe in cutting 

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