LIME-SULPHUR PREPARATIONS FOR APPLE DISEASES. 5 



Experiments conducted by tlie Bureau of Plant Industry during 

 1909 give further evidence of the value of the lime-sulphur sprays as 

 fungicides for summer use. These experiments cover a wide range 

 of conditions, having been conducted in Virginia, Michigan, and 

 Arkansas. Eleven varieties were treated. Four different brands 

 of the commercial lime-sulphur solution and a similar home-prepared 

 solution were tested at various strengths. The commercial brands 

 registered from 31 to 33 degrees on the hydrometer scale. They 

 were used alone and in combination with arsenical poisons. This 

 paper contains a brief discussion of these experiments, with sugges- 

 tions as to the substitution of lime-sulphur preparations for Bordeaux 

 mixture in the treatment of apple diseases. 



THE IMPORTANCE OF CAREFUL SPRAYING. 



The acreage in aj)ple orchards in this countr}" is rapidly increasing, 

 and in the future the production of apples will imdoubtedly be much 

 greater than at present. The writer is of the opinion, however, that 

 there will be no serious overproduction and that there will always be 

 a good demand for good apples, while the poor stuff so common on 

 our markets to-day will not pay the expenses of handling. It should 

 be the aim of every orchardist to produce and market nothing but 

 first-class fruit, and if he does this he may reasonably expect always 

 to obtain good returns from his investment. 



vSp raying is the one operation above every other orchard practice 

 which determines the market value of the fruit produced and yet in 

 many instances it receives the least attention of all the orchard work. 

 The successful orchardist of the future will be the man who, among 

 other things, studies the conditions existing on his own farm and 

 sprays his trees according to the needs of each variety for the control 

 of the particular troubles which occur in his localit3^ The course of 

 treatment best suited for the orchards of the Shenandoah Valley of 

 Virginia may not necessarily give the best results in orchards situ- 

 ated east of the Blue Ridge in that State, and again the treatment 

 for certain varieties of apples may be different from that required 

 for certain other varieties growing in the same localit}^. The course 

 of treatment should be planned not only with reference to the dis- 

 eases to be controlled, but also with reference to the probable effect 

 of the fungicide upon the fruit and foliage of the variety to be treated. 

 The Bon Davis, for example, is so seriously russeted by applica- 

 tions of Bordeaux mixture that often most of the fruit sprayed with 

 this fungicide is rendered second class. In Virginia this variety 

 does not suffer materially from the attacks of scab, bitter-rot, or 

 other serious fruit diseases, the leaf-spot which is easily controlled 

 being its chief fimgous enemy. The Ben Davis in Virginia and in 



[Cir. 54] 



