17S STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



lor Micliigau Orchards and Vineyards," though printed in a liberal 

 edition, was soon exhausted and should be reprinted soon. 



A number of experiments that will reipiire several years to obtain 

 results were started a few years ago and nothing dclinite can be re- 

 ported upon them at this time. These experiments include tests to 

 determine the comjiarative merits of pruned and nn])run('d yonng fruit 

 trees; of the value of the Kielfer pear as a stock for top working other 

 varieties; tomato breeding; strawberry breeding; the value of ])each 

 trees when propagated with buds taken from trees of unusual vigor; 

 fertilizer tests for tomatoes at Plymouth ; value of different stocks for 

 sour cherries. 



A test 'W«s again made to determine llie value of spraying potato 

 jilants with the Bordeaux mixture and poison. The gain in yield was 

 barely enough to pay for the spraying but the tubers from sprayed 

 [ilants were ke])t in better condition for a longer tim<' than those from 

 plants not sprayed. 



A careful test was made for two seasons on the comi)arative value 

 of Bordeaux mixture and the diluted commercial lime and sulphur 

 for spraying cherry and domestic plums 'to control leaf spot and rot. 

 The Bordeaux was made with four pounds of copper sulphate and six 

 pounds of lime to fifty gallons of Avater. The concentrated commercial 

 lime-sulphur tested 33 Baume and one gallon was diluted with water 

 to forty gallons. Arsenate of lead was used as needed. There was 

 no noticeable diflt'erence in the efficiency of either of these mixtures 

 while adjacent ti'ees not sprayed were completely defoliated by mid 

 summer and the finiit of no value. 



A com])arison of the efficiency of copper sulphate solution (1 pound 

 of copper sulphate to 10 of water) and one gallon of concentrated lime- 

 sulphur, 34 Baume to 44 gallons of water to check ]ieach leaf curl re- 

 sulted very much in favor of the lime-sulphur. \Vhere San Jose scale 

 is ])resent, the lime-sulphur will have to be used and if the spraying 

 is made before the buds break, the leaf curl will be controlled and the 

 San Jose scale destroved but in regions where the scale is not lu-esent, 

 these results indicate that it is better to use the lime-sulphur to pre- 

 vent the leaf curl than the copper sul})hate solution. 



In an effort to determine the value of winter vetch for an orchard 

 cover crop, i)lots one acre in size in orchards in various parts of the 

 state, mostly in the northern i»art, were sown during late July or 

 early August. Notes were secured upon the appearance of the vetch 

 in May and in every case where the soil was sandy, the crop was very- 

 successful. This ])lant is still highly regarded for an oi-chai'd or vine- 

 ya)<l cover crop. 



A test on tliinning Wealthy ai)i)les was made in an orchard near 

 Grand T^edge. On a tree where the fruit was not thinned by actual 

 C0U11I there were 2043 fruits of which 2213 were number ones, making 

 IT bushels. 480 culls and 250 drojts. An adjacent tree that required 

 one hour and forty minutes of labor to thin the fruit on July 22nd, 

 there were 20S.'') fruifs. lOG."; of which were number ones which made 

 just 17 bushels and 120 culls and drops. These two trees are taken for 

 comparison since the yields of No. 1 fruit was exactly the same and 

 the results are typical of the others. Where the crop of fruit is good, 

 there is no question but what lliinning the fmit in the early summer is a 

 very jirofitalde orchard ]»rac1ice. It not only results in a much more 



