EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS 113 



exery leaf is covered, it will be found a simple matter to control these 

 insects. 



Considerable work has also been done in the way of spraying experi- 

 ments to control the leaf-curl of the peach. The importance of early 

 spraying has again been demonstrated, and while the results from fall 

 spraying do not seem quite as good as when the work is done after 

 the middle of February', the results from single applications in Nov- 

 ember and December, after the leaves have fallen, have been very 

 marked. Bordeaux mixture appears to be little if any more effectual 

 than a solution of copper sulphate and up to the present time the 

 trees sprajed with one pound in fifty gallons seem as free from the 

 disease, as when one pound was dissolved in twenty-five gallons or less. 

 When the trees are thoroughly sprayed in March or early April there 

 has been no trouble from the disease. 



OTHER EXPERIMENTS AT TROY. 



The orchard that had been leased by Mr. Hadsell, having been com- 

 paratively unfruitful for a number of years, it was thought advisable 

 to combine with the spraying experiment for the destruction of the 

 canker-worm, various other operations that are considered important 

 in the renovation of an old apple orchard. The trees had been fairly 

 well pruned, but the land was in sod and the trees had neither been 

 fertilized nor spraj^ed with fungicides. As mentioned above, Bordeaux 

 mixture was applied to the trees sprayed with arsenic, and a portion 

 of the orchard was plowed. To test the need, as w^ell as the effect 

 of plant food, plots were laid out across both the plowed and the un- 

 plowed land, and to these stable manure, wood ashes and various 

 chemical fertilizers were applied. It is too early to judge of the effect 

 of this treatment, but a marked benefit, judging from the results 

 secured with fertilizers in the neighboring wheat field, may be expected. 



SOUTH HAVEN SUB-STATION. 



The work at the Soiith HaA^en Sub-Station has remained in the hands 

 of Mr. S. H. Fulton, who has carried it on in a very satisfactory manner. 



Although some of the older peach trees still show the effects of the 

 freeze of 1808-0, most of them are in excellent condition. The centers 

 of all the old trees are blackened, but it is noticeable that where 

 the ends of all the main branches were cut back to the extent of one 

 year's growth in the spring of 1899, the trees have done much better 

 than those that wore left unpruned, or that were cut back about one- 

 half of the previous year's growth, as they have usually been pruned. 

 As compared with the unpruned trees, in particular, the annual rings 

 of growth made during the last two years are very much thicker. The 

 few trees that were cut back more than this have not done as well as 

 those that were headed back to short stubs of the main branches have 

 in many cases died. 



Aside from the routine spraying of the orchards, considerable atten- 

 tion has been given to experimental spraying to determine more de- 

 finitely the times at which the applications will be most effective, as 

 well as the best strengths to use and the number of sprayings that 

 can be profitably employed. 



15 



